Yury: "We are a family of six people with many dreams of starting a new life with better opportunities in the United States. I have been living in Colombia since 2017, but there have been many difficulties to get ahead here. Today we are unemployed and with the hope that God will help us to be able to travel to our destination since we were already approved for asylum in the United States."
Frank: "Since 2023, I have been looking to register with my family in the Safe Mobility program. In April 2024, I received an approval letter, and other colleagues started to travel. I met all the requirements, and we sold everything. My wife left her job, waiting to travel, and then we had no more news until the prohibition in January. We are also in irregular conditions in Ecuador, and nothing is known. This is all very tough."
Jose: "My family and I have faced great challenges after the indefinite halt of our resettlement process. We were just a few weeks away from being given our travel date. We left our apartment, our belongings and focused on our future in the United States, only to then face the worst situation when we realized we would not be traveling. We had to start over, and we still have not fully recovered, neither emotionally nor financially. We are in limbo... We live in anticipation of what will happen with our case."
Miguel: "Currently, I am unemployed and have not been able to establish myself professionally, waiting for my resettlement in the United States. My hope is to be resettled in the United States and contribute to society and obtain a stable quality of life for myself, giving my best for the United States and helping the growth of the country with a good attitude honesty and a lot of performance for society. I have felt frustrated as my dreams and plans have been paralyzed... just like the resettlement."
Angie: "I would be grateful to be given the opportunity for my children to study and work in a place that has progress. My great dream is to see them succeed and have both spiritual and economic stability. We were approved as refugees to the United States, but our process has been stalled... We remain irregularly in Colombia. Our dreams have turned into nightmares because we have been homeless. We have no education or employment... and we are also without health insurance. My children are minors... I would like the great opportunity to take my children out of this nightmare."
Biswas: "I have been living as a registered refugee in Nayapara Camp, Bangladesh for the past 34 years. I fled Myanmar with my parents and grandmother in 1991... escaping ethnic persecution and violence. This refugee camp is the only place I have ever known. My father and grandmother both passed away here. Now, as a father of three children, I carry the deep pain of watching them grow up in the same uncertain and restricted environment. In 2009 my family was selected for resettlement... but the program was suspended. In 2023 we were interviewed again... but our case remains in limbo."
The Delago Family: "We are Venezuelans. We are a family of five people... we have been in very difficult economic social and security situations. We would like to have the opportunity to improve our living conditions, which is why we decided to participate in the safe mobility program due to the real possibility of reaching the United States legally... in search of opportunities for our children. Here in Colombia, opportunities are scarce. We also currently have security problems... but we have not received the necessary attention. Please, those who can help us achieve our goal, we would greatly appreciate it."
Mohamed: "I left my wife and four children in a place where they have no relatives or friends... displaced because of war insecurity and poverty. I lost everything I owned and was forced to live apart from them hoping for a better life through a U.S. resettlement case. I traveled to Egypt to complete my process... When I arrived the organization suspended operations... Prices soared my savings disappeared and I went from eating three meals a day to barely one every two days. I live alone in a bare room... I cannot return home... I cannot move forward... Please help us. My family and I do not deserve to be forgotten."
Raja: "I am a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, specifically in Nakivale Refugee Settlement Camp, since 2009. I left my home behind, carrying only memories as the war swallowed everything familiar. The refugee camp became both a shelter and a prison. Its dusty roads endless, its days filled with waiting and uncertainty. Each morning, hope fluttered briefly as I dreamed of a new life in the U.S., but the vetting process stretched on without mercy. Years passed as forms piled up, interviews came and went and silence weighed heavily on my spirit. I hold onto the faint promise of freedom, but the long journey has worn me down, and I wonder if the doors will ever truly open."
Abbas: "I am a former employee of the U.S. Embassy My service, which I performed with pride, has now become a death sentence for my family and me. I joined the U.S. Embassy's Local Guard Force in 2013. We were the first line of defense for American diplomats. We knew the risks, but we trusted that our service meant something—that America would not abandon its allies.
When the security situation in Yemen collapsed and the Houthis took control, my past association with the U.S. government turned me into a target, labeled a 'traitor.' The danger became so severe that I was forced to live like a fugitive in my own country, constantly moving and hiding, able to see my family only in secret, stolen moments. Following direct guidance from the U.S. government, which acknowledged the life-threatening danger we were in, my family and I were nominated for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) as high-priority cases.
We were instructed to travel to Egypt to finalize the process. Trusting this promise, I sold everything I owned and brought my family to Cairo, believing we were on a path to safety. But that promise was broken. Shortly after we arrived, the program was 'paused' by a policy decision in Washington. We have been stranded in Egypt ever since, our lives destroyed. My savings are gone, and I am deep in debt. I am not legally allowed to work, so I cannot afford rent, food or the school fees for my two young children, who have been out of school for two years. They ask me why they can't learn like other kids, and I have no answer. We are living this nightmare. We fled a violent death in Yemen only to face a slow death from poverty and despair in Egypt. Returning is impossible. Remaining here is unbearable. We are asking for the United States to fulfill the promise it made to us. We honored our commitment to protect Americans. We pray America will now honor its commitment to us."
Daniela: "I am Venezuelan mother of 2 children, and currently we are in Ecuador. When I went through my process, I was filled with hopes of being able to give my children a better future. The day they asked me for documents, I felt that the wait would soon be over and we would travel. I never imagined that everything would be put on hold. We have been waiting for 8 months without knowing what will happen. My life is on pause; I feel like I'm in limbo. When my little boy sees an airplane, he gets happy and says that he will travel soon, and when I hear him, as a mother, I feel bad. I feel like I played with his hopes. There have been many sleepless nights waiting for a response and to know what will happen to us, not to mention that I don't have a plan B because sadly that's not the case. I just want to provide a better future for my children."
Dani: "Together with my family (wife and 4 children) we are refugees from Venezuela approved by the United States since September 17, 2024, and contacted to travel in February 2025. Since 2019 we have been living in Ecuador fleeing from the dictatorship and persecution in Venezuela that unfortunately transcended to spaces within the Christian church (we were pastors) and that for not agreeing with socialism we were intimidated and forced to flee for the integrity of our lives.
Currently, we are in Ecuador suffering from the insecurity that prevails in the streets and with limitations due to not being able to have a secure future for our children. Unfortunately, due to not being able to have updated documentation, our minor children have been victims of exclusion. For 6 years I worked responsibly in a company which, upon seeing my time for travel approaching, decided to terminate my services. When we received the approval letter [to travel to the United States], it was the happiest day we have lived as a family because we knew that in the United States it would be the after for us. We would enter the land of freedom and progress. Now we have to wait. We ask God to touch the hearts of those in authority so that we can complete our resettlement process."
Mickimouse. "Since October 2024 we were approved for resettlement to the USA, but we have no response on whether we will travel. We are in limbo and in a very dangerous situation here in Ecuador."
Afghan refugees and SIVs. Processing and relocation of Afghan refugees and SIVs has also been suspended. Approximately 3,500 Afghan allies who were temporarily housed “on platform” in Qatar and Albania are no longer scheduled for travel and have had the provision of basic necessities paused.
Ali is a refugee from Iraq who resettled in Dallas, Texas in January 2025 and is statutorily entitled to receive core integration services for the first 90 days after he arrived – he has been cut off from that support due to the funding freeze.
Maine. Resettlement groups in Maine adapt to uncertainty after Trump suspends refugee admissions. “Jon Godbout, executive director of the Augusta-based Capital Area New Mainers Project, said even as the pace of new arrivals slows, refugees already settled in Maine still need help with housing, education, and employment. Maine resettled close to 700 people through the federal refugee program in the fiscal year that ended last October, the highest number on record going back over a decade, and a significant rebound from the first Trump administration.” Connecticut. Trump cancels $4M to New Haven’s IRIS for refugee resettlement. IRIS Executive Director Maggie Michell Salem on the funding pause: “These people just arrived here. This isn’t some game. This isn’t a program you would shut down like a computer. These are humans. They are already afraid.” Michigan. Hundreds of newly arrived refugees in Michigan at risk of losing rent, housing aid. “The freeze in federal funding is the result of a stop-work order from the U.S. Department of State this week that directed private resettlement agencies not to incur any new costs under their contracts with the government to provide basic necessities to refugees during their first 90 days living in the United States. Many refugees arrive with just the clothes they’re wearing, and some of them stay temporarily in hotels until local housing is ready, Dobner said. The U.S. refugee resettlement program is an avenue of legal immigration for those fleeing persecution, violence and other disasters.”
Loni is a mother of six children who fled violence and torture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The family’s flight to Houston to reunite with her husband and the children’s father was scheduled for February – but it was cancelled after the ban went into effect. Loni and her children are now stuck indefinitely in Malawi.
Despite the suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, CWS remains committed to supporting refugee and immigrant families. Through essential services in CWS local offices—ranging from legal aid and housing assistance to medical support—CWS continues to provide a lifeline for newcomers in need. Read more to learn how CWS local offices in
Dallas and Houston are making a difference for newcomer families.
