For nearly 80 years, Church World Service (CWS) has worked toward our vision of a world in which all people have food, voice, and a safe place to call home. As a global humanitarian organization, CWS represents nine million people of faith across 14 faith-based organizations and denominations. Through refugee resettlement offices and affiliates, home study and post release services for children, case management and integration support for newcomers, global hunger relief programs, and disaster resilience and response, CWS equips people who have been uprooted from their homes and the communities that welcome them with the resources they need to thrive.
During the 2025 August recess, CWS urges Congress to:
1. Hold the administration accountable for upholding U.S. and international laws that protect people fleeing persecution and violence.
Conduct physical oversight.
- Visit Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities, ICE detention centers (or administrative buildings where immigrants are being held), and Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelters. Demand the administration honor Members’ of Congress legal right to make unannounced visits to federal immigration detention sites.
- Visit refugee resettlement sites to better understand the critical services provided and the impact of funding cuts and the refugee ban on service provision.
Publicly decry the administration’s attacks on refugees and immigrants and vocally support newcomers.
- Urge the Trump administration to restore the refugee resettlement program, abide by all court orders on the refugee ban, and consult with Congress to establish a robust Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions.
- Speak out against the administration’s mass deportations, discriminatory travel ban, and asylum shutdown.
- Condemn the administration’s actions targeting immigrants exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech. Investigate efforts to arrest, detain, and deport individuals because of their views or political expression.
Utilize Congress’s constitutionally-delegated oversight authority to protect refugee and immigrant communities.
- Hold the administration accountable for abiding by laws like the Refugee Act of 1980, which requires that the U.S. offer people the opportunity to seek protection. Urge the administration to safeguard due process protections, especially for people facing third country removals.
- Hold the administration accountable for protecting unaccompanied children and following the requirements of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), including the safe and timely transfer of children from government custody to a vetted sponsor.
2. Robustly fund – and guard against attacks to – programs and services that support immigrants and the communities that welcome them.
Maintain existing investments in accounts that support people seeking protection and promote newcomers’ successful welcome and integration in the United States such as:
- Refugee and Entrant Assistance (REA), which funds the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). ORR directly supports communities’ efforts to provide core integration services to refugees, Cuban and Haitian entrants, unaccompanied children, Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders, and others fleeing persecution and violence. HR 1 strips many humanitarian arrivals of their eligibility for life-sustaining services like Medicaid and SNAP, which will dramatically increase the need for ORR programs such as Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) and Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA) to meet the basic needs of newcomers seeking safety.
- Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA), which provides humanitarian assistance to displaced people overseas and funds the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, including the initial reception and welcome to refugees resettled in the United States.
Congress should also support authorizing language in FY 2026 appropriations to:
- Safeguard Home Study and Post Release Services (HSPRS) for unaccompanied children;
- Create a clear firewall against immigration status information-sharing between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ORR;
- Ensure the administration uses funds according to congressional intent; and
- Uphold the critical oversight functions of the Office of Inspector General (OIG), Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO), Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), and Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman.
3. Pass legislation that protects immigrants and refugees, such as:
- The Protecting Sensitive Locations Act (H.R. 1061/S.455), which would limit immigration enforcement actions in “sensitive locations,” like schools, hospitals, and houses of worship.
- The NO BAN Act (H.R. 294/S.398), which would limit presidential authority to issue discriminatory travel bans.
- The Neighbors Not Enemies Act (H.R. 630/S. 193), which would repeal the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The Trump administration has used this archaic law to remove immigrants solely on the basis of their national origin.
CWS also urges lawmakers to cosponsor other legislation that welcomes and protects immigrants, including the American Families United Act (H.R. 2366), Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act (H.R. 3763 / S. 1965), No Anonymity in Immigration Enforcement Act (H.R. 4004), and Fair Day in Court for Kids Act (S.1297). Congress should also prioritize the reintroduction of the Refugee Protection Act, Climate Displaced Persons Act, and the Afghan Adjustment Act.
Use our Action Alert to call your Members of Congress, and subscribe to the CWS State of Play newsletter to receive daily updates.