A Rochester nonprofit has closed down its refugee resettlement program, which last year served 1,100 people.
Catholic Charities Community and Family Services announced the closure this week, and it comes after the Trump administration paused federal refugee resettlement programs and froze the funding provided through them.
"There is no reason to stop refugee resettlement," said Jim Morris, the organization's vice president of family programs. "It is a good for our communities. It is a tremendous boon for the people that are resettled and otherwise would have no other hope of moving on with their lives in any meaningful way."
The resettlement program at CCCFS worked with refugees and asylees from places such as Afghanistan, Congo, and Ukraine. The program helped new arrivals find housing, provided support for necessities such as food and clothing, and assisted with enrolling children in school, among many other things.
Morris said that while a few of the 15 employees were laid off, most of the staff was transitioned to other programs.
The agency will continue to operate what Morris calls "a robust set of services" for area refugees. Those include employment programs and legal assistance with things like getting green cards, becoming naturalized, or getting work authorizations.
"We're still seeing a lot of people come through our doors looking for assistance," Morris said.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order pausing the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, or USRAP, on Jan. 20, citing record levels of migration to the country.
"The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees," read the directive. "This order suspends the USRAP until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States."
During Trump's previous term, he set strict caps on refugee admissions, but there was still a trickle coming in.
Morris said the refugee resettlement program has had bipartisan support in the past.
"It has reflected the country's value of welcoming the stranger and being open and generous to people that are suffering terribly in refugee camps," Morris said, "that have been persecuted, that have been oppressed, that have been fleeing from war and violence, and so to lose that, I think we're losing something essential in our country."
