FEBRUARY 10, 2025
Feeling overwhelmed? Us too. Here’s how to catalyze that feeling of overwhelm into advocacy that will shape the future of resettlement–in the Trump era and beyond.
In Sacramento, home to one-third of California’s refugees , families who prepared homes and bought welcome meals now stare at empty apartments. In Stanislaus County, 20 refugee families received three days’ notice before losing their housing in temporary hotel rooms. In the Bay Area, refugees who arrived mere days before Trump’s second Inauguration are now left worrying for their family and friends who did not make the cut—and are now stranded overseas.
These stories are snapshots of phenomena across the Nation.
This isn’t just a crisis: it’s a preview of what happens without The GRACE Act’s protection. When federal funding vanished overnight, the damage spread like wildfire. Around the Country, offices are closing, resettlement agencies are laying off staff, refugees are losing housing, basic services, and support.
As the Trump Administration dismantles the Refugee Program—as flights are canceled, families are stranded, and local resettlement offices begin to shut their doors—the incentives for action increase. The cost of doing nothing doubles. In order to achieve statutory reform, the incentives for action must outweigh the incentives for inaction.
As the incentives for action increase, we must repurpose the tools of refugee advocacy to build a Refugee Program America–and refugees–can rely on.
Read the full article here.
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