An executive order in January put a hold on the nationwide refugee resettlement program with a report on the program’s future due to the president within 90 days. At a Monday press briefing, Kate Brick with interest group Refugee Advocacy Lab said the status of that report is unclear.
“We have yet to hear if this report was delivered to the White House,” she commented at the beginning of the meeting.
Groups across the country and state are keeping their eye on what could be in store for refugees in local communities like those in Montana.
Since the executive order, the country’s resettlement agencies and their on-the-ground partners have lost funding, staff and resources to serve refugees seeking safety from political unrest and violence in their countries of origin.
Advocates in Billings, Helena and Missoula say they remain in a place of uncertainty. Mary Poole with nonprofit Soft Landing Missoula says that includes the future for long-awaited reunions.
“We have families that had worked through that entire process and were ready and were on their way to join other families here, and that’s just not going to happen now for the foreseeable future, and I think that can be one of the most heartbreaking things,” said Poole.
These 90 days since the order include layoffs at the nationwide resettlement agencies that connect refugees with community-level partners.
“Now we have to figure it out for ourselves,” said Helena Area Refugee Resettlement Team director Valerie Hellermann.
she said they’re still trying to serve families, but leaning more on local support.
“We’re now dependent on volunteers and money from the community to keep going.”
Meanwhile, the order and its impacts are caught up in court, with no immediate resolution in sight.
