Refugee resettlement agencies in Iowa are running out of money. While the Trump administration’s stop work order was only supposed to affect new arrivals, some agencies say all government funding — including services already approved by Congress — has stopped.
The nonprofit U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) has not been reimbursed since November. Lutheran Services of Iowa (LSI) has not been reimbursed since December. LSI says the federal government owes it $1.5 million.
These agencies are paid by reimbursement. The federal government pays them for work they’ve already done, not for work they will do.
“It’s very frustrating to have no guidance, no direction, no clarity on the rationale for nonpayment of services that again, these are things the U.S. government has asked us to provide.”
Nicholas Wuertz, LSI Director of Refugee Services
LSI and USCRI have already begun to lay off most of their staff.
LSI Director of Refugee Services Nicholas Wuertz said he has not gotten any clear answers about why services and contracts that are still in place are going unpaid.
“It’s very frustrating to have no guidance, no direction, no clarity on the rationale for nonpayment of services that again, these are things the U.S. government has asked us to provide,” Wuertz said.
Leslie Olson, a USCRI program manager in Des Moines, said that funding comes from various federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of State, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services. The funding freeze on foreign aid affects refugee resettlement agencies as well, she said.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ordered the White House to release the $2 billion in foreign aid, despite administrators attempting to evade the district court order. It is not clear how resettlement agencies will be affected.
How are refugees affected?
Agencies like LSI and USCRI are part of nationwide networks that help refugees adjust to life in the U.S. They provide resources like financial support, language interpreters and legal aid.
Wuertz said that the 400 individuals LSI serves will lose all financial assistance and be forced into the welfare system. Refugees may become homeless in the coming weeks, he said.
The amount of clients looking for new ways to support themselves would strain local systems, Olson said, adding that it is a crisis that’s preventable. She’s also seeing clients isolating themselves from the community out of fear. One client told her that without USCRI’s services, they could not promise that they would not attempt suicide.
“One of the biggest concerns, especially for people who have been forcibly displaced multiple times, is, ‘Does this mean that they’re coming for me next? Am I going to be safe? Am I going to be thrown out of the country? Am I ever going to see the family that I left behind?’” Olson said.
Mass agency layoffs
USCRI’s Des Moines office began the year with 35 staff members. By March 7, there will be six left. Olson said that she’s trying to do a year’s worth of work in this last week. LSI is in a similar position: if nothing changes in the next two months, Wuertz said that 20 staff members will be laid off.
Many of LSI and USCRI’s staff members are refugees themselves. Olson said that some are volunteering without pay because they still believe in the work.
“Instead of pursuing the American Dream that is, ‘I’m going to go make as much money as I can for myself,’ their American Dream was, ‘I’m going to get my feet planted and I’m going to help the other people who have struggled the way that I have.'”
Leslie Olson, USCRI Des Moines Wellness Program Manager
“Instead of pursuing the American Dream that is, ‘I’m going to go make as much money as I can for myself,’ their American Dream was, ‘I’m going to get my feet planted and I’m going to help the other people who have struggled the way that I have,’” Olson said.
She said she hopes people will still look to find common ground with immigrants and refugees because they share the same dreams — to take care of family, to help a neighbor and be helped.
“Just because you don’t look, on the surface, like you’re a benefit to us… You, as a human being, matter, just because you’re a human being.” Olson said. “I’m fighting hard to be able to believe that there’s still a corner of our country that believes that.”
Olson says people interested in supporting resettlement agencies can make donations to the Refugee Alliance of Central Iowa, a central hub in the state supporting organizations that help refugees.
