US refugee agencies that had to gut operations during Trump administration are overwhelmed by arriving Afghans
WASHINGTON – When Nassir Ahmad saw the evacuation of thousands of Afghan refugees to the USA last August, he knew his translation expertise would be needed.
Ahmad, 34, who is from Afghanistan and served as a combat interpreter for 14 years, began applying for jobs to help translate for the newly arriving refugees. For four months, he worked with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, where he offered translation services and taught refugees about American customs.
Ahmad is a housing specialist and case manager at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), where he is helping 150 Afghan refugees find housing, access benefits such as food stamps, search for jobs and acclimate to their new community.
“I know how hard it is, because I've been through (it),” he said. “They don't know where they go, and they don't know what they're doing.”
Ahmad is one of many case managers hastily brought on board after the refugee resettlement system was gutted under the previous administration.
Organizations said they are still reeling from the effects of President Donald Trump's policies as they try to find housing, employment options and mental health support for more than 76,000 Afghans who have been brought to the USA since last summer's chaotic military pullout from Afghanistan.
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Although the Biden administration is trying to ease the burden on organizers, the process to rebuild the system has been slow and complicated.
“It's been challenging to undertake a significant resettlement operation in a matter of months,” said Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of LIRS. “I always feel like there's more we can do.”
Gutted refugee system
Trump slashed the number of refugees admitted into the USA during his presidency, hitting a record low of 15,000 for fiscal year 2021. During fiscal year 2020, Trump implemented a ceiling of 18,000 refugees. As a result, refugee resettlement agencies had to scale back their operations, including closing sites and laying off staff.
More than 100 offices associated with resettlement agencies closed during the Trump administration, according to the State Department.
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The State Department works with nine resettlement agencies, including LIRS and IRC. In 2016, those national agencies had 325 field offices. By the end of 2019, 199 remained.
Amid the arrival of the Afghan refugees – the biggest U.S. resettlement in decades – the pendulum is swinging back. The number of resettlement offices is back up to 272, according to the State Department. There are 91 "community partners," such as churches and other aid organizations, helping with the Afghan refugee resettlement effort.
O'Mara Vignarajah said her organization shut down a third of its capacity during the Trump administration.
She said her organization and others depend on per capita calculations for part of their budgets, and with the low refugee caps under Trump, organizations were forced to scale back their operations.
Sister Donna Markham, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, said it reduced its operations as well.
“It's difficult to replace all those people that we had to let go,” she said. She noted that many of the positions that need to be filled require knowing multiple languages, navigating the legal system and having a background working with individuals who have experienced trauma.
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"It's stretched us to the limits," she said of not having staff in place. "Not only us, all the other groups that are are working in this. It's just complicated by the fact that we don't have the same number of case managers, caseworkers trained in this."
Volunteers, charities fill gaps
The State Department launched the Afghan Placement and Assistance program in September, which allowed most Afghans to be paroled into the USA and get expedited work authorization. Humanitarian parole offers temporary legal status to the refugees.
Through the program, resettlement agencies offer support to Afghans for a 30- to 90-day period, finding them housing, setting them up with public benefits and offering financial assistance.
As resettlement agencies scrambled to deal with the influx of refugees, the State Department started the Sponsor Circle program last fall, allowing groups of five individuals to sponsor Afghans and help them with everything from apartment hunting to enrolling kids in school.
There are 100 sponsor circles across the USA, and hundreds more have applied, said Danielle Grigsby, director of external affairs and co-founder at Community Sponsorship Hub.
Grigsby noted the application process is “involved,” and sponsor circles have to provide a “welcome plan” that shows how they will help refugees find housing and employment and build new lives in the USA.
Sponsor circles have to raise $2,275 per refugee to help cover initial expenses such as rent.
Nonprofits also pick up the slack as resettlement agencies are overwhelmed.
Dan Altman, who spearheads volunteer efforts with NoVA RAFT, a volunteer-based organization working with religious institutions and businesses to help resettle Afghans in the Northern Virginia area, said resettlement agencies don’t have the “bandwidth or the capability” to offer support once the 90-day assistance period is over.
Altman said his group helped set up fully furnished houses for more than 140 families and directly supports 15 to 20 families. Many refugees need extended support, whether it's accessing medical care or finding employment.
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Altman said there is a disconnect between short-term initiatives such as the sponsor circle program and the need for long-term assistance programs for Afghans.
“There's a lot of families, at least in our area, that are already here. They're not getting the support they need. The clock is ticking for them on things like getting jobs, being able to have long-term sustainability,” Altman said.
Building the American dream? It will take years
Although the majority of Afghans have been moved off military bases, the process of resettlement is just beginning, officials said.
“We know when the story fades from the headlines, these families still need our help,” O'Mara Vignarajah said. “Unfortunately, the challenges they face don't magically go away. So this is a nationwide effort that will continue in the months and years to come.”
Altman has seen firsthand how long it could take for refugees to fully support themselves in the USA. From 2014 to 2017, he helped resettle 25 Afghans. It took three years for one woman and her two kids to adjust. She speaks English, as do her kids, and she is a manager at McDonald’s making $19 an hour. She even bought a car.
“She's living the American dream. It's a tough dream, but she's making it,” he said.
“There's a pathway, but what's required for those people is a network of people in the community that are directly supporting them and out there every day with them and engaging with them,” he said.
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The Biden administration is trying to keep the refugee resettlement system intact in the future.
State Department officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Paste BN that the department is in the early stages of working to find a way to use taxpayer funding to keep resettlement agencies afloat when there aren't as many refugees coming into the USA.
Ahmad, the case manager with LIRS, said he knew he needed to help refugees because he had been in their shoes.
Ahmad moved to the USA in 2014, leaving Afghanistan because of the corruption of the government. Three and a half years after he left, Ahmad's family joined him. Ahmad, his wife and their five children live in Virginia.
Ahmad shares his own refugee story with every family he meets, to let them know that although that it may be hard initially, they can build a good life in the USA.
“In every moment that I see any family, in doing their intake interview, I'm telling them what I've been through,” he said.
“If you are willing to work, you would have a very good life here,” he said. “You will believe in American dreams.”
Reach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_