The U.S. Department of State, late Wednesday, abruptly terminated grant agreements with all 10 national resettlement agencies for refugee reception and placement under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for fiscal year 2025, according to refugee resettlement agencies that spoke with Documented.
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, one of those 10 organizations, called the latest development “a continued failure to reimburse for services already provided” to refugees.
The U.S. government has funded 10 national non-profit organizations for almost four decades under the Reception and Placement cooperative agreement for refugee resettlement. But Wednesday’s decision cancels the agreement for fiscal year 2025. The cooperative agreement, signed every fiscal year, is a contract for the 10 organizations to provide critical services to refugees for their resettlement in the U.S. When the U.S. president determines the number of refugees to admit per year, that sets off the goal for the year. The U.S. Department of State and the 10 partner organizations then, essentially, work together to ensure funds for the resettlement process.
This year, however, agencies were dealt a setback when on Jan. 27, President Donald Trump issued a Stop Work Order to suspend the operations of refugee programs, which also entailed that the federal government immediately stop reimbursing refugee resettlement organizations for the work that has been done since late 2024. While the Stop Work Order suspended refugee programs beginning Jan. 27, it stated that within 90 days of the suspension, the administration would also assess if restarting the program is in the nation’s best interest. Refugee resettlement organizations told Documented they had hoped the 90-day review period would result in a resumption of services.
“Everybody already stopped work,” Chia-Chia Wang, the New York director of Church World Service (CWS), told Documented. “I think [the Wednesday announcement about the termination of the cooperative agreement] just puts a formal stop to the work but it’s very confusing because the administration ordered a 90-day review.”
CWS is one of the 10 organizations the U.S. Department of State gives USRAP federal grants to, through the cooperative agreement. This termination of the historical cooperative agreement announced Wednesday, now effectively cancels their agreement for the rest of fiscal year 2025, which began in October last year.
A Wednesday court filing shows the U.S. Department of State sent a letter to CWS saying, “This award is being terminated for the convenience of the U.S. Government pursuant to a directive from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for alignment with Agency priorities and national interest.”
Wang told Documented that “the Stop Work Order means the same thing [as the latest termination of the cooperative agreements],” she said. “But, you know, then, are they also canceling the 90 day review? That’s really unclear. They were supposed to resume the program if the program is in line with the American values, but we are not even in the middle of the 90 days yet, are they invalidating their own order? That’s a big question.”
Before this termination happened on Wednesday, a Seattle Judge blocked Trump’s Stop Work Order. Refugee organizations Documented spoke to said that the judge’s ruling gave them hope that they would be able to continue to receive the funds the federal government owes them for services conducted in late 2024 already (the first quarter of fiscal year 2025). But this termination implies that it’s not going to be the case.
The termination notice really conflicts with the judge’s ruling, Wang said. She said in fact, since “the government continues to owe us money,” and CWS “already stopped the work,” the termination almost has no bearing on their work at the moment. “I think more psychologically, we all feel very defeated, discouraged about the multiple attacks on our clients and our programs.”
Over the past several years across New York, hundreds of thousands of people have arrived seeking asylum and refugee status. “Their presence has strengthened New York,” Rt. Rev. Matt Heyd, 17th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, told Documented. “The work of agencies to support their arrival and safe landing has been crucial. So it’s hard to imagine what happens without those agency support.”
Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) is one of those 10 national resettlement agencies for refugee reception and placement under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). The organization has worked for generations to support the arrival of refugees from home placement to connecting them to job opportunities. “It’s remarkable the work they’ve done and it is completely needed by folks who are ready to make home here but need a bridge to find it,” Rt. Rev. Heyd said.
EMM is a national group and so it’s being supported through the National Episcopal Church, whose presiding bishop announced on January 31 that EMM is beginning to lay off its employees because so much of its funding came from the U.S. Department of State. Similarly, many resettlement organizations have already laid off staff due to Trump’s January Executive Order, and the latest development has deepened their sense of defeat.
For Vignarajah of Global Refuge, the termination of federal support “represents the essential destruction of a program that has saved more than 3.6 million lives since its creation in 1980.”
“Ending these agreements upends a proud bipartisan American tradition that has worked for decades — one built on partnership between government, local communities, and faith-based organizations like ours to ensure refugee families have the support they need to succeed,” continued Vignarajah. “This abrupt termination is not a simple review of federal resources; it seeks to end America’s longstanding religious tradition of helping the least among us.”
The 10 national non-profit organizations that have federal contracts under the cooperative agreement include: Bethany Christian Services; Church World Service; Episcopal Migration Ministries; Ethiopian Community Development Council; Global Refuge, formerly known as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service; HIAS; International Rescue Committee; U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants; US Conference of Catholic Bishops; and World Relief.
