Trump administration cancels flights for refugees already approved for travel

The State Department abruptly canceled the travel of thousands of refugees who had already been approved to travel to the United States, days before a deadline set by President Trump to suspend a resettlement program that provides safe haven for people fleeing persecution.

The flight cancellations follow an executive order signed by Mr. Trump on Monday that halted refugee resettlement indefinitely. This effectively halts the process of bringing refugees into the country, which involves multiple federal agencies, as well as non-profit organizations that receive the new arrivals.

There are currently more than 10,000 refugees on their way to travel to the United States, according to government data. Among them are Afghans who faced danger because of their connection to the United States before the military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Other refugees approved for travel include people from Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

Workers at the resettlement group said the sudden halt in flights was a painful blow to refugees who were following a complex and lengthy process to enter the country legally.

Angela Plummer, executive director of Refugee and Immigration Community Services, which works to resettle refugees in Columbus, Ohio, said the organization was expecting dozens to arrive on flights that were grounded.

“These are people who followed all the rules and are now at risk,” Ms Plummer said. “It’s heartbreaking.”

The decision to pause the refugee program is in line with Mr. Trump’s promise to crack down on widespread immigration.

Under the decades-old refugee program, people who have fled their home countries as a result of persecution, war or other life-threatening reasons can legally immigrate to the United States. Trump said continuing to take them in would burden communities that are ill-equipped to deal with them, according to the order he signed on Monday.

The State Department followed up his order with a memo on Tuesday saying “all previously scheduled refugee flights to the United States have been canceled, and no new travel reservations will be made.” The report noted that organizations, such as the International Rescue Committee and others that assist refugees, “should not request travel for any additional refugee cases at this time.”

On Wednesday, American refugee officers at Homeland Security agencies, such as US Citizenship and Immigration Services, were told to stop making decisions on refugee cases, according to an internal memo obtained by The New York Times.

News that the Trump administration has canceled travel even for refugees who have been allowed to resettle in communities across the United States has shocked leaders of nonprofits contracted by the State Department to help the newcomers.

“This sudden halt to refugee admissions is devastating for families who have already suffered unimaginable persecution and have waited years for the opportunity to rebuild their lives in safety,” Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of World Refugees, said in a statement.

She continued, “Refugees are subject to one of the most stringent vetting processes in the world, and it is heartbreaking to see their dreams of safety derailed just days, or in some cases, just hours before they are scheduled to start their new lives here.”

“Many people have been waiting for years, and in some cases decades, in refugee camps, carefully following asylum procedures to obtain travel authorization,” said Skander Negash, president of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.

“Even if the refugee program reopens in the future, the indefinite suspension of refugee travel and processing will have a lasting shock and impact on refugees and their families,” he said.

Ms Plummer said her group was receiving calls from distraught clients who had been waiting for years for their relatives to arrive, only to realize the prospect of a reunion was now bleak.

Among them is Noor Ahmed, who arrived in Columbus in 2010, after fleeing civil war in Somalia. He sponsored his child, his little sister, and his mother to join him.

Their case stalled during Mr. Trump’s first term as president.

Mr Ahmed’s son and sister, both in their 20s, arrived last week, before returning to the White House. But his mother, who is 70 years old, was expected to arrive early next month, and her arrival may be postponed indefinitely.

“I’m very lucky that my son and sister have arrived, but I’m sad that my mother has been left behind,” he said.

Often different travel dates are set for members of the same family, in which case it may mean many years of separation.

“Trump has delayed us before; “He’s back now and he’s late again,” said Mr. Ahmed, a cross-country truck driver. “All I feel is pain since Donald Trump arrived again.”

“I haven’t seen my mom since she left, and I don’t know when I’ll see her again,” he said in an interview while transporting dry foods on a Texas highway.

As part of a torrent of executive orders to cut immigration, Mr. Trump suspended the refugee resettlement program effective January 27. Officials at resettlement agencies had hoped that refugees who completed a years-long process and were booked on flights would still be able to be resettled. Travel to the United States.

In his first administration, Trump dismantled the refugee program by imposing additional layers of scrutiny on applicants he deemed to pose security risks, and lowering the target for the number the United States was willing to take in.

The president annually sets the number of refugees the United States is willing to accept in a given year, and numbers have varied, with Republican presidents historically setting some of the highest caps.

However, the number of refugees accepted into the country fell to an all-time low, to about 11,000 in 2020, Mr. Trump’s final year in office, down from 85,000 in 2016 under President Barack Obama. Mr. Trump has prioritized religious minorities, especially white Christians from countries like Moldova and Russia.

President Biden has rebuilt the program, and the numbers of refugees accepted have soared, reaching 100,000 last year, the most in three decades.

This time, Trump justified the suspension of refugee admissions on the grounds that it exhausts the resources of cities that need to benefit Americans.

“The United States lacks the capacity to absorb large numbers of immigrants, especially refugees, into its communities in a way that does not impact the availability of resources to Americans,” the order, which Trump signed during a press conference, said. Hours after his inauguration.