New York, NY, February 28, 2025 — The U.S. Department of State’s decision to terminate all cooperative agreements with resettlement agencies this past Wednesday dismantles a decades-long public-private partnership that operated for 45 years across seven presidential administrations and transformed the lives of millions of refugees. The decision represents an unprecedented halt to America’s bipartisan tradition of extending welcome to people fleeing persecution and conflict.
The families and individuals who arrive through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) undergo an extensive, often years-long, process of vetting and security checks. The initial support they receive from resettlement agencies helps them to start new lives in America - becoming community members, business owners, health care workers, and other essential contributors to the U.S. economy. Since 1980, 3.6 million refugees have benefited from the protection of the USRAP.
American communities revitalized by resettlement will lose the coordination and infrastructure that enabled refugees to fill open jobs, renew declining neighborhoods, and start new businesses. Among others, the termination of the program will immediately interrupt initial integration support for recently arrived refugees and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders. This includes nearly 5,000 resettlement clients being assisted by the International Rescue Committee in their first months in America.
Hans Van de Weerd, Senior Vice President of Resettlement, Asylum and Integration at the IRC, said: “The U.S. refugee resettlement program has long been an effective partnership between the federal government, states, and everyday Americans to welcome refugees as our new neighbors. The decision to end these resettlement agreements comes at a cost not only to the families whose lives are now endangered stranded overseas, but also to the American communities that will miss out on the cultural and economic contributions, resilience, and ingenuity that refugees bring.
“In the face of considerable uncertainty, IRC staff across 29 U.S. offices have continued to serve refugee clients with professionalism and grace. Through community support, local government engagement, and private sector partners, IRC will find ways to continue this critical work to serve refugee families.
“Furthermore, the U.S. government should urgently restore the longstanding and effective programs and partnerships that have protected refugees for decades, and re-affirm America’s commitment and leadership in ensuring people fleeing persecution can reach safety.”
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Note to Editors:
- The termination of grants also eliminates infrastructure and technological innovations that have facilitated more efficient, cost-effective U.S. resettlement processes. In addition to USRAP, IRC operations impacted by the grant termination include: the Resettlement Support Center in Asia, which has helped to process inbound refugees since 2005, the Cultural Orientation Resource Exchange, which has worked to improve cultural orientation for refugees in the U.S. and overseas since 2015, and Settle In, an information source for refugees and other newcomers navigating life in the US that reached nearly 1.2 million users in 2024. Contracts to bring new innovations to resettlement have also been cancelled, including Welcome Corps and Welcome Corps at Work, which empowered everyday Americans and employers to welcome nearly 4,500 refugees through private sponsorship programs since October 2023.