The U.S. State Department has terminated all its contracts with organizations who work to resettle refugees in Georgia.
This came after the Trump administration issued executive orders stopping funding for resettlement programs, pausing resettlements and canceling flights for approved incoming refugees who had gone through years-long vetting processes.
“They are in limbo,” said Muzhda Oriakhil, the chair of the Coalition of Refugee Service Agencies, a metro Atlanta group with nearly two dozen nonprofits who support refugees after resettlement. “They don’t know how to help themselves, and the only response they hear is, ‘I’m sorry, we are not able to help you anymore.’”
U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead in Seattle ruled while the president has discretion over who enters the country, he could not suspend refugee operations because they are enshrined in the law Congress passed in 1980 that established the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
After that ruling, the State Department terminated resettlement contracts with all 10 national organizations that worked with nonprofits across the country to resettle refugees.
“No resettlement agencies exist at all right now, all across the state and even at the national level,” Oriakhil said.
Georgia’s refugees come through six of those national organizations. Federal data shows 3,227 refugees resettled here in fiscal year 2024, with a majority of refugees coming from Venezuela, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Burma. Georgia resettled the 12th most refugees in the U.S., and Texas settled the most overall.
Oriakhil said as no more refugees will be able to come to the U.S., those who made it to Georgia before Trump’s executive orders took place are not receiving the relief promised.
“I was told today one of our clients who is pregnant was told by her resettlement agency they will not be able to help her moving forward,” she said. The woman had only received one month of assistance out of the three months resettlement agencies provide. Pregnant refugees are usually eligible for extended benefits as well.
“The resettlement agencies can’t offer case workers because they have had to lay off their staff,” Oriakhil said.
Representatives in Atlanta for four of the agencies confirmed to WABE that their contracts were terminated: the International Rescue Committee; New American Pathways, which facilitates resettlement for Church World Service; the Archdiocese of Atlanta, which works with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to resettle refugees; and Inspiritus, which facilitates resettlement for Global Refuge.
Judge Whitehead is expected to clarify this week whether or not the Trump administration evaded the previous ruling by terminating the resettlement contracts.
“The U.S. government promised to bring refugees here for the dream of America,” Oriakhil said. “It’s not happening anymore. It is just a dream they don’t believe in anymore.”
