Arizona & Resettlement Suspended: Resettlement at Risk
As of 12:01am this morning, the U.S. has formally suspended refugee resettlement. Here's what it means for America--and the Great State of Arizona.
Resettlement Suspended
As of 12:01am this morning, the Trump Administration has suspended “entry into the United States of refugees under the USRAP.” Of the nearly 3 million people in need of resettlement, zero will be resettled to the U.S.
Those who made the impossible choice to flee their homelands out of fear of persecution, violence, and death, no longer have the opportunity to rebuild their lives in the United States.
This pause also immediately stops critical funding tied to refugee arrivals—what’s known as the “per capita” grant—from reaching local resettlement agencies.
Decisions about halting some of our Country’s most effective workforce development programs, laying off a sizable number of America’s social workers, and closing resettlement agencies altogether are drawing ever nearer.
What’s worse: resettlement was paused for nothing. All of the deficiencies described in Trump’s Executive Order are actually the Refugee Program’s strengths.
Further, even if the President truly wanted to reform resettlement, he couldn’t—that’s the role of Congress.
Resettlement “Realigned”
The Trump Administration paused resettlement under the guide of “realigning” the U.S. Refugee Program with American interests. According to the Executive Order, resettlement “compromise[s] the availability of resources for Americans,” endangers American “safety and security,” and ignores the wishes of state and local governments.
While there are always opportunities for modernizing immigration programs to meet evolving need—some of which we will cover next week—the ways in which the Trump Administration wishes to “realign” resettlement are founded in misinformation.
The Refugee Program is already required by law—and successfully achieves—every aim laid out in the Trump Administration’s recent Executive Order.
By the Trump Administration’s own standards, refugee resettlement is unambiguously in the interests of the United States and should resume immediately.
Let’s take a look at how the Refugee Program aligns with America’s national interests, using Arizona as an example.
Economic Interest
The Refugee Act of 1980 establishes “economic self-sufficiency” as a primary objective of the Refugee Program. We don’t need an executive order to protect taxpayer resources; the law already does.
And it works. Refugees make invaluable contributions to the American economy. In 2019, alone, refugees generated $93.6 billion in household income. In 2022, refugees held $82 billion in spending power. Almost 13% of all refugees are entrepreneurs—compared to 9% of those born in America. In 2022, refugee-run businesses generated over $6.7 billion in income.
While refugees receive support when resettling to the U.S.—from both public and private sources—the Department of Health and Human Services found that refugees and asylees contributed nearly $124 billion more to U.S. tax coffers than they withdrew in government services over the past twenty years.
This holds true in Arizona. In 2022, 95.8% of refugees were gainfully employed. They held a household income of $2.5 billion, and a total spending power of $1.9 billion. The Grand Canyon state’s refugees also paid $644.2 million in taxes— including $196.3 million in state and local taxes—in 2022.
Refugee resettlement is in the economic interests of the United States. It does not “compromise the availability of resources for Americans”—it expands them.
National Security Interest
In 2006, Congress established the first “Special Immigrant Visa” program, enabling U.S. military allies to find safety in the States. These programs operate through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Without the U.S. Refugee Program, those that fought alongside our troops will remain stranded in enemy territory.
For example, stopping resettlement means that nearly 1,660 of our Afghan allies already cleared to resettle in the U.S. have had their relocation flights cancelled. These 1,660 people risked their lives for U.S. national security—doing more than most citizens—and include family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel.
This concern was echoed by former Republican Arizona State Senator and Veteran Steve Kaiser, who worked tirelessly to help get the interpreters he worked with to the U.S. when the Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021. Because of Trump’s Executive Order, over 2,000 Afghans resettled to Arizona are unlikely to reunite with their family members, friends, and neighbors who are still under threat from the Taliban.
The Refugee Program doesn’t endanger American safety and security—it strengthens it.
State & Local Interest
Much of the Executive Order insists that state and local governments should have more control over refugee resettlement. This isn’t a new claim by the Trump Administration; in 2019, they used this argument to effectively pause resettlement. Executive Order 13888 required states and localities to reaffirm their consent to refugee resettlement before welcoming any additional refugees. This Executive Order was ultimately blocked by the courts.
Resettlement is fundamentally a local process, with local airport pick-ups, local housing set-ups, and local school enrollments. By law, the Refugee Program is guided by state and local input. The most recent Executive Order all but admits this lie, citing the very section of U.S. law that requires state and local input for refugee resettlement.
The Refugee Act of 1980 requires the federal government to “consult regularly with State and local governments…concerning the sponsorship process and the intended distribution of refugees among the States and localities.”
As demanded by Executive Order, these provisions of the law are “carried out.” Four times a year, State Refugee Coordinators are required to hold “Quarterly Consultations” with local authorities—mayor’s offices, police chiefs, school superintendents, and health clinic administrators—that determine the number of refugees a locality will welcome and ensure sufficient resources are available to meet their needs. Additionally, before receiving a single dollar of federal funds, states are required to submit resettlement plans to the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Arizona takes this a step further. Beyond having Quarterly Consultations, Arizona provides Quarterly Educational Sessions and Semi-annual Public Information Meetings to help keep the public informed and engaged with resettlement in their community.
The Refugee Program doesn’t ignore state and local needs, it is required by law to address them.
American & Arizonan Interests
Trump’s Executive Order paints the Refugee Program as disorderly and overwhelming—causing, rather than responding to, record levels of migration.
The opposite is true. Pausing and dismantling the Refugee Program results in more chaos, not less. The Refugee Program is one of America’s most important and effective tools for coordinating orderly responses to displacement—responses that are in the economic, military, and even the local interests of communities across the United States.
Americans & Arizonans know it. As we’ve reported before, 71% of U.S. voters believe that the U.S. should have a refugee program. In Arizona, the State Legislature has passed multiple pro-refugee resolutions. In 2023, Republican State Senator Kaiser championed legislation that established Arizona’s New American Talent Study Committee, which works to further enhance refugee and new American contributions to Arizona’s workforce. Arizona’s refugees also make up a large political constituency: in 2022, 81.1% of refugees were naturalized citizens—which equates to thousands of voters.
Pausing the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program does not realign resettlement.
Pausing resettlement dismantles the Refugee Program, fundamentally damaging the U.S.’s ability to respond to displacement in a way that secures our interests—for decades to come.
Truly Realigning Resettlement
Truly realigning resettlement requires Congressional action.
The current U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) is critically vulnerable to executive discretion, with no meaningful congressional oversight of presidential refugee admission decisions—like the most recent resettlement pause.
The Guaranteed Refugee Admissions Ceiling Enhancement (GRACE) Act addresses this systemic weakness by establishing a mandatory refugee admissions floor—effectively constraining the executive branch's ability to unilaterally dismantle refugee resettlement. By setting a clear legislative benchmark, Congress can safeguard refugee resettlement infrastructure and ensure continued support for vulnerable populations, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.
Tell your representatives to protect American interests and Save Resettlement.
Next week: Arkansas & Political Imagination.
I’m from Arizona, and the welcoming of refugees and the value placed on resettlement opportunities have always been a huge part of the ethos of the state. It mirrors the promise of new opportunities the American west has always symbolized!
It’s heartbreaking that our government is directly opposing policies and programs the people have voted on time and time again, This is such important reporting. Thank you for sharing this. 💔