Connecticut & Codification: Resettlement at Risk
State Action Matters: It's how we build the blueprint for a bipartisan GRACE Act.
Continued Collapse
Last week, we highlighted the collapse of resettlement’s overseas, domestic, and information infrastructure.
Over the past seven days, evidence of collapse has only grown: a federal judge has refused to “immediately block the Trump administration’s abrupt halt to funding” for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s resettlement program; the State Department’s Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts is drawing up plans to close; payments from the Office of Refugee Resettlement to local resettlement offices have slowed—and in some cases stopped—due to bureaucratic chaos; and volunteer sponsors of refugee families feel increasingly abandoned.
Just like last time, resettlement agencies across the Country are laying off staff and shutting their doors.
A resettlement agency in Binghamton, New York has closed, while San Antonio’s Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services has laid off over 60 employees.
World Relief warns that 4,000 recently resettled refugees face immediate risks of hunger and homelessness in our communities.
The current Trump Administration’s only response to an unprecedented need for resettlement globally is a bizarre exception for Afrikaners—a population that claims, themselves, to be uninterested in resettling to the U.S.
This is what happens when resettlement is vulnerable to executive whim rather governed by legislative certainty.
States Build the Blueprint
We all suffer when the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program suffers: resettled communities, families, schools, churches, local economies—the list continues ad infinitum. The impacts of resettlement’s collapse are most strongly felt on the local level.
At home is where it hurts.
States aren't waiting for Congress to save resettlement. This is true in red states as much as it is true in blue states; resettlement is politically popular at the local level, just as it could be in Congress.
States around the U.S. are crafting innovative, bipartisan methods to save resettlement. We need to level-up those efforts to support The GRACE Act and build a resettlement system refugees—and America—can rely on.
Red states, Blue states—Same Mission
From Utah to Texas, state legislators are reaching across the aisle to protect refugee resettlement. These aren't just gestures—they're concrete safeguards against political volatility.
Below are two maps side by side—one reflects the party control of state legislatures (blue/purple/pink); the second is a legislative map from the International Rescue Committee illustrating state legislative action in support of refugees (yellow/grey). The darker the color, the more supportive bills—just in 2025.
It’s crystal clear: resettlement is popular with Republicans and Democrats alike. While it will take federal action for durable, national protection of resettlement, states are acting to protect resettlement in their communities.
Safeguarding State Participation in USRAP
During the first Trump administration, states were required to consent to participation in the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). The Trump administration’s gamble that states would reject resettlement backfired; the overwhelming majority of states consented to the resettlement of refugees in their communities. This majority runs the political spectrum, from Democrat strongholds like California to Republican supermajority states like Tennessee.
Some states, scarred by their experience with the fragility of refugee resettlement under the first Trump Administration, have fought to formally lock in their state’s involvement in the Refugee Program.
This includes New York bill S.6070—a measure that, if passed, would codify New York’s participation in USRAP. New York could not withdraw from the U.S. Refugee Program should the federal government once again demand local consent, just like The GRACE Act would require that the Refugee Program continue to admit refugees no matter who sits in the Oval Office.
This work holds possibilities beyond New York: states across the Nation are taking similar action—and it’s possible in Connecticut too.
Connecticut and Codification
Each week, we highlight a different state (check out our archive for AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, and CO). This week, we are focusing on Connecticut.
As one of the many states that affirmed their support for resettlement under the first Trump Administration, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont described Connecticut’s support for resettlement:
It is a bedrock principle of the United States of America that we welcome to our shores those fleeing tyranny, persecution and violence…And we know from our own experience here in Connecticut that refugees enrich the communities that offer them shelter—socially, culturally, and economically.
We have the the will and the desire to continue welcoming those fleeing persecution and violence to our state. For these reasons and more, Connecticut will continue to welcome refugees...
Connecticut’s ability to welcome refugees is under attack. Under the Trump administration’s most recent pause of USRAP, Connecticut lost its ability to resettle—the impact of which is already being felt across the Constitution state.
Resettlement agencies are shrinking staff, family reunifications live in limbo, and communities are scrambling to support recently-arrived refugees.
As Maggie Mitchell Salem, the Executive Director of Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, shared in an interview with Connecticut Public:
“It’s overwhelming, every day, something else changes, and it doesn't always offer more clarity to us. And our clients, the people we serve, are just deeply fearful. No one feels secure. They come to us for information, and we tell them what we know, but as of now, that's not a lot.”
Connecticut’s communities have met uncertainty with incredible generosity— for example, five congregations in the Southern Connecticut area donated $10,000 to Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services to ensure refugees receive the support they were promised. Resettlement agencies have reported a record number of eager volunteers.
But for how incredible this support truly is, it simply isn’t enough. With a pause on USRAP, refugees can’t resettle in Connecticut. Without sustained funding, resettlement agencies won’t be able to keep their doors open and lights on.
Even if the Trump Administration’s resettlement suspension is lifted, Trump could do what he did his first term and require states to consent to resettlement—complicating and prolonging this current chaos. Language in the Executive Order “Realigning” Resettlement suggests that this is likely.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Connecticut can follow New York’s example and introduce legislation that would codify the state’s participation in the Refugee Program. Connecticut must affirm its’ support for resettled communities legislatively. The International Rescue Committee has published a guide on how to do this in Connecticut—and in your state.
State Codification & The GRACE ACT
We’ve said it before: The GRACE Act—federal legislation that would establish a mandatory minimum for annual refugee admissions—offers the only durable, achievable path to save resettlement.
Every state that codifies its commitment to refugee resettlement builds momentum for The GRACE Act.
When states prove that bipartisan refugee protection is possible, it makes it harder for federal legislators to hide behind partisan excuses. State codification shows that protecting refugees isn't about politics—it's about maintaining vital infrastructure that keeps our communities strong.
States are showing us that bipartisan action on refugee resettlement isn't just possible: it's happening. Right now. In red states and blue states alike.
No, we can't fix Congress overnight. But we can keep building state-level protections while pushing toward the ultimate goal: The GRACE Act.
Want to help? You can email your Congressional representatives and ask them to support The GRACE Act by clicking here
The momentum is building. Let's keep it going.
Thanks for reading Save Resettlement.
Next week, Delaware & Uniting for Ukraine.
Until then, we recommend replacing most meals with ice cream— our current favorites are Cherry Garcia and Pistachio.
