Green Bay Diocese sign July 14, 2022. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — An executive order signed by President Donald Trump is freezing the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for at least 90 days. This means new refugees looking to resettle in the U.S. will have to wait.
Each year, thousands of refugees come to the U.S. looking to create better lives for themselves, but the order may not be here to stay long-term.
Lawrence University Professor of Government Claudena Skran said, “The fact that it’s a pause rather than an elimination of the program, to me that indicates that it’s very likely the program will restart.”
Skran said the executive order is based on the idea there are too many refugees in the U.S. and they’re an economic burden. She added refugees are the most carefully screened migrants in the U.S. and are only allowed to seek refuge with approval from the U.S. government. She continued if the program is re-instated, there will likely be changes, including an even stricter screening process among others.
“I do think it’s very likely that the number of refugees accepted would be reduced, but it’s difficult to tell what might happen,” Skran said.
Refugees are typically helped by non-profits, with minimal government help. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Green Bay has a refugee resettlement program. They were expected to take in 215 refugees this year, but that’s no longer the case.
“I think there’s obviously stress,” Catholic Charities of Green Bay Refugee Services Program Manager Sean Gilligan said. “There’s confusion as people try to understand what all of this means, and our role in that is just to be there to have conversations with those people.”
Catholic Charities is currently working with about 20 people in the resettlement period, which usually lasts around 90 days. The executive order stops funding for those refugees, not the refugees already established here. Gilligan noted right now, they have enough to support those folks with the necessities, and the order won’t stop them from their day-to-day work.
“Our concern I guess is always with the people that we have here, so if we are getting new refugees, then our concern is how to best serve them, how to best welcome them to this community and bring them to this community,” Gilligan said.
While the order prevents more refugees from coming to the U.S., it also stops many from reuniting with their families. Gilligan said the pause has created a lot of anxiety for refugees who were excited to be with their loved ones.
“Not only is there fear that they won’t be reconnected, but how safe are their family members and things back home,” Gilligan said.
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