The U.S. refugee resettlement landscape has ground to a standstill, leaving over 160,000 sponsors and thousands of vetted refugees in legal limbo. Programs like the Welcome Corps and humanitarian parole initiatives—which welcomed 800,000 migrants from crisis zones since 2022—were abruptly suspended, creating ripple effects across communities.
Rivly Breus, a South Florida crisis counselor, has supported 30+ refugees through housing and job placement.
We can't answer basic questions anymore,she said. How do you tell someone their child might never escape a warzone?Her foundation now faces stalled applications for Haitian and Ukrainian families.
Key programs affected include:
- The Welcome Corps: Required sponsor groups to raise $2,425 per refugee
- CHNV Parole: Allowed 30,000 monthly entries from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela
- Private sponsorship networks providing housing, education, and employment support
Ed Shapiro, a Welcome Corps funder, emphasized:
This wasn't taxpayer-funded—it was Americans directly helping refugees rebuild lives.Over 9,000 sponsors resettled 4,500 refugees before the freeze.
Migrants like Flor—a Haitian psychology graduate working overnight shifts—now face deportation risks. I promised my daughter safety,she shared through tears. Now I can't even video-call her without feeling like a failure.
Retirees like Clydie Wakefield (72) and Chuck Pugh (78) have lobbied Congress to revive programs. Wakefield’s Afghan mentee remains stranded in Pakistan despite completed medical checks. Pugh’s seven-person sponsorship group redoubled fundraising efforts days before the suspension.
Welcoming that family would be my life’s greatest achievement,he said.
State Department officials cite America Firstreviews of all foreign assistance programs. With no timeline for resumption, nonprofits warn of collapsing social infrastructure built over decades—and a generation of refugees losing legal pathways to safety.
