For refugees, ‘chaos, confusion’
Those fleeing persecution, and agencies that help them, feel the effects of US policy change
Just two years ago, California took in nearly 7,000 refugees, a testament to the reputation of this state — and the country — as a mecca for beleaguered people from all over the world.
But that’s changed under policies enacted by President Donald Trump’s administration to drastically cut the number of refugees eligible to enter the U.S.
During the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, California — the nation’s most populous state — will resettle an estimated 1,300 refugees. That’s down nearly 74 percent from the previous year. The same trend has played out across the United States, which by the end of August had reset-
tled about 20,000 refugees, the smallest number of arrivals in the country’s history.
For decades, the Bay Area has welcomed thousands of refugees from Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and Ethiopia, offering them a second chance in a new land. Farther south, San Diego County for seven straight years accepted more refugees than any other region in the Golden State, becoming a hub of resettlement for people fleeing places as diverse as the Congo, Sri Lanka, Burundi and Burma.
“Under this administration, the United States is shifting from a nation that has historically welcomed refugees to one with much more restrictive policies, and that has an immediate impact for refugees hoping for admission to the United States,” said Mark Greenberg, a fellow at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
“It also risks having an impact on other nations around the world who have historically looked to the leadership of the United States,” said Greenberg, a former Obama administration official who oversaw refugee resettlement.
In the Bay Area, agencies that work with refugees are feeling the effects of the policy changes. And they expect their challenges to grow. This week, the Trump administration announced that the cap on the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. under the resettlement program will be cut by 33 percent next year.
Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County resettled 28 refugees this year, compared with 60 last year. Jewish Family Services in Oakland resettled 96 refugees this year, about 47 percent fewer than the prior year.
The decline was even steeper at Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley, which resettled 99 refugees last year. This year? Just 18.
Several clients — some from Iran and Eritrea — are stranded in Vienna, Turkey and Ethiopia, blocked from settling in Silicon Valley where they have family, said Mindy Berkowitz, executive
director of the Los Gatos-based agency.
“It’s very difficult speaking with their family members (in the U.S.),” she said. “They’re desperate, they’re crying, they’re begging.”
The country’s refugee resettlement program has been in Trump’s sights since his election, and administration officials this week reiterated that vetting and security are key reasons for reducing the number of refugees. But the agencies that work with refugees, under contracts with the federal government, say the administration is trying to get rid of a program central to America’s identity.
“There’s never been an attempt to decimate the program, which is what’s going on now,” said Avi Rose, executive director of Jewish Family Services in Oakland.
Fleeing persecution in their home country, refugees seek asylum while they are still overseas. If they are granted protection, they are then resettled in the U.S. under the State Department and the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week attributed the reduction in refugee resettlement in part to the overwhelming number of people petitioning for asylum, calling it a “humanitarian crisis.”
Before the U.S. instituted limits on the number of refugees it accepted annually, California admitted up to 29,000 refugees in some years, according to state data. After caps were put in place, the numbers declined dramatically; in the past five years, the state has resettled 5,0006,000 refugees annually, the majority in San Diego, Los Angeles and Sacramento.
Those numbers started shrinking in 2017 after Trump introduced his first travel ban, which restricted travel from seven Muslimmajority countries. Though that policy — and another that followed — was struck down in appeals courts, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Trump’s third travel ban in June. It restricts travel from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, North Korea and Venezuela.
In the 2017 fiscal year, California resettled 4,996 refugees. This year, the final number is expected to be about 1,300.
Because refugee resettlement agencies receive roughly $2,100 from the federal government for every refugee arrival, the state’s declining arrival numbers have meant the loss of thousands of dollars in funding. About half the money goes to the agency for services it provides, while the rest goes to
the refugee to secure housing, clothing and other necessities.
Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley already has laid off one staff member and cut other employees’ hours. It expects to end the fiscal year with its largest revenue shortfall in at least 15 years, which Berkowitz blames on the declining revenue. In the meantime, the agency has continued to provide a variety of services — from English as a second language classes to job training and food donations
— to hundreds of clients each month while applying for grants and building its emergency fund.
The State Department has said it will fund a smaller resettlement network this year that will still be “national in scope.” But Berkowitz and others worry that the government may cut the number of its primary resettlement contracts, which would affect smaller organizations and keep arrivals down.
The International Rescue Committee in Oakland resettled 314 refugees across the Bay Area this year, down about 52 percent from the previous year.
At the International Rescue Committee in Oakland, Executive Director Karen Ferguson describes the current situation in two words: “chaos and confusion.” IRC resettled 314 refugees across the Bay Area this year, down about 48 percent from the previous year.
“It’s really hard for everybody who has dedicated their passion and their career to this,” she said.