Resettlement agencies race to help refugees ahead of Trump's second term
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Rogers Lopez knows just how lucky his family is as they settle into their furnished two-bedroom apartment in suburban Connecticut, just before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Lopez, his wife Karina Cañizarez and their 5-year-old son Jesus are refugees from Venezuela and Colombia who were embraced by a team of supportive volunteers when they arrived in December. Similar encounters happened nationwide as resettlement groups scrambled in the final days of President Joe Biden's administration to find homes for refugees before Trump sharply limits, if not closes, this path to safety and citizenship.
“Always, the refugee process is very difficult,” said Lopez, 29, who said "political problems" forced him from Venezuela. “But it will be more difficult in the future.”. The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program has brought in more than 3 million people since Congress created it in 1980 for refugees fearing persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group or political opinion.
Trump, who put tight limits on refugees in his first term, has vowed to “suspend refugee resettlement” as part of a broader effort to “immediately end the migrant invasion of America.”. Presidents set targets and Biden ramped them up, citing “the generosity that has always been at the core of the American spirit,” and the billions of dollars refugees have contributed to the U.S. economy.
