Today, CVT held a virtual Town Hall session focused on the suspension of U.S. refugee admissions by the Trump administration and the impacts being felt by survivors of torture internationally. Halting resettlement has impacted thousands of people who, along with their families in many cases, were approved to resettle into the United States or who had appointments at the border seeking entry to apply for asylum. Thousands have now been required to stay in refugee camps or at the U.S. Southern border with uncertainty about how to move forward with rebuilding their lives.

Alison Beckman, CVT senior clinician for external relations, spoke about how the Trump administration has stopped refugee resettlement into the United States. Ally explained that during a time in world history when there are more than 120 million people who have been displaced by persecution, torture and conflict, the need for resettlement and asylum is enormous.

. . . during a time in world history when there are more than 120 million people who have been displaced by persecution, torture and conflict, the need for resettlement and asylum is enormous.”

“43 million of those people are officially registered as refugees,” she said, noting that today happens to be the 45^th anniversary of the 1980 Refugee Act, enacted by President Carter and Vice President Mondale, which created a systematic process for supporting people seeking safer shores.

Refugees go through an extensive vetting process which includes security clearance, medical screenings, in-person interviews and matching with a sponsoring agency – a process which takes years to complete and is coordinated by multiple agencies, including Department or Homeland Security, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, and the State Department.

Before coming to the United States, refugees who pass all these screenings are assigned to one of 10 resettlement agencies, all of which have now been forced to close, their contracts terminated. Ally noted that this means that refugees who had recently arrived in the U.S. are now without support, and any who had family members back in their home country will now not be able to reunite with those loved ones.

Leora Hudak, CVT migration partnerships program manager, extends destination case management care to families who enter the U.S. at the Southern border after passing their initial asylum screening and being released by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). She said these families are fleeing danger and have passed what is called the “credible fear” screening, a legal process protected under international human rights law.

The opportunities for asylum seekers moving into the United States were very limited under the Biden administration, but Leora said that now the lone process that was available, a mobile app called CBP One, was abruptly stopped by the Trump administration. This app allowed asylum seekers to set an asylum appointment and then wait in Mexico for the eight or nine months it took for that date to arrive. All those appointments were cancelled.

Leora’s program is called Proyecto Mariposa, and her clients have been dramatically impacted by the closure of these processes. One woman passed the CBP screening and was waiting in Tucson with her children. Her husband had a CBP One appointment for February. That was cancelled. He was not able to join them. This meant she had to make a difficult decision; the family had fled their home for safety, but now they were separated across the U.S. border. She took the children back south to Mexico.

We escaped our countries only to die here in the camps.”

-Former client, CVT Kakuma

Neal Porter, CVT director of international services, shared the story of a refugee client in Kenya who was approved to resettle to the U.S., with plane tickets in hand. His resettlement was cancelled. Neal said the man sold or gave away all his possessions, closed his business, and now he is stuck in Nairobi, without support.

And it’s a difficult situation in the refugee camps. Neal mentioned that with cuts to USAID and other resources, now in Kakuma, Kenya, a large camp that is home to thousands of refugees primarily from South Sudan and Somalia, there have been reductions in food rations, medications and other life-saving essentials. Education of refugee children is reducing as staff from other organizations are departing, and the scarcity is leading to protests, demonstrations and violence.

“We escaped our countries only to die here in the camps,” a client said to Neal.

And new people are coming to camps all over the world every day as global displacement grows. U.S. government funding cuts have forced CVT to halt our work in Ethiopia, Jordan and Uganda, and we are scrambling to find ways to help survivors whose care has been cut off.

CVT exists to help the most vulnerable of the vulnerable.”

-Dr. Simon Adams, president & CEO

A critical element of our work with survivors is suicide prevention, and Dr. Simon Adams, CVT president and CEO, noted that this work is done even in our children’s groups. “What really bothers me immensely at the moment is thinking about them and what will happen to them,” he said. “CVT exists to help the most vulnerable of the vulnerable.”

The townhall session closed with conversation about what people can do to help right now. Simon noted the importance of being active in your community, helping to strengthen civil society. He suggested supporting organizations, including CVT, which help refugees, and also to challenge your elected officials. He also said it’s important to help educate others about the realities of life as a refugee or asylum seeker. “Build the better tomorrow today,” Simon said.

Watch the Town Hall here.

What You Can Do

Contact your U.S. members of Congress and ask them to support CVT, and to continue State Department and USAID funding for life-saving mental health and psychosocial support programs. Click here for a phone number and message to share.

Donate to CVT’s Emergency Campaign.

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