Refugee Resettlement Agencies: Now What?

The revised travel restrictions now going into effect for six majority-Muslim nations means new questions and confusion for local resettlement agencies who were ready to welcome refugees in the coming months. 

"The banning of grandmothers, of unaccompanied children, is a disgrace," said Alison Millan, the New Jersey resettlement director for the International Rescue Committee. "And we're really just waiting on additional guidance on what the Supreme Court's decision means."

On Friday, in addition to running job training and English language programs for recent arrivals, Millan and her colleagues in Elizabeth, NJ, examined their files on more than 100 refugees from around the world whom they expected to resettle into homes in North Jersey. The agency was trying to figure out who exactly was banned from entering the country, given the Supreme Court's ruling this week that those coming from six majority-Muslim nations must have close United States ties, like immediate family, to enter the country.

It is unclear how the Trump Administration will implement the policy, given that it is a temporary fix until the justices make a final decision on the entirety of the travel issue in the fall. But nationally, the International Rescue Committee estimates that about 1,900 of the 2,500 refugees it expected to resettle will not meet the new requirements.

So far this year, the International Rescue Committee in New Jersey has resettled 86 Syrians and three Sudanese. Both Syria and Sudan are on the list of countries with travel restrictions.

Another Sudanese is booked to arrive in New Jersey next week. "We hope all goes well with his arrival," Millan said.