The State Department has suspended flights bringing previously approved refugees to the United States, cutting off access to protection in advance of the timeline set by President Trump in a new order pausing the program.
An email reviewed Wednesday by The Associated Press, the U.S. agency overseeing refugee processing and arrival told staff and stakeholders that “refugee arrival to the United States have been suspended until further notice.”
The suspension of flights indicates early action on an order that didn’t direct movement from agencies until Jan. 27.
The State Department did not return a request for comment, but a page on refugee admissions was already unavailable.
A Day 1 order from Trump pauses the refugee program for a minimum of three months, calling for the departments of State and of Homeland Security to issue a report within 90 days detailing whether it’s in the nation’s interests to resume the admission of refugees.
The agency heads are directed to do so every 90 days until it is found that it is appropriate to resume refugee admissions, the order states. Until then, such admissions will remain suspended.
The U.S. refugee program is considered one of the most rigorous on the globe, providing a pathway to safe haven for those fleeing danger or who has faced persecution due to their race, religion, nationality or political views.
“The refugee program is not just a humanitarian lifeline through which the U.S. has shown global leadership. It represents the gold standard of legal immigration pathways in terms of security screening, community coordination, and mutual economic benefit,” Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, which helps resettle refugees, said in a statement when the order was first announced.
“The US Refugee Admissions Program was designed and ameliorated over four decades precisely to address the concerns used to suspend it today.”
Democrats seized the moment to criticize Republicans over the order’s impact on stranding an estimated 1,600 Afghan allies cleared for resettlement in the U.S. They pointed to GOP attacks on the Biden administration for leaving behind thousands of Afghans who worked with the U.S. during the chaotic and deadly American withdrawal.
“Republicans spent 4 years baselessly chastising Biden for ‘abandoning our Afghan Allies.’ But *this* is what abandonment looks like. Leaving vetted, verified Afghan Allies at the mercy of the Taliban is shameful,” the Democratic side of the House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote in a post on X.
“Among those being abandoned are: family members of US military service personnel, Afghans who fought alongside us and allies who worked with US contractors. We owe them better.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said she was “alarmed” at the suspension and that it goes against bipartisan support for the Refugee Admissions Program.
She noted that among those stranded are victims of genocide, such as the Rohingya Burmese and Sudanese refugees, as well as Afghan partners.
“Stepping away from this program at a time of unprecedented displacement will put refugees’ lives at risk and ultimately weaken our nation’s long-term security,” she said in a statement.
