After Trump order, many Stanislaus County refugee families are left with nowhere to go
A federal stop-work order left around 20 families of newly arrived refugees in Stanislaus County without a place to stay.
On Jan. 24, the State Department told support service agencies that previously approved funding for vetted refugees was discontinued. Families being sheltered at a Days Inn in Modesto were told they had until Jan. 30 to find new living arrangements.
Ruth Luman, a professor at Modesto Junior College, agreed to take in a family of three Venezuelan refugees by Thursday after she was told that World Relief no longer can assist them.
“What I understand is that as of Friday evening [Jan. 24], they blocked federal funds for use of core refugee resettlement services,” she said.
The federal government also reversed a decision made by the Biden administration to temporarily extend protected status to Venezuelan refugees.
The Refugee Resettlement Program is a State Department program that allows for 90 days of assistance for newcomers who have been vetted to find housing, food, shelter, clothing and healthcare.
The assistance is for “anything you can imagine that you would need help with when you arrive in a new country and you don’t know what the language is or you don’t know what’s going on or how the system works,” Luman said.
The program was signed into law by the Jimmy Carter administration in 1980. “That was kind of a federal system to ensure that newly arrived refugees were not just left to completely flounder,” Luman said.
On Jan. 20, his first day in office, the program was suspended by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump.
Helping friend could put immigrant in a bind
In Stanislaus County, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Bethany Christian Services and World Relief are designated providers of aid for newly arrived refugees.
Juliel Shinwari, a member of the Afghan community living in Modesto, was asked on Tuesday to take in a friend who was staying at the Days Inn.
“They were told due to Trump’s executive orders, all agencies have to stop working and they can’t help them with finding a house,” he said.
Shinwari’s friend has been in the country for three months on a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), which was created to assist people from Afghanistan who worked directly with the U.S. military.
“Yesterday, the case worker called me and said, ‘You have to pick up your friend because we can’t help them anymore,’” he said.
Shinwari is concerned because his apartment lease requires him to declare anyone who stays over 15 days. He doesn’t know what he will do if his friend cannot find housing or shelter within that time, and is worried about getting in trouble with his landlord.
“Some people just got here,” he said. “They were in their first month, or they were just here for a week or two weeks.”
On Jan. 27, World Relief posted on Facebook and Instagram that it is in need of urgent relief: “On Friday, we were notified by the U.S. Department of State that all federally funded activities providing initial resettlement support to nearly 4,000 refugees we’re serving in the U.S. must stop, effective immediately.”
The post said refugees enrolled in the program were at risk of “hunger and homelessness.”
Bethany Christian Services released a statement Tuesday that said in part: “While we understand and appreciate the President’s commitment to our country’s safety, the vetting process for refugees is already rigorous.”
A World Relief representative said Wednesday that the organization could not comment. IRC has not provided an update and said it is unable to comment until it has a firmer understanding of the situation. Bethany Christian Services has not responded to a request for comment.
Members of LGBTQ community affected by stop order
Roman Scanlon, executive director for the Cal Pride Center of Stanislaus County, said he is “in panic mode.” He was told this week that two members of the trans community and who are refugees from Syria and Iraq, respectively, would need to find new housing by Monday.
The two refugees speak only Arabic, so he has been using ChatGPT to communicate with them, with marginal success.
“It’s very difficult to navigate the system, to explain it to them and even to explain the severity of what’s going on right now and what position they are in,” he said. “I don’t think they fully grasp what has happened.”
They arrived two weeks ago and recently got set up with IDs, but the nonprofits that were in place to aid them were told they were no longer allowed to offer any services including translation or transportation. Members of their own community are refusing to translate due to religious beliefs about transgender people.
Tuesday, the Trump administration signed another executive order limiting health services for members of the trans community.
“It’s not just housing,” Luman said. “It’s a complete upheaval in everybody’s lives.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2025 at 4:00 PM.
