Charlotte refugee program faces cuts under Trump’s policy

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A federal program that has helped more than 15,000 legal refugees resettle in Charlotte over the last 45 years is no longer welcoming families fleeing persecution. 

As part of President Donald Trump’s promise to crack down on immigration, his administration canceled a longstanding government contract that was supposed to send at least $1.5 million this year alone to the Charlotte region.

“The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees,” Trump said in his executive order.

The. U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is one of 10 resettlement agencies across the country that has used federal funding to welcome refugees and then help them transition to life in America. The conference has since filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of State over the federal government’s decision.

Catholic Charities, a nonprofit social service organization associated with the Diocese of Charlotte, said the unprecedented decision to cancel the contract will hurt people here and abroad.

“It makes me sad. It makes me frustrated too,” Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Director Laura Townsend Jones said. “I think that there’s a lack of understanding of what these individuals do.”

She said the refugees, who are vetted by the government, welcomed into the country legally and can eventually become U.S. citizens, are not a drain on resources. Instead, Jones said they contribute immediately.

“Within three to four months, they’re working, paying their bills, paying their taxes. Their kids are at school learning English,” she said. “These individuals who come here, they come and they work in jobs that might not be ones that others have wanted or taken. We have employers calling us, wanting these individuals to come and work for them. They’ll work in food processing and warehouses and landscaping and construction and the hospitality industry where there’s a real big need and so, without these new individuals, those jobs aren’t necessarily going to get filled.”

The church organization believes Mark Khup and his wife are prime examples of the program’s benefits to America. The husband and wife, along with their two oldest children, fled from their home country of Myanmar (Burma) nearly 20 years ago due to religious and political persecution.

The family landed in Charlotte in 2008. They posed for pictures at the airport, finally free and appreciative of the help they immediately received.

“We felt wonderful,” Khup told WCNC Charlotte. “We were very grateful to Catholic Charities. They helped us apply for our benefits, social security, ID. They helped us find an apartment. Every time I need, they still help me.”

Now a homeowner and U.S. citizen, Khup works as a translator. His wife is a janitor. Since moving to Charlotte, their family has grown by two more children. Symbols of his Christianity are now proudly displayed inside and outside his home without fear of retaliation.

Today, he said his home country is even more dangerous due to civil war.

“Very terrible,” he said. “I have no words.”

Just thinking about the fate of those still there takes his breath away.

“That will be a huge impact,” Khup said of the president’s order.

Over the previous year, Jones said Catholic Charities helped 460 refugees from 19 countries resettle in the Charlotte area, pouring resources into their transitions intensely for the first 90 days and then continuing to help over the course of five years.

“It’s just great to see that kind of integration into the community, building communities, the restaurants they build, the jobs that they have that you see when picked up in a taxi at the airport and it’s one of these individuals who have been here for years and is now making a life for themselves,” she said.  “It’s what America is, right? Charlotte is a melting pot just like America is because these cultures have all come here and really made a difference.”

Catholic Charities said the program remains suspended and the government is not reimbursing for any services provided. However, there is talk about potential partial reimbursement.

The Charlotte-based Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency also works to help newly arrived refugees, “so that they begin successful and self-sufficient lives in the United States.” The organization’s executive director said while it’s unclear how much money the agency will lose, it too is waiting on back payments tied to work completed in recent months.

“Yes, the funding freezes will significantly impact operations for the future,” Marsha Hirsch said. “CRRA is attempting to ensure that arrived refugees are being supported at this time. The Charlotte community has always been welcoming and CRRA has appreciated local support of donations and volunteerism for the almost 30 years that CRRA has been operating.”

Meanwhile, Lutheran Services Carolinas previously told WCNC Charlotte it is also bracing for the impact of the program’s suspension. The Salisbury organization has served as a lifeline for refugees for decades and intends to continue doing so.

“We were first told that we would not be able to serve those who just arrived, but that would have been cruel to turn those people loose without any assistance from us, and we were not going to do that anyway,” CEO Ted Goins said in February. “We are a nation of immigrants. We have always been welcoming to people, and we have always supported those who have had problems in their own country through no fault of their own.”

Church World Service is facing a significant impact too. Since 2009, CWS has offered critical transitional support to more than 3,000 refugees.

“This is leaving tens of thousands of really vulnerable refugees overseas in dire straits,” Megan Shepard, who runs the organization’s Greensboro office, said. “Without federal funding, refugees face the looming threat of homelessness and a lack of employment opportunities.”

Nearly 80% of funding for the organization comes from the federal government. As a result of the resettlement program’s suspension, 47 out of 64 employees were furloughed in February.

“Some of these folks I’ve worked with for the past 10 years, and they’re like family,” Shepard said. “It’s heartbreaking,”

CWS remains committed to helping refugees already in the country, but the uncertainty about the future of federal support has cast a shadow over the organization’s ability to continue.

While hundreds of additional refugees who expected to arrive in Charlotte and other parts of North Carolina this year are now stranded, Jones, meanwhile, said Catholic Charities will also find a way to continue supporting those who arrived prior to the executive order, even if it means scrambling to find the money needed to follow through on that commitment.

“We will continue to serve refugees at Catholic Charities. It’s something that we’re not going to stop doing,” she said. “Jesus would want us to welcome the stranger and that’s a motto we all live by, even if we’re not Catholic here, it’s welcoming that person who we may think is a stranger, but they come here and they’re no longer a stranger. They’re a neighbor.”

Once a stranger himself, Khup is now a neighbor. He doesn’t take that for granted. After all, at the same time the school bus is dropping off his youngest daughter, he knows kids back in Myanmar risk the military dropping bombs on them.

“We were not safe,” Khup said of his former life in the Asian country. “We didn’t have proper freedom of life in our country compared to here.”

WFMY’s Kevin Kennedy contributed to this report.

Contact Nate Morabito at nmorabito@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.