Avelina Charles
Dr. Kubal
Sociology 111
17 February 2017
Response to Refugee Articles
In the first article "Job-Creator Trump Is Destroying Jobs at Refugee Resettlement Agencies", Talks about how the refugee ban was met with significant and immediate opposition among religious leaders. They believe that by denying Muslims to enter the United States we would be denying the humanity and dignity of people made in the image of God. There are nine organizations authorized by the government to handle refugee resettlement. This week's layoffs alone represent about 20 percent of the group's United States based employees. Trump's temporary ban is already having a devastating impact on other agencies that handle resettlement. The agencies are funded through a combination of federal money and private donations; most of the federal funds come in the form of grants for each individual refugee the agencies can resettle. The sudden cessation of refugees means a sudden cessation of funding. Up to 700 employees could be affected by the order, with many of them losing their jobs.
The second article "For Refugees and Advocates, Trump Immigration Order Stay Leads to Disarray", Also touches bases on the impact of denying refugees has on the United States. The federal court appeals that blocked the president's travel ban on people from seven majority Muslim nations did not directly rule out two provisions in the executive order. Refugee resettlement agencies are scrambling to figure out what they will do if those provisions are kept. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges did not address perhaps the most important provision in the Trump order. This section shows deep cuts in the numbers of refugees allowed to come into the United States. President Trump slashed the refugee quota for fiscal year 2017 by more than half, to 50,000. In addition, the court did not rule on a provision that would make it easier for states and cities to veto refugee placements. This article also indicated for decades, the refugee resettlement program has been a partnership between the State Department and nine private, voluntary agencies; all but two are faith-based groups. Describing how together, they form a nationwide bureaucracy for resettlement. The process is described as the State Department must first clear refugees for arrival. Then the voluntary agencies coordinate on the ground resettlement, meeting once a week to figure out which group will assist specific individuals or families, and where the refugees are likely to thrive. Placement depends in part on finding an existing immigrant community from the same country and people who share a refugee's cultural background, religion and language. Pence moved to block federal funds from the refugee program in Indiana. Late last year, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision ruling that Pence's action constituted discrimination based on national origin. The funding the State Department allocates to refugee resettlement agencies is based on the number of refugees each organization resettles. The ramifications of such action will cause resettlement offices having to downsize.
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