Christian refugee and humanitarian organizations are speaking out as the U.S. State Department confirmed Wednesday that it is cutting 92% of foreign assistance-related grants in order to save approximately $60 billion.
The agency plans to cut around 10,000 United States Agency for International Development and State Department grants and contracts, according to a Wednesday appeals court filing from Trump administration attorneys. Approximately 500 USAID awards and around 2,700 State Department awards will be left in place, reports Axios.
The move comes as U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday placed a hold on a Biden-appointed federal judge’s order that would have forced the Trump administration to pay foreign aid funds to grant recipients.
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The Trump administration has argued that the cuts to USAID are necessary to combat “waste and abuse” at USAID, charging that the organization has been supporting “ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight.”
Examples cited by the White House include $1.5 million spent on “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities,” $2 million spent on sex changes and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala, and delivering hundreds of thousands of free meals to al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists in Syria.
News of the Trump administration’s plans has drawn opposition from the Evangelical refugee resettlement organization World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals that is one of nine organizations that receives grants from the State Department to resettle refugees in the United States. World Relief also has aid programs overseas.
In a statement Thursday, the organization, which has also been critical of the administration’s halting of the refugee resettlement program, said such cuts could impact “critical programs that provide life-saving support to some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.”
“These award terminations threaten food security, healthcare, and essential services in crisis-affected countries, exacerbating suffering in regions already facing extreme hardship,” the organization stressed.
World Relief says these cuts impact the State Department’s Reception and Placement program, which gives resources to resettlement agencies to help newly arriving refugees. The move also negatively impacts refugees from Afghanistan arriving on Special Immigrant Visas, including those who served with the U.S. Armed Forces.
The organization stated that it received “premature termination notices in all but one of the countries where we’ve been serving communities with grants through the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance.” This includes Sudan, where World Relief received permission to continue programming.
Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief, says the new policy is “effectively ending a 45 year, bi-partisan, refugee resettlement program with the stroke of a pen.”
“As followers of Jesus, we are called to serve ‘the least of these,’ and cutting off life-saving assistance to vulnerable communities is an abdication of that responsibility,” stated Greene.
“The Church has long played a role in alleviating suffering, but we cannot do it alone. Our government must uphold its commitment to protecting human dignity and aiding those in greatest need.”
World Relief noted that while it “affirms the Trump administration’s authority and responsibility to review such funds and ensure that they align with American interests,” the “sudden nature” of the orders “have had devastating consequences.”
“For example, since the outbreak of war in Sudan in 2023, the Sudanese people have endured unspeakable suffering that many donors, including the U.S. government, have rallied to alleviate,” said the organization.
“When these programs are suddenly halted, the humanitarian needs they address do not pause — they intensify, deepening suffering and instability.”
Global Refuge, another refugee resettlement organization funded by the State Department formerly known as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, recently confirmed plans to lay off over 400 employees, which equates to more than half its staff.
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, said in a statement Thursday that the terminated programs have been helping refugees for decades.
“This termination of federal support and the continued failure to reimburse for services already provided represents the essential destruction of a program that has saved more than 3.6 million lives since its creation in 1980,” stated Vignarajah.
“This decision will undoubtedly disrupt critical services for vulnerable families and trigger widespread layoffs among social service professionals, forcing local communities to address entirely avoidable evictions, food insecurity, and devastating job losses.”
The State Department also canceled a refugee resettlement services contract with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The USCCB was informed of the cancellation in a Feb. 26 letter stating that the contract “no longer effectuated agency priorities,” The Pillar reports. The move comes after USCCB filed a lawsuit earlier this month challenging the agency’s suspension of refugee resettlement funding.
