Compounding Policy Changes Affecting Refugees

• Halting all issuance of visas for Afghan nationals (Memo issued November 28, 2025): The State Department and USCIS have halted all processing of visas for Afghan nationals overseas and for immigration benefit requests and adjustments of status for Afghans in the US. The visa halt includes Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) for those who remain at risk from the Taliban because of their support of the US mission in Afghanistan.   
• Green Card processing halted (memo issued November 21, 2025): Applications for Lawful Permanent Residence for approximately 233,000 recently resettled refugees were paused and ordered for review. Refugees, already among the most thoroughly vetted immigrants, now face indefinite delays and uncertainty, preventing family reunification and long-term stability. This policy adds unnecessary stress and hardship for those who have already endured persecution and displacement. 
• Historically low admissions ceiling (effective October 31, 2025): The administration set the refugee admissions cap at just 7,500 for Fiscal Year 2026, the lowest in U.S. history. This drastic reduction means thousands of families fleeing persecution will be left without safe options, reversing decades of bipartisan commitment to humanitarian protection.
• In July, we re-signed our Reception and Placement Cooperative Agreement with the federal government, after the federal government lifted the suspension of the agreement as it relates to very specific resettlement duties. We re-signed the agreement with hopes that we can resettle some refugees who had “arranged and confirmable travel bookings” on or before January 20 and “can demonstrate a strong reliance interest comparable to that of Plaintiff Pacito,” as a result of the Pacito vs. Trump case.
• In June, we were informed that we can accept Afghan SIV walk-ins for case management services. These are Afghan individuals who assisted the U.S. operation in Afghanistan and were granted a Special Immigrant Visa. Those with SIV status who booked their own travel to the U.S. can seek out a local resettlement office (Arrive Ministries being one of them) to request case management services if they are within their first 90 days of arrival in the U.S. 
•  On June 4, 2025 President Trump signed a proclamation halting almost all travel for individuals from twelve specific countries and significantly restricting the issuing of visas for individuals from seven additional countries. We are grieved by this broad action restricting legal immigration, which will separate families, hinder international missions and development, and tarnish our country’s reputation for justice and fairness. Read our national office, World Relief’s statement regarding changes to travel restrictions. At Arrive Ministries, more than half of the refugee arrivals in 2024 were men, women, and children who were forced to flee homelands included on this travel restriction list.
• On May 30, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the administration ending humanitarian parole for Cubans, Haitians, and Venezuelans. These are individuals lawfully in the United States for temporary protection, and unless they have been able to obtain another legal status, could become vulnerable to deportation to countries facing humanitarian crises. Read our national office, World Relief’s statement regarding changes to humanitarian parole. At Arrive Ministries, nearly 200 humanitarian parolees were referred to our office in 2024 for assistance with employment, education, immigration, and other programs.
  
• On April 20, 2025, the first report regarding whether resumption of entry of refugees into the United States under the USRAP would be in the interests of the United States, ordered by President Trump, was due. We grieve the lack of its reinstatement or efforts to create a new avenue for refugees around the world.
• On February 27, 2025, the U.S. State Department prematurely ended its review period and issued termination notices to all ten national resettlement agencies that operate as part of this 45-year bipartisan-supported program. We are devastated to learn this news.
• On February 25, 2025, a Federal judge granted a preliminary block to the ban on refugee resettlement (Pacito v. Trump). We are closely watching what happens with the existing federal cases and ask you to join us in praying that the U.S. can continue to be a place of refuge for persecuted people.
• On January 24, 2025, a funding suspension was issued, including funds for refugees who had already arrived and were still within their case management period.
• On January 20, 2025, an Executive Order paused new refugee arrivals, pending a 90-day review period.
• On October 1, 2024, Arrive Ministries signed a contract with the federal government to provide resettlement services for 550 refugees.

We stand proud and thankful for the 12,108 men, women, and children we have welcomed with the love of Jesus since 1988. We will not stop advocating for refugee resettlement as an expression of God’s command to welcome the stranger.