Timeline for Resettlement Program Changes

• On November 1, we learned that 12,000 Afghans with Special Immigrant Visas will be allowed to receive resettlement services in the U.S. Arrive Ministries will proudly partner in offering these critical services. 
• On October 31, a new Presidential Determination of the number of refugees allowed to be admitted to the U.S. in 2026 was set at 7,500 individuals. This is a historically low number for the 45-year bipartisan refugee resettlement program. We are devastated that the U.S. will invite so few refugees in the coming year, as thousands of persecuted Christians, Afghan allies, and other vulnerable individuals are abandoned to uncertainty.   
• 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.
  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. 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.
• 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.
  At Arrive Ministries, nearly 200 humanitarian parolees were referred to our office in 2024 for assistance with employment, education, immigration, and other programs. Read our national office, World Relief’s statement regarding changes to humanitarian parole.
• 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 have now passed that pivotal date, and we still have not received news of a formal review of the program, and 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 of 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.