On World Refugee Day (June 20), we acknowledge and pray for families displaced around the world. 
More than 42 million men, women, and children have fled persecution in search of safety, each carrying deep loss, yet holding onto hope for stability and a place to call home. As reduced resettlement opportunities persist, most face limited pathways to permanent safety.
We grieve federal policy changes that do not include a path to resettlement for the more than 100,000 refugees who were conditionally approved for U.S. resettlement when President Trump took office, but who now remain stranded in the pipeline. These include:
- 12,000 men, women, and children whose flights were cancelled in January 2025
- Over 15,000 Iranians fleeing religious persecution in the Lautenberg Program pipeline
- Hundreds of Afghan allies still stuck on the Camp Al Sayliyah base in Qatar after more than a year
- More than 650 family reunification cases in which refugees in the U.S. remain separated from spouses and minor children
- Refugees with severe medical conditions, unaccompanied refugee children, and those fleeing the world’s most devastating emerging and protracted displacement crises.
While a new Presidential Determination recently increased the refugee admissions ceiling by 10,000 individuals, it only applies to Afrikaners from South Africa. This mid-year adjustment, from a record low of 7,500 individuals set in October, indicates the Administration’s ability to make timely and critical updates to U.S. refugee resettlement, but has failed the world’s most vulnerable.
Based upon initial reports, the U.S. refugee admissions program will remain entirely closed to those who meet the traditional international legal definition of a refugee: individuals who have fled their countries of origin because of persecution on account of their faith, political opinion, or race.
We believe that God deeply loves the foreigner and calls us to do the same.
We continue to advocate for a restored U.S. resettlement program that provides safety and welcome to all those displaced around the world, including those affected by recent conflicts in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Sudan, Venezuela, and Myanmar.
Global advocacy for refugees around the world:
- Urge your representatives to restore the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program, and add additional admissions space for carefully vetted refugees from vulnerable populations.
- Urge your representatives to lift travel bans, so refugees displaced around the world can find permanence to rebuild their lives in the U.S.
- Urge your representatives to fight for stranded refugees, and to administer a refugee program that protects those most in need.
Local advocacy for refugee neighbors:
- Urge your representative to stop the mass re-vetting of refugees under Operation PARRIS.
- Urge your representative to resume green card processing.
Ways Arrive Ministries is supporting refugee neighbors:
Legally – As Operation PARRIS continues, Arrive Ministries is providing legal support to hundreds of affected refugees navigating re-vetting interviews, green card filings, and family reunification efforts.
Socially – Our offices in the Twin Cities, St. Cloud, and Willmar are hubs for connection, where English classes, sewing and cooking groups, and education workshops take place every week. Here, volunteers and new neighbors experience mutual learning and celebrate our diverse communities.
Spiritually – We pray for refugees here in Minnesota, many of whom have been deeply affected by heightened immigration enforcement and harmful policy changes that shook our communities this past year. These realities add layers of fear and instability to lives already marked by displacement.
Practically – We continue to provide case management to refugees rebuilding their lives through housing support, navigation services, connection to medical care, and cultural orientation. Clients enrolled in extended case management are also offered volunteers to provide ongoing support and friendship.
Through the dedication of Good Neighbor teams, English tutors, churches, and financial partners, we are exemplifying an important promise: We are your neighbors for good, and you are ours.
