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Flow of refugees into Indiana has been cut in half under Trump

Indiana's largest resettlement agency is cutting staff in wake of fewer refugee resettlements

Robert King
robert.king@indystar.com
Cole Varga, executive director of Exodus Refugee Immigrant Inc., has had to cut more than a third of his staff at the nonprofit resettlement agency following reductions in the pipeline of refugees.

The Trump administration's moves to reduce the flow of refugees into the United States is being felt in Indiana, where the number of arrivals has been cut nearly in half, forcing the state's largest resettlement agency to cut staff.

Indianapolis-based resettlement groups Exodus Refugee Immigration and Catholic Charities Indianapolis say they had planned to receive more than 1,600 refugees by October under guidelines laid down by the Obama administration. But since the start of the Donald Trump era — with executive orders and funding reductions — that number looks to drop to around 800.

Exodus was bringing in nearly 80 refugees a month toward the end of the Obama administration. In March, Exodus resettled 19 refugees.

The reductions have not only curtailed the influx of new arrivals, but they have taken a large bite out of the budgets of the resettlement agencies, which receive more than $2,000 per refugee from the federal government for services ranging from providing interpreters, to language teachers, to people who help the new arrivals find services such as medical care. The staunched flow reduced Exodus' budget by roughly $800,000, forcing the nonprofit to cut 15 employees — more than one-third of its staff.

“It’s been a wild couple of months,” said Cole Varga, executive director of Exodus.

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As a candidate, Trump made the phrase "exteme vetting" in relation to immigrants as something of a campaign mantra. As president, Trump issued his first executive order on immigrants and refugees within days of taking office. Among other things, it called for the number of refugees to be reduced to 50,000 a year, down from the 110,000 ceiling set by the Obama administration. Trump said the vetting system needed strengthening to ensure terrorists do not infiltrate the country by joining the stream of refugees.

Trump's executive orders have been challenged in court — and stopped by judges from being officially implemented. But the combination of uncertainty about the court cases, combined with reduced funding for refugee relocation, has slowed the refugee stream to a trickle.

As a result, Catholic Charities Indianapolis, which had projected to resettle 670 refugees by October, when the federal fiscal year ends, is now expecting 323, with most of those having already arrived.

"The numbers will stay about where they are for the next four years," said Heidi Smith, director of refugee services for Catholic Charities.

Because it is part of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Catholic Charities hasn't had to cut staff. But Smith said her organization has decided to hold off on filling some vacancies and adding positions that had become necessary in light of growth during the Obama years.

“We just kind of decided to wait it out and see how things would go,” Smith said.

The bulk of refugees who've landed in Indiana in recent years are from Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo and Syria, with smaller numbers from Somalia, Iraq, Eritrea, Sudan and other countries, according to State Department figures.

Syrian refugee Abdul Sater Khaled Assaf, his daughter, Leen, and the rest of their family were resettled on the north side after fleeing the war in Syria, where chemical weapons attacks were used in their city.

The refugees are fleeing wars, violence and persecution. In a few cases, the refugees may have worked with the U.S. military in countries such as Iraq or Afghanistan or were victims of sex trafficking.

“I get to work with amazing and resilient people every day who have been through the most horrible of circumstances, and yet they have been able to travel here and keep smiles on their faces and make a new life for themselves," Varga said. "It’s disheartening to know so many people won’t have that chance this year.”

But Trump supporters, such as Carolyn Flynn, a Republican Party committee member from Hancock County, see the curtailment of refugees as reducing the burdens on the communities where refugees land and a savings of taxpayer money for supporting the costs of relocation. "I don't see where that is the job of the taxpayer to have to fit the bill."

U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Indianapolis, who supports Trump's moves, said the Obama administration chose "ideology over safety" by increasing the number of refugees from high-threat environments around the world. Attempting to establish "safe zones" nearer their homeland is a better answer, he said. "This approach is just common sense, and demonstrates why Hoosiers overwhelmingly backed President Trump last November," Rokita said.

U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, D-Indianapolis,  who is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said he's continually briefed on security matters and sees that refugees undergo a more rigorous vetting than any other people trying to immigrate to America. "I believe that rather than looking for ways to keep refugees out," Carson said, "we should be discussing how we can strengthen our screening processes while supporting those who are fleeing terrorism and violent oppression.”

Smith, with Catholic Charities, said refugees face reviews by the departments of Homeland Security, State and Defense as well as the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center. And as refugees, they don't chose their destination; countries choose them.

"Vetting is already extreme," she said.

Clearly, though, the Trump administration has upended the previous rules for refugee resettlement.

Before the new president arrived, Exodus expected to relocate 945 refugees by October, the most in the organization’s 36-year history. The expanding refugee numbers of recent years had led Exodus to expand its staff to 43 employees and move into larger offices on the east side. The organization was discussing an expansion of its resettlement program into Bloomington.

Then came Trump's victory. Not long after a January open house for its new digs on East Washington Street, Exodus was considering layoffs. Varga expects Exodus to survive, but it's work has been reduced to a size the organization hasn't seen since about 2010.

"I think we'll push through these years," Varga said. "It's just a question of what size we will be."

Call IndyStar reporter Robert King at (317) 444-6089. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram.

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