A Letter From USCRI Albany on the Funding Freeze
An Email from Sara Wienman
Community Engagement Coordinator // U.S. Committee For Refugees and Immigants - Albany
Dear All,
I hope you had a restful weekend. As you may be aware, the President has issued several Executive Orders with significant implications for refugees and immigrants. In response, USCRI has released statements addressing the policies that most directly impact our clients. One of the most alarming changes is the indefinite suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), effectively blocking refugees who have already been thoroughly vetted and approved for travel. Attached here are summaries of some of the executive orders that impact Refugees and Immigrants along with the official USCRI statements in response. USCRI Summaries and Responses to January 20th Executive Orders
Furthermore, late last Friday, the USCRI Reception & Placement (R&P) department received an official stop-work order from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM). As per the President’s Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, all programs under this department were suspended effective immediately as of January 24, 2025. So it is with the absolute heaviest heart to let you know that all R&P staff from every USCRI office across the country was laid off yesterday, effective immediately.
The R&P department of USCRI Albany plays a critical role in ensuring the successful integration of refugee families during their first 90 days in the U.S. This program provides essential services, including airport reception, housing assistance, furnishing homes, school enrollment, medical appointments, food support, cultural orientation, and much more. With these services now discontinued, we are facing an urgent crisis of hunger, homelessness, and instability for these vulnerable families.
Immediate Assistance is Needed.
At present, financial donations to USCRI Albany cannot directly reach these affected families. To provide immediate relief to the 48 families (146 individuals) still within the R&P program, we are urgently seeking donations of gift cards (VISA, Walmart, Hannaford, Price Chopper etc.), which will be distributed to those in greatest need. Among the most at-risk individuals are:
A single mother with five children from Burma/Myanmar
A single mother with a disabled child from Afghanistan
An elderly couple from Iraq
A single woman from Nicaragua
Multiple families from Afghanistan who are here on special immigrant visas (SIV) which means that they were particularly helpful to the US government in Afghanistan.
As well as many more families from; Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Burma/Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of Congo and more.
We are also starting an Emergency Essential Supply Drive:
Starting immediately, we are launching a drive to provide essential hygiene, cleaning supplies, and food to these families. Please find the attached PDF with details on how you can help. Items can be purchased via our [Amazon wish list] or delivered directly to our office. If you plan to drop off donations, please reach out to me to coordinate a convenient time. Please also encourage any groups or organizations that you are a part of to take place in this emergency drive.
USCRI Albany has many other programs that support our clients. We are lucky that we are able to support our clients through their citizenship with our Community Integration Program. While we don't know what the future will hold, we know we are going to keep helping until we cannot anymore.
We will also have our weekly food deliveries. With this change in policies, the number of families who are in need of food delivery is going to increase. We meet at the Agape Church in Troy (1010 Madison Ave, Troy). From there, we separate the food and then each volunteer is assigned 1-3 families to deliver food to. From there the volunteers separate out and bring the food directly to these families. These deliveries really are extremely important and helpful for these families, since they have very little access to money and many are still learning how to use public transportation and how to get to and from the grocery stores.
Food Delivery - Thursday 1/30/25 - 2PM - volunteersignup.org/RX7ML
Food Delivery - Thursday 2/6/25 - 2PM - volunteersignup.org/9CEMX
As many of you know, all of our clients undergo thorough vetting and extensive security and background checks before entering the country. Despite this, we are still being prevented from providing them with the assistance they desperately need. I will continue to keep you informed of any updates as we receive further information from the federal government.
I cannot thank you enough for your ongoing dedication and support in assisting USCRI and the families we serve. Your support is more critical now than ever. Please feel free to share this email with everyone in your networks so they know the current state of refugee resettlement in Albany and what is needed to help our newcomer families survive these next few months.
With a heavy heart,
Sara