Christian refugee and humanitarian organizations are expressing concerns in response to the U.S. State Department's confirmation on Wednesday that it is implementing a 92% reduction in foreign assistance-related grants to save approximately $60 billion.
This significant cut will impact around 10,000 grants and contracts from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department, as outlined in a Wednesday appeals court filing by attorneys of the Trump administration. Reports indicate that approximately 500 USAID awards and 2,700 State Department awards will remain.
The Trump administration has defended these cuts as necessary to address “waste and abuse” at USAID, asserting that the agency has been financing “ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight.”
Among the examples highlighted by the White House are $1.5 million allocated to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia's workplaces and business communities,” $2 million spent on sex changes and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala, and the provision of hundreds of thousands of free meals to al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists in Syria.
The announcement of these budgetary reductions has faced backlash from organizations like World Relief, an Evangelical refugee resettlement group. World Relief, one of the nine organizations receiving State Department grants for refugee resettlement in the United States, expressed opposition to the cuts in a statement.
The organization has criticized the administration's decision to halt the refugee resettlement program, stating that such cuts could adversely affect “critical programs that provide life-saving support to some of the world's most vulnerable populations.”
World Relief emphasized that these terminations threaten food security, healthcare, and essential services in countries affected by crises, worsening the hardships faced in regions already experiencing severe difficulties. They also pointed out that the cuts impact the State Department's Reception and Placement program, which provides resources to resettlement agencies to assist newly arriving refugees.
While World Relief acknowledged that it “affirms the Trump administration's authority and responsibility to review such funds and ensure that they align with American interests,” the organization highlighted that the “sudden nature” of the orders “have had devastating consequences.”
They referenced the dire situation in Sudan, noting, “since the outbreak of war in Sudan in 2023, the Sudanese people have endured unspeakable suffering that many donors, including the U.S. government, have rallied to alleviate.” The organization warned that halting these programs does not pause the humanitarian needs they address; rather, it intensifies them, deepening suffering and instability.
Global Refuge, formerly known as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, is another organization reliant on State Department funding and has recently announced plans to lay off over 400 employees, which represents more than half of its staff.
Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, commented on the dire situation, stating that “the termination of federal support and the ongoing failure to reimburse for services already provided constitutes the destruction of a program that has saved over 3.6 million lives since its inception in 1980.”
The State Department has canceled a refugee resettlement services contract with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The USCCB was informed of this cancellation in a letter dated Feb. 26, stated that the contract “no longer effectuated agency priorities.”
