The largest refugee-resettlement agency in Philadelphia has lost millions of dollars in funding and slashed dozens of jobs as the Trump administration halts the program that brings some of the world’s most desperate people to new lives in the United States.
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NSC has helped lead virtually every major area resettlement effort, supporting displaced peoples after World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War through recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Ukraine.
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Come May, its budget is expected to be down by half, from $13.4 million to between $6 million and $8 million. The staff has shrunk by about a third, from 125 in December to 81 now.
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There’s no indication when the cuts might end at Nationalities Service Center, as the 103-year-old institution confronts what its director calls “seismic” change and uncertainty.
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The U.S. has traditionally been the world leader in resettlement — and agencies like NSC, which is 80% federally funded, are the frontline instruments of that.
The refugee system is a form of legal immigration, and new arrivals have a specific, government-authorized status that includes a clear path to citizenship. Typically, people come here carrying only the clothes on their backs and their personal trauma.
Over time, economically, they contribute billions of dollars more than they cost,
studies show.
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With dollars limited, the agency is concentrating on continuing to run key services that include teaching English, providing legal services, and promoting wellness and access to health care.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has already arrested, detained, and deported some immigrants who had official permission to live here, including a group of Bhutanese refugees in central Pennsylvania.
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During the roughly 16 months before Trump took office, NSC welcomed to the area 723 refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The president’s Jan. 27 order stopped new admissions, and a second directive cut off funding for agencies to support those already here.
Philadelphia Inquirer
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