Church World Service Lancaster still without funding; Trump administration cancels contract

• By Brett Sholtis/LNP | LancasterOnline

One week after a federal judge in Seattle ordered the Trump administration to resume processing refugees and paying organizations that provide refugee services, Church World Service Lancaster still hasn’t seen any payment, and the organization has lost its federal contract.

The faith-based organization, which helps resettle people in the U.S., lost its federal funding Jan. 20 as a result of President Donald Trump’s executive order “Realigning the United States Refugee Assistance Program.” It furloughed much of its staff nationwide, including about 150 people in the Lancaster region, leaving many of its clients with uncertain futures.

CWS is one of the plaintiffs that sued the Trump administration in late February to force the federal government to resume processing refugees and paying organizations. Last week, a federal judge filed a preliminary injunction, requiring the temporary resumption of the USRAP program while he considered the case.

But one day later, CWS and other organizations received termination notices.

At a federal hearing Monday, U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead said that timing “raises serious concerns.” Whitehead told the federal government to file a report showing how it plans to resume refugee processing by Monday, March 10.

Arguing for the plaintiffs, International Refugee Assistance Project attorney Melissa Keaney noted that CWS still hasn’t received any funding.

“The Trump administration’s flagrant attempts to undermine that order show that the suspension of the refugee program was never meant to be temporary,” Keaney said. “The government seeks to shut the door on refugees and permanently dismantle this bipartisan beacon of hope for people seeking safety and a new life in America.”

On Wednesday afternoon, CWS Lancaster Director Valentina Ross confirmed that the organization hasn’t received funding yet or been able to resume much of its work.

“While a new deadline for payment has yet to be determined, we look forward to the Administration coming into compliance with the judge’s order and meet its financial obligations for work already done by resettlement agencies, including Church World Service,” said Ross, who oversees the organization’s south central Pennsylvania region.

Ross said that due to the “refugee ban and funding freeze… no refugees are being processed, no refugees are arriving, and tens of millions of dollars in State Department funding for key reception programs remain frozen.” An official from the Trump administration was not immediately available.

Ross said more than 20,000 refugees — including dozens set to arrive in Lancaster — remain “stranded overseas, many in dangerous conditions,” as a result of the refugee ban.

Ross said another court action — Tuesday’s 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court overruling Trump’s shutdown of USAID — is an encouraging sign for resettlement organizations. The ruling requires the government to pay aid organizations for expenses incurred prior to Feb. 13.

“The ruling requires the swift reimbursement of the tens of millions of dollars the State Department owes to refugee resettlement agencies for key Reception & Placement (R&P) services to refugees who have already arrived in the country,” Ross said.