SPOKANE, Wash. — In less than two months, the United States will experience a dramatic drop in the number of refugees entering the country as the Trump administration has slashed refugee admissions for next year by more than 100,000, cutting the number to an all-time low of 7,500.
The decision has sparked deep concerns within Spokane’s refugee and immigrant community, where more than 1,000 refugees chose to start new lives in 2024.
The cap on refugees admitted to the U.S. next year is a 94% decrease from the current limit of 125,000 people.
Staff at Thrive International, a local refugee resettlement organization, find that number frighteningly low.
“It means that some people are not going to have the chance, not only for freedom or a better life, but even to survive in the situations they’re in right now,” said Mark Finney, executive director of Thrive International.
The reduction particularly concerns refugees already in Spokane who still have family members back home. Many fear they will never be able to reunite with their loved ones in the United States.
Yuliia Boicheva, who came to Spokane after Russia invaded her hometown in Ukraine, understands the difficult choice refugees face between the place they have always called home and safety.
“You leave everything… and you need to decide,” Boicheva said. “You have a lot of challenges, but I think America, it’s a good country. So many people around, they want to help you.”
Now, fewer people will receive that kind of help.
“I feel sad and I think so many families, they will never bring, reuniting because some of the family they like, they separated right now,” Boicheva said.
Zia Danish, who immigrated from Afghanistan with his wife and children and now works at World Relief, still has many family members at home hoping to find safety. The news of reduced admissions leaves him feeling nervous and sad.
“Nobody wants to leave their home. Nobody wants to leave his or her friend’s family’s relatives behind their memories, behind everything, and just go to the other country,” Danish said. “They have to do that because there is no any chance to live in the country.”
For both Danish and Boicheva, the thought that others will not get the opportunity they received breaks their hearts.
“Do not take the chance for the people, to be safe, to have a chance to start their life and to be survive and the kids have a future,” Boicheva said.
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