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Charlotte refugee agencies limit services, furlough workers amid federal funding freeze

CWS Charlotte furloughed employees after federal funding for resettlement agencies was paused.
CWS Charlotte
CWS Charlotte furloughed employees after federal funding for resettlement agencies was paused.

Refugee programs in the Charlotte region are starting to limit services and furlough employees after the Trump administration paused federal funding for resettlement agencies.

The State Department announced last month that resettlement grant funding was immediately suspended as part of a broader review of foreign assistance programs. The review will determine whether funding is restored, modified or permanently cut.

Church World Service Charlotte works with unaccompanied children. Its office will now operate with minimal staffing, furloughing the majority of its 20 employees.

A CWS Charlotte employee who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation said, “Now refugees and immigrants going through this legal pathway are also living in fear.”

CWS Charlotte closed its physical office, and cut access to work emails.

“It’s not like a regular furlough or layoff where you get laid off from a company and go to another one that has similar services," the CWS Charlotte employee said. "Everywhere else that works with the immigrant community is probably having a hiring freeze.”

Lutheran Services Carolinas says its resettlement of legal refugees was halted by the federal government. The organization says the funding halt will make it significantly harder for refugee families in Charlotte.

Last year, 924 refugees arrived in North Carolina from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, from countries including Afghanistan, Congo, and Venezuela.

The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department are expected to complete its funding review by mid-April.

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A fluent Spanish speaker, Julian Berger will focus on Latino communities in and around Charlotte, which make up the largest group of immigrants. He will also report on the thriving immigrant communities from other parts of the world — Indian Americans are the second-largest group of foreign-born Charlotteans, for example — that continue to grow in our region.