Official Statement on U.S. Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2027 and Refugee Status Terminations

Every refugee carries a story that began long before they arrived in the United States: a home left behind, loved ones lost, years spent waiting for the chance to live without fear. For more than ten years, Their Story Is Our Story has listened to those stories and shared them. Two actions by the administration now threaten to leave many of those stories unfinished and the refugees in danger with nowhere to turn.

The administration’s refugee admissions determination for fiscal year 2027 sets aside 17,500 places and directs that they go primarily to white Afrikaners from South Africa. In practice, this closes the door on tens of thousands of people who fled war, religious persecution, and political violence, from Afghanistan to Congo to Burma and beyond. Many spent years completing every interview and security check we required and were waiting only for a travel date. Some stood beside American service members. Some are children who have never known life outside a camp. They did everything right but they are now told to keep waiting with no end in sight.

Additionally, the administration recently implemented a new a rule that gives resettled refugees just ten days to answer a government notice that it intends to end their refugee status. If they cannot respond in time, their status is terminated. The rule took effect immediately, without the public comment process that significant changes ordinarily require. The ten day clock starts on the day of mailing (not receipt) and is rarely enough time to understand an accusation, find a lawyer, and gather evidence, especially for an individual still learning English and working long hours to support a family.

It is worth remembering who refugees are. They do not simply arrive. The United States chooses them, after the most extensive screening of any travelers to this country, carried out by multiple federal agencies, often over several years. We invited them. They came, and they rebuilt by enrolling children in school, opening businesses, joining congregations, paying taxes, and becoming our coworkers and neighbors.

When we deny refuge to people we have already vetted, or strip protection from families who have restarted their lives here, there is no safe place left for them to go. That is what it means to be a refugee.

Their Story Is Our Story calls on the administration to withdraw the new termination rule, guarantee resettled refugees a fair chance to be heard, and restore a refugee program open to all who qualify, regardless of race or nationality. We urge Congress to use its oversight authority to ensure that refugees who were lawfully admitted to the United States keep the due process they were promised. We stand with our partners across the country who are working to protect refugee families, and we invite every American to do what has always moved this nation toward its better self: listen to a refugee’s story, and recognize it as part of our own.