Refugee organizations in the Portland region are rushing to assess the effects of the Trump administration’s directive to freeze all federal grants that do not adhere to the president’s executive orders.
All federal agencies will have to halt grants that conflict with President Donald Trump’s priorities, according to an order issued Monday by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. These grants include, but are not limited to, funding for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.
Tribes, NGOs, state and local government agencies, and any of the other organizations around the country that depend in any manner on federal assistance have been attempting to ascertain the precise meaning of that.
A federal judge put a halt to the funding freeze just minutes before it was scheduled to take effect at 2:00 PM on Tuesday. The order is valid till Monday.
Nonprofits that assist refugees are among the organizations who anticipate being negatively impacted by a federal funding suspension. However, it is still unknown what the impact will be.
“The federal agencies haven’t given us clear guidance,” stated Frank So, executive director of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. Right now, we’re rushing to put together what the guidelines are asking of us.
One of the many significant groups helping refugees in Oregon is Ecumenical Ministries. It distributes food, offers housing, assists survivors of domestic abuse, resettles refugees, and offers legal services to immigrants and refugees.
According to So, his company was scrambling to send in invoices for money that needed to be paid back before the funding suspension.
According to an email obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive, the Oregon Department of Justice informed Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon and other organizations that receive funding for domestic violence services that it was attempting to submit requests for all available federal funds by the Tuesday deadline.
The department’s grant unit manager sent out an email at 10:18 a.m. saying, “I know everyone is feeling very uncertain and unsettled with the news this morning that the federal government will be freezing all federal grants.” While our finance staff works to submit an extra drawdown of our federal monies, we are continuing to push through as many payments as we can.
Several refugee organizations in Oregon reported that they were informed that their funding would be reduced.
The United States Council of Catholic Bishops, a legally authorized refugee resettlement organization, is the source of funding for Catholic Charities of Oregon, a nonprofit organization. According to a statement sent by Catholic Charities via email, that organization notified them that the Trump administration had immediately suspended financing for all refugee resettlement initiatives.
According to the nonprofit, the group is now assisting 73 individuals who entered Oregon lawfully under the refugee resettlement program.
The agency stated that refugees already residing in the nation are at risk of homelessness and exploitation as a result of the administration’s halt on services.
The funding halt would be disastrous, according to a Portland-based charity that aids Afghan refugees.
According to the Afghan Support Network, the suspension might result in the loss of up to half of its funds. According to President and CEO Yahya Haqiqi, the charity helps 400 people in the Portland area each month by teaching them how to drive, pay their rent, and find employment.
According to an email from Haqiqi, this would significantly impair our capacity to assist Afghans in Oregon, who depend on us in their hour of greatest need. Despite the sacrifices they have made for our nation, they feel abandoned. That feeling of betrayal is made worse by these cuts.
According to Haqiqi, the organization will now depend even more on private donations than before, urging people to make online contributions.
The memo from the Office of Management and Budget directed federal agencies to suspend any money that might be connected to Trump’s executive orders, with the exception of direct assistance programs like food stamps and Medicaid.
According to NPR, Trump has issued at least 37 executive orders to date. Immigration is the subject of at least eight of them, including one that was signed on January 20 and halted the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
The memo instructed government agencies to notify the Office of Management and Budget by February 10th of which of their programs are covered by the suspension.
According to several federal MPs, the financing delay was unlawful in the first place.
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici stated in a Facebook post on Tuesday that the president cannot unilaterally halt money that Congress has already authorized. Oregonians are already suffering as a result of Trump’s reckless decision to suspend federal funds and his flagrant disregard for the law.
A permanent end to the budget freeze is sought in a lawsuit brought by 22 states, including the District of Columbia and Oregon.
Attorney General Dan Rayfield of Oregon said in a statement that this is just another attempt by President Trump to cause instability. The individuals who depend on this money will sustain irreversible damage.
Fedor Zarkhin is an enterprise and breaking news reporter. Have you got a story? Contact him by email at [email protected] or by phone at 971-373-2905.
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