Trump’s Refugee Policies Didn’t Stop at the Border

In July 2026, a refugee family wanted to find an apartment in Long Beach so they could live closer to work. Justin Castillo, CWS Orange County's senior case manager and volunteer coordinator, asked me to look for one- and two-bedroom units and check landlords' application requirements. He would pass the results to the family so they could consider visiting the properties. [1]

On July 17, I sent a preliminary spreadsheet with property contacts and rental estimates. Availability, deposits, income and credit requirements still needed checking, along with whether properties accepted alternative documentation or support from CWS. Finding an apartment online was one step; establishing whether the family could apply required further work. Justin connected that research to the family's circumstances. [2]

Less than a month later, on August 14, Justin announced that Church World Service would close its Orange County office on September 4. Most staff members, including him, would finish their employment that day, and formal volunteer work would end. [3]

His email attributed the closure to changes in federal policy and funding, citing the suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and changes affecting federal grants and money routed through other organizations. Approaching fiscal year 2027, he wrote, the office faced a “devastating fiscal cliff.” I wanted to understand how decisions about admitting refugees had reached an office helping families already living here. [3]

The policy changes cited in the closure email began more than a year earlier. On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14163, suspending refugee entry through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program effective January 27 and suspending decisions on refugee applications. The order allowed case-by-case exceptions. It presented public safety, national security, community capacity and the preservation of taxpayer resources as reasons for the policy. [4]

A separate order that day, Executive Order 14169, directed a review and pause of foreign development assistance. The State Department then issued stop-work notices on January 24 affecting resettlement agreements, including services delivered inside the United States. On February 26, it notified resettlement organizations that their cooperative agreements would terminate the next day. The distinction matters: the admissions order restricted entry; subsequent agency funding actions reached organizations assisting people already here. [5] [6]

This funding supported both assistance and the people delivering it. In their June 2026 amended complaint, CWS and fellow plaintiffs described reimbursement per refugee as partly covering direct aid and partly covering service costs and overhead. That structure helps explain how restricting arrivals can also reduce income supporting an agency's operations. A payment freeze creates an additional problem: an organization may have already incurred expenses that it expected the government to reimburse. [7]

The disruption was substantial nationally. In May 2025, CWS announced plans to close 11 local offices, attributing the decision to federal policy changes and lost support. Orange County was not on that list. CWS subsequently reported that some services resumed on May 23 and that most outstanding federal funding and reimbursements had been released. The Orange County announcement in August 2026 therefore belongs to a longer sequence of cuts, partial restorations and local decisions. [8] [9]

Courts intervened during that sequence. In Pacito v. Trump, CWS joined other organizations and individuals challenging the administration's actions. On March 5, 2026, the Ninth Circuit largely reversed preliminary relief concerning refugee admissions and processing, while preserving relief against the suspension of domestic resettlement funding. The opinion also distinguished the agencies' domestic funding decisions from what the executive orders themselves directed. [6]

The government emphasized restored funding in an August 11, 2026, filing, arguing that the domestic funding claim should be dismissed because the suspension was not expected to recur. That is the government's litigation position. It does not establish the financial condition of each office operating within the resettlement network. [10]

One plaintiff's experience shows the consequences at household level. According to the amended complaint, an Iraqi refugee living in Dallas, identified in the case by the pseudonym Ali, arrived in January 2025 with $120. A local agency helped arrange an apartment. On February 5, he received notice that Refugee Cash Assistance payments faced an indefinite delay; his case manager attributed it to the federal funding suspension. The complaint describes his fear of losing housing. It also records that he later received resettlement benefits following the court's injunction. [7]

Orange County also participated in programs beyond initial refugee reception. California's Department of Social Services lists CWS Orange County as a provider under the Ukrainian Newcomers Support Program, which uses federal Ukraine supplemental appropriations distributed through state grants. The listed services include case management and housing navigation. The state gives the program an end date of September 30, 2026. [11] [12]

That identifies a route by which federal money supported local work, and a funding endpoint close to the office's announced closure. Neither the state listing nor the closure email identifies how much this grant contributed to the shortfall. The published end date also does not establish that the administration prematurely canceled the grant. CWS attributes the closure to the combined policy and funding environment; the available records do not reconstruct the office's budget. [3] [11] [12]

For clients, the effects also need to be described service by service. My understanding of the wind-down was that previously promised help, including housing searches, security deposits and assistance with benefit applications, would be completed as the existing service arrangements ended. That was an expectation about remaining commitments, not confirmation that every payment and handoff had been completed. [13]

CalFresh illustrates another distinction. CWS could help someone navigate an application, while Orange County's Social Services Agency administered the benefit. Closing a CWS office did not itself terminate a person's eligibility. The availability of application help and the rules governing benefits are separate parts of a client's access to assistance. [14] [15]

CWS's public closure notice says the work begun in Orange County will continue through its Northern California office. It does not specify which clients will receive which services, who will handle their cases, or whether the arrangements will be remote or local. [16]

For the Long Beach family, I can document the housing search and the coordination that supported it. I cannot yet document whether they secured an apartment or who took over any remaining assistance. Completing that search would involve checking unresolved requirements and getting usable information to the family. Where a deposit had been promised, following through on that commitment would also matter.

Justin's closure email allowed volunteers and clients to stay in touch if both wanted to. He asked us to make clear that we would be acting “as a member of the community rather than a volunteer.” CWS also says its work will continue through another office. For a family still looking for housing, continuity would mean knowing who to contact about the next application and what help they could still count on. [3]