Utah’s Catholic Community Services may be forced to stop refugee resettlement after Trump admin yanks key funding

Catholic Community Services of Utah says it may be forced to close its refugee resettlement program next year after it suffered a significant loss of federal funding under President Donald Trump’s administration.

“Unless there is a significant shift in federal support or funding streams are restored (along with refugee admissions to the country), the program will close,” said Kearstin Fernandez, the organization’s communications director, in a Friday email to The Salt Lake Tribune.

She noted that, in the meantime, the program remains committed to serving its existing clients, but as of right now, “continuing the program beyond that point is not possible.”

The program currently supports 300 refugee families with things like housing, job searches and more as they work to become self-sufficient. But Aden Batar, the organization’s migration and refugee services director, said there is also concern about maintaining that support.

“We were hoping that the federal government will give us the funding to help these families that we already have here,” Batar said.

Instead, he said, they’ve already used most of their savings — just as other Catholic organizations throughout the country that help resettle refugees are facing similar predicaments.

“We’re a nonprofit organization,” he said. “We don’t have deep pockets.”

The fight for federal funding

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, an organization that secures federal funding and sends it to Catholic Community Services and similar organizations throughout the country, took the issue of its suspended funding to federal court in the District of Columbia in a Feb. 18 lawsuit.

They argue that although Trump suspended refugee admissions to the U.S. and federal aid through a series of executive orders, he didn’t specifically mention funds for refugees who had already been admitted to the country.

But, according to the lawsuit, the group received a letter from the U.S. Department of State on Jan. 24 that said its two already awarded cooperative agreements were suspended — pending review to see if they were in line with department priorities.

The suspended agreements central to the lawsuit amounted to about $65 million and were meant to run from Oct. 1, 2024, until Sep. 30, 2025.

The letter from The U.S. Department of State also indicated the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops could submit payment requests “for legitimate expenses” from before Jan. 24, but the lawsuit alleges the government wouldn’t reimburse the organization for $13 million it spent on resettlement services before Jan. 24 or the costs it had incurred since.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops asked the court to declare the refugee fund suspension unlawful and enjoin the federal government defendants to reimburse the organization for its incurred expenses.

The organization also asked the judge to require the government to pay its outstanding and future costs connected to its two agreements while the lawsuit is still being decided. Their request was denied.

On Feb. 26, two letters now included in court documents were sent to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from The U.S. Department of State. They said the awards in question were terminated because they weren’t in line with the agency’s priorities.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops argued the termination was illegal, as Congress had approved those funds for refugee resettlement.

‘They are at risk of becoming homeless’

While the legal battle is being fought in the nation’s capital.

Batar said Catholic Community Services has already had to lay off 25 employees involved in refugee resettlement.

And, if things continue, he said they may need to “drastically cut more services.”

He explained the organization accepted the 300 refugee families it’s currently helping between Oct. 1 and Jan. 20, before the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ funding was suspended.

“They are at risk of becoming homeless,” Batar said of those who are depending on Catholic Community Services’ resettlement program.

If the needed funding doesn’t come in, they will have to make the difficult decision whether to cut off refugees before they are considered self-sufficient, he said.

Right now, his plea is to the community for critical funding.

“If we get private funding to continue our services, then we’re not going to rely on federal government,” he said.

Those interested in donating to Catholic Community Services of Utah can visit ccsutah.org/get-involved/in-kind-donations. Those interested in volunteering can visit ccsutah.org/get-involved/volunteer.