Editor’s Note: The following article was originally published by Sophia Qureshi on 285 South on February 18, 2025
Amid federal funding freeze, local refugee resettlement agency lays off staff, worried about rental payments for newly arrived families.
Omar had a vision for how his life would be in the U.S.: “Find a good job, pay all my bills, and be self-sufficient,” he said. He had worked for several years as a forklift operator for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, and his understanding was that, after he arrived here, he’d receive government assistance for the first few months. “My plan was to learn English and prepare myself for the conditions here in the United States,” he told 285 South with the help of a translator.
Omar, who did not want his real name used, arrived in metro Atlanta on January 6 with his wife and four children, ages two, eight, 12, and 14. The family now lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Clarkston.
The ultimate dream, he said, was to “live here in peace and without stress.”
But after a phone call from his case worker at a local resettlement agency earlier in February, that dream is looking more and more out of reach.
Omar is one of the over 1,000 people resettled in Atlanta in the last three months, according to Muzhda Oriakhil, the cochair of the Coalition of Refugee Service Agencies. All have fled their native countries—places as far away as Afghanistan, Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela, Syria, and Ukraine—and all have come in the direct line of fire of the Trump administration’s “stop-work order,” which essentially froze federal funding for refugee agencies’ work to support families in their first few months here. The order, which went into effect on January 28, also halted support for people who, like Omar, arrived here on Special Immigrant Visas—a type of entry available to Afghan nationals who worked with the U.S. military and are no longer safe to live in Afghanistan.
Omar is also one of the 100 people resettled in January by Inspiritus, which is one of the four main refugee resettlement agencies in the metro area.
“It’s totally unexpected. This never happened before,” said Aimee Zangandou, the director of refugee and immigrant services for the organization, where she’s worked for over 15 years. “Even the first Trump administration, resettlement was halted, but they didn’t go to the extent of saying that you can’t actually work with those who already are here.”
“It’s totally unexpected. This never happened before. Even the first Trump administration, resettlement was halted, but they didn’t go to the extent of saying that you can’t actually work with those who already are here.” – Aimee Zangandou, Inspiritus
Since the passage of the 1980 Refugee Act, the State Department has relied on designated nonprofit organizations to help it resettle refugees that it clears to enter the country. Federal funds flowing through those organizations, including Inspiritus, are disbursed to arriving families to help them get on their feet while they find jobs, enroll their children in school, and look for permanent housing. The money, which is supposed to cover the first 90 days, breaks down to about $1,650 per person—and mostly goes toward rent and food, Aimee said. But since the freeze, that flow of money has been shut off: “We’re not even going to get that. It’s just, there’s nothing.” [In an email response to 285 South, a State Department spokesperson said “most U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and USAID has been paused pending review.”]
The caseworker explained as much to Omar over the phone, he said, recalling being told that there were “limited resources” due to the freeze. “Maybe you had an idea back from home,” he said the caseworker told him. “That will not be the case.”
Flustered, Omar immediately started making a mental list of the things he would have to handle: “The bills, my rent, my utilities, the expenses. I’m new here and I don’t know when I’ll be able to get the job and pay all my bills and things.”
“The burden is, you know, what do we tell them?” said Aimee, visibly exasperated. “We’re trying, depending on where they are in their journey, letting them know what has happened.” But, she said, they haven’t explained “specifically what this means for the benefits and our ability to be able to help them going forward.”
Some organizations have been able to tap into reserves or find alternative funding sources to support newly arrived families. New American Pathways CEO Paedia Mixon said her organization is supporting 80 clients who are impacted by the federal funding freeze and that they will continue to pay their rent for the first 90 days, though they’re having to reach “into other pools of funding to provide this support.” She does not “anticipate a risk of eviction,” but, she said, “if we are not reimbursed, it will impact the organization significantly.”
For the 100 people who arrived in January, Inspiritus has been able to pay rent through the end of February, Aimee said. But, with less than two weeks until rent is due again, she’s not sure about March: “We are waiting to see how many donations we can bring in.” Inspiritus is “doing its best to keep serving them and to avoid a crisis and homelessness, because we don’t wait to get to that point,” she said. “We hope that we don’t have to tell them that we can’t pay the rent for March.”
Since the majority of Inspiritus’s funding is federal, said Aimee, the freeze is hitting not only the newly arriving families but also the organization’s staff. Two weeks ago, the organization laid off 32 employees—more than 20 percent of its staff, across offices in Atlanta, Savannah, Nashville, and Birmingham. “It was directly related to the resettlement and the stop-work order that we received. Most of them were case managers that we couldn’t pay,” she said.
Looking for support outside the federal government
To help fill the gap in federal funding—or at least just to support families through April—local agencies and nonprofits are having to pivot, launching fundraisers and making direct appeals to community members.
The Afghan American Alliance of Georgia launched a GoFundMe campaign to support 40 recently arrived families, with the goal of raising $6,500 to help with everything from groceries to MARTA cards to clothing. They’re also looking for volunteers to help with tasks like transportation and filling out forms on behalf of families.
Paedia said New American Pathways needs $132,000 to pay the rent for 90 days (through April) for their newly arrived families and is hoping to raise that money before then.
Inspiritus, Aimee said, has also been reaching out to its supporters, asking for direct donations. While the organization can’t rely on private donations to fully make up the money the government was providing, she said, “we are very grateful that the community is stepping up and helping.” She added that a coordinated fundraiser among the different agencies was also in the works.
Aimee herself came to the U.S. as a refugee from Rwanda when she was a teenager. She said the current situation—arriving here with zero support—is unthinkable. “I’m shivering right now, just thinking that could be the case,” she said. “I’ve seen my parents struggle to provide and make it work, their hope for us to be successful. I can see that that could be the worst nightmare, for parents to receive the news that you just have to figure this out on your own.”
For the time being, Omar is trying to learn English through YouTube and Google from his apartment in Clarkston, and he’s taking care of his kids, who haven’t been enrolled in school yet. He doesn’t have a car or drive, so he’s been depending on neighbors to take him to the grocery store. He’s hoping to find a job as soon as possible, though he’s been relying mostly on the resettlement agency to help him find work; with their limited capacity, it’s not clear when that will happen. He’s also been searching social media and different websites for jobs. “I don’t have close relatives or friends here, so I’m not sure if someone else can help me for the moment,” he said.
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