Unexpected cuts to federal funding may cause a local immigration support organization to eliminate many of its refugee support programs.
The Trump administration put a cap on annual refugees allowed into the country in 2026 at 7,500, a record low in U.S. history, prioritizing Afrikaners from South Africa.
The federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF) sent letters to Asian Services in Action (ASIA) to inform the organization the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) would be terminating three grants ASIA received for refugee services.
The grants, totaling more than an estimated $1 million, were supposed to extend into 2027, but will now terminate at the end of September 2026.
“Right now, we need to restructure the program and try to maximize that,” said Susan Wong, ASIA's chief program officer.
The grants provided Northeast Ohio refugees financial help for starting businesses, education tuition and financial literacy programs.
Wong said ASIA will still provide its general services to refugees, such as its food pantry and basic employment assistance.
“It’s kind of a crazy decision suddenly," Wong said. "You welcome me to the United States, now you're cutting off all our benefits. A lot of folks, they don't understand how much refugees impact Northeast Ohio… They contribute the labor work. They are also part of your America.”
The current programs also help refugees afford things they might need for work, such as a car, which made a significant difference for Azizur Rahman Abdul Samad, a father of six from Myanmar.
“I got fired. I was told that I have work, but I don't have a car,” Abdul Samad said in Hindi, which was interpreted by an ASIA staffer. “I have wings now. I can fly and I can go to work easily. I can go to my appointments easily. I can even help people around me who (don't) have a car.”
ASIA is a subgrantee in one of the three grants cut by ORR. That grant was received and distributed by the Ohio Community Development Corporation Association, which said the termination of the grant will impact one other Central Ohio partner.
Re:Source Cleveland, another refugee support organization, said it recently saw ORR grants end at their designated time without renewal, which executive director Patrick Kearns said he was anticipating.
“I think it was pretty clear that there would be major changes to the refugee resettlement system and the funding,” Kearns said. “We’d been looking at the future, looking at what happens in situation A, situation B, and then preparing for stormy weather.”
ORR has not yet responded to requests for comment, but one of the letters ASIA received reads, “Continuation of the program beyond FY (Fiscal Year) 2026 does not effectuate current program goals or agency priorities. Given finite resources, ORR must focus on initiatives that more directly support early self-sufficiency through employment and resettlement coordination.”
