From The Progress Index: "With funding cut, what is the future of key Virginia refugee resettlement program?"

By Allie Pitchon, Petersburg Progress-Index June 9, 2025 

Commonwealth Catholic Charities, based in the greater Richmond region, Newport News and Roanoke, had its refugee resettlement program funding frozen by the Trump administration. 

The funding freeze resulted in layoffs and reduced services for refugees. CCC continues to provide limited services, but the future of the program is uncertain. 

For years, Commonwealth Catholic Charities has led much of Virginia’s work to help newly arrived refugees build lives in the United States.  

The nonprofit has operated its refugee resettlement program in the greater Richmond region, Roanoke and Newport News since 2010. Through federal contracts, CCC has provided housing, English classes, job assistance, access to healthcare and other services to thousands of people and families fleeing violence and persecution abroad.  

But in January, the Trump administration abruptly suspended the Biden-era U.S. Refugee Admissions Program by executive order, halting all new refugee arrivals into the country and freezing government funding for refugee resettlement services. This included the funding for CCC’s refugee resettlement program, which the federal government paused unexpectedly without reimbursing CCC for contracted services that had already been provided, CCC spokesperson Katie Dillon told The Progress-Index.  

“Refugee resettlement is supported by two main federal offices, and one of those federal offices, which is the Department of State, completely terminated the program that brings new refugees into the United States,” Kristen Larcher, the nonprofit’s Refugee Resettlement Director, said. “So across the United States, every resettlement agency, including us, CCC, we’ve lost that [funding].”  

The pause, initially framed as a 90-day review, has since stretched into an indefinite suspension, with no clear timeline for resumption.  

“At the time, the government had already vetted and sent more than 350 refugees to CCC for resettlement,” Dillon said. “Without government funding, we were left scrambling to find the means to provide basic support for the new arrivals. Our biggest concern was finding and paying for appropriate housing.”  

Luckily, the nonprofit was met with an “outpouring of support from the community,” Dillon said, which helped CCC secure housing and services for every refugee that had already been referred to CCC during their first 90 days in the United States.  

Staff layoffs, loss of critical services and more  

Despite that silver lining, the funding freeze had severe fallouts: CCC was forced to scale back its services to the community and lay off 26 staff members in its refugee resettlement program around the state.  

“Here in the community, a lot of the people who've been laid off from these jobs were refugees themselves,” Larcher said. “We hired past refugees who've come into the United States and they have prospered. They've done really well … a lot of them have been laid off and to see that circle kind of break is upsetting.”  

A lot of their family members, she added, remain in perilous situations back home.  

“A lot of these folks that are here, they have family who were in the pipeline — they have family that were in the processing stages to come,” she said. “These people have been waiting, they haven't seen their family in years, and just to hear that, you know, the plane ticket was canceled, or that they're not gonna be able to go to that appointment that they need for a visa anymore, has been heartbreaking for some of these families.   

“To not know what’s going to happen with their families who are still in these really dangerous situations and what's gonna happen next for them, that's been sad to see amidst the refugee community."  

CCC also no longer has the resources to provide intensive case management to newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers to help them navigate the United States when they first arrive, Larcher added.  

“That means newcomers who needed assistance with things like applying for benefits or rent or getting cultural orientation, that was the program that was terminated,” she said. “That’s a big deal. That's what really helped new refugees in the country get their bearings and start their new life in the right way.”  

An uncertain future  

There’s some hope that CCC’s Reception and Placement program might be resuscitated in the future, Larcher said, but added that “nobody really knows.”  

Whether the program starts up again depends largely on when — or whether —  refugees are once again allowed back into the United States.  

“There are the largest number of displaced people in the world on record right now — almost a tenth of the world’s entire population are impacted by some sort of persecution,” Larcher said. “The toughest part is the realization that America has chosen to withdraw itself from helping that global problem.”  

About 70% of refugees and asylum seekers that CCC provides services to are from Afghanistan, Larcher told The Progress-Index. The rest are typically from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria and Latin American countries, including Venezuela and El Salvador.  

But Trump’s recent travel ban, issued in June, specifically blocks nationals from Afghanistan and 11 other countries from entering the country for the foreseeable future. 

“Afghanistan and America have this relationship from like the 20 years that we were there, and so we do have an obligation to help these people, but now we’ve placed a travel ban on them and we’ve revoked their temporary protective status,” she addd. “The hardest part is just understanding the rationale behind why the United States is doing that, especially when the vetting process is so stringent.”  

Holding the line with limited resources 

In the meantime, CCC has continued to provide some services to Virginia’s refugees where they can, Dillon told The Progress-Index, including employment support, ESL classes, cultural programming, school and medical liaison services and other supportive services.  

But until the funding returns for certain, the future of all of CCC’s refugee services remains in limbo.  

Want to help out? Donate or volunteer with CCC through their website at cccofva.org/getinvolved.