Lansing, Michigan will be losing its only resettlement program this fall.

Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan (CCSEM)—alongside 59 other resettlement programs operated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops—will not be renewing their contracts with the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

Prolonged funding instability resulting from executive volatility has “significantly reduced” CCSEM’s “ability to serve refugee families,” reports the organization’s CEO, Paul Propson.

The agency has resettled refugees in Lansing since 1948—nearly 80 years.

Despite these challenges, Propson remains optimistic about CCSEM’s ability to continue serving some of Southeast Michigan’s most vulnerable:

“Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan remains open, active, and deeply rooted in faith…While some Catholic Charities agencies nationwide have been forced to close their doors, we stand firm in the mission. We are built on a foundation that endures.”

Support Remains Strong

Propson’s optimism is not unfounded: Michigan’s business and government leaders continue to support Michigan’s resettlement efforts.

Business

Global Detroit and Public Policy Associates, a non-partisan research firm from Lansing, recently published a report estimating the loss Michigan’s economy will face if resettlement continues to remain largely suspended.

The report found that economic losses—for only this year—would be significant:

Michigan’s business community is doing what it can to fill the gap.

In Washtenaw County, Bank of America’s Charitable Foundation has launched a pilot food business training program with Jewish Family Services (JFS)—the county’s only resettlement agency. The program builds upon JFS’s years of success in supporting refugee small business owners: handbag and clothing designers, commercial and residential painters, barbers, cafe owners, and restaurateurs.

You can fill the gap, too. Click to donate to a resettlement agency near you!

Government

Michigan’s mayors are also voicing their support for refugees.

Republican Mayor Ethan Baker of Troy—which hosts Samaritas, one of Michigan’s resettlement agencies—expressed support for immigrants at President Trump’s Inauguration:

“I look at Michigan, and Troy specifically—the immigration policies are a little bit different. We’re more concerned with: how do we get those legal immigrants into our city, into our communities? Because so many of them are working at hospitals, are doctors, nurses, educators—working in the auto industry. So that process is really, really important.”

Mayor Christopher Taylor of Ann Arbor—which hosts JFS of Washtenaw County—similarly expressed:

“We understand that pluralism is a fundamental value, that the immigrants and refugees among us [sic], that they are an inextricable part of our community, that we all benefit from their presence here.”

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