Three of Minnesota’s seven resettlement providers will be ending their resettlement programs by October: the Minnesota Council of Churches (MCC), Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota, and the United Community Action Partnership (UCAP).
The cities of Rochester (House District 1) and Marshall (House District 7) will lose their ability to resettle refugees entirely—with little word from either city council.
Additionally, the Twin Cities Refugee Consortium has paused meetings indefinitely.
Funding cuts, arrivals suspensions, and nationality-based bans are contributing to the fracturing of Minnesota’s resettlement system.
Federal Support Needed to Survive
As federal funds decline, so too does Minnesota’s ability to resettle refugees.
While state and private funding continue to support refugee integration efforts, Minnesota’s resettlement agencies have repeatedly emphasized the importance of reliable federal support.
On March 20th, the Twin Cities Refugee Consortium wrote in their suspension announcement:
“[T]he Reception & Placement program has ended at all four metro agencies. Many have been forced to lay off staff and have been forced to leave newly-arrived refugees without the resources they are normally entitled to. Referrals are being made to services funded by the state of Minnesota DHS Refugee Programs Office or mainstream services, though there are not any existing services that fully fill the need. Due to unstable reimbursement from the federal government (despite standing contracts), some agencies have had to lay off more staff and refer out/prematurely close the cases of families who were enrolled in Matching Grant and Preferred Communities programs.”
The Minnesota Council of Churches echoed this sentiment:
“While we are encouraged that Minnesota has not eliminated or reduced state-funded contracts for organizations like MCC to help refugees transition well into Minnesota life, the hard truth is that we depend on federal dollars to amplify and sustain our work.”
Minnesota has been here before. The impending end of nearly half of Minnesota’s resettlement programs mirrors the nationwide closures of resettlement offices that occurred during the last Trump Administration.
We can’t let it happen again—again.
Read the full article here.
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