Refugees approved to resettle in WA stranded after Trump cancels travel

More than 1,000 refugees who had been approved to come to Washington state are now in limbo after the Trump administration issued an executive order last week halting the country’s refugee resettlement program.

President Donald Trump suspended the program as part of a series of executive orders cracking down on immigration. Many of the refugees, who had been cleared to resettle in the U.S. after fleeing war or persecution in their home countries, already had plane tickets in hand when the suspension was announced.

In Washington, resettlement agencies are scrambling to learn more while some refugees already resettled here watch in horror as their loved ones remain in precarious conditions abroad.

According to the state’s Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance, about 1,135 people had been approved for travel and resettlement in Washington as of Monday, said Norah West, a spokesperson for the Department of Social and Health Services, which oversees the office.

Under the Biden administration, Washington’s 11 refugee resettlement agencies were approved to resettle 5,780 people during the federal fiscal year 2025, which runs from October 2024 to September 2025. In the last three months of 2024, agencies in Washington resettled 1,707 people.

“The pause in the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program will have the biggest impact on the people and families waiting to be reunited with their loved ones, many of whom may have been waiting years and decades to join their families in Washington,” West said in a written statement.

The International Rescue Committee Washington had expected to welcome a family of eight — a mother and seven of her daughters — to Seattle in early February, reuniting them with another daughter already resettled in Seattle, said executive director Kathleen Morris.

The group of women, who fled their home country, are now living in a different country under visas they fear will no longer be honored. Local law enforcement regularly harass the family, Morris said, and several daughters have been detained by the police.

“The daughter is beside herself with despair knowing how much danger her family members are in,” said Morris, who declined to share the family’s country of origin or current location to protect their privacy and safety.

“To have this hope that in two weeks they were going to be safe gone … it’s heart-wrenching.”

Refugees are distinct from people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum. Refugees must be living outside of the U.S. to be considered for resettlement and are usually referred to the U.S. State Department by the United Nations. Asylum-seeking, a human right protected under U.S. law for decades, was also sharply curtailed by the Trump administration this week.

Refugees are among the most vetted and screened immigrants into the United States, oftentimes going through a yearslong process before getting clearance to enter the country, said Van Dinh-Kuno, executive director of Refugee & Immigrant Services Northwest, which typically welcomes 20 to 25 refugee families per week.

She called the executive order “inhumane.”

“Millions and millions of people are suffering in refugee camps and now we’re suspending the program,” Dinh-Kuno said.

After the executive order, 102 refugees whom World Relief Western Washington was scheduled to welcome had their travel canceled, according to executive director Medard Ngueita.

He said he’s concerned that some who have already been approved might see their documentation, like medical and health screenings, expire in the coming months as they wait for relief — forcing them to restart their refugee admissions process. Much is still in the air, he said.

“Nobody knows when the decision will be lifted or when resettlement will resume,” Ngueita said.

Lutheran Community Services Northwest, which helps resettle refugees in the Puget Sound area, Portland and Vancouver, Wash., said at least one flight with refugees it expected to welcome at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was canceled this week.

The group had planned to receive 48 refugees through Sea-Tac and Portland International Airport next month, but 17 of them will likely have their plans canceled because of the executive order, spokesperson Matt Misterek said.

The resettlement agency is “keeping our fingers crossed” for the other 31 refugees, who are Special Immigrant Visa holders from Afghanistan who worked for the United States government or military abroad and are exempt from the executive order.

“We’re still thinking a significant portion … will come in as Afghan SIVs,” Misterek said. But he cautioned, “We can’t bank on anything.”

The first Trump administration also temporarily halted the program in 2017, and then reduced the number of refugees admitted each year to record lows.

Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks: 206-464-2246 or ayoonhendricks@seattletimes.com. Staff reporter Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks covers race and equity for The Seattle Times.