logo
Takeaways from AP's reporting on U.S.-allied Afghan refugees struggling for basic support

Takeaways from AP's reporting on U.S.-allied Afghan refugees struggling for basic support

Independent18-03-2025
Rahmani worked for a U.S.-backed organization in Kabul, which put him at risk of Taliban retribution. Now, the father of two is among thousands of newly arrived refugees who lost financial assistance when the Trump administration cut off funding for the federal refugee program in January.
He moved here in November through the vetted form of legal migration. To fast-track self-sufficiency, it provides refugees with wraparound services for three months — help with housing, food and job placement — while other federal grants support their first five years.
Instead, Rahmani's relocation services were largely halted after only two months, when the Trump administration upended the refugee program. He otherwise would have qualified for extended rental assistance for up to six months.
He has spent weeks looking for work, with no luck. Unable to pay his rent, his anxiety mounts by the day. Here's a look at key elements of the plight he and his family face.
Resettlement agencies are reeling from disruption of funding
Rahmani is a client of Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area, a local faith-based resettlement agency that is waiting on $3.7 million in federal funding for work it has already provided.
LSSNCA has struggled to make payroll, and its support services have fallen like dominoes after it was forced to lay off 75 people and furlough seven others.
Two-thirds of its clients are Afghan allies, who were offered visas and protection in the United States after the Taliban returned to power. These Afghans worked alongside U.S. troops or, like Rahmani, were employed by U.S.-backed organizations. Rahmani is identified using only one of his names because he still fears for his family's safety.
The risk of widespread evictions
By early March, at least 42 households under LSSNCA's care had received eviction notices, putting nearly 170 people in Virginia and Maryland on the edge of homelessness, with more — like Rahmani's family — at risk. The staff has been fundraising and negotiating with landlords to stave off evictions.
The organization raised $500,000 in six weeks, but that doesn't fill the gap left by frozen government funds.
Global Refuge is the parent organization of LSSNCA and has long served as one of 10 national agencies partnering with the federal government to resettle refugees. It has received no federal reimbursements for work done since Inauguration Day and has laid off hundreds of staff. Nearly 6,000 refugees in its care were within 90 days of arrival, the initial aid window, when it received a stop-work order from the Trump administration.
Across resettlement agencies nationwide, support for at least 30,000 recent arrivals was affected. At LSSNCA, 369 people were within their first 90 days in the U.S., and another 850 clients were eligible for longer-term services.
'We're seeing the de facto wholesale destruction of a longstanding bipartisan program that saved millions of lives,' said Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge.
Refugees fled instability, only to find more of it in the U.S.
LSSNCA's capacity has been stretched thin before. The chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 led to a surge of Afghans being resettled in the U.S.
LSSNCA went from serving 500 people a year to 500 people a month. They staffed up to deal with the influx of Afghans, with case managers working long hours. The quality of their work suffered: Federal reimbursements were often delayed, and they struggled to provide services. The difference then was they knew the federal government backed their work.
Marjila Badakhsh came to the U.S. in December of 2021. A journalist who worked for a U.S.-funded Afghan media organization, she was evacuated from Kabul and resettled in Virginia.
Once a LSSNCA client, she was later hired at the organization, only to be laid off in January when the agency received its stop-work order.
'After three years, with one policy I'm thinking that I'm back to the day that I came to the United States for the first time, and I should start again,' she said.
She stays busy applying to jobs in Virginia and California, where her brother — who worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan — was recently resettled. But her dreams of one day welcoming their parents and sister to the U.S. are on hold after the suspension of the U.S. refugee program.
The courts are still weighing in
Lawsuits against the Trump administration have been filed over its immigration policies, with one judge ruling in favor of three faith-based resettlement agencies. In a recent court filing, administration lawyers argued that initial refugee benefits are 'not required by law.' They indicated it would take months to comply with a court order to restart the program.
This week, Global Refuge received some federal reimbursements for its work during the Biden administration. Those funds came through the Department of Health and Human Services. Global Refuge has not received federal payments for work done since late January, and it has not received reimbursements for the 90-day aid offered through the State Department, which did not respond to a request for comment.
___
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

US politics live updates: Most adults support legal abortion three years after Roe overturn, new poll finds
US politics live updates: Most adults support legal abortion three years after Roe overturn, new poll finds

The Guardian

time24 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

US politics live updates: Most adults support legal abortion three years after Roe overturn, new poll finds

Update: Date: Title: Most US adults support legal abortion three years after Roe overturn, new poll finds Content: Good morning, and welcome to the US politics blog. Today we're kicking off with the findings of a new poll: three years after the US supreme court opened the door to state abortion bans, most adults continue to say abortion should be legal — views that look similar to before the landmark ruling. The new findings from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll show that about two-thirds of US adults think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. About half believe abortion should be available in their state if someone does not want to be pregnant for any reason. That level of support for abortion is down slightly from what an AP-NORC poll showed last year, when it seemed that support for legal abortion might be rising. Other things to note in US politics today: Last night Columbia University announced a deal to pay the Trump administration more than $220m, an agreement meant to bring a resolution to the threat of massive funding cuts to the school. Donald Trump's effort to repeal birthright citizenship has hit another a stumbling block, with a federal appeals court in San Francisco declaring the president's attempt unconstitutional. South Park kicked off its 27th season with a blistering episode taking aim at Trump. Trump is expected to heap further pressure on Jerome Powell later today when he makes a visit to the Federal Reserve's Washington offices. Trump is also expected to sign more executive orders this afternoon. It's unclear the subject matter, though yesterday he went after 'woke' AI models. Stick with us today as we bring you all the US politics news to come. Update: Date: 2025-07-24T11:53:35.000Z Title: The Guardian has been keeping up with the changing abortion laws across the US since Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022. Content: You can see the latest state-by-state breakdown here: Update: Date: 2025-07-24T11:48:44.000Z Title: Content: Here's more context from the Associated Press on its new poll about abortion: The June 2022 supreme court ruling that overturned Roe v Wade and opened the door to state bans on abortion led to major policy changes. Most states have either moved to protect abortion access or restrict it. Twelve are now enforcing bans on abortion at every stage of pregnancy, and four more do so after about six weeks' gestation, which is often before women realize they're pregnant. In the aftermath of the ruling, AP-NORC polling suggested that support for legal abortion access might be increasing. Last year, an AP-NORC poll conducted in June found that 7 in 10 US adults said it should be available in all or most cases, up slightly from 65% in May 2022, just before the decision that overruled the constitutional right to abortion, and 57% in June 2021. The new poll is closer to Americans' views before the supreme court ruled. Now, 64% of adults support legal abortion in most or all cases. More than half the adults in states with the most stringent bans are in that group. Similarly, about half now say abortion should be available in their state when someone doesn't want to continue their pregnancy for any reason — about the same as in June 2021 but down from about 6 in 10 who said that in 2024. Adults in the strictest states are just as likely as others to say abortion should be available in their state to women who want to end pregnancies for any reason. Democrats support abortion access far more than Republicans do. Support for legal abortion has dropped slightly among members of both parties since June 2024, but nearly 9 in 10 Democrats and roughly 4 in 10 Republicans say abortion should be legal in at least most instances. Update: Date: 2025-07-24T11:45:17.000Z Title: Most US adults support legal abortion three years after Roe overturn, new poll finds Content: Good morning, and welcome to the US politics blog. Today we're kicking off with the findings of a new poll: three years after the US supreme court opened the door to state abortion bans, most adults continue to say abortion should be legal — views that look similar to before the landmark ruling. The new findings from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll show that about two-thirds of US adults think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. About half believe abortion should be available in their state if someone does not want to be pregnant for any reason. That level of support for abortion is down slightly from what an AP-NORC poll showed last year, when it seemed that support for legal abortion might be rising. Other things to note in US politics today: Last night Columbia University announced a deal to pay the Trump administration more than $220m, an agreement meant to bring a resolution to the threat of massive funding cuts to the school. Donald Trump's effort to repeal birthright citizenship has hit another a stumbling block, with a federal appeals court in San Francisco declaring the president's attempt unconstitutional. South Park kicked off its 27th season with a blistering episode taking aim at Trump. Trump is expected to heap further pressure on Jerome Powell later today when he makes a visit to the Federal Reserve's Washington offices. Trump is also expected to sign more executive orders this afternoon. It's unclear the subject matter, though yesterday he went after 'woke' AI models. Stick with us today as we bring you all the US politics news to come.

Newsman or businessman? Murdoch walks tightrope in battle with Trump
Newsman or businessman? Murdoch walks tightrope in battle with Trump

The Guardian

time33 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Newsman or businessman? Murdoch walks tightrope in battle with Trump

Rupert Murdoch had made up his mind. 'We want to make Trump a nonperson,' he assured one of his former executives in a 2021 email, two days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Over seven decades, Murdoch has sought to charm, challenge and change prime ministers and presidents as he built one of the world's most powerful media empires. In this particular endeavor, however, he failed. Donald Trump, far from being made a nonperson, became the first defeated US president in 132 years to win back the White House. And from the Club World Cup final to the Oval Office, Murdoch has been seen by his side. As the Wall Street Journal prepared to report that Trump provided a bawdy birthday letter to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein last week, the president appealed to Murdoch – chair emeritus of News Corporation, the newspaper's owner – to kill the story, claiming it was false. The story ran. But the story did not receive the same treatment across Murdoch's empire. The Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham went on air 15 minutes after the Journal published its story, and talked about Epstein. 'We have new news coming on about this, as well, from the Wall Street Journal. A new report tonight – next,' she said, throwing to a commercial break. When The Ingraham Angle returned, the new news did not feature. Preston Padden, who worked at Fox in the 1990s, is the veteran media industry operator whom Murdoch told of his plan to make Trump a 'nonperson' in 2021. He was not surprised to see how his former boss, and his array of outlets, handled this story. 'You've got the Wall Street Journal, and you've got the cable news channel. And they represent two different sides of Rupert's brain,' Padden said in an interview. 'He is, in his heart, a serious newsman, and that's the Wall Street Journal. He's also a brilliant businessman, and that's Fox News.' Murdoch's businesses are divided between two companies: Fox Corporation, which houses Fox News and the Tubi streaming platform, and News Corp, home to newspapers including the Australian, the Sun, the Journal; the digital real estate network REA; and HarperCollins, the publishing giant. 'There is a more of a focus on the business than the journalism at Fox, than seems to be the case at News Corp,' said Brian Wieser, an analyst and former banker. 'It always appeared to me that business was first' for Murdoch, he added. 'Influence was a means to an end.' News Corp's Dow Jones division – where the Wall Street Journal sits – generated revenue of $575m in the first three months of the year. Fox Corp's cable network programming arm, meanwhile – led by Fox News, and also including Fox Sports – generated $1.64bn over the same period. 'Fox News is the primordial asset of the collection of assets,' said media analyst Claire Enders, who said the network 'has drawn no attention to the matter, exactly as the president has wished'. Covering the Journal's reporting on Trump and Epstein 'would not be good for business' at Fox News, suggested Padden, who observed how the network previously endured a backlash from the president's supporters when it strayed significantly from his narrative. 'And so you can watch this debate,' he claimed. 'Should we report the truth, and lose viewers, or should we report what our viewers want?' In 2023, Fox reached a $787.5m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over the voting equipment firm's defamation lawsuit against the network over the false narrative that the 2020 election had been stolen from Trump. Trump, who has in recent days promoted Fox News segments on his Truth Social platform, seems perfectly happy with its output. But he promptly sued Murdoch, News Corp and the Journal reporters behind the story on his ties with Epstein, publicly goading Murdoch about the threat of testifying. Murdoch and Trump have engaged in a transactional relationship spanning decades, noted Enders. 'There is also a very longstanding friendship between Trump and Mr Murdoch. And a symbiotic relationship with the cashflow machine,' she said. 'They have fallen out before and made up quickly.' In December, Disney's ABC agreed to pay $15m to a foundation and museum as part of a settlement in a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump. Earlier this month, Paramount reached a $16m settlement with the president over another lawsuit he filed over an interview with Kamala Harris, the Democrat candidate for president, by CBS News. Trump's latest lawsuit raises the prospect of another prominent media organization – this time News Corp – potentially settling to avoid a lengthy legal battle. A Dow Jones spokesperson said: 'We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.' 'We do not anticipate any lasting repercussions from this unless the WSJ has in fact been hoaxed,' said Enders. 'Otherwise, it will be shuffled away with a smaller settlement. That is how previous ginormous Trump lèse-majesté cases have been dealt with.' Fox News has covered the lawsuit sparingly in recent days, reporting on Trump's initial filing on Friday, referencing the story briefly on Saturday, and then analyzing it in a segment on Sunday. The network declined to comment. Murdoch, 94, retired from management in 2023, when he handed over the reins at Fox Corp and News Corp to his son, Lachlan. At the time, however, he stressed he would remain 'involved every day' in the businesses. 'As long as he's around, it's his candy store,' said Padden.

US politics live updates: Most adults support legal abortion three years after Roe overturn, new poll finds
US politics live updates: Most adults support legal abortion three years after Roe overturn, new poll finds

The Guardian

time40 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

US politics live updates: Most adults support legal abortion three years after Roe overturn, new poll finds

Update: Date: 2025-07-24T12:06:10.000Z Title: Last night Columbia University announced a deal to pay the Trump administration more than $220m Content: About two-thirds of US adults think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, new AP polls finds Lucy Campbell (now); Shannon Ho (earlier) Thu 24 Jul 2025 13.53 CEST First published on Thu 24 Jul 2025 13.45 CEST From 1.45pm CEST 13:45 Good morning, and welcome to the US politics blog. Today we're kicking off with the findings of a new poll: three years after the US supreme court opened the door to state abortion bans, most adults continue to say abortion should be legal — views that look similar to before the landmark ruling. The new findings from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll show that about two-thirds of US adults think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. About half believe abortion should be available in their state if someone does not want to be pregnant for any reason. That level of support for abortion is down slightly from what an AP-NORC poll showed last year, when it seemed that support for legal abortion might be rising. Other things to note in US politics today: , an agreement meant to bring a resolution to the threat of massive funding cuts to the school. Donald Trump's effort to repeal birthright citizenship has hit another a stumbling block, with a federal appeals court in San Francisco declaring the president's attempt unconstitutional. South Park kicked off its 27th season with a blistering episode taking aim at Trump. Trump is expected to heap further pressure on Jerome Powell later today when he makes a visit to the Federal Reserve's Washington offices. Trump is also expected to sign more executive orders this afternoon. It's unclear the subject matter, though yesterday he went after 'woke' AI models. Stick with us today as we bring you all the US politics news to come. 1.53pm CEST 13:53 The Guardian has been keeping up with the changing abortion laws across the US since Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022. You can see the latest state-by-state breakdown here: Updated at 1.53pm CEST 1.48pm CEST 13:48 Here's more context from the Associated Press on its new poll about abortion: The June 2022 supreme court ruling that overturned Roe v Wade and opened the door to state bans on abortion led to major policy changes. Most states have either moved to protect abortion access or restrict it. Twelve are now enforcing bans on abortion at every stage of pregnancy, and four more do so after about six weeks' gestation, which is often before women realize they're pregnant. In the aftermath of the ruling, AP-NORC polling suggested that support for legal abortion access might be increasing. Last year, an AP-NORC poll conducted in June found that 7 in 10 US adults said it should be available in all or most cases, up slightly from 65% in May 2022, just before the decision that overruled the constitutional right to abortion, and 57% in June 2021. The new poll is closer to Americans' views before the supreme court ruled. Now, 64% of adults support legal abortion in most or all cases. More than half the adults in states with the most stringent bans are in that group. Similarly, about half now say abortion should be available in their state when someone doesn't want to continue their pregnancy for any reason — about the same as in June 2021 but down from about 6 in 10 who said that in 2024. Adults in the strictest states are just as likely as others to say abortion should be available in their state to women who want to end pregnancies for any reason. Democrats support abortion access far more than Republicans do. Support for legal abortion has dropped slightly among members of both parties since June 2024, but nearly 9 in 10 Democrats and roughly 4 in 10 Republicans say abortion should be legal in at least most instances. 1.45pm CEST 13:45 Good morning, and welcome to the US politics blog. Today we're kicking off with the findings of a new poll: three years after the US supreme court opened the door to state abortion bans, most adults continue to say abortion should be legal — views that look similar to before the landmark ruling. The new findings from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll show that about two-thirds of US adults think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. About half believe abortion should be available in their state if someone does not want to be pregnant for any reason. That level of support for abortion is down slightly from what an AP-NORC poll showed last year, when it seemed that support for legal abortion might be rising. Other things to note in US politics today: , an agreement meant to bring a resolution to the threat of massive funding cuts to the school. Donald Trump's effort to repeal birthright citizenship has hit another a stumbling block, with a federal appeals court in San Francisco declaring the president's attempt unconstitutional. South Park kicked off its 27th season with a blistering episode taking aim at Trump. Trump is expected to heap further pressure on Jerome Powell later today when he makes a visit to the Federal Reserve's Washington offices. Trump is also expected to sign more executive orders this afternoon. It's unclear the subject matter, though yesterday he went after 'woke' AI models. Stick with us today as we bring you all the US politics news to come.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store