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Michigan refugees face uncertainty due to Trump policies

President Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House,  Jan. 30.
Evan Vucci
/
AP
President Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, Jan. 30.

Michigan’s refugee resettlement agencies are struggling to support clients after federal funding was cut off last week

“We currently have 430 individuals; this is made up of families with kids, with babies that have arrived just in the last three months, many of them just in the last couple weeks, that we would typically be able to provide 90 days of services for.”

Lukas Ziomkowski is Vice President of Refugee Services for Samaritas, a Michigan-based nonprofit providing food, clothing, shelter, transportation and employment. He says due to a recent stop work order, federal funding can no longer be used to help refugees.

“Right now, we have these 430 individuals that have already come to the U.S., are authorized to be here, and then the services that we would have been to allowed to provide before, we received an order to stop doing that.”

Ziomkowski says these are families from war-torn countries who arrive confused, scared and worried, because they were promised services that are no longer readily available.

“They’re getting here and then all of a sudden, the ability to provide services for them has been cut off unless an organization like ours continues to do the work. So, at this point, we have continued to lean in with these families. We’re looking for alternate ways of funding our work.”

More information about how you can help can be found online at Samaritas.org

Dave joined WGVU Public Media in November of 2023 after eighteen years as a Michigan Association of Broadcasters Emmy-nominated photojournalist and editor at Grand Rapids' WOOD TV8 and three years at WEYI TV25 in Flint, Michigan. As a General Assignment Reporter, Dave covers daily news and community events all over West Michigan.
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