Refugee Congress denounces US leaders’ willful inaction to protecting vulnerable communities, including refugees and immigrants

The Trump administration’s targeted efforts against refugees and people seeking safety was bolstered by a continued lack of resistance from Congress and the Supreme Court in protecting vulnerable communities.

On Thursday, Congress passed H.R. 1, a significant budget bill which cuts funding and access for healthcare and vital social services for vulnerable communities while boosting funds for the administration’s cruel immigration enforcement tactics and family separation efforts. After months of debate and markup, the bill heads to President Trump for sign-off by the marketed July 4th deadline.

Congress’ deliberate inaction to stop this bill – which threatens American and refugee communities alike – comes on the heels of last week’s Supreme Court rulings that allow the Trump administration to carry on targeting refugees and immigrants with limited accountability. The court reversed a federal injunction that prevented the administration from removing people to “third countries” where they have no ties, stripping people seeking safety of their right to due process. It also removed a nationwide judicial order protecting birthright citizenship, putting US-born children at risk of detention and deportation.

As the nation watched lawmakers and justices choose passivity, the Trump administration demonstrated its disregard for vulnerable populations and lawful residents as it revoked Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 500,000 Haitians while overlooking construction on a mass detention facility in the Florida Everglades.

These policies and legal decisions are not just harming refugees, asylum seekers, or people who are seeking safe haven in the U.S. These actions by our nation’s leaders ultimately lead to harm for all Americans. Refugee Congress is strongly opposed to these continued efforts to strip people of legal status and protections. We call on elected officials to protect the people of this country and to push for policies that defend safety and refuge while creating access to opportunities for all. 

“Justice rooted in truth cannot coexist with policies built on fear and exclusion. To deport people into chaos, dismantle protections, and unravel the fabric of family is a direct assault on the sanctity of life. These decisions betray our shared values and deepen the harm refugee and immigrant families carry every day. We are called to be better—to defend the vulnerable, not cast them aside,” said Sharon Njie, Delegate for Louisiana.

“It is both heartbreaking and infuriating to watch our nation’s leaders turn their backs on the vulnerable, the youth, and the poor. We, the people – children, the elderly, asylum seekers, humanitarian parolees, resettled refugees, and everyday Americans – deserve better than this,” said Jessi Calzado-Esponda, Honorary Delegate. “Stripping Medicaid, gutting resources, and further funding mass detention isn’t policy – it’s cruelty disguised as fiscal responsibility, and a moral failure. This is not about politics or partisanship, it’s about a dangerous and growing disregard for the people who need us most.”

“As the Senate just voted to strip healthcare and essential services from 11 million Americans to pay for mass deportations and detention centers, they’re choosing to heal no one while harming everyone. America was built by immigrants – not by politicians who steal from the sick to terrorize the displaced,” said Myra Dahgaypaw, Honorary Delegate.

“Ending TPS for Haitians, threatening birthright citizenship for U.S.-born children, allowing deportations to countries in conflict, and stripping healthcare and vital resources from our communities – these are more dangerous examples of how the Trump administration is willfully targeting our most vulnerable neighbors while undermining fundamental rights for all,” said Nili Sarit Yossinger, Executive Director. “These decisions don’t just harm individuals — they erode the constitutional principles, moral responsibility, and democratic checks that define who we are as a nation. It is shameful that Congress continues to step aside and make room for more policies that harm our neighbors and loved ones.”