Afghan refugees in US struggle as faith-based aid is disrupted

LAUREL, Md. (AP) — The rent is due, but Rahmani has no money to pay it.

The Afghan father of two worked for a U.S.-backed organization in Kabul, which put him at risk of Taliban retribution. Now he 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.

His family’s monthly rent and utilities total nearly $1,850, an unfathomable amount compared to what he once paid in Kabul.

He has spent weeks looking for work, walking along the suburban highway across from his family’s apartment, inquiring at small markets and big box stores. So far, there are no job leads.

He moved here in November with the federal refugee program, a vetted form of legal migration to the U.S. for those fleeing persecution. 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. Still jobless and unable to make ends meet, his anxiety mounts by the day.

For the stress, a doctor prescribed medication. “Without it,” he said, “the negative talk comes.”

Rahmani is a client of Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area, a local faith-based resettlement agency also in disarray. The organization is waiting on $3.7 million in federal reimbursements 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. Nearly a third of its staff is now gone, with its case management team hit the hardest, leaving many refugees without a steady presence as they navigate their new lives.

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 worked in information technology in Afghanistan for a large Afghan media organization, which the U.S. helped fund as part of its democracy-building efforts. He is identified using only one of his names because he still fears for his family's safety.

Sitting in his spartan apartment, he gestured to his daughter, a bright-eyed, dark-haired toddler in Hello Kitty leggings. She just turned 2; a “happy birthday” banner still hangs on the wall.

Rahmani came here for the futures of both his daughter and 7-year-old son. “Because in my own country, girls are not allowed to go to school.”

Now he wonders if coming here was a mistake.

“If they kick me out from the apartment, where should I stay?” he asked. “Should I stay with my family in the road?”

Covering the rental assistance promised to new refugees is LSSNCA’s most pressing concern. By early March, at least 42 households under its 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 negotiating with landlords and fundraising to stave off evictions.

“It is like a daily conversation about how much money came in today,” said Kristyn Peck, CEO of LSSNCA. “OK, who’s most at risk of eviction out of all these people? ... Whose rent can we pay first? And they’re just kind of impossible choices.”

The organization raised $500,000 in six weeks, but that doesn’t fill the gap left by frozen government funds. LSSNCA had expected President Donald Trump to lower refugee admissions, as he did during his first term, but they didn’t anticipate losing funds for refugees already in the U.S.

The Rev. Rachel Vaagenes, pastor of Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., started a GoFundMe for LSSNCA in February and quickly raised $25,000 to cover rent for three families in Maryland for three months.

“It's a drop in the bucket, right? Even if there were a thousand churches doing this, we still couldn’t do what the U.S. government does,” Vaagenes said. “We cannot make up the gap, no matter how much we want to as individual congregations.”

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. The vast majority of Global Refuge’s funding comes from state and federal dollars, which accounted for more than 95% of its 2023 budget. 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.; 850 more 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.

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 a month. They staffed up to deal with the influx of Afghans, with case managers working late into the night. 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, eventually landing at a military base in New Jersey before LSSNCA took her case and she was resettled in Virginia.

She was later hired at LSSNCA, putting her language skills to use with Afghan clients. Though recently promoted, she was among those laid off in January when the agency received its stop-work order.

“I was thinking that I’m stable at this job, and I’m building my career here,” she said. “But right now, 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 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 Trump suspended most of the refugee program.

Other LSSNCA clients remain in limbo. Anastasiia De Zoysa fled war-torn Ukraine and received temporary legal status in the U.S. She and her family settled near relatives in Frederick, Maryland, where her husband got a job in his field. But now she worries their status will be revoked.

“I’m willing to go home when it’s safe,” she said, noting her former city is under Russian control. “I have nothing in Ukraine now if I go back.”

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.

Resettlement can be difficult under any circumstances. Rahmani remembers the first lonely weeks in his new town, when he spotted another Afghan man. He called out to him in Dari, his own language, and cried when they hugged.

He now knows of at least 10 recently arrived Afghan families living nearby, and many are also struggling. With his English skills, he often serves as their translator, helping them at appointments.

More and more, Rahmani thinks he will have to go back to Afghanistan, despite the danger.

“If I don’t have the home rent, then I don’t have any other choice,” he said.

At least if something happened to him in Afghanistan, his relatives would be there to care for his wife and children.

“But in the United States,” he said, “there is nobody who would take care of my family.”

Associated Press journalist Gary Fields contributed from Washington.

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.

Rahmani, who has been experiencing anxiety and depression since the Trump administration cut federal funding for refugee programs, rubs his eyes while sitting in his apartment in Laurel, Md., Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Donated clothes are organized and hung at the Lutheran Social Services National Capital Area Resource Center in Alexandria, Va., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Asma Baburi, left, Alyssa Clifford, Beth Hickey, a volunteer, and Madi Davis, share a conversation while at the Lutheran Social Services National Capital Area Resource Center in Alexandria, Va., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Alyssa Clifford, left, and Asma Baburi look through school backpacks stuffed with supplies at the Lutheran Social Services National Capital Area Resource Center where they both work, in Alexandria, Va., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Beth Hickey, left, a volunteer with the Lutheran Social Services National Capital Area Resource Center, and Madi Davis, an employee with the resource center, look through school backpacks, in Alexandria, Va., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Toothbrushes are one of the many items available to immigrants and others in need at the Lutheran Social Services National Capital Area Resource Center in Alexandria, Va., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Maryam Rahimi prepares Bolani and other foods to break the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Marjila Badakhsh, who was laid off from her position with the Lutheran Social Services National Capital Area resettlement program after the Trump administration upended the federal refugee program, works on her computer in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Marjila Badakhsh and her roommates cook together before breaking their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at their apartment in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Maryam Rahimi, left, and Marjila Badakhsh prepare food for a neighbor and fellow Afghan refugee at their apartment in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Bolani and other foods are prepared by Marjila Badakhsh and her roommates to break their daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

The sun sets beyond the Lutheran Social Services National Capital Area Resource Center in Alexandria, Va., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Employees of the Lutheran Social Services National Capital Area Resource Center in Alexandria, Va., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Marjila Badakhsh and her roommates wear sandals while cooking together in their apartment in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Marjila Badakhsh, left, and her roommate Maryam Rahimi cook together before breaking their daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at their apartment in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Marjila Badakhsh sits beside sentimental items, including a book of poems, brought with her from Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Marjila Badakhsh holds a book of poems she brought from Afghanistan when resettling in the United States in 2021, in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Marjila Badakhsh, an Afghan refugee who came to the United States in 2021 after American troops left Afghanistan, sits at her computer in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, March 5, 2025. She was recently laid off from her position with the Lutheran Social Services National Capital Area resettlement program when the Trump administration upended the federal refugee program. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

The shoes of Rahmani's daughter sit near the front door of their apartment in Laurel, Md., Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Rahmani, an Afghan refugee who is unable to pay his rent due to the cuts made to the federal refugee program by the Trump administration, sits in his apartment in Laurel, Md., Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Rahmani's young daughter and wife sit together in their apartment in Laurel, Md., Monday, March 3, 2025. The family moved to the U.S. in November with the federal refugee program, a vetted form of legal migration to the U.S. for those fleeing persecution. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Rahmani, an Afghan refugee and father of two, plays with his daughter at the apartment where they were resettled by the Lutheran Social Services National Capital Area organization in Laurel, Md., Monday, March 3, 2025. He and his family are among thousands of newly arrived refugees who lost financial assistance when President Donald Trump cut off funding for the federal refugee program in January. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from terminating $14 billion in grants awarded to three climate groups by the Biden administration, saying the government's “vague and unsubstantiated assertions of fraud are insufficient.”

The order by U.S. District Judge Tonya Chutkan prevents — for now — the Environmental Protection Agency from ending the grant program, which totaled $20 billion. The judge also blocked Citibank, which holds the money on behalf of EPA, from transferring it to the government or anyone else.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin accused the grant recipients of mismanagement, fraud and self-dealing and froze the grants. But after reviewing arguments in the case, Chutkan said Zeldin's allegations fell short.

“At this juncture, EPA Defendants have not sufficiently explained why unilaterally terminating Plaintiffs’ grant awards was a rational precursor to reviewing” the green bank program, Chutkan wrote.

She was the third judge of the day to rule against the Trump administration. The trio of rulings came within hours of an extraordinary conflict, as President Donald Trump called for the impeachment of another judge who had temporarily blocked deportation flights. Trump's message drew a rare rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

Climate United Fund and other groups had sued the EPA, Zeldin and Citibank, saying they had illegally denied the groups access to $14 billion awarded last year through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, commonly referred to as a “green bank." The program was created by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to finance clean energy and climate-friendly projects.

Climate United and two other groups, the Coalition for Green Capital and Power Forward Communities, said the freeze not only prevented them from financing new projects, but might force them to lay off staff. They said the allegations they were mishandling funds were utterly meritless.

The nonprofits also wanted Judge Chutkan to order Citibank to unfreeze the account. She declined to do so. The order simply preserves the status quo while the case proceeds.

Climate United was awarded nearly $7 billion, the Coalition for Green Capital won $5 billion and Power Forward Communities was awarded $2 billion. Republicans unanimously voted against the law that created the grant program and have denounced it as an unaccountable "slush fund.''

After the funds were frozen, the EPA moved to terminate the grants.

Climate United CEO Beth Bafford said the judge's decision Tuesday was “a step in the right direction.”

“In the coming weeks, we will continue working towards a long-term solution that will allow us to invest in projects that deliver energy savings, create jobs, and boost American manufacturing in communities across the country,” Bafford said.

Zeldin said in a statement posted on X Tuesday that the grants were awarded “in a manner that deliberately reduced the ability of EPA to conduct proper oversight.”

“I will not rest until these hard-earned taxpayer dollars are returned to the U.S. Treasury," he said.

Zeldin has characterized the grants as a “gold bar” scheme marred by conflicts of interest and potential fraud.

“Twenty billion of your tax dollars were parked at an outside financial institution, in a deliberate effort to limit government oversight — doling out your money through just eight pass-through, politically connected, unqualified and in some cases brand-new” nonprofit organizations, Zeldin said in a video previously posted online.

Climate United countered that the termination was unlawful, arguing the federal government had identified no evidence of waste, fraud or abuse.

Phillis reported from St. Louis.

FILE - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Building is shown in Washington, Sept. 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

FILE - Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., President-elect Donald Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, appears before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Capitol Hill, Jan. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

FILE - Vice President JD Vance, right, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, left, listen as Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin, center, speaks in East Palestine Fire Station on Feb 3, 2025, in East Palestine, Ohio, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)