The fate of more than 2,000 refugees expected in Tennessee over the coming months remains in limbo after President Donald Trump halted resettlement and support efforts beginning on his first day in office.
The Tennessee Office of Refugees, a department of Catholic Charities, works with a handful of nonprofit agencies to help refugees displaced by natural and humanitarian disasters get a fresh start in the Volunteer State.
Between September 2024 and September 2025, the office expected to welcome 2,385 newly arriving refugees, according to Rick Mussachio, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Nashville. Refugees represent a small portion of legal immigrants admitted to the country. They are fully vetted by federal authorities before being approved for resettlement.
But the president’s order has frozen transport of all U.S.-bound refugees. And a subsequent Jan. 24 “stop work” letter was sent to refugee resettlement agencies across the country to halt so-called “reception and placement” services. These temporary services include small stipends — about $1,300 per month — to help refugee families pay for basic necessities in their first three months in the country and provide staff support to help them get oriented.