New Hampshire agencies that settle refugees say they're concerned about the lower number of refugees to be admitted to the U.S. in 2019.
For fiscal year 2018, the cap was set at 45,000 refugees. For next fiscal year, that’s dropped to 30,000 refugees.
It’s the lowest the refugee ceiling has been since 9/11.
Some agencies are already seeing a decline with the caps the Trump administration has set. Last fiscal year, they resettled 362 new refugees. This year, that number is down to 150.
Jeff Thielman is the CEO of the International Institute of New England.
He said funding for agencies is tied to the number of people they settle. Fewer people means less money.
Thielman said with this situation, some agencies are thinking about cutting out their refugee resettlement work.
"Which is a sad thing because the infrastructure in the country to receive and support refugees is weakening," he said.
For the International Institute, this means they’ve had to cut five positions from their refugee resettlement area, and instead find ways to expand other services, like providing interpreters, more quickly.
Most of New Hampshire's refugees come from African or Asian countries.
