International Center of Kentucky Responds to Refugee Halt

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – An executive order from President Donald Trump has halted the arrival of refugees to Bowling Green, leaving around 54 vetted refugees stranded as they seek safety in the U.S. These refugees were fleeing from countries like Burma, Rwanda, Syria, Afghanistan, and Congo, hoping to escape conflict and violence and start a new life in America.

For those refugees who were waiting to arrive, Albert Mbanfu, Executive Director of the International Center of Kentucky, described the impact: “We had more than 50 something individuals who were scheduled to arrive by February 4th in Bowling Green. And since the signing of the executive order, all of them have been canceled. Though they had their tickets ready to fly, everything was canceled.” He pointed out the additional significant setbacks that the refugees now face, “That puts them in an even worse situation because following the process, they will have to go to the back of the line whenever the process begins.”

Mbanfu discussed the emotional impacts of the suspension on both refugees waiting to arrive and those who are already here. “This is devastating to families that are already here,” Mbanfu said. He shared an emotional story about a man who had been working to bring his son to the U.S. The son, who suffers from epilepsy, now faces an uncertain future. “He walked into my office and said, how do we go about this? And I told him, I’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do. They’ve banned the processing of refugees overseas. They’ve halted the admission of new refugees into the U.S. pipeline overseas, and they have halted travel to the United States,” Mbanfu explained. “The guy sat at my desk for like ten minutes, didn’t talk to me.”

Along with the mentioned Executive Order, over the weekend, the United States Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration issued that effective immediately, “No U.S. government funds may be used to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion at any level or in any activity, regardless of partner or program location.”

“It’s a complete halt. There’s nothing we can do about it. All we can do right now is dip into the little money that people donate to us to support refugees, to have them.” Mbanfu said. “So even if we had the, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, it would just barely go a little way in solving this problem. So it is something that will affect the community as a result.”

The executive order is not the first of its kind; in 2017, President Trump issued a similar order that temporarily halted refugee arrivals for 120 days. On the current suspension, the U.S. department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration also said the decision whether to continue, modify, or terminate awards will be made following a review.