Defend and Support our Refugee Families
- Neighbors for Refugees
- Aug 6
- 3 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Dear Neighbors,
The current administration continues its assault on immigrants and refugees. The most recent legislation, affectionately called the “Big Beautiful Bill” (BBB) by Republicans, is anything but beautiful for families who will be stripped of food assistance (food stamps or SNAP) and healthcare (Medicaid and CHIP).
Families who rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) could
also lose this benefit since they usually qualify by qualifying for SNAP or Medicaid.
Unfortunately, this impacts many of the families we’ve helped resettle over the last nine years who depend on these benefits to put food on the table and to pay for medicines and doctor visits. Food stamps will be taken away from most families over the next few months as they attempt to recertify for the benefit.
Our families will probably have until early 2027 before they lose their health insurance because the BBB was designed so that the cuts to healthcare for most refugees plus millions of US citizens will kick-in after the mid-term elections in November next year.
ICE raids have unsettled our families, even though they all had legal status to be in the U.S. For many refugees, the right to stay
here has been or will be revoked by the government – for example, those here under Humanitarian Parole or HP (including
Afghans & Ukrainians) and Temporary Protected Status or TPS (including Haitians, Nicaraguans, Cubans and Venezuelans). We
have been working with our families to find legal representation and to get all their paperwork in good order, to defend their rights to be here, and to advance their asylum applications as their primary means of eventually becoming citizens.
Despite our best efforts, our families remain at risk, which is discouraging given all they have gone through to get here and start their new lives.
The ICE raids have also affected employers, who seem less open to hiring anyone whom ICE could try to kidnap – employers just don’t want the hassle or the bad PR, which makes it harder for our families to find and keep employment, or to move up to better paying jobs.
Consequently, Neighbors has been forced to shift its focus from welcoming new families to helping families already here, even those who were otherwise financially independent and making a new life for themselves. This change in focus means we are going to be spending more money than expected, at least in the short run, on:
Legal assistance,
Governmental fees (for those still in process, the government has jacked-up application fees),
Food, and
Rent and other living expenses.
We have already made some adjustments to our budget and plan for the year. For example, we have increased our funding for legal assistance and have set up a partnership with the Community Resource Center in Mamaroneck to access their legal resources. We’ve identified areas in our budget, originally earmarked to welcome new families, that will be reallocated as needed to provide for food, living expenses, and rent to those already here.
But, that won’t be enough. We’ve raised only about 80% of our original goal for the 2024/25 fundraising campaign year. We still need your help so that we have the financial resources to meet the rapidly increasing needs of our families. Please help our neighbors in need by making a generous donation to Neighbors – click here to donate.
With sincere gratitude,
Frank D. Pierson
Vice President for Development
Neighbors for Refugees
PS, you can donate to Neighbors for Refugees by going to our website, clicking the "donate" button below, or by mailing a check to Neighbors for Refugees, P O Box 416, Larchmont, NY 10538.