Jewish Vocational Services

Two months after President Trump abruptly stopped funding refugee resettlement work, Kansas City-area agencies are fighting to pay refugees’ rent and provide new arrivals with other promised help.

The Trump administration’s ban on refugee arrivals and federal funding for resettlement organizations is impacting Kansas City agencies, and their work to support the people who've already arrived.

President Trump ordered the suspension of federally-funded refugee services and admissions. In Kansas City, groups are struggling to serve newly-arrived clients — who have already passed strict vetting to get into the U.S. — with basic financial assistance, food and medicine.

Informal soccer matches every Saturday on the open fields at Shawnee Mission North High School let Afghan refugees visit with people from their home country and speak their native languages. It's also a chance to improve their English.

After the Taliban seized control of Kabul, Kansas City welcomed hundreds of refugees from Afghanistan in 2021. Two years later, many refugees are in search of stable housing as the question of their immigration status remains in the air.

Refugees often struggle to get to jobs, school or the store without adequate transportation. But getting a driver’s license in Kansas City is hard enough without the added barriers of a new language and culture. That's where Justin Bilombele comes in.

Hundreds of refugees have found housing, jobs and new lives in Kansas City since the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan. But many remain separated from their family members, and are struggling with an uncertain future here.

Local advocates say that for every five employers who contact agencies with job openings, only one is accessible by public transportation.

Some resettlement organizations are only getting only 48 hours notice to find housing and work for Afghan refugees.

Agencies are still coordinating with community partners but will be ready to accept hundreds of the expected 50,000 refugees coming to the United States.

Local and Missouri agencies have already welcomed some refugees from Afghanistan in recent weeks, but they expect more to flee as the Taliban takes over the country following the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Travel bans and the promise to build a wall are among burgeoning changes in the United State's stance on immigrants. Now, a year after President Trump's…