Two other local organizations, Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities, will continue to help refugees settle in North Florida. But with the Trump administration reducing the number of refugees the United States accepts to historic lows, the nation's longstanding refugee resettlement program has changed dramatically, leading to layoffs and closures at offices around the country.
This is a piece of U.S. immigration overshadowed by the politics and media coverage of what's happening at the Mexico border. It involves refugees in foreign countries undergoing some of the most stringent vetting of any U.S. arrivals, typically waiting two years, from application to arrival, to enter the country.
Not long ago, nearly 1,500 new refugees came to Duval County in a year, with World Relief and a staff of more than 30 helping about 500 refugees start a new life here.
In the last three years, that slowed to a trickle, then to barely a drip — 161 arrivals in 2017, 84 arrivals in 2018 and three arrivals in 2019.
