Advocate groups ordered to stop aiding refugees who have already arrived in US

The Trump administration on Friday abruptly halted services for refugees in the United States, including Afghans, according to a memo obtained by CNN, stunning agencies that provide critical support to recent arrivals.

The Trump administration on Friday abruptly halted services for refugees in the United States, including Afghans, according to a memo obtained by CNN, stunning agencies that provide critical support to recent arrivals. It’s a sweeping move that prompted a scramble as refugee advocates tried to interpret the order. The memo stands to affect tens of thousands of refugees – including Afghans who aided the US during the war – by seemingly barring them from assistance, ranging from caseworker support to housing, that is afforded to arrivals in their first three months in the United States. “We’ll have refugees going homeless,” a refugee advocate told CNN. “It’s completely unprecedented. Nothing like this has ever happened.” President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week suspending refugee admissions as part of a broader effort by the administration to limit entry to the US on the basis of public safety and national security. As a result, approximately 10,000 refugees who had travel booked following a yearslong and often cumbersome process had those flights canceled. But Friday’s memo goes a step further, according to multiple sources. Resettlement agencies receive federal funding from the State Department. Those funds are authorized and appropriated by Congress for the purpose of aiding refugee arrivals. The State Department notified partners that all work under those awards must end, according to the memo obtained by CNN.