Flights for more than 10,000 refugees who were cleared to come to the United States have been canceled following an executive order from President Donald Trump. That includes dozens of people who had already been approved to travel to Middle Tennessee. Then, Trump issued an order effectively ending government funding for basic needs like food, housing and job assistance for recently arrived refugees, including over 200 people in Nashville.
“Everything has been canceled across the country, every flight,” said Max Rykov with the Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE), a local refugee resettlement nonprofit. Rykov, who was born in Uzbekistan, came to the United States with his parents as a refugee following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Rykov said that NICE alone was expecting 78 people this February, and another four in March. Some had worked with the U.S. military, and many were reuniting with their families who were already in Tennessee. All had waited for several years and had gone through lengthy background checks and health screenings before receiving approval to come to America.
Now that’s all on hold, indefinitely.
“We’re in this state of limbo,” said Rykov.
“If we say as a country that we are pro-legal immigration then this is the most legal form of immigration and it represents everything positive about the ethos of America and who we are as a country.”
Read more: This Is Nashville: Checking in on refugee resettlement in Middle Tennessee
On Friday, Trump issued an additional memo ordering agencies to stop offering services supported by State Department money, which is their main source of funding.
That impacts over 200 people in Nashville, including 36 recently arrived refugee families with NICE, and over 150 people with Catholic Charities.
“These families fled violence, persecution, and war in search of safety. They followed the legal process, were thoroughly vetted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and arrived in Tennessee in late 2024 with the promise of a fresh start,” said Judy K. Orr, the executive director of Catholic Charities in Nashville, in a statement.
Trump said he would review whether the refugee program is in the national interest in the next few months, but that is not a guarantee that it will be reinstated.
In the meantime, Rykov said NICE is continuing to train volunteers to mentor refugee families in the Nashville area.
“That could include taking them to the park, to job interviews, taking them shopping, helping them read their mail and being their friends,” he said. “There are new arrivals here who would love your friendship.”
This story was last updated at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 30.
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