Flights canceled for hundreds of Minnesota-bound refugees

Two orphaned Karen children, a Somali family of five in Kenya and a Congolese woman are among the people whose trips to Minnesota were canceled after President Trump issued an executive order suspending refugee admissions.

Jane Graupman, executive director of the International Institute of Minnesota, said the resettlement agency had been hopeful they would still land here this week because Monday’s executive order was not set to take effect until Jan. 27. Instead, she said, “they instructed the State Department to cancel all the flights.”

Hundreds of refugees bound for Minnesota over the next few months are now stuck abroad, with Trump’s executive order directing leaders in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the State Department to submit a report to him every 90 days so he can determine whether refugee admissions are in the national interest.

“The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees,” the executive order said.

Trump’s actions will delay family reunification for many refugees already in Minnesota. The state received 2,990 refugees in the 2024 fiscal year, a figure that was on the rise under President Joe Biden, who set a national ceiling of 125,000 new refugees a year, after Trump made drastic reductions during his first term.

[More: Somali refugees anticipate longer family separations under President Donald Trump.]

“Our first reaction is obviously a lot of discouragement and real sadness at the executive order and the rhetoric that’s been coming from the current administration around immigrants and refugees,” said Ruth LePage, refugee resettlement program manager at Arrive Ministries. “We work with real people and real families who have waited decades to reunify with children and parents and for that to come to a sudden stop is really hurtful to a lot of people in our community.”

She said Arrive Ministries had about 200 people in the pipeline for resettlement in the coming months; 10 were Karen refugees from Myanmar scheduled to land in Minnesota the first week of February.

“You can imagine that family members here are obviously distraught,” said LePage.

She disputed the executive order’s rationale, noting that refugees already go through a rigorous, extensive screening process and saying it’s inaccurate to imply that they are a national security threat. Refugees also offer “substantial economic contributions” to the country and collectively pay billions in taxes, LePage said.

By talking about a lack of capacity to absorb people, Graupman said, the executive order conflates refugees with asylum seekers and others crossing the border. She said the refugee admissions program is successful, well-established and has clear protocols, with people being vetted for years by different agencies.

For now, the International Institute of Minnesota has been fielding calls from concerned refugees about what will become of their loved ones now in limbo.

“I think employers are going to feel it in our state,” Graupman said. “Our community is going to feel it.”

Meanwhile, 91 refugees set to be resettled by the Minnesota Council of Churches have had their travel plans canceled, according to the Rev. Jerad Morey, the council’s director of strategic relationships. He said that 530 refugees were assigned to the council for resettlement this year.