Only about 30 refugees have been resettled in Maine this fiscal year, according to the Associated Press. That's a huge drop, and it's part of a national trend that's a result of new Trump Administration policies.
Catholic Charities is Maine's only refugee resettlement agency. Spokeswoman Judy Katzel says the Trump Administration has lowered the cap on total refugees by almost half, from 642 in fiscal year 2017, to 375 this year.
But she says a new screening process for refugees has lowered the number a lot more, as refugees who'd already been approved now have to go back and be screened again.
“Many of the people who'd already been approved to come before had to go back and go through the new screening process, and it's really slowed down the process and kind of brought it to a halt, at least for the moment.”
Katzel says fewer refugees arriving in Maine is a particular problem, because the state needs the infusion of working-age people into the population for economic reasons.
“Given where we are in the year, we were approved for 375, and given where we are in that process, there probably isn't physically a way to do that.”
