A new report from the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department highlighted assisting 740 newly arrived refugees — a significant decline from the past year.
The department saw a 24% decrease from 2024 to 2025 in the amount of refugees served, going from 980 in the 2024 fiscal year to 740 in the 2025 fiscal year.
Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department Director Kerry Kernen said an executive order from President Donald Trump created a significant decrease in the amount of refugees who participate in the program.
“We’re starting to see a very slight uptick over the last month or two, but not near the numbers that we were seeing prior to this current administration coming into office,” Kernen said.
Those eligible receive health exams, a laboratory screening and necessary immunizations. The period for eligibility ends 13 months after entering the U.S., according to the city’s website.
The Lincoln Health Department partners with Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services for funding.
Funding comes from the Federal Office of Refugee Resettlement to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Refugee Resettlement Program and then is distributed to the health department, according to Health Department Communications Manager Leah Bucco-White.
Kernen said that program funding has remained stable.
“I don’t think the program’s going to ever go away. I think it’s been solid across this country for a long time,’ Kernen said. “It’s had long-standing sustainability. But it’s a very politically charged or can be a politically charged topic.”
The health department partner agencies include Lutheran Family Services and Catholic Social Services.
Catholic Social Services data shows that it has also seen a decrease in refugee arrivals.
The organization had 64 arrivals in the 2025 fiscal year — a 79% decrease from the 2024 fiscal year.
Jan. 14, 2025 was the final date Catholic Social Services received arrivals through the regular refugee program, said Poe Dee, director of refugee and immigrant services at Catholic Social Services. Dee said there have been no further arrivals since that date.
That coincides with federal data that shows Nebraska did not take in a single refugee after January 2025.