Massachusetts-based refugee resettlement agencies are seeking $6 million in the state supplemental budget following steep federal cuts.
The funds would support seven agencies that provide services to refugees, including helping them obtain legal permanent residence and re-access federal benefits that they’ve been barred from. The funds would also go toward housing stabilization, as resettlement agencies often help refugees pay rent for at least the first months after they resettle to avoid placing them in the shelter system.
“We’re asking for $6 million for all of the resettlement agencies to allow us to provide needed services to people who come into our care, refugees and others who do not have all the resources they need to pay their bills while they’re getting started in Massachusetts,” said Jeff Thielman, CEO of International institute of New England, one of the agencies at a State House event on Wednesday.
“We know that serving our families that are here is really critical to making sure that we’re not only sustaining them, but we’re sustaining our workplaces where they are and supporting our communities,” said state Sen. Robyn Kennedy.
Kennedy represents Worcester, where many Haitian and Ukrainian refugees have resettled. She said Haitian immigrants who have resettled in Massachusetts filled the workforces that were decimated by the pandemic, including in nursing and home care.
Sen. Robyn Kennedy, representing Worcester, speaks to advocates and media in support of additional state funding for resettlement agencies.
Sarah Betancourt
GBH News
Advocates say the $6 million they’re seeking is lower than amounts asked for in previous years because they know the state is already limited in its resources. Still, agencies say financial support is necessary to meet increased need in the populations they serve.
Federal legislation has revoked SNAP and health insurance benefits for thousands of refugees and asylees in Massachusetts.
The Trump administration has severely capped the number of refugees who can enter the country to 7,500 annually. But thousands of already resettled individuals, and asylees in the Bay State still get support from the agencies as the begin English classes, employment, secure green cards, and seek healthcare.
“We often need to support rental expenses and other expenses to be to help refugees towards being able to seek full-time, gainful employment. The funding that we’re looking for would be to support that housing gap during that time,” said Sonya Taly, director of Community Services with Ascentria Care Alliance. The resettlement agency serves over 3,000 clients in Western and Central Massachusetts.
One person in the audience of the State House event was Vanessa Martinez, a Venezuelan refugee who arrived in Massachusetts in 2024. She was initially helped by Rian Immigrant Center, a resettlement agency advocating for funding. She said she fled Venezuela, and then Colombia after her home was burned, she was kidnapped, and her husband was injured, causing permanent disability. Martinez said her own family no longer needs funding assistance, but she wants to see that other refugees aren’t cut from the vital resources that helped her family when they first arrived.
“It is like a transitory help that helps you — obviously it has a very big impact in losing it,” she said. “The groups have to be able to keep helping others, supporting them till they’re ready on their own.”