Nonprofit agencies that help settle refugees in upstate New York cities are asking the state for a lifeline, saying their work continues even after the Trump administration all but choked off the flow of newcomers.
State Sen. Pat Fahy and Assemblymember Jon Rivera are seeking $15 million in the state budget to increase the size of a program that has supplemented unstable federal refugee services funding. That’s an increase of $1.5 million from what the state spent last year.
“It really keeps many of our refugee agencies, the doors are open -- especially now,” said Fahy, an Albany Democrat.
Leaders of several agencies said the funding would allow them to continue teaching English classes and connecting refugees with employers. They said refugees have stabilized the populations of upstate cities from Buffalo to Albany.
Refugees, who flee their homes because of violent conflict or persecution, apply for legal entry into the United States in a lottery system and are screened overseas. They have authorization to work and many eventually gain full citizenship.
President Donald Trump almost completely cut the flow of incoming refugees with an executive order last year and froze funding for some people who had already arrived. Resettlement agencies and new refugees scrambled, canceling programs, laying off employees and reducing their operations to reflect the new reality.
Chris Foley, CEO of InterFaith Works in Syracuse, said his agency resettled 1,500 people in 2024 and hasn’t seen any new arrivals since early in 2025.
Shelly Callahan runs The Center in Utica, which has helped settle 18,000 refugees in the city of 65,000 over 45 years. The Center resettled more than 200 people in 2024, the last year of President Joe Biden’s term, but only around 25 this year. They are white Afrikaners from South Africa, one of the only groups currently entering the country as refugees.
“While federal policies may fluctuate, the impact of refugee resettlement here in Utica has been clear and measurable,” Callahan said. “Refugees have strengthened our tax base, filled essential jobs, stabilized neighborhoods and enriched our cultural life.”
Foley and Callahan said refugees are eligible under government rules to receive services for five years after they arrive. In Utica, the Center is seeing a growing number of people who have come from other states to fill job vacancies.
Rivera said the funding requested was a small amount in the context of a $262.7 billion budget.
“We believe that if we double down and invest in organizations doing this work, we are going to see the benefit,” he said. “I’m going to be a loud voice on this issue throughout the budget process.”
Kara Cumoletti, a spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul, said the Democrat would “continue to negotiate in good faith with the state Legislature to deliver a budget that makes New York state safer and more affordable.”
The budget is due March 31.
