Trump Refugee Ban Closes Nashville Office Of World Relief Resettlement Organization

NASHVILLE, TN — World Relief, a national refugee resettlement organization, announced Wednesday it is closing five of its offices, including one in Nashville, and laying off at least 140 people directly as a result of an executive order by President Donald Trump which dramatically reduced the number of refugees entering the United States.

According to World Relief, the five offices — in addition to Nashville, it is closing offices in Boise, Idaho; Glen Burnie, Md.; Columbus, Ohio; and Miami — have resettled more than 25,000 people in the last four decades.

But with fewer refugees entering the country in the next fiscal year, World Relief said its hand was forced.

“It has been our great privilege to serve both local churches and resilient refugee and immigrant families in each of these communities,” World Relief President Scott Arbeiter said. “Our staff at each of these locations have served diligently and sacrificially—some of them for many years—and we are deeply saddened to have to make this difficult decision. These staff members are also experts whose vast experience has brought an effectiveness and professionalism to their work. This represents a loss of more than 140 jobs—which by itself is deeply troubling—but also decades of organizational expertise and invaluable capacity to serve the world’s most vulnerable people.”

Tim Breene, World Relief's CEO, said with global crises, there are more people than ever who need his organization's help.

“We fully intend to continue the critical work of resettling refugees and serving other immigrants in the communities where we serve throughout the United States,” Breene said. “The unfortunate truth is that given the unprecedented nature of the global refugee crisis, there are simply more people than ever that need our support and our compassion. We are redoubling our efforts to find solutions to serve displaced peoples in the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and elsewhere around the globe. We urge the Trump Administration to renew and reinvigorate efforts to work together with the global humanitarian community to meet this urgent crisis head on.”

Despite recent court filings staying the president's order on the so-called Muslim ban, restricting the entry into the United States of anyone from seven Muslim-majority countries, the refugee ban has stayed in place.

Image via World Relief