Iowa must welcome refugees

Since President Donald Trump took over the White House, agencies supporting the placement of refugees have faced an array of challenges,

One of those agencies is Lutheran Services in Iowa, LSI. In January, the Trump administration halted funding for newly arrived families across Iowa. The move affected 191 people, mostly children, including refugees from Afghanistan and some with Afghan Special Immigrant Visas.

Thanks to the generosity of churches, organizations and local governments, all families had stable jobs by connecting 125 individuals with Iowa employers, LSI reports. But without a predictable federal funding source, the needs of newly arriving families will be difficult to manage.

But the challenges are only beginning. In October, the Trump administration announced that only 7,500 refugees would be allowed into the country during the current Fiscal Year 2026. That’s the lowest number in the program’s history. In 2025, 125,000 refugees were accepted. And many of the 7,500 slots will be filled by white South Africans, the administration says, who are being oppressed by the country’s majority Black government.

What’s indefensible in all of this is how Afghan refugees are being shoved to the side. Many are now uncertain whether they will be allowed to remain in the United States. It’s a travesty, given the sacrifices Afghans made to help the U.S. military during its deployment. Many face desperate situations if they are sent back to face the Taliban government.

Roughly half the Afghan refugees in Iowa still lack a path toward becoming permanent residents. Without that path, Afghans are having problems reuniting with family living abroad. Some have work permits that are set to expire.

Iowa Republican U.S. Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn are sponsoring legislation that would create a conditional route to permanent residency for fully vetted Afghan refugees paroled into the U.S. after the fall of Kabul in 2021. The bipartisan legislation was filed in August.

“If this legislation doesn't get passed, it means that those who are in limbo … will be deported eventually. And I think it will be something that hurts the United States’ future — the future partnership that we will need to make in the future with other countries or other people, said Fazal Moneer Adil, an LSI employment navigator who worked with U.S. special operations forces in Afghanistan, according to reporting by The Gazette’s Tom Barton.

“We must remember that America's moral strength is not measured only on the battlefield, but also in how we honor those who stood beside us,” Adil said.

Congress should quickly pass the Miller-Meeks and Nunn bill to give Afghan allies a clear path to permanent residency. Iowa’s representatives have taken a necessary step; now Congress must act.

But communities across Iowa also have a role. Local governments, faith groups, nonprofits, employers, and donors can help with housing, legal support, jobs and financial assistance — the essentials newly arrived families need.

The state should also be step in. Iowa has long prided itself on welcoming refugees from war-torn regions. Let’s live up to that history.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com