The Big Picture

This budget makes a clear shift in U.S. immigration policy

• More funding for detention, deportation, and enforcement

• Less funding for refugee programs, relocation, and integration

• Legal pathways remain, but are harder to access and more difficult to complete

Bottom line:
It becomes harder to come to the United States legally, harder to stay, and easier to be removed.

What’s Happening Right Now (Before the Budget)

• Refugee processing (P-1 / P-2) is paused under Executive Order 14163

• Afghan SIV applications are still processed, but:

  • Visa issuances are effectively halted under Presidential Proclamation 10098

  • No Afghan arrivals are currently taking place

What the Budget Would Do

1. Shut down Afghan relocation capacity

• Enduring Welcome receives $0 in funding and is being shut down

What this means

• This is the only U.S. relocation system for Afghan allies

• There is no replacement identified

• Even if policies change, there is no system left to move people

2. Eliminate core refugee infrastructure

• Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA): $0 requested

What this means

• The U.S. loses a key tool for

  • Refugee processing

  • Case management

  • Movement to the United States

• Even approved cases become significantly harder to complete

3. Reduce the ability to receive refugees

• $768 million cut to refugee resettlement programs

What this means

• Less capacity for housing, casework, and integration

• Fewer communities able to receive arrivals

• Approval no longer guarantees arrival

4. Shift humanitarian policy toward deterrence

Funding is redirected toward

• Migration deterrence

• Repatriation

What this means

• Less focus on helping people reach safety

• More focus on keeping people where they are or returning them

5. Expand detention and deportation

• Significant increases in funding for detention and deportation

What this means:

• The system is being built to remove more people

• While systems that support legal entry and protection are reduced or eliminated

What This Means for Afghan Allies

Afghan SIV (Special Immigrant Visa)

• Applications continue to be processed

• But visas are not being issued and arrivals are not happening

• The budget removes the systems needed to move people if issuance resumes

SIV exists in law, but does not function in practice

Refugees (P-1 / P-2)

• Processing is currently paused

• The budget removes the infrastructure needed to restart it

Refugee pathways are both paused now and weakened for the future

What This Means for All Immigrants

This budget affects the entire system

• Family reunification becomes slower and less reliable

• Processing delays increase across visa categories

• Fewer safeguards when cases stall or fail

• Greater risk of detention and removal

Legal immigration becomes harder to navigate and less predictable

This budget does not simply change immigration policy. It changes how the system functions.

Legal pathways are not always eliminated outright. They are weakened by removing the systems that make them work.

• Afghan allies cannot reach safety

• Refugee programs cannot operate at scale

• Families face longer and more uncertain separation

• Enforcement becomes the center of the system

Today, pathways are blocked. This proposal ensures they remain that way.

This is not a temporary pause. It is a structural shift away from protection and toward restriction, with real consequences for the people who depend on these pathways to survive.