More than a hundred refugees and community members recently gathered at the Temple Terrace United Methodist Church for the annual celebration welcoming newly arrived families.
Children and adults alike danced to "Cupid Shuffle." Some received free haircuts and backpacks for the upcoming school year.
The multicultural event hosted by local refugee resettlement agencies and nonprofits included people of all faiths, said Sally Campbell, a pastor at Hyde Park United Methodist Church.
Typically, the event falls around Thanksgiving, but Campbell said "we felt like folks could use some support now as they're getting ready for the new school year."
Ghadir Kassab, executive director of the group Radiant Hands, said this year feels different because the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program has shut down.
"We felt more responsible," Kassab said. "We felt that families need help not only with their financials, but that they're continuing to adapt to the community in a proper way."
Funding halt sent refugee groups scrambling
When the Trump administration halted funding in January, resettlement agencies like Radiant Hands scrambled to help newly arrived families adjust to their lives in the U.S.
Resettlement groups typically receive federal dollars — about $1,650 per person — to pay for refugees' rent, furnishings, food and other basic needs for their first three months in the country.
The sudden cut meant agencies didn't receive some reimbursements, an issue that is part of a lawsuit challenging the refugee ban.
"A lot of money was not received," Kassab said. "So we ended up paying out of pocket."
Like many agencies across the country, some staff members were laid off, Kassab said.
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Now, groups are asking community members to help make up the shortfall and continue supporting families who are already in the U.S.
Yasmin Sayed, with Lutheran Services Florida, said they're lucky to have some "good Samaritans" who continue to support their group.
"We've had to rely on community organizations, faith groups, individual donors who still believe in the refugee community," Sayed said.
Refugee program has been in place for decades
Refugees are people who fled their home countries because of persecution, war or violence. They go through an extensive, yearslong vetting process before being granted refugee status in the U.S.
It's a legal form of migration that's been in place for decades.
The U.S. government sets an annual cap for the number of refugees who can be admitted to the country. For fiscal year 2025, the Biden administration set a refugee admissions goal of 125,000.
About 27,308 refugees were admitted before the Trump administration paused the program this year.
Some families were left stranded abroad.
"We had a family who was supposed to come. We actually furnished their house, and we had to cancel everything," Kassab said.
President Trump signed the executive order freezing the refugee program during his first week in office. He cited the inability for the U.S. to "absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans."
However, advocates argue that refugees help contribute to the economy.
"They come here, we find them jobs, we enroll kids to school. Once they start working, they become taxpayers ... They're becoming self-sufficient individuals," Sayed said.
A 2024 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, found the contributions from refugees and asylees exceeded the cost of the programs supporting them in their first few months in the country.
Between 2005 to 2019, refugees contributed a net positive of $123.8 billion to the U.S. government, the study says.
"I think it is very essential now more than ever for people to know that refugees do contribute to the economy," said Sayed.
'Now is not the time to be divided'
Florence Ackey is the executive director for Refugee and Migrant Women Initiative, a nonprofit that works alongside local resettlement agencies.
It provides mental health support, various social services, food distribution, and basic necessities to the community.
She said her group has had to step up even more to fill in the gaps in recent months.
"Sometimes they [resettlement agencies] rely on us for things that they can no longer provide," Ackey said. "They will call us, 'Hey, we have this family. Can you take on this case?'"
The entire refugee community is feeling some level of uncertainty right now, Ackey said.
She's witnessing rising animosity towards immigrants as the current administration carries out its mass deportation campaign.
Some families they serve have trouble finding work or have been laid off because companies "are not sure what documents to ask our refugee families," Ackey said.
"Now is not the time to be divided," Ackey said, "The community should come together and find there's always beauty in diversity."
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