Open Letter to State Department Staff Subject to Reduction in Force (RIF) Notices Impacting Refugee Admissions, Afghan Allies, and Humanitarian Protections
July 11, 2025
Dear Colleagues,
Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) is dismayed to learn that the vast majority of staff from the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) and the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) are among the many State Department personnel who received Reduction in Force (RIF) notices. These cuts have decimated our nation’s capacity to welcome refugees, Afghans who assisted the U.S. mission, and other forcibly displaced populations. These cuts have even eviscerated the U.S. government’s capacity to assist the vast majority of refugees who must find protection outside of the United States, closer to their home countries.
As a coalition of refugee-serving agencies, RCUSA wishes to express its deepest gratitude to the now-former civil servants of PRM and CARE for your years of dedicated, steadfast service. We are grateful for your demonstrated commitment to the U.S. traditions, institutions and laws dedicated to welcoming, protecting and respecting refugees and other forcibly displaced people. Your tireless efforts have saved lives. Your efforts have significantly contributed to the betterment and brighter futures not only for refugees, but for their adoptive homeland, the United States of America, which has benefitted so greatly from their contributions as new Americans. For 45 years, the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) – long administered by PRM – has welcomed over 3.6 million people facing persecution abroad – including survivors of genocide – enabling them to rebuild their lives in safety and freedom.
We dearly thank the State Department staff who routinely moved mountains to ensure refugees had a safe place to call home. You are all heroes.
Every day, you and your implementing partners made the impossible possible – notably including your rapid response during the Afghan evacuation – while rebuilding the U.S. resettlement program at home and defending refugee and humanitarian protections abroad. We stand with you and we see you. We know your work was not a job, but a calling – and that you remain committed to restoring robust refugee and humanitarian protections and our capacity to welcome newcomers.
Our work continues.
In solidarity,
John Slocum
Executive Director
Refugee Council USA (RCUSA)