LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – As the state braces for a reported 42% increase in refugee arrivals coming in the next year, humanitarian organizations in the state are sounding the alarm from a position that is already untenable.

What are some nonprofits saying?

Samaritas, a local nonprofit helping refugees in Kalamazoo, is warning about the upcoming influx of refugees who will need their services and the services of other non-profit agencies, including housing assistance.

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The organization says that the refugees are coming to Samaritas from Syria (36%), the Democratic Republic of Congo (30%), Iraq (7%), Afghanistan and Venezuela – and in Flint they are handling an influx of Cuban families.

In 2023, 2,583 refugees from different parts of the world came to Michigan. However, state officials have projected that those numbers will climb 42% in 2024 according to the Department of State Refugee Reception who projects 3,675 new arrivals. The majority of the 2,583 refugees who came to Michigan in 2023, 642 of them, were placed in Kent County. Also placed were 540 in Oakland County, 451 in Wayne and then 300 each in Kalamazoo and Ingham counties.

Is the state tracking asylum seekers?

The Detroit News reports that those numbers don’t even include people who come to the state “non-traditionally” after seeking asylum at a U.S. port or border. State officials can’t or won’t track those seeking asylum and have no structured system to do so. Because of that, organizations and programs that support refugees and asylum-seekers get limited or no federal support – although many can and do apply for state and federal government grant money.

It’s the asylum seekers who can’t be tracked who are the majority of the influx – and the News reports that for all populations eligible for refugee benefits or programming, the state anticipates helping about 9,000 in Michigan this year.

What is the difference between a refugee and an asylum seeker?

In describing the difference between a refugee and an asylum seeker, the News points out, “A refugee is a person who has fled their own country because they are at risk of serious human rights violations and persecution there. An asylum seeker is the same, but someone who hasn’t yet been legally recognized as a refugee and is waiting to receive a decision on their asylum claim. They are released near the border they entered after background checks and rely on community agencies for food and shelter.”

Poppy Hernandez, executive director of Global Michigan, the state office that supports economic and community development, and leads newcomer integration initiatives, says, “There are no federal resources coming to Michigan to support most asylum seekers. The state is working with local partners to support a response and resource.”

On the other hand, according to the state department, when a “refugee” arrives, they are met by a staff or volunteer from a local resettlement affiliate, private sponsors or a family member or friend. Then they are reportedly taken to their initial housing which has essential furnishings, appropriate food and other necessities.

What’s the purpose of resettlement agencies?

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The resettlement agencies, family and friends, or private sponsors assist refugees during their initial resettlement in the United States, including enrolling in employment services, registering youth for school, accessing medical care, applying for benefits as eligible, and connecting them with necessary social or language services. In coordination with publicly supported refugee service and assistance programs, resettlement agencies and private sponsors focus on assisting refugees to achieve economic self-sufficiency through employment as soon as possible after their arrival in the United States. The U.S. government also provides $1,100 to refugees upon arrival.

Samaritas spoke to WPDE-ABC 15 about the crisis and said that they are facing extraordinary challenges in keeping up with demand for their services. Samaritas Chief Advancement and Strategy Officer Kelli Dobner says, “Michigan has always been a haven for refugees and immigrants” but unprecedented numbers of refugees are fleeing their home countries. She says that Samaritas is being told that the refugees who are coming to Michigan are escaping from religious persecution and are from war-torn nations.

Lack of housing is a problem.

With a lack of housing already a critical problem in many parts of the state, it doesn’t make things very easy to place the refugees. Dobner says, “That is a challenge…having enough inventory and with numbers climbing that does pose an even bigger concern.” The agency has had to provide temporary housing to the refugees in hotels when other housing hasn’t been available.

In 2023, 150 refugees came to the Samaritas organization for assistance with food, shelter, employment, transportation and medical services – and they are anticipating record numbers in 2024, probably surpassing that amount by another 70 people or more.

Because of ever-increasing numbers like these, it’s clear that the problem of illegal immigration is coming to the “shores” of every state in the union as the new arrivals get transported all over the country in buses, trains and airplanes, making every state a border state.

The News reports that the organization “Freedom House” Detroit (a program that supports refugees) is also experiencing big numbers and challenges providing services. They have already quadrupled their capacity and Executive Director Elizabeth Orozco-Vasquez says they still don’t have beds for all who need them. The organization works with asylum seekers and provides temporary housing, medical care and English classes – and those they can’t serve have to be transferred somewhere else. But the “somewhere else” is often full too.

Are these numbers a cause for concern?

Wayne State University Professor Hayg Oshagan, a member of Detroit’s Immigration Task Force, is astonished by the numbers of refugees and asylum seekers that he is seeing as well. He says, “We knew this was an issue, but not to this depth. Where do they go? Where do they sleep? They have no way of seeking or receiving help.”

With winter coming, humanitarian organizations all across Michigan are stressing about not being able to fill the needs of both the refugees and asylum-seekers who are coming into the state – people who have brought little to nothing with them along their journey.

However, with the Biden administration’s current rules on asylum and their lack of border enforcement, it doesn’t look like the problem is going to ease anytime in the future. Sources have told ABC News that there were 302,000 encounters along the southwest border in December alone, “marking the highest monthly total ever recorded.” Additionally, more than 785,000 migrant encounters were reported since the beginning of the fiscal year on October 1st which is also the highest first quarter total ever recorded.

When did Michigan see its first influx of refugees?

The state of Michigan first noticed an influx of refugees about two years ago with the unprecedented number of Afghan arrivals. Michigan is one of the top states in the country that has a high rate of accepting refugees. Only Texas, California and New York have accepted more refugees over the last ten years than Michigan, according to the Immigration Research Initiative.

Seydi Starr, the head of the African Bureau for Immigration and Social Affairs at the “Office of Global Michigan” has worked with 30 African asylum-seekers daily since September and she says, “The only reason tents aren’t lined up along Woodward Avenue (Detroit) is because of community members who have been stepping up to help…Community members have been picking people off the street and taking them into their own homes. Whether it is a Senegalese community, Mauritania folks, Haitian whoever … some people have 12, 18, 20 people in their homes. Every day, we’ll get a call from a driver who picked up someone at the airport, and the driver tells us the man hasn’t eaten in two days and doesn’t have a place to stay. It’s on us to find out who has space.”

With space at a premium in the state and Congress not agreeing to any changes in border security or asylum rules, Michigan nonprofits will have to come up with creative solutions to take care of the escalating immigration numbers they are seeing in their cities.