When federal refugee admissions were paused this year, the South Side office of Hanan Refugees Relief Group shifted overnight into emergency mode. Staff scrambled to keep families housed, stretch food supplies and explain suddenly canceled flights to people who had waited years for a fresh start in Milwaukee. Executive Director Sheila Badwan, who helped grow the nonprofit from a volunteer effort into a full-service agency, says caseworkers are exhausted and the pause has forced tough choices about staffing and programs. Staff, volunteers and clients now find themselves fighting to keep short-term funding gaps from turning into long-term damage.
Federal pause and policy shifts
White House orders that curtailed the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program effectively halted most new arrivals and set a cap of 7,500 for fiscal year 2026, with early priority going to applicants from South Africa. Those moves have stranded many families who have already been waiting for years. The abrupt shift, along with a plan to re-vet refugees admitted during the previous administration, has left resettlement groups without the per-arrival payments they depend on to operate, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
Hanan received a stop-work order
Leaders at Hanan say they received a formal stop-work notice instructing the nonprofit to halt work on cases for recent arrivals and to cancel outstanding obligations. Badwan told reporters the order covered a program that pays for about half of the group’s services. “My mind went to the clients. We have vulnerable populations that we brought in, people who are survivors of torture and violence,” Badwan told TMJ4.
Local reach and sudden cuts
The Hanan Relief Group serves roughly 500 to 600 refugees each month and has cut about 10 staffers as per-arrival federal funding has dried up, leaders said in an interview with Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Badwan, who was working in health care administration in 2016 when a friend connected her with local Syrian families, has been at the center of the scramble to keep services going as flights and placements were disrupted right as families were preparing to arrive, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Policy ripple effects
Beyond the immediate budget crunch, agencies worry that broader administrative changes, including promises to re-interview refugees and pauses on some green card and naturalization processes, could create years of legal uncertainty for people who are already here. Those policy shifts, combined with a decision to prioritize a narrow set of applicants, have forced many Wisconsin providers to overhaul services and lean on emergency donors just to keep the doors open, Wisconsin Public Radio found.
How agencies are responding
Local resettlement organizations have launched urgent fundraising drives, strengthened ties with food banks and reshaped some programs to focus more on employment support and long-term case management while new arrivals are largely blocked. Hanan has publicly urged community members and foundations to help sustain its work during the pause, a plea highlighted in local coverage. Urban Milwaukee reported on the group’s call to action.
What comes next
Leaders say their top priority now is to preserve experienced staff and community partnerships so Milwaukee is ready to welcome newcomers if federal policy shifts again. Without that infrastructure, service providers warn, the city and state could be caught flat-footed by any future surge in refugee arrivals, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service has cautioned.
