AMY GOODMAN: We look now at the impact of an executive order President Trump signed on his first day in office that paused the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in order to see if it, quote, “aligns with the interests” of the U.S. and should be resumed. Trump’s order led to the cancellation of flights for thousands of refugees already approved to come to the U.S., including children and families fleeing war, violence and persecution. This comes after some 100,000 refugees were settled in the U.S. last year under the program.

The order was condemned by the largest refugee resettlement agency in the world, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Vice President JD Vance, who is a practicing Catholic, responded Sunday on Face the Nation.

VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: And I think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns, or are they actually worried about their bottom line?

AMY GOODMAN: The Conference of Catholic Bishops clarified in a statement every person resettled through the Refugee Admissions Program is vetted and approved by the U.S. government, and added government funds do not cover the full costs of the services the agency provides.

For more, we’re going to Baltimore, Maryland, to speak with Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of Global Refuge, formerly known as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Global Refuge is one of the agencies that received a stop-work order on Friday from the Trump administration.

Krish, thanks so much for joining us. If you can explain who are the thousands of refugees, all approved to come here, many fleeing persecution in their own countries, but their flights canceled? And then, groups like yours, what this means that you’ve got a stop-work order?

KRISH O’MARA VIGNARAJAH: I appreciate that question, because I do think there is a lot of confusion and conflation around this issue, and I think people are throwing around the word “illegal” unfairly.

So, refugee resettlement is a system through which individuals, families cross an international border. They apply through the United Nations or the U.S. Embassy. They wait literally years to go through extreme vetting — so, CIA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Interpol — in order to go through these background checks, health clearances. Only when they have cleared those hurdles are they admitted to the United States. These are the select few, in that 1% of refugees are ever resettled in their lifetime. And that’s the reason why this is the gold standard of legal immigration pathways into the U.S. That is why this program has always had bipartisan support. President Reagan resettled 600,000 refugees during his time in office.

And so, you know, for us, as the second-largest network in the country, it is heartbreaking, because we have 6,000 families, children, who did everything we asked them to do. They came to the U.S. They are here. And now we fear that they are stranded, because — in terms of keeping a roof over their heads, making sure that their children have access to public schools, making sure that they have even access to food. It is a public-private partnership. No one is making money off of this. We work with community groups, churches, in order to support these families. But we fear what the future holds, because even for our Afghan allies who worked alongside our military, we don’t know how we’re going to help them, come today and tomorrow, this week, next month.

AMY GOODMAN: So, explain, for the Afghan allies. I mean, for the people coming from Afghanistan, these were the ones who risked their lives helping U.S. troops, helping saving U.S. soldiers’ lives in Afghanistan?

KRISH O’MARA VIGNARAJAH: Yeah. So, we made a promise to them. We said, “Look, if you are going to face Taliban retribution, death threats because you are risking your life, your family’s life, by working alongside our military, the U.S. Embassy, to advance our mission, our promise to you is that we will not leave you in harm’s way.” It is why national security champions are such vocal advocates of the refugee resettlement and the special immigrant visa program, because it’s obviously not just the right thing to do to keep our promise to these individuals, but it’s the smart thing to do, because the only way we wage a 21st century war is if we have the local support. And so, for these Afghan allies, their ability to successfully integrate into our local communities — because they are here — is now in question. And for the allies who we left behind, who the lucky few are able to travel, it’s also unclear what happens to them.

AMY GOODMAN: So, talk about the pushback and how you’re organizing. Where are the hubs of refugees who are already living in this country, who groups like yours support, coming from other places?

KRISH O’MARA VIGNARAJAH: That’s the beauty of this program, is they’re not concentrated in one location. They’re not in, you know, some Democratic city alone. There’s a complex algorithm, that we work with the State Department. We take into account if they have U.S. family ties. We take into account job market, affordable housing, where there might be a concentration. We work with state refugee coordinators. Candidly, every single concern that was flagged in the executive order is addressed by a program that was designed and fine-tuned over four decades to address those concerns. And so, they are in the reddest of red states, the bluest of blue states. Local communities work with us and welcome these families, because they know that this is such an incredibly powerful program that just reflects the spirit of American generosity.

AMY GOODMAN: So, as you’ve said, this has gotten bipartisan support for years. What’s changed?

KRISH O’MARA VIGNARAJAH: I wish I knew. I mean, you know, I expected during the election season that we would have some, you know, hateful rhetoric, that we might hear, you know, kind of misstatements. But I expected that in terms of in governing and executing these programs, that there would be a really close look at those programs that are advancing U.S. interests and those that may not. I hope that it’s just a matter of taking the time in the transition period to just have a quick understanding of what these programs are. Secretary Rubio, obviously, has the experience of having come from the Senate, knowing fully well what refugee resettlement is. And so, we are hopeful that as people understand the ramifications of not just the executive order, but the work order, that this will be reversed in short order. But I really — I pray that this program does not get caught up in politics.

AMY GOODMAN: And how is Global Refuge, your organization, going to operate now?

KRISH O’MARA VIGNARAJAH: So, we’ve done this work for 85 years. Our refugee resettlement program began when Lutheran pastors, professors fled Nazi Germany. And it has always been done successfully in partnership with community organizations. And so, that is our plea right now, which is, if you’re interested in volunteering, if you’re interested in helping this cause, go to GlobalRefuge.org. But we’re going to have to be crafty in terms of making sure that these families are supported, in making sure that the U.S. keeps its promise to Afghan allies and making sure that a program that has been really perfected over four decades, that we don’t accidentally dismantle it.

AMY GOODMAN: Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, we want to thank you for being with us, president of Global Refuge, speaking to us from Baltimore.

Next up, as the Senate confirms Pete Hegseth by one vote as defense secretary, we’ll look at his embrace of extreme Christian nationalism. Stay with us.