ST. LOUIS—President Trump's Jan. 20 executive orders signed by President Donald Trump suspending refugee resettlement and international asylum “are dual blows to legal immigration in the U.S.", according to the interim CEO of the International Institute in St. Louis. The agency said it is already seeing repercussions from the orders, which includes new guidance received Friday that appears to ban refugee resettlement organizations from spending federal funds to assist refugees who are already in the U.S.

News of that updated guidance was reported this weekend by CNN. 

The St. Louis region, which became a haven for immigrants fleeing from Bosnia in the 1990s to the point that it now boasts the largest Bosnian population in the U.S., has aggressively cast itself as a potential home for immigrants from Afghanistan, Ukraine, African nations, and elsewhere in an attempt to counter population losses.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the St. Louis metropolitan region saw its foreign-born population grow by 23.2% between 2022 and 2023, translating into nearly 160,000 people. That metric, which includes refugees and other immigration statuses, puts St. Louis atop the country’s 30 largest metro populations.

“The suspension of the refugee resettlement program and international asylum by executive order are dual blows to legal immigration in the U.S.” said Blake Hamilton, Interim President and CEO of the International Institute of St. Louis. “Together these orders effectively reject our nation's nearly 75-year commitment to respecting the human dignity of those fleeing persecution as affirmed by the Geneva Convention.” 

The International Institute said it served more than 3,000 new clients in the region in 2024, with an average of 115 refugee arrivals per month. In projections done prior to the presidential election, the agency said it expected to welcome more than 1,900 during the federal fiscal 2025 year that runs from October 2024-September 2025. The agency now expects that number to be drastically reduced. 

Trump's order said the refugee program would be suspended because cities and communities had been taxed by “record levels of migration” and didn't have the ability to “absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees."

In the days since President Trump’s executive orders, the International Institute says flights that were supposed to bring refugees here in in February and March have been canceled. 

“The order to suspend refugee resettlement is disheartening, especially since this concerns people who have experienced so much trauma and are now going through the proper process to come to the United States. Even more upsetting, many of the affected refugees are Afghans who helped the United States military in the Afghanistan war - they deserve our thanks and protection,” said St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, who created an “Office of New Americans” to help organize resources for immigrants and refugees and make their adjustment to the city smoother.

“The City of St. Louis is proud to be the new home for thousands of refugees from countries like Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Bosnia, who have helped shape our community into one that is more beautiful and diverse than before. St. Louis will continue to be a welcoming city for refugees in our country and for all people who want to call this city home,” she said.