President Donald Trump issued an executive order suspending overall U.S. refugee admissions for at least three months while it considered whether to resume or end the program.

Arrive Ministries in Richfield had been planning on welcoming 200 refugees to reunite with family here in Minnesota in the coming months, but they say the cases have been “suspended.”

“It’s been a really heavy week,” said Ruth LePage, Reception and Placement Program Manager at Arrive Ministries. “After the President signed that executive order, we cried, and we prayed together.”

LePage said one refugee family began the process more than 25 years ago and was planning on joining another family in the coming weeks in Minnesota, but that trip is now off.

“The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees. This order suspends the USRAP until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States,” part of the Executive Order reads.

The Executive Order temporarily stopped the United States Refugee Admissions Program on Monday.

In 2023, the United States admitted 60,050 refugees, more than the total refugees admitted in 2021 and 2022 combined, according to the Office of Homeland Security Statistics.

For the last federal fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2024, Minnesota welcomed 2,990 people through the U.S. Refugee Admissions program, according to the Department of Human Services.

According to U.S. Homeland Security, a refugee is a special humanitarian concern to the United States and demonstrates that they were persecuted or fear persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

The government requires the refugee to go through a multi-step refugee application process that includes background checks, explained HERE.

“The refugee program has always had strong bipartisan support –at federal and state level,” said Jane Graupman, Executive Director at the International Institute of Minnesota, based in St. Paul.

Graupman said the application process for refugees is quite extensive before the refugee arrives in the country.

“They go through years and years of vetting and screening,” Graupman said.  “People sponsoring their children, parents, to come joint them in the United States.”

The White House asked the secretaries of Homeland Security and State to review the program, and to make recommendations on whether to resume the program is in the U.S. interest within 90 days.

The AP contributed to this report.