This legislative ask is designed to be shared with your members of Congress and their staff.
On his first day back in office, President Trump issued executive orders freezing all foreign assistance for 90 days and indefinitely suspending refugee admissions on the backdrop of rising global needs following a destabilizing pandemic with economic upheaval. Quaker faith demands that we greet the sojourner with open arms, not closed fists. As scripture instructs, we must welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us.
Throughout 2025, the administration has arbitrarily eliminated 30% of current foreign aid funding and terminated over 85% of all foreign assistance programs, including those essential to global peace and stability—as over 120 million people are forcibly displaced worldwide. This jeopardizes major bipartisan achievements from President Trump’s first term, including the Global Fragility Act (2019) supporting peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and good governance; the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act (2019) preventing genocide and mass atrocities; and the Women, Peace, and Security Act (2017) protecting women and girls during conflict and supporting their role in conflict prevention.
Foreign assistance supports local peacebuilders and human rights defenders, helping to prevent causes of displacement: conflict, political repression, hunger, and climate disasters. Foreign assistance initiatives build health systems, education, economic stability, and democratic governance in fragile states. Quakers have long known that true security is built not by force, but through just relationships. Foreign assistance and refugee programs are proven to save lives and promote peace and stability.
Support Robust Investment in Foreign Assistance and Refugee Protections in FY26 Appropriations
Congress must urge the administration to resume all foreign assistance programs and fully fund aid, including migration accounts, in the FY26 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs bill. Legislators must also press to reopen the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program as well as reinstate and fully invest in refugee resettlement and protection through the FY26 Labor, Health and Human Services bill.
- Prevention is cheaper than response: Foreign assistance is among the most cost-effective tools of U.S. national security. Investing in peace, governance, and development averts emergency responses and military interventions. Every dollar spent on preventing conflict saves $26-103 in the cost of conflict and response.
- Human security and global stability: From Chad, where resources are exhausted hosting 760,000 Sudanese refugees, to Colombia, which has welcomed 2.8 million Venezuelans. U.S. foreign aid has been crucial in helping partners respond. Now, many of these lifelines are vanishing.
- Moral and strategic responsibility: Turning away from global crises by abandoning our refugee program will worsen humanitarian suffering, increase irregular migration, weaken alliances, and embolden authoritarian regimes. America must remain a beacon of peace and refuge, not retreat from global responsibility.