FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) 鈥 Kat Renfroe was at Mass when she saw a volunteer opportunity in the bulletin. Her Catholic parish was looking for tutors for Afghan youth, newly arrived in the United States.
There was a personal connection for Renfroe. Her husband, now retired from the Marine Corps, had deployed to Afghanistan four times. 鈥淗e just never talked about any other region the way he did about the people there,鈥 she said.
She signed up to volunteer. 鈥淚t changed my life,鈥 she said.
That was seven years ago. She and her husband are still close to the young man she tutored, along with his family. And Renfroe has made a career of She now supervises the Fredericksburg migration and refugee services office, part of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington.
That faith-based work is now in peril. As part of President Donald Trump’s , his administration banned most incoming refugees in January and froze federal funds for the programs. Across the country, local resettlement agencies like hers have been or close their doors. Refugees and other legal migrants have been left in limbo, including in their native country.
The upheaval is particularly poignant in this part of Virginia, which boasts both strong ties to the military and to resettled Afghans, along with faith communities that support both groups.
Situated south of Washington, D.C., and wedged among military bases, Fredericksburg and its surrounding counties are home to tens of thousands of veterans and active-duty personnel.
Virginia has resettled more Afghan refugees per capita than any other state. The Fredericksburg area now has halal markets, Afghan restaurants and school outreach programs for families who speak Dari and Pashto.
Many of these U.S.-based Afghans are still waiting for family members to join them 鈥 hopes that appear on indefinite hold. Families fear a new travel ban will emerge with Afghanistan on the list. A subset of Afghans already in the U.S. may soon face deportation as the Trump administration ends their
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 tough for military families, especially those who have served, to look back on 20 years and not feel as though there鈥檚 some confusion and maybe even some anger about the situation,鈥 Renfroe said.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced in April that it was with the federal government to resettle refugees. The move came after the Trump administration halted the program鈥檚 federal funding, which the bishops鈥 conference channels to local Catholic Charities.
The Fredericksburg Catholic Charities office has continued aiding current clients and operating without layoffs thanks to its diocese鈥檚 support and state funds. But it鈥檚 unclear what the local agency’s future will be without federal funding or arriving refugees.
鈥淚鈥檒l just keep praying,鈥 Renfroe said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all I can do from my end.鈥
A legacy of faith-based service
Religious groups have long been at the heart of U.S. refugee resettlement work. Until the recent policy changes, seven out of the 10 national organizations that partnered with the U.S. government to resettle refugees were faith-based. They were aided by hundreds of local affiliates and religious congregations.
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington has been working with refugees for 50 years, starting with after . For the last 10 years, most of its clients have been Afghans, with an influx arriving in 2021 after .
Area faith groups like Renfroe鈥檚 large church 鈥 St. Mary鈥檚 in Fredericksburg 鈥 have been key to helping Afghan newcomers get on their feet. Volunteers from local congregations furnish homes, provide meals and drive families to appointments.
鈥淎s a church, we care deeply. As Christians, we care deeply,鈥 said Joi Rogers, who led the Afghan ministry at her Southern Baptist church. 鈥淎s military, we also just have an obligation to them as people that committed to helping the U.S. in our mission over there.鈥
Rogers鈥 husband Jake, a former Marine, is one of the pastors at Pillar, a network of 16 Southern Baptist churches that minister to military members. Their flagship location is near Quantico, the Marine base in northern Virginia, where nearly 5,000 Afghans were evacuated to .
With Southern Baptist relief funds, Pillar Church hired Joi Rogers to work part time as a volunteer coordinator in the base鈥檚 makeshift refugee camp in 2021. She helped organize programming, including children鈥檚 activities. Her position was under the auspices of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which the government contracted to help run the camp.
For Pillar鈥檚 founding pastor, Colby Garman, the effort was an easy decision. 鈥淚t was affecting so many of the lives of our families here who had served in Afghanistan.鈥
鈥淲e鈥檝e been told to love God and love our neighbor,鈥 Garman said. 鈥淚 said to our people, this is an opportunity, a unique opportunity, for us to demonstrate love for our neighbor.鈥
Christians called to care for refugees, politics aside
Within five months, as the Afghans left the base for locations around the country, the support at the camp transitioned to the broader community. Pillar started hosting an English class. Church members visited locally resettled families and tried to keep track of their needs.
For one Pillar Church couple in nearby Stafford, Virginia, that meant opening their home to a teenager who had arrived alone in the U.S. after being separated from her family at the Kabul airport 鈥 a situation they heard about through the church.
Katlyn Williams and her husband Phil Williams, then an active-duty Marine, served as foster parents for Mahsa Zarabi, now 20, during her junior and senior years of high school. They introduced her to many American firsts: the beach, homecoming, learning to drive.
鈥淭he community was great,鈥 Zarabi said. 鈥淭hey welcomed me very well.鈥
She attends college nearby; the Williamses visit her monthly. During this spring, they broke fast with her and her family, now safely in Virginia.
鈥淪he has and will always be part of our family,鈥 Katlyn Williams said.
Her friend Joi Rogers, while careful not to speak for Pillar, said watching the recent dismantling of the federal refugee program has 鈥渂een very hard for me personally.鈥
and members of the military tend to vote Republican. Most Southern Baptists are among Trump鈥檚 staunch white evangelical supporters. For those reasons, Pillar pastor Garman knows it may be surprising to some that his church network has been steadfast in supporting refugees.
鈥淚 totally understand that is the case, but I think that is a bias of just not knowing who we are and what we do,鈥 Garman said after a recent Sunday service.
Later, sitting in the church office with his wife, Jake Rogers said, 鈥淲e recognize that there are really faithful Christians that could lie on either side of the issue of refugee policy.鈥
鈥淩egardless of your view on what our national stance should be on this,鈥 he said, 鈥渨e as Christ followers should have a heart for these people that reflects God鈥檚 heart for these people.鈥
Unity through faith and refugee work
Later that week, nearly two dozen Afghan women gathered around a table at the Fredericksburg refugee office, while children played with toys in the corner. The class topic was self-care, led by an Afghan staff member. Along the back wall waited dishes of rice and chicken, part of a celebratory potluck to mark the end of Ramadan.
Sitting at the front was Suraya Qaderi, the last client to arrive at the resettlement agency before the U.S. government suspended new arrivals.
She was in Qatar waiting to be cleared for a flight to the United States when the Trump administration started for refugees. 鈥淚 was one of the lucky last few,鈥 said Qaderi, who was allowed to proceed.
She arrived in Virginia on Jan. 24, the day the administration sent to resettlement agencies.
Qaderi worked for the election commission in Afghanistan, and she received a special immigrant visa for her close ties to the U.S. government. She was a child when her father disappeared under the previous Taliban regime.
The return of the Taliban government was like 鈥渢he end of the world,鈥 she said. As a woman, she lost many of her rights, including her ability to work and leave home unaccompanied.
She studied Islamic law during her university years. She believes the Taliban鈥檚 interpretation of Islam is wrong on the rights of women. 鈥淚slam is not only for them,鈥 she said.
The resettlement office includes not only Catholic staffers, but many Muslim employees and clients. 鈥淲e find so much commonality between our faiths,鈥 Renfroe said.
Her Catholic faith guides her work, and it鈥檚 sustaining her through the uncertainty of what the funding and policy changes will mean for her organization, which remains committed to helping refugees.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy to go back to being a volunteer again if that鈥檚 what it takes,鈥 Renfroe said.
Regardless of government contracts, she wants local refugee families to know that 鈥渢hat we鈥檙e still here, that we care about them and that we want to make sure that they have what they need.鈥
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP鈥檚 with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
