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Metro Detroit agencies are bracing for “peak numbers of refugees” in the coming months, a situation created by the Biden-Harris administration that’s expected to further strain the state’s housing shortage.

The White House goal of admitting up to 125,000 refugees to the United States this fiscal year means Michigan is approved to receive more than 4,400 refugees and special immigrant visa holders by the end of September.

Through July, data from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity shows the state has taken in 2,915 refugees from 39 countries so far this fiscal year, and local agencies that work to settle them expect thousands more over the coming months and next year, Bridge Detroit reports.

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Samaritas, a health and human services agency and one of the largest providers of refugee services, is expecting a 14% increase in refugees next fiscal year, when it plans to help resettle 2,000 from countries including Afghanistan, Ukraine, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Burma, Guatemala and Iran.

“We’re at peak numbers of refugees that we are welcoming into our care,” Kelli Dobner, Samaritas’ chief growth officer, told Bridge.

The expected increase is even more drastic at the Dearborn-based U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, which predicts it will serve 625 refugees by the end of the current fiscal year that runs through September, as well as another 700 next year. In the 2023 fiscal year, the nonprofit served 315 refugees, director Towfik Alazem told the news site.

“A lot of refugees … were, for the last many years, hoping to come and arrive and get approved,” Alazem said, noting the Biden-Harris goal directive in September changed that dynamic. “And recently, we see larger numbers of refugees being approved to travel and come to the United States.”

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Those coming to Michigan will receive support in a housing market that’s rapidly becoming more expensive due to a shortage of affordable options. In the last five years, rents have doubled in metro Detroit, going from $600 to $800 per month for a small home to at least $1,200, according to state data cited by Bridge.

The Newcomer Rental Subsidy program approved by Democrats and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last year provides up to $600 per month for a year for “asylum seekers” to secure housing. Republicans who are outnumbered in both chambers of the state Legislature have questioned the program, and eligibility loopholes they suggest could allow illegal immigrants who have filed defensive asylum claims to avoid deportation into the program.

The CRI also provides “a comprehensive set of services including housing placement, cultural orientation, school enrollment, coordination of initial health appointments, and employment preparation and placement,” according to the nonprofit’s website.

Michiganders, meanwhile, continue to struggle as the state works to address a shortage of 140,000 homes.

“We definitely recognize that there’s a housing crisis in Michigan, and we’re working to build more affordable housing at all price points for people throughout Michigan,” Kelly Rose, chief operating officer for the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, told Bridge. “Because we know from our most vulnerable citizens, who need permanent supportive housing, and people experiencing homelessness, up to middle income families – it’s tough to find an affordable home out there.”

Whitmer’s Newcomer Rental Program is funded with $4 million from Michigan taxpayers, along with $5 million from the Federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, and currently has a balance of about $6.5 million to spend, according to Bridge.

Other programs approved by Democrats include $738,000 to “support newcomer integration” through grants to “ethnic and community based organizations” that cater to immigrants and refugees, $1 million to cover the legal fees of “asylum seekers” in the FY 2025 budget, and $6.4 million in additional Medicaid benefits for refugees and other immigrants.

Those efforts, according to the Whitmer administration, are aimed at ensuring Michigan is “the state of choice for many newcomer populations” at a time when 41% of residents are living paycheck to paycheck.

And while some groups like Samaritas and CRI look to boost hiring to address the drastic increase in refugees, Michigan bureaucrats have blocked other groups from helping over religious objections.

Bethany Christian Services filed a federal lawsuit against Whitmer’s directors at LEO, and Office of Global Michigan on Sept. 9 over a state policy change that locked them out of contracts to help refugees for the first time since 1962, MLive reports.

“For the first time in a decades-long relationship, OGM inserted contract language in grant agreements requiring Bethany Christian to ‘create opportunities to employ staff that represent … religions of the newcomer populations … ,’” Grand Rapids attorney Matthew Nelson wrote in the lawsuit, which alleges First Amendments violations.

“It then denied Bethany Christian’s bids for programs it has provided for decades, creating a situation where Bethany Christian’s ability to fulfill its religious mission will be severely curtailed not just beginning October 1, 2024, when the existing contracts expire, but also for the foreseeable future.”