With migrant encounters at an all-time high, researchers have found that Congress has appropriated $20 billion over the last two fiscal years to fund "refugee and entrant assistance."
The money went through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a division of Health and Human Services, reports Adam Andrzejewski of Open the Books, which examined the government office to determine funding being used to provide migrants with services.
The $20 billion that was spent on refugee and entrant assistance came as costs rose from $8.925 billion in fiscal year 2022 to $10.928 billion in fiscal year 2023, the investigation showed.
The Administration of Children and Families, which is ORR's parent agency got $2.94 billion for Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriation and additional supplementals in fiscal year 2022, while Ukrainian refugees cost taxpayers $900 million in fiscal year 2022 and $1.775 billion in fiscal year 2023.
The agency, presenting its Congressional Budget Justification, suggested expanding services to even more applicants, allowing immigrant minors in the unaccompanied minor program to access the same benefits as refugees, including Medicaid and foster care services.
It also called for additional funding for legal assistance for Ukrainian and Afghan children for ensuring permanent residency; cash assistance for full-time college or technical school students; and removing the need for refugees to become economically self-sufficient as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, ORR distributed $1.5 billion in discretionary grants, with most of the spending occurring over the past two years.
Grant spending went from $33 million to over $400 million in 2021 and 2022, and in 2023 went to $615.6 million, the report indicated.
The "Preferred Communities Program" in the Refugee and Entrant Assistance category had the most spending 2022, at $275.9 million, and went up to $436 million in 2023 spending was up to $436,247,481, with the funding split between seven organizations.
Meanwhile, Robin Dunn Marcos became the ORR director in September 2022, earning $180,000 as a base salary. Before that, she was with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) for eight years, eventually becoming the senior director for resettlement, asylum, and integration.
Before that, she was with the International Rescue Committee Phoenix branch for 15 years and spent four years at Church World Service the IRC stints.
The research showed that IRC and Church World Service were some of ORR's largest grant recipients, with IRC getting more than $180 million between 2013-2023 and Church World Service getting almost $125 million.
IRC benefited from ORR's spending, getting more than $235 million in spending in FY 2023 compared to $22 million in FY 2021.
Open the Books' auditors have filed a Freedom of Information Act request for emails between Dunn Marcos and IRC officials in May 2023.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.