Migrant Aid on the Chopping Block: Trump’s $800M Refugee Cut, Explained

Trump's $9.4 billion rescissions package would ax aide to refugees, disaster zones, and HIV clinics.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has proposed eliminating $800 million from the Department of State’s Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) account, one of the largest immigration-related cuts in a sweeping $9.4 billion rescissions package submitted to Congress on May 28.

The proposed cut is detailed on page 7 of the package, sent under section 1012 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. The MRA account, which funds the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and provides overseas humanitarian relief, received $3.2 billion for fiscal year 2025. The White House now seeks to reduce that by one quarter.

“These funds support activities that could be more fairly shared with non-U.S. Government donors,” the rescission proposal states. The administration argues the cut would preserve only “programs that are life-saving or have a clear, direct nexus to U.S. national interests, like repatriations,” while encouraging other nations to “step up and do more” during global cri…