Federal Funding of United States Refugee Resettlement Before and After the Refugee Act of 1980

This note begins with an examination of the problems of establishing, funding, and terminating previous resettlement programs involving Cuban and Indochinese refugees. These programs were limited to assisting refugees from specific geographic areas. Each refugee influx called for new legislation, and “new” programs frequently lingered on beyond their useful lives. Uncertainty about the timing of their eventual phaseout left state and local administrators unable to plan for a smooth transition following the termination of federal funding.