Surviving and Resisting Retrenchment: US Resettlement Organizations’ Responses to Trump-era Anti-refugee Policy

Abstract Retrenchment and erosion of refugee protections have been on the rise in multiple contexts around the world. In the United States, the Trump Administration’s refugee policies threatened the very survival of domestic resettlement institutions. The administration reduced the number of refugees, cut funds, and sewed confusion. In the face of restrictionist policies, how did refugee advocates respond? Leveraging a case study of resettlement organisations’ responses to Trump-era anti-refugee policies, this article demonstrates that administrators not only adapted creatively to survive the barrage of attacks but also engaged in meaningful political contestation. In circumscribed moments, administrators defied theoretical expectations: they placed the collective above the individual and challenged exploitative dynamics fundamental to US refugee programmes. This article draws on critical theory to analyse administrative resistance, repositioning bureaucrats as advocates in the process. In doing so, the article makes three main contributions. First, it elucidates the unseen role of bureaucrats as agents of progressive institutional change. Next, it offers new analytic purchase into puzzling organisational behaviour by foregrounding social relations of power. Finally, the article provides tools and resources for resettlement organisations navigating retrenchment globally.