Refugee Coloradans work, pay taxes and build communities. Why strip away their healthcare?

The Trump administration has upended decades of bipartisan consensus that welcoming refugees — people displaced by war or persecution — is a staple of American policy. It has not only dismantled the system for admitting new refugees, but also made catastrophic policy changes affecting those already resettled here as they strive to rebuild their lives as new Americans.

Congress has been shamefully complicit. In July 2025, H.R.1 — the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — revoked federal Medicaid eligibility for refugees and other categories of lawfully present immigrants. The ugly result is that beginning Thursday, approximately 7,000 Coloradans — including refugees, asylees, humanitarian parolees, and trafficking survivors — are expected to lose healthcare coverage.

How has it come to this?

For decades, the U.S. was a global leader in refugee resettlement. Americans could take pride in offering some of the world’s most vulnerable displaced people an opportunity to safely start over. Long standing policy gave refugees access to modest benefits to help them succeed in integration, including immediate eligibility for Medicaid.

What changed? The first Trump administration justified deep cuts to refugee admissions partly by arguing the U.S. could help more displaced people through humanitarian assistance closer to home than by resettling them here. Yet it also proposed major foreign assistance cuts, even as the worldwide refugee population grew.

The current administration has gone further, gutting USAID while directing considerable taxpayer resources toward expanded immigration enforcement and sweeping deportations. This includes gratuitously re-vetting refugees already legally admitted to the U.S. and making costly agreements to deport immigrants to third countries with which they have no connection — a practice unacceptable to nearly two-thirds of surveyed Americans.

The contrast is stark: Federal resources are funding expanded enforcement and deportation while healthcare coverage and other humanitarian supports are being eviscerated.

The stakes of losing healthcare coverage are high for refugees and their communities. Some arrive with serious medical conditions requiring ongoing treatment. Many are recovering from trauma. CWS and other resettlement agencies help refugee Coloradans who are managing diabetes, heart disease and acute conditions requiring surgery and follow-up care. Losing Medicaid does not erase those needs. Instead, it will leave conditions untreated and shift greater pressure onto local hospitals, food banks, faith communities and nonprofits.

At the same time, refugees must support their families, and those of working age are expected to find employment and move toward self-sufficiency almost immediately upon resettlement. Medicaid access promotes the ability to enter and remain in the workforce, especially as refugees often face barriers to living-wage jobs with benefits when their education, experience or credentials are interrupted or unrecognized.

Reliable healthcare provides stability as resettlement agencies and organizations like Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning help newcomers develop skills, find jobs and advance careers. As refugees build livelihoods, their work supports their families while contributing substantially to our shared prosperity.

Those contributions are measurable: Refugee Coloradans paid $127.1 million in state and local taxes and $233.3 million in federal taxes in 2023. A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services analysis found that refugees and asylees generated tens of billions of dollars more in tax revenues over 15 years than they cost in government services. In Colorado, researchers estimate refugees generate $1.68 in economic activity for every $1 in assistance.

In short, refugees don’t simply receive public support. They work, pay taxes, care for their families and help fund public systems that we all rely on.

Whatever disagreements exist about U.S. immigration policy, these Medicaid changes starting Oct. 1 affect refugees who are already Coloradans raising families and striving for secure futures.

The urgent question is whether our country will honor the commitments made to them — or bear the ethical and practical consequences of increasing uninsurance, growing uncompensated care and destabilized families.

Congress should restore Medicaid eligibility for refugees and other affected humanitarian populations. Refugees have overcome enormous challenges and contribute tremendously when given the opportunity to start anew. Maintaining healthcare access supports the wellbeing, stability and economic self-sufficiency of refugee families — and the communities we all call home.

Kristy Beachy-Quick is the local director for Church World Service in Fort Collins, Colorado, which she opened in 2024. Paula Schriefer has served as President and CEO of Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning in Denver since 2014. Both organizations are members of the Refugee Action Coalition of Colorado.