A social services organization that helped more than 100 refugees settle in Bangor is closing its local immigration services office after President Donald Trump barred new arrivals.
Catholic Charities Maine will close its Greater Bangor Refugee and Immigration Services office on June 30, the organization announced Friday.
The decision was made because the Trump administration suspended refugee resettlement and the organization lost federal funding, Catholic Charities Maine said in a statement. Additionally, the Bangor region has the smallest concentration of the agency’s refugee clients.
Catholic Charities Maine resettled about 100 refugees from 11 different counties in Bangor in fiscal year 2024 and was supposed to welcome 150 more until Trump canceled flights in January. The agency hasn’t received any new refugees since Jan. 13, it said.
Refugees are people who leave their country due to persecution or fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.
Catholic Charities has resettled refugees in the Portland area since 1975 and expanded to the Bangor area around 2022.
“The Greater Bangor community has been welcoming and supportive of refugees and it is because of this that we trust our clients who have resettled here will continue to thrive,” Stephen Letourneau, Catholic Charities Maine CEO, said in a statement. “I cannot thank our community partners enough for their support over these past 2.5 years.”
The nonprofit closing its local refugee and immigration services office will not impact any other programs that Catholic Charities offers at its Bangor-area location.
The organization’s refugee services offices in southern Maine will remain open.
