“A few people told me not to talk to the news,” Van Dinh-Kuno chuckled. “They said to watch out, because Trump’s people might see it and go after us! But I don’t care…it’s important to speak.”
Dinh-Kuno is the Executive Director of Refugee and Immigrant Services Northwest (RISNW), a nonprofit “multi-service organization” that provides a variety of resources to immigrants, especially those newly arrived and attempting to stabilize. She spoke to the Lynnwood Times about the future of refugee advocacy under the new Trump administration’s hardline border policies.
“I’ve never seen this [policy] at this level before, anywhere, anytime,” said Dinh-Kuno, who has worked for RISNW for over 30 years. Originally a refugee from Vietnam herself, Dinh-Kuno came to the United States after the Fall of Saigon in 1975 and draws from this life-shaping experience in her tireless support for immigrant communities.
Based in Everett, RISNW offers translation and interpretation in “40 languages and dialects”, as well as assistance with the naturalization process, connection with employment and educational programs, and other services. The nonprofit’s mission statement is to outstretch a helping hand to immigrants, guiding them “along a pathway to economic independence and successful integration into US society.”
But RISNW and the communities it advocates for have faced a startling new reality under the second Trump administration. As reported by NPR, recent executive orders and other actions have “closed off access to the CBP One app and asylum protections at the U.S. border… opened the door for immigration authorities to arrest immigrants in schools, churches and hospitals; and cleared the way for authorities to begin removing more than a million migrants who were legally admitted to the U.S. under the Biden administration.”
While the Trump campaign denied association with Project 2025 during the election, his administration’s immigration policy seems to draw directly from that playbook. Downsizing and eliminating existing programs for legal immigrants, as well as revoking or complicating immigration status for those previously admitted, is a move in lockstep with the Heritage Foundation’s vision of Project 2025.
So too is the attempted wide-scale “federal funding freeze” that has now been “formally rescinded” after a judicial block, although White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt still claimed on Wednesday that “The President’s EO’s on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”
The New York Times reported that this cancelled funding freeze would have risked “as much as 32 percent” of WA state’s fiscal year budget, according to state officials, which would “interfere with critical state programs.”
“Number one; these orders have created chaos,” Dinh-Kuno said. “Number two; they create fear, and number three; they disrupt people’s lives everywhere.”
Centering on South Snohomish County, Dinh-Kuno used the example of an Edmonds College apprenticeship to make a point about potential impacts. “There’s a carpentry program there available to immigrants, low-income Americans, everybody…” Edmonds College promotes this kind of “educational opportunity” for its entire student body, “regardless of their immigration status”, worrying advocates like Dinh-Kuno. “This kind of [program] could be targeted… training could be stopped and people won’t receive certificates of completion,” she stated. “People just trying to work for a better life won’t be able to under these circumstances.”
Dinh-Kuno also mentioned the examples of Ukrainian and Afghan refugees, whose respective resettlement programs through the federal Citizenship and Immigration Services agency were also indefinitely suspended by Trump’s “Securing Our Borders” executive order. “And these are legal! We aren’t talking about illegal immigrants here, we are talking about a legal process,” Dinh-Kuno added. “People who think he’s just going after illegals – that’s not true at all.”
Other foreign national resettlement programs have also been “abandoned”, according to Dinh-Kuno, and many aid groups will now have to independently fundraise to continue operations. RISNW has its funding secured until June 30; however, Dinh-Kuno stated that they will be heavily reliant on continued support from the state government after that point. She expressed faith in her state government: “Senator [June] Robinson, Senator [Marko] Liias, Representatives Julio Cortes and Lillian Ortiz… they understand the needs of refugees and immigrants.”
However, the Trump administration’s desired “funding freeze” may return in an updated, more legally sound form, whether through future executive action or through legislation. For groups like RISNW, federal unpredictability means that future state funding is far from guaranteed.
To the Snohomish County community at large, Dinh-Kuno expressed, “Take time to study and find out the reasons why immigrants are being targeted. The 2024 election was won on a platform of anti-immigration… Many refugees and immigrants call the Lynnwood area home, and make up an important part of that community. We value hard work and labor and contribute to what makes America strong.”
Author: Kayvon Bumpus
