The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) laid off 61 employees last week, according to a filing with the Texas Workforce Commission.
The layoffs come amid crackdowns by the Trump administration resulting in sweeping changes to immigration policies over the last several weeks.
San Antonio was recently identified as one of the first places where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to arrest and deport people living in the country without legal status — an effort that began in late January.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration also announced a pause on all immigration applications filed by migrants from Latin America and Ukraine who were allowed to enter the U.S. under certain Biden-era programs, according to CBS News.
According to the Texas Workforce Commission’s latest WARN listing, RAICES employees were given notice of layoffs on Feb. 12.
Employers with 100 or more full-time employees are required to submit a notice to the state under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act of 1988. Those layoffs are listed online by the commission.
The San Antonio-based nonprofit founded in 1986 offers low-cost legal services to immigrants, including asylum seekers, victims of crime and people at risk of deportation.
“The stop-work orders and funding obstruction at the hands of the callous Trump administration decimated the refugee resettlement programs operated by RAICES and other agencies nationwide,” said Faisal Al-Juburi, Chief External Affairs Officer for RAICES in a statement Wednesday. “As a result, RAICES notified over 60 employees that their last day of employment is Feb. 28.”
Al-Juburi said impacted employees will receive full severance packages, which are in accordance with their Collective Bargaining Agreement for union positions, and have recall rights for up to 4 and a half years, if the federal government reverses course.
