Thousands of people working for the main agency of the US Government for humanitarian aid and disaster assistance were in the first place to fight hunger, contain virulent infectious diseases such as HIV and Ebola, and the renewal of infrastructure in impoverished and war countries.
On Friday night, just a few hours before the vast majority of them were suspended with a salary or dismissed, the court issued a limited, temporary order Against Trump’s administration moves to close the agency.
The command was temporarily return to approximately 2,700 direct employees The US Agency for International Development, which was on administrative leave or placed on leave until midnight on Friday. For the last two weeks, those and performers who have been working for the agency have been in the collective panic, while Trump’s administration began to release the staff and hinted that she was planning a dozens of agency.
But USAID workforce and assistance industry that relies largely on the funding of the agency, is still acute in limb. On Saturday, USAIDs informed employees affected by a warrant that employees who were already on administrative leave will be returned by the end of Friday, February 14, and that no one else will be suspended with a salary during this period, according to a copy of notices from New York Times. But these employees could still wait for weeks, months or potentially longer, for a verdict. The case is expected to go to the Supreme Court on behalf of the Union, which is carried out on behalf of the union, and it is not clear whether jobs will ever exist.
The announcement of Trump’s administration this week that USAID will reject almost all of its performers and that most of the foreign services and other direct employees will be put on an indefinite administrative leave, has extinguished panic around the world, as Americans have published missions abroad to break down And they broke up and terminated abroad to break down and get rid of your life again.
The announcement has only given an external service officers 30 days to leave their positions and return to the United States if they want the US Government to pay for their relocation, forcing almost the entire diplomatic staff to plan a quick exit type that is usually only during only during only and during the time and wars.
Many employees with children had to decide whether to get them out of school immediately or leave their families after the end of the school year. Some with medical conditions, including the pregnancy in late stages and high risk, are concerned about traveling danger and status of their health care. A few agonized about what to do with pets, because it was not possible to get the paperwork needed to enter the United States in just a few weeks.
The reduction of USAIDs has appeared to be largely launched by Elon Musk, President of Technology Magnat Trump deputated to reduce budget throughout the Governmentand Pete Marocco, Director of Foreign Aid of State Department, whom Mr. Rubio has appointed this week for the daily business of USAID
State Secretary Marco Rubio, who took over the overall authority of USAID, tried to push fears, encouraging people to report to renunciation to delay the trips and claim that Trump’s administration “is not trying to be distracted by people’s personal lives.”
However, as the commands and reports on huge decrease in the global industry were to help and many non -governmental organizations and consulting companies that relied on the funding of the agency eliminated the staff, agency workers requested for their potential end.
One American published in a USAID mission in Africa said he and his wife, an external service officer, were both suspended.
“Two weeks ago we were two employed people with further tasks, and now we saw that the whole industry was decimal and we are going back to the US without work,” he said.
He, like many others, spoke about the state of anonymity, because those who are still on the payment list of the agency are instructed not to discuss changes publicly. Employees are afraid that flying an order could endanger any benefit that could still be acceptable, such as pensions and severance pay – although it was unclear whether Trump’s administration would honor such obligations.
On Thursday, the USAID employee’s subset began to receive notifications that they were considered “important”, which means that they will not be suspended or dismissed – for now.
“This is your formal notification that you are expected to continue working, in effect immediately, and until you are otherwise informed,” the E -Station states, according to a copy of the New York Times.
It was not immediately clear how crucial the employee was considered. On Thursday afternoon, the high leaders of the USAID said Trump’s administration planned to reduce agencies staff to about 290, according to three people who were directly informed of the call details. By Friday morning, however, the high -ranking agency officials were said to be familiar with the internal guidance of 611, according to two persons.
Some speculated that the number of detained people could climb something more, because the bureau and regional leaders fought to preserve as many positions as possible to continue the agency’s work life.
Either way, a decrease in labor exceeding 10,000 promises to be drastic.
“What is happening is devastating, it’s hard to convey it to the word, but it’s devastating,” said Maria Carrasco, who worked for a help agency or projects abroad she funded for the last 25 years, she said, before she Other performers were abolished last week. “We are people who sweat and tears in these organizations, because we believe in the ultimate goal of helping people. And now it has been deleted. “
The USAIDs Workpop Strokes started seriously on January 28, four days after Stopping orders have been issued.
Samantha Cooper, a performer whose employment was abolished, worked in health care and nutrition of mothers and children at the help agency, and last Monday started a new job at the HIV/AIDS Office. In a few days, she went from excitement about the upcoming career turning point to the strain to put an end to the end.
“I have to apply for unemployment, which does not even cover the rent; brands for food, which – that’s okay, at least gets me groceries,” she said in a telephone conversation. Her medical coverage has run out of Friday last week.
Mrs. Cooper, headquartered in Tulsa, Oklava, said she felt happier than most.
“I have associates who go through IVF and have lost all their advantages; people who go through the treatment of cancer is to their parents in hospice – and they were feeders,” she said. “I feel privileged to say that this is just what I am struggling with. I know that so much has to deal with it and that will literally break them.”
It was a fear for an external servant officer in Asia who revealed this week that the immediate family member should be evacuated because of a life-threatening health condition, only to superiors say that in the midst of the dissolution of USAIDs there were no available emergency medical travel resources available . Their only option, it is said that they will immediately return to the United States, where they have nowhere to live, and leave their things and pets behind.
Another external service officer who worked at the Africa mission struggled with a way of transferring news to her two young children.
She also worried that she and her spouse, who also works in development, would have to live off the savings she had hoped to be put to the house if both soon found themselves without a job.
“He just feels like the whole sector sinking, so how will I find a job?” She said, speaking of the state of anonymity, like others, for fear of retaliation. “All I know is development, all I know is public health – I dedicated my life to that. What other skills do I have? “
The tens of USAID has launched a domino effect, as performers, non -governmental organizations and consulting companies that rely on the funding of the Agency for their projects are also forced to reduce. At least 10,000 US jobs in this sector has already disappeared, according to interaction, which is a number of organizations specialized in foreign assistance.
“It’s the eviction of the sector,” said Tom Hart, President and Executive Director of Interaction.
Non -governmental organization employees and companies that rely on USAID financing that they were effectively blocked to access any financing through the Agency’s accounting system, and in some cases they had monthly expenses, without guarantee that the federal government would compensate them.
Resonance, a consultant development company that has employed about 150 people around the world, is an example of a small company that has scored a big hit. Before contraction, the company did about 75 percent of its business with USAID. In November, bills are returned that the agency has yet to cover, said Steve Schmida, his co -founder, in an interview.
“We are forced to carry huge costs without clarity whether and when we will be paid or compensated,” said Mr. Schmid, adding that he had to release almost 90 percent of his staff with headquarters in the US. He goes for three months without payment to release the funds to keep his job on the move, he said.
But as news of the drastic decrease in the staff adhered to, he lost the hope that the government would ever cover the funding he was promised.
“It was just a disaster,” he said about USAID cuts, adding, “I think it’s for all that is over.”
Edward Wong contributions to reporting from Bangkok and Chris Cameron from Washington.
