Some friends of mine were resettled in the United States a few weeks ago. They’re a South Sudanese family who has lived in Cairo, Egypt, for decades and they waited for their turn to be resettled for many years.
When I first met this family in early 2019, two years into the drastically reduced refugee resettlement caps in the US, they told me that they were supposed to have already been resettled, but because they were going to the US, everything was on hold. Those caps are only just being raised now, plus the pandemic slowed resettlement worldwide, which means they finally moved in late 2021, over three years later than they should have. Like everyone else in line for resettlement in the US, all they could do was wait.
A younger daughter was just turning 7 in 2019 and a son was in 8th grade. An older daughter was turning 10. Even though I’m forever grateful that resettlement has happened, I also know that they lost three years of school in schools in the US. Their transition, which is always difficult for resettled refugees, was also delayed for three years and they’re dealing with it now instead of being past it. I imagine what their lives might have been like now if they had been in the US since 2018. There are so many missed opportunities.
Instead, they attended a refugee learning center here in Cairo. It’s one of the better staffed and funded learning centers here since it has international support, but it’s also constantly overcrowded and it can’t possibly admit all the children who want to go there. The administration tries to make up for nutritional deficiencies in the children whenever it can, they run a volunteer reading program, and it gets lots of donations around Christmas, but it’s nothing like the education the children will receive in the US. And there was no school at all for about 8 months during corona shutdowns, of course.
We’ve had a few other friends get resettled since we’ve been here, mostly to Europe and before corona. The pandemic’s impact on refugee resettlement and refugee life in general hasn’t gotten as much attention as it should, but that is only part of the story for this family. There’s no getting past the fact that US government policy starting in 2017 significantly impacted the lives of tens of thousands of refugees, including many children. It’s important that we continue to try to remedy that now and also not make the same mistakes in the future.
My First Asylum Case: An Attorney's Perspective on Asylum in the United States
I took my first asylum case in 2016, when our national dialog on immigration took a decidedly negative turn. As a corporate attorney, I had no experience in immigration law, but my license allowed me to represent individuals fleeing severe persecution and I signed with a local non-profit to offer my help. My first asylum client was a young mother and her two small daughters. I could see myself in Saba.
Their Story is Our Story Applauds the Signing of Virginia House Bill 995 and Continues Efforts to Open Doors for Foreign-trained Medical Professionals in Other States
Their Story is Our Story (TSOS), a non-profit organization that collects and shares the experiences of refugees to deepen understanding and influence action, applauds the signing of Virginia House Bill 995 into law by Governor Glenn Youngkin, after its unanimous passage through the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate. It will create a pathway for foreign-trained doctors who have immigrated to the state, including those whose careers were interrupted by forcible displacement, to fill workforce gaps in medically underserved communities.
Idaho One Refugee Conference
Last fall I was able to attend the 1Refugee Conference in Idaho. The event was well organized and everyone who approached our table was interested in what we did and wanted to know how to get involved. There were at least 100 students majoring in a variety of things who attended the event and we had 20 students give us their contact information. Most were interested in our internship programs.