Reviving refugee resettlement
Biden restart of program in state could take time
Resettlement agencies laid off staff and closed offices as President Donald Trump repeatedly slashed the number of new refugees permitted each year into the U.S.
President-elect Joe Biden plans to reverse course, reinvigorating the country’s role in the global humanitarian effort. He has pledged to raise the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. each year to 125,000 and increase the number over time. Currently, it is capped at 15,000.
Resettlement agencies and refugee advocates in Tennessee are eager to help more people fleeing violence and persecution around the globe and restart their lives in communities across the state. But the resettlement infrastructure in Tennessee and other states diminished greatly because of cuts made to the federal program by the Trump administration.
“All agencies across the country have had to scale back over the last four years in terms of staff and programs,” said Judy Orr, executive director of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Nashville. “You can’t just flip a switch and be back in business.”
The Catholic social services organization administers the federal refugee resettlement program in Tennessee. The state welcomed 226 people in fiscal year 2020, which ended in September. Four years ago, just over 2,000 refugees were resettled across
“We’re delighted to imagine that we might increase numbers, but again there’s a lot of logistics associated with that increase.”
Judy Orr executive director of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Nashville
Tennessee’s four biggest cities.
There are 26 million refugees in the world and the number is greater for forcibly displaced people, according to the UN Refugee Agency. Although the formal refugee program in the U.S. has operated for 40 years, it became a contentious political issue during Trump’s presidency as restrictions tightened on immigration to the U.S.
The refugee debate emerged at the state level, too. Tennessee sued the federal government over refugee resettlement funding, but the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case.
Presidents have raised and lowered the annual refugee admissions cap over the years, but it has averaged 95,000 annually since the start of the program, according to HIAS, a Jewish refugee resettlement agency working in the U.S. Under Trump’s cap, up to 15,000 refugees will be permitted into the country through September 2021.
“The President’s proposal for refugee resettlement in Fiscal Year 2021 reflects the Administration’s continuing commitment to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of Americans, especially in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” according to a news release from the U.S. state department.
Reviving refugee resettlement infrastructure
In addition to administering the federal program in Tennessee, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Nashville also operates one of the five resettlement agencies in the state. Resettlement agencies receive federal funding to help refugees find jobs, housing and integrate into their new communities.
Due to fewer refugee arrivals the past four years, Catholic Charities laid off several staff members, Orr said. Rebuilding the workforce may take time because refugee resettlement work requires a specialized skillset, Orr said.
The ongoing coronavirus outbreak adds additional complications, Orr said. Not all, but some industries that hire refugees, such as hospitality companies, have been hit hard in Tennessee by the pandemic, she said.
“We’re delighted to imagine that we might increase numbers, but again there’s a lot of logistics associated with that increase, and concern that we won’t be able to handle it very gracefully, as you might say, at the beginning,” Orr said.
World Relief, another Christian resettlement agency working in Tennessee, is gearing up to resettle more refugees under the Biden administration, said Matthew Soerens, World Relief ’s U.S. director of church mobilization and advocacy. The organization is eager to see the program revived, he said.
World Relief closed its Nashville office and several others across the country due to fewer refugees arriving in the U.S. under the Trump administration.
“It’s been a hard few years,” Soerens said. “The refugee resettlement infrastructure in the United States has really been built up through 40 years of public-private partnership, and that’s been pretty significantly dismantled over the last three years.”
World Relief has no plans currently to re-open its Nashville office. Although the city has a long history of welcoming refugees, Soerens noted the rising cost of housing in Nashville made it a harder place for resettlement in recent years.
But World Relief ’s Memphis office has continued to operate and Soerens said it has the capacity to resettle 400-plus refugees into the community. It resettled 279 refugees in fiscal year 2016, but only 14 in fiscal year 2020, he said.
“It’ll take a little bit of time to rebuild infrastructure for sure and that’ll be a joint effort as it always has been between the government and private parts of the community, like churches and individual donors and volunteers,” Soerens said. “But we do believe it’s fully possible and we know from a lot of our church partners that they’re very eager to be a part of welcoming refugees.”
A life-saving, life-changing program
If Biden follows through on his campaign promise to increase the number of admissions, it will give those stuck in the resettlement pipeline a better chance of being reunited with their families, said Judith Clerjeune, the policy and legislative affairs manager for TIRRC Votes. “This is a life-saving program,” Clerjeune said. “We’re really excited to really get back to the heart of what this program is about, which is about reuniting families and giving people a second chance.”
The refugee resettlement program in the U.S. changed Egide Mike Irambona’s life.
As a child, he and his older sister fled civil war in their home country of Burundi and spent about a decade in a refugee camp in Tanzania. Life in the camp was hard. There was never enough food and Irambona lived in fear of being sent back to Burundi where he could be killed, he said.
It took a couple of years of screening, vetting and waiting, but eventually Irambona was approved to move to America. He landed in Atlanta, Georgia in 2011. Alerted to his arrival by a resettlement agency, members of a local church greeted him at the airport.
Irambona was not scared to start his new life in America. It helped that he could understand English and would later take classes that made conversation easier. From the airport to his apartment, he also noticed there were no police or soldiers carrying big guns.
“What I had in my mind was I’m not in a country that they can kill me anytime. I will be free,” Irambona said. “They told me the U.S. is a good country. It is a peaceful country. So I did not have any fears.”
Today, Irambona is a naturalized citizen and lives in Knoxville. He is working toward fulfilling his dream of earning a college degree in public relations at Pellissippi State Community College. He works for Conexion Americas and is the vice president of Sodela, a nonprofit that works with immigrants and refugees in Tennessee. He also helps the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.
If Biden increases the number of refugees permitted in the U.S. each year, Irambona said it would give new hope to those still living in camps, like his sister.
“That would be new hope,” Irambona said. “I think it will be another chance for them to resettle to this country.”
Reach Holly Meyer at hmeyer@tennessean.com or 615-259-8241 and on Twitter @Hollyameyer.