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Members of my staff and I spent yesterday in Albany, talking with legislators about the importance of refugee resettlement. We traveled with refugee leaders from across upstate and downstate New York, people who themselves are former refugees, and those of us who have dedicated our lives and service to them. The Executive Order is the first cut, and it is having its desired effect – the spreading of fear.
Ostensibly, the halt is to assure the safety of the U.S. from refugees who might come to harm us. Of course, it is well known, well documented and assured by the FBI, Homeland Security, CIA, and the United Nations that refugees who are moved out of camps to become New Americans are the most carefully screened and vetted immigrants on the planet. Of course, this unveiled language is about selectively excluding people for political purposes. Of course, we will stand firm in our resolve to continue to serve refugees and to help them become solidly planted here in our community.
Immediately after the November election, our federal government and the refugee resettlement agencies participated in what I call “The Push” – a full-scale campaign to bring as many refugees as possible to the U.S. Last week, across the United States, the Refugee Resettlement communities, agencies, and the federal government achieved a landmark goal of settling 6,000 people in just 3 months across New York State. These were people who were fully vetted, waiting for travel documents, and many came to be reunited with their families. Our agency alone settled over 400 people during The Push, and last week we received 71 people representing 22 households! I wish that each and every one of you reading this could have been at the airport to greet them, to see the relief and joy in their faces and the faces of their family members.
Please know that many people joined us in The Push – churches, temples, mosques all provided meals for our staff who worked 18-hour days. Volunteers set up 100+ households in the last 3 months. Our quilt shop provided 50 baby quilts. 1,858 coats were cleaned and donated by over 100 different individuals and entities. We will galvanize again and again, with your help and God’s grace.
Listen. This is the sound of democracy working. When the cuts keep coming, (and they will) our agency wants you to know, firmly, deeply, truly, that we will bandage up and keep on going, just as we have done before. One thousand cuts won’t stop us. Because OUR community is a proud resettlement city. Because OUR state holds the lantern of hope in its harbor. Because OUR nation will come back from this brink and InterFaith Works will still be here, doing its part to affirm the dignity of all.
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