(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Ferdows Omer, center, breastfeeds her youngest son Abdulrahman Mualim,
1, on April 19, surrounded by her sleeping son Yousef Mualim, 3, (left)
and daugher Naval Mualim, 6, right. The U.S. has tightened its security
checks on incoming refugees, dramatically decreasing the flow of
newcomers to Utah and across the nation. Somali refugee Ferdows Omer
arrived April 9, 2012 in Utah.
Salt Lake Tribune
Sunday, April 22, 2012
The number of refugees coming to America has sharply declined in the past two years, as security measures have increased for newcomers coming from some of the most turbulent parts of the world.
s credible threat information emerged, we had to enhance our screening process for the refugee program in order to make sure we were keeping our country safe," said Deborah Sisbarro, public affairs adviser for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, which is part of the U.S. State Department.
The decrease in arrivals — nearly 17,000 fewer refugees in 2011 than in 2010 — follows the high-profile arrest of two Iraqi refugees in 2011 on terrorism charges after they were resettled in Kentucky. They allegedly planned to send weapons to anti-American insurgents in Iraq. The FBI caught them in a sting. One of the men had left his fingerprints on an unexploded roadside bomb in Iraq before coming to the U.S. as a refugee.
Refugees are legal immigrants brought to the U.S. due to persecution or threat of persecution. Iraqis and Somalis are two of the largest groups arriving in recent years, both hailing from regions where terrorism concerns remain high. Verifying an applicant’s identity can be extremely difficult when no legitimate government exists or records are inaccessible.
In 2011, 56,424 refugees arrived in the U.S., compared with 73,311 the year before.
Halfway into this federal fiscal year, the U.S. has welcomed 21,836 refugees, though federal officials continue to assure resettlement workers that numbers will climb.
Utah welcomed 836 refugees in 2011 versus 1,100 in 2010. The International Rescue Committee in Salt Lake City saw its Iraqi arrivals drop from almost 150 people in 2010 to 59 in 2011.
The decline has forced the IRC, one of a handful of resettlement agencies in Utah, to shrink its staff. Each refugee comes with about $700 from the federal government. The agency is down four caseworkers and an office assistant due to a combination of layoffs and attrition.
"For us, resettlement really is lifesaving," said Patrick Poulin, the executive director at IRC in Salt Lake City. "We know we have the capacity to serve more people — this community has the capacity to serve."
Salt Lake Tribune
Sunday, April 22, 2012
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Though her husband disappeared, her father-in-law was murdered and she was forced to flee Somalia pregnant, with three young children in tow, Ferdows Omer still calls herself a lucky woman. Beating odds that are tougher today than years ago, the 26-year-old single mother and her family received refugee status and arrived in Utah two weeks ago to begin a new life.The number of refugees coming to America has sharply declined in the past two years, as security measures have increased for newcomers coming from some of the most turbulent parts of the world.
s credible threat information emerged, we had to enhance our screening process for the refugee program in order to make sure we were keeping our country safe," said Deborah Sisbarro, public affairs adviser for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, which is part of the U.S. State Department.
The decrease in arrivals — nearly 17,000 fewer refugees in 2011 than in 2010 — follows the high-profile arrest of two Iraqi refugees in 2011 on terrorism charges after they were resettled in Kentucky. They allegedly planned to send weapons to anti-American insurgents in Iraq. The FBI caught them in a sting. One of the men had left his fingerprints on an unexploded roadside bomb in Iraq before coming to the U.S. as a refugee.
Refugees are legal immigrants brought to the U.S. due to persecution or threat of persecution. Iraqis and Somalis are two of the largest groups arriving in recent years, both hailing from regions where terrorism concerns remain high. Verifying an applicant’s identity can be extremely difficult when no legitimate government exists or records are inaccessible.
In 2011, 56,424 refugees arrived in the U.S., compared with 73,311 the year before.
Halfway into this federal fiscal year, the U.S. has welcomed 21,836 refugees, though federal officials continue to assure resettlement workers that numbers will climb.
Utah welcomed 836 refugees in 2011 versus 1,100 in 2010. The International Rescue Committee in Salt Lake City saw its Iraqi arrivals drop from almost 150 people in 2010 to 59 in 2011.
The decline has forced the IRC, one of a handful of resettlement agencies in Utah, to shrink its staff. Each refugee comes with about $700 from the federal government. The agency is down four caseworkers and an office assistant due to a combination of layoffs and attrition.
"For us, resettlement really is lifesaving," said Patrick Poulin, the executive director at IRC in Salt Lake City. "We know we have the capacity to serve more people — this community has the capacity to serve."