Federal review aims to improve refugee system, By Anna Gorman and Alexandra Zavis, June 23, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “Recognizing that the United States is failing thousands of refugees fleeing war-torn countries, the Obama administration is conducting the first thorough review of the refugee resettlement system in 30 years and plans to announce major reforms this summer. Officials say the system is outdated and lacks adequate resources to help refugees find jobs and support themselves before exhausting their benefits. That task has been made more difficult by the recession and high unemployment. ‘The basic set-up of the program hasn’t been altered in many years,’ said National Security Council spokesman Ben Chang. ‘It was time to take a fresh look.’ Several changes have already been made to ease the transition for newcomers, most of whom have no U.S. work experience, little savings and limited English skills. The largest numbers of refugees last year – admitted based on persecution or fear of persecution – came from Iraq, Bhutan and Burma…”
Tag: Refugees
Iraqi Immigrants to the U.S.
Iraqi immigrants face lonely struggle in U.S., By Kirk Semple, August 12, 2009, New York Times: “Not long after the Iraq war began in 2003, Uday Hattem al-Ghanimi was accosted by several men outside the American military base where he managed a convenience store. They accused him of abetting the Americans, and one fired a pistol at his head. Now, after 24 operations, Mr. Ghanimi has a reconstructed face as well as political asylum in the United States. On July 4, his wife and three youngest children joined him in New York after a three-year separation. But the euphoria of their reunion quickly dissipated as the family began to reckon with the colder realities of their new life. Mr. Ghanimi, 50, who has not been able to work because of lingering pain, is supporting his family on a monthly disability check of $761, food stamps and handouts from friends. They are crammed into one room they rent in a two-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in a city whose small Iraqi population is scattered. And Mr. Ghanimi’s wife and children do not speak English, deepening their sense of isolation…”
Iraqi Refugees in the U.S.
Once a dream, U.S. life is hard reality for Iraqis, By Kristin Collins, July 26, 2009, Charlotte Observer: “It was the hope of America that sustained them through Iraq’s long years of war. First, they believed the United States’ promises that their country would be free after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Then, as the fighting continued, they were thankful for the good-paying jobs the U.S. military provided. And finally, their lives in peril, they traded their homeland for a new start in North Carolina. About 200 Iraqis have moved to this state since 2007, officials say. They are part of a wave of more than 20,000 who have come to the U.S. after being targeted by terrorists in Iraq or working for the U.S. government there. But as they arrive in the midst of a recession, their expansive hopes are being replaced by a struggle with poverty and social isolation…”