Immigrants and local groups that support them are feeling the impact of President Trump’s flurry of executive actions this week. The Refugee Dream Center in Providence says it has already lost federal funding and laid off some of its staff members as a result. The non-profit helps resettle refugees and connect them with services. With the State Department’s refugee program now suspended, the group’s future looks more uncertain. Morning host Luis Hernandez spoke with the executive director of the Refugee Dream Center, Teddi Jallow.
Interview highlights
On the immediate effect of Trump’s immigration-related executive orders
Teddi Jallow:
Every refugee resettlement program is shut down. And we also received an email from our affiliates in Washington, D.C., they also sent an email saying that no more refugees are coming until further notice due to the executive orders. So all our arrivals are being canceled.
I just feel sorry for those people who were looking forward to having a second life, to have a place that they can call home, those people who are in these refugee camps for 10 years or for more. We see what happened in Ukraine, what happened in Somalia, in all these countries that are bombarded with war. So all those people are looking to have a second chance, a second place that they call home. So these families are no longer coming. So that means they are back wherever they are again in those camps, in that life, like miserable life. It’s just sad. It’s just sad at the Refugee Dream Center.
This interview was conducted by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.
