This is a letter Keith, our Executive Director, (with a lot of help from Rebecca, our Associate Director) sent out to our newsletter readers last week on Nov 6 after the election results came in. It was a bit long for a typical newsletter but we still received a lot of encouraging responses and a few requests for a link, so we're posting it here on our blog. You can also find information about links to volunteering or joining our board under the "Get Involved" menu item at the top.
11/6
Dear friends and supporters,
Wherever you are on the political spectrum, if you are reading this letter, you probably understand that today’s election results are a huge blow to refugees, the US refugee resettlement system, and to all of us who care about refugees and the positive impact they make on our communities. Our concern goes beyond the discomfort about the racist vitriol we heard throughout this election season. Those of us who were working in refugee resettlement at the beginning of the first Trump administration remember the actions that followed the words. To me it felt like watching a slow-churning storm out at sea, tracking our way. When it finally “hit,” its destruction went strangely unnoticed. Most people didn’t see refugee “ceilings” (the number the president officially announces to admit) drop from 85,000 in 2016 to 18,000 in 2020. Actual arrivals dropped to 12,000 during the last year of Trump’s presidency. Resettlement agencies closed or consolidated. Long-term staff, many with years of deep experience, moved out of the field to other jobs. The impact extended deep into Biden’s presidency with the fewest refugee arrival numbers since the US refugee program began.
While it was a hard time for us, it was harder for refugees, as plans and family reunifications were delayed or abandoned. Maybe it’s because I didn’t grow up in the US, but I do have a hard time getting my mind around the idea that so many of us Americans, with all our wealth and land and opportunity and need for labor (along with our history as a nation of immigrants), feel too poor or stretched or resentful to actively welcome refugees. Ultimately this means that we believe refugees should remain warehoused in camps, without hope or purpose or employment, as the primary burden of poor countries who have the fewest resources to care for or integrate them.
When I first started working in resettlement, caring for refugees was a squarely bi-partisan issue. Even most faith communities considered resettlement a sacred responsibility. How different things are now! Even some faith communities somehow feel righteous in denouncing refugees. Fear-mongering takes a toll on basic beliefs and assumptions.
Now, here comes another storm! We don’t know exactly how this storm will hit, but it might be faster and more devastating than in 2016. The effects on arrivals numbers might last longer. Our world is more unstable than it was four years ago, and our country could start making decisions that compound the problems and increase displacement.
The impacts on the people we work with will be personal, too. It’s already easy for refugees and immigrants to experience a lot of fear—whether of mistreatment or being seen as threats. Some will fear having their immigration status revoked. I marvel at how well refugees carry the trauma of the past and stress of the future. But it can’t be easy. Since we now work with about 100 refugees a year, we’ll need to shoulder some of that burden.
I’m writing to let you know that, while we are distressed by this turn of events, we are nowhere near to giving up. We knew this election would be close and have been preparing for disruption and impacts to our work. A few specifics:
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In anticipation of a slowdown or shutdown of refugee arrivals, our plan includes a focus on serving those who are already in the country under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) like Haitians, Ethiopians, and Nicaraguans; and those with Humanitarian Parolee Status like Ukrainians and Afghans. We have already been reaching out to these communities and enrolling them in our programs. Just this week we met with the director of the Refugee Relief Program at a local Haitian church. Would you believe they have already provided services to about 250 families in 2024? The need is significant, yet easily ignored. These groups include people with similar job-entry barriers to refugees, so we know we can help. We do not anticipate that these programs, which exist outside the regular resettlement system, will be impacted, or at least not immediately.
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As you probably know, we’ve already been building a program to equip aspiring refugee and immigrant entrepreneurs with the skills and support to start businesses. We plan to grow and refine these efforts. It’s very fun work although we have a lot to learn.
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We plan to increase our public education efforts so we can fight misinformation with facts. We plan to foster more activities that promote personal connections between refugees and the public – the best way we know to combat stereotypes. We’ll engage in activities that celebrate the beautiful ways that cultural diversity enriches us all. We’re making plans to build a network of local businesses that want to get better at employing very diverse workforces. And we plan to continue publishing the hard numbers that show how substantially refugees contribute to our country’s economy.
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Looking internally at our organization, we plan to continue building stability into Beautiful Day’s structures and teamwork. Extending genuine hospitality and collaborating authentically with refugees requires a stable foundation. This involves growing our board and planning for a future facility of our own. Of course, it means fundraising. We have already made the decision to start offering health benefits to our staff, starting in just a few weeks. This is a big—and expensive!—step for us. And we’ll need to support our staff with better and more livable wages. I’m glad we’ve worked so hard at anchoring Beautiful Day this year. As we keep going it will help us survive the storm.
We hope you will join us. Perhaps more than ever before, we need people who care about refugees to stand with us. If you want to get involved, this might be a good time to do so. Please reach out if you’re interested in joining our board or in volunteering. Please continue to purchase our products. The more granola we sell, the more refugees we can onboard to produce it. We also anticipate challenges to our budget, so I’m sure you’ll see plenty of requests as we enter the giving season.
Thank you for all your support. I feel like we say this all the time but it’s true: we cannot do this without you.
Yours,
Keith Cooper, Executive Director
Rebecca Garland, Associate Director
