It was an evening with a fabulous sunset when Chris George walked into the Brodie Room before the Outcasts United and Refugee Crisis Symposium in October. He carried a bright purple bag filled with pamphlets and pins from IRIS. I was nervous about this interview, as Mr. George is the executive director of IRIS — Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, a nonprofit agency devoted to helping refugee families settle throughout Connecticut. But he put me at ease through the entire interview, answering every question with great detail and patience. By the end of the 20-minute interview, I was amazed by how much I had learned.
Refugees who IRIS helps settle are mostly from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Congo and Sudan. They all fled their country for multiple and complex reasons, including civil wars, oppressive governments, terrorist groups hunting them down, political persecution, violence, murder, rape, torture, and persecution based on race and religion. They flee with only what they can carry, and many of them have witnessed horrific and traumatic events. Mr. George talked about many of the challenges involved with resettling the refugee families.
“The work is most intense at the very beginning of the family’s arrival. We have to do a whole range of things. We have to find them an apartment before they arrive. We furnish it with donations. We pick them up at the airport. We get them settled in the apartment. The following weeks, we connect them with health care. We enroll the kids in school. We find the adults jobs. All this needs to be done very quickly” he explained.
He emphasized that the goal of their work is to make sure the refugee family eventually achieves self-sufficiency. “But they can always come back to us when they need help.”
He was especially animated when talking about the immediate challenges IRIS faces.
“The biggest challenge now is dealing with a president who opposes refugee resettlement. The president is doing whatever he can to discriminate against Muslims and refugees. Unfortunately, with Trump’s cuts to the U.S. refugee program, we can only resettle less than half of our capacity.”
During the symposium, Mr. George walked the audience through the intensive vetting process all refugees have to go through when applying for resettlement in the U.S., which typically takes several years and involves multiple investigations from various U.S. agencies. From refugee camps, to applications for visas, to multiple interviews, to fingerprinting, background checks and other investigations, Mr. George showed the audience how difficult it is for refugee families who have fled their country to gain entry into the U.S. Their chances of acceptance are extremely low as even the smallest suspicion can lead to rejection.
“Diversity makes us strong,” he said, ending our conversation on a strong note.
Through his eye-opening interview and presentation, I believe that the entire Canterbury community now perceives immigration and the refugee issue in a totally different way.
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