In 2019, I matriculated at the University of Colorado Boulder as a master’s degree student in Journalism. Below is an archive of selected works from my ongoing studies.
JRNL 5001 - Media Technology Bootcamp
Capture the Scene: Union Station, Denver
Story in Five Frames: Morning Ritual
Montage: Morning Commute in Denver
Vox Populi: What would you do with $1000?
Data Visualization 1: Global Earthquake Activity from USGS
JRNL 5011 - Multimedia Storytelling and Newsgathering
International Students to CU Learn to Adjust to a New Way of Life in Colorado
A Story in 10 Photos
JRNL 5651 - Media Law and Ethics
JRNL 5511 - Data Journalism
Refugee Data Story
Colorado’s Refugee Admittance Numbers Have Dropped. What Does That Say About the Ecosystem’s Health?
When Mohamed Al-Nouri arrived in the United States in 2017 as a refugee from the ongoing civil war in his native home of Syria, he did not imagine he would receive the support that led him to become the owner of a modest restaurant in Aurora, CO.
“When I arrived in the United States, I was provided with a number of opportunities to be successful,” Al-Nouri said, “starting with English classes and then instruction on food preparation safety and training. Now I am the owner of my own business.”
Al-Nouri credits much of his initial success, and that of his restaurant Jasmine Syria, to the support he received from the relocation organization that assisted him and his family when he arrived in Denver: Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains. This Colorado-based resettlement organization, one of six that operate in the state, coordinates welcome efforts to new arrivals in Colorado including English classes, career training, health and wellness services and support for the youth and the elderly.
However, just three years after Mohamed’s arrival, refugees, asylum seekers and the organizations that support these individuals face a changed landscape: an administration that slashed the number of admissions to the United States, a dramatic shift in funding priorities, and a challenging employment landscape. On top of all this, the COVID-19 global pandemic grounded many parts of the economy to a halt.
Dona Dalton, who serves as the communications director for Lutheran Family Services, says that limits to refugee admissions by the Trump administration and funding cuts creates a ripple effect that directly impacts refugees as well as her own organization.
“When there are a lot of incoming refugees and immigrants to support, our focus is getting individuals and families settled into their new lives,” Dalton said. “With admission numbers at a virtual trickle, there is an assumption that we are in a fight for survival. We just have to do our best to come up with creative ways to continue to offer our services.”
On September 30, the Trump administration notified Congress that it would lower the number of refugees admitted to the United States to 15,000 for 2021 fiscal year—down from 18,000 admitted in 2020, which was already a record low.
Just four years ago at the end of President Obama’s second term, the United States allowed entry to 110,000 refugees, asylum seekers and a category of individuals holding Special Immigrant Visas made up of individuals from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Key Immigration Terms
Refugee: A person who has fled their country due to a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality, or membership in a particular social or political group.
Asylum Seeker: An individual seeking protection when they have already arrived in the U.S., although they may cite the same reasons for persecution as refugees.
Special Immigrant Visa: Available to persons who worked with the U.S. Armed Forces or a Diplomatic authority as a translator or interpreter in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Colorado’s own refugee resettlement numbers align with the Trump administration’s cuts. According to the Refugee Processing Center operated by the U.S Department of State, Colorado saw a total of 1,813 individuals resettled to the state in 2014. Just two years ago, that number had dropped to 438. At the end of the fiscal year for 2020, fewer than 200 persons were admitted to Colorado for relocation. (The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the decline, with zero resettlements occurring in April and May.)
Despite the ongoing pandemic, Dalton maintains that cuts to refugee admissions are short-sighted because they largely ignore the economic benefits that these individuals bring to communities around the United States, and to Colorado in particular.
A report by the Colorado Office of Economic Security produced in 2018 helped taxpayers understand how the state benefits by welcoming refugees. According to a data analysis that compared cohorts of refugees from 2007 to 2014, the report states that for every $1 in assistance received, refugee communities generated $1.68 in output. Refugees also added an additional $0.25 in tax revenue for every $1 the state spent on refugee services.
Lisa Taylor, executive director of the Immigrant Refugee Center of Northern Colorado, understands how most people would link a drop in refugee numbers to a decrease in services and funding. “Between travel bans, a reduction in refugee admissions, and multigenerational households having to adapt to the pandemic, it’s messy to say the least,” Taylor said. “However, resiliency and the spirit of collaboration is a bright spot in this community.”
The Immigrant and Refugee Center offers support to over 1,200 refugees and immigrants in Greeley alone. In order to continue to provide critical services such as job training and affordable healthcare, Taylor has focused on maintaining support at the state and local levels. The organization also works closely with educational institutions like Emily Griffith Technical College in Denver. The college offers ongoing classes and technical training to refugee communities. She has also worked closely with the Weld County Employment Services Office to focus on job placement and training for refugees who are established in the area.
Jaime Blanchard, the director for refugee and asylee programs at Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains, says her organization felt an immediate impact when the Trump administration limited the numbers of refugee admissions. “The system was purposely decimated, and our budget took a hit.”
However, Blanchard also echoed the need to develop creative solutions that serve their existing populations. “We’ve restarted client re-engagement, which means following up with individuals and families who have been here for several years to see if we can assist them,” she said. “We have also diversified our programs to focus on legal services for immigrants and education of law enforcement so they are better trained to handle refugee populations.” Many of these initiatives have strong support among Colorado’s policymakers and are buoyed by state and local grants as a way to bridge gaps in federal funding.
Still, the challenges facing Lutheran Family Services, the Immigrant and Refugee Center, and the refugee communities they serve will not be immediately resolved, even with a 180 degree shift in policy proposed by the incoming Biden administration. “It will take several years for our organization to reach the capacity we once had before the Trump administration,” Blanchard said. “The irony is even now the administration is saying we don’t have the capacity to serve refugees. Our response is: ‘you broke it on purpose, so of course we don’t have the same capacity as before.’”
Meanwhile, refugees awaiting relocation to the United States must reapply for health screenings and security checks. Many individuals and families who are in line will have to restart the process.
Blanchard provided just one example among the many stories she witnesses every day. “Just recently, a Ukrainian refugee who was relocated in Colorado several years before had traveled back home to bring over his family. They had applied for and won refugee status,” she said. When this individual arrived in Ukraine in March, he was thwarted by both the new refugee quota set by the Trump administration for 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. “Our team was waiting for him and his family to arrive, but now, like so many, we just have to wait and see.”
Data Sources
Data for the chart came from the archive section of the Refugee Processing Center, operated by the U.S Department of State. I cleaned up the data by combining seven years of fiscal year data into one document. I also chose to discard countries that had less than 30 of its citizens resettle to the United States over the past seven years.
Mapping data came from an Omaha World-Herald site on refugee resettlement. I created a spreadsheet and added the latitude and longitude coordinates for each municipality in Colorado listed on the source site, inputted the resettlement data for each city and town, and then uploaded the data to Google Maps.