WASHINGTON -- Canopy Northwest Arkansas members have helped 55 refugees resettle in the Natural State since December 2016. They're asking federal officials to remove barriers that prevent other persecuted people from making the move.
They met Thursday with U.S. Sen. John Boozman about the issue. Today, they'll return to the halls of Congress to lobby.
Since 1975, the U.S. has taken in more than 3 million refugees, including 84,995 in fiscal 2016.
But President Donald Trump has sharply cut refugee admissions since taking office.
In January 2017, he suspended the refugee program for 120 days. He also lowered the cap on refugees, saying it "would be detrimental to the interests of the United States" to allow more than 50,000 refugees to resettle here.
In September, the Trump administration said it would allow no more than 45,000 refugee admissions in fiscal 2018, which began Oct. 1. Through the first five months, only 8,635 have been admitted, according to the U.S. State Department.
"Being a refuge for refugees is simply part of being American," said the Rev. Clint Schnekloth, a Lutheran pastor and Canopy NWA's board chairman. "To be decreasing refugee settlement in the way that we are and excluding people from all over the word in the way that we are is really a violation of our own identity."
Since it was created in 2016, Canopy NWA has embraced refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Iraq and Burma.
The organization would like to welcome others but members say they're unable to do so because of steps taking by the Trump administration.
In some instances, the refugees already have relatives awaiting them in the U.S., Schnekloth said.
"This slowdown, this stoppage, is actually splitting families," he said.
"It's literally killed someone that we know of by name," said Emily Crane Linn, Canopy's refugee resettlement director.
His name, she said, was Iddy John Mchubya.
The father of five, who had fled from the bloodshed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, died last year in a refugee camp in Malawi, Linn said.
"He was in his 30s. What we've heard is it had something to do with blood pressure or heart failure," Linn said. "If he'd been here, I like to think we could have diagnosed it and gotten him on some medication and taken care of it."
Without the travel restrictions, Mchubya would have made it to the U.S., she said.
"He left his wife with four children, nine months pregnant. She gave birth to their son, who is named after him, a month after he passed away," Linn said.
"Now she's alone, as a widow, with five children in that refugee camp," Linn said.
Canopy NWA is eager to welcome her to Arkansas, if the Trump administration will allow it to happen.
"There's a community here that is waiting to receive her. There's a job waiting for her. There's a church waiting to welcome her and provide her with all she needs," Linn said. "The only thing that's stopping her from coming is our government."
Schnekloth and Linn said 20 Arkansans, including refugees they have served, traveled to Washington to highlight the issue.
"It's very significant that Sen. Boozman made time to meet with us. We're really grateful that he did," she said.
The Republican from Rogers said he appreciated the visit. "We had a productive conversation, as we always do when I meet with members of the organization," he said in a written statement. "We will continue to stay in contact on this and other issues going forward."
Metro on 03/16/2018