Advocate for Refugees Stranded by Trump

As you may have already heard, Trump put a ‘pause’ to the Refugee Resettlement Program through which the Saratoga Area Welcome Circle (SAWC) was sponsoring the young Afghan family. Although fully vetted and about to arrive in our country, their flight – and many others – is now cancelled.

You may already know about this guide, but if not, Richard Leach (ADK Welcome Circle and ARIC) suggested that the SAWC and its supporters take a look at a guide from Welcome.US. It instructs how we who care should ASAP contact our representatives to express our concerns.

What is going on is a “pause,”  but the only way we may truly help it BE A PAUSE is to take the time to speak out to our elected representatives…as Richard put it, “to stomp and shout.”  It may make a difference as public outcry does seem to be influencing some of the executive orders…and it could make a difference as to how policies are ultimately fashioned.  Immigration is an issue that President Trump for decades has wanted to restrict.  It is part of a desire to assert and control who is a “real” American and who is not. 

We must speak out on this issue.  

The pause has been set for 90 days to “reassess” the program.  As Richard says, “Now is the time that we all need to raise our voices loudly.” 

Below is a sample letter from which you might draft a letter of your own. The best strategy is to revise and personalize it before sending it.

Gratefully,

The Social Justice Team and Rev. Joe

posted: January 24, 2025

 


 

Dear _____,

I have a concern about a specific immigration case and I am requesting your help in discovering more information about the immigrant and about the program through which they were to be brought to our community.

I am a member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Saratoga Springs which is directly supporting Saratoga Area Welcome Circle (SAWC). SAWC was accepted as a private sponsor by Welcome Corps who provides a legal immigration pathway that allows Americans to sponsor refugees by bringing them to safety in the United States and supporting them with housing, clothing, food, language services, employment, and whatever else it may take to help them make new lives among us.

Through Welcome Corps, SAWC was matched a with a young Afghan family: Hayatullah & Shazia Ahmadzai and their infant son, Motasim. They fled Afghanistan when the U.S. troops pulled out in 2021 and have since been living in a refugee camp in Pakistan. Hayatullah is proficient in English, has a degree in Electrical Engineering and worked as a Project Manager until 2021.   They were scheduled to arrive on February 7 in Albany, NY where SAWC volunteers were to welcome them. They then were to move to an apartment the SAWC has identified and will pay for until they find work and can support themselves. That should not be too long due to the father’s education.

Due to the Trump Administration’s decision to pause the U.S.’s Refugee Resettlement Program, we are deeply concerned the family will not be able to come to safety in Saratoga Springs. I am seeking constituent services to acquire an update on this sponsorship case.

I am proud of the work of the Saratoga Area Welcome Circle, an all-volunteer group assembled to help this Afghan family in coordination and cooperation with Welcome Corps. In my view the effort of Saratoga Area Welcome Circle is a representation of what really does make America great: the welcoming of the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to be free.

Private sponsorship through Welcome Corps has wonderfully impacted thousands of lives – lives of the welcomers as well as the welcomed. Americans and refugees should continue to have access to this carefully crafted, fully legal, privately-funded, demonstrably successful, and no doubt sometimes life-saving program. Its sudden halting has become a personal tragedy for the family we have been working with and so many others.  I strenuously object to the Trump Administration’s action. It should be reversed immediately.

We recognize, as I am sure you do, the vital importance of immigrants to so many of our businesses, for our local economies and cultures, and for the vitality of our New York State. Thank you in advance for your help with this inquiry.  

Gratefully, and in peace,

[signed]