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This will directly impact Syracuse, as<br />

Mayor Stephanie Miner has officially promoted<br />

opening the city to more refugees by<br />

joining the Cities for Action coalition, which<br />

consists of more than 118 mayors and county<br />

leaders supporting federal immigration<br />

reform.<br />

Horton and Broadway’s main goal locally<br />

is to try to reduce all of these external burdens<br />

for the families they serve, especially<br />

their Syrian families, so that they can reach a<br />

state of self-sufficiency within a year.<br />

Their role in the resettlement process,<br />

however, begins only once refugees have been<br />

vetted by the U.S. Department of Homeland<br />

Security and the United Nations. Broadway<br />

said normally it takes two to three years to get<br />

the finances, documentation and approval to<br />

enter the U.S., but the vetting process is so extensive<br />

and complex that in extreme cases, it<br />

can take 20. According to Homeland Security,<br />

Syrians must pass two more layers of security<br />

checks than refugees from any other country.<br />

After the Paris attack, the House of Representatives<br />

voted to tighten security. The 20-step<br />

vetting process for Syrian refugees can take at<br />

least two years.<br />

“If terrorists are going to get into this<br />

country, it’s not going to be through the refugee<br />

resettlement programs,” Broadway said.<br />

And when they do manage to arrive in<br />

the U.S., refugees essentially start from the<br />

ground up, which can be disheartening. One<br />

new American encapsulated the entire feeling<br />

to Broadway in one statement: “I’ve come to<br />

realize that U.S.A. stands for You Start Again.”<br />

“There’s inevitably a kind of a disenchantment<br />

that happens,” Broadway said. “You<br />

know, you first come and you think, ‘Oh. I’m<br />

going to America, I’m going to be an American.’<br />

... But then they come here, and it’s hard.<br />

You might come on a beautiful August day,<br />

but four months later, you’re in the depths of<br />

winter. And if you’re from Africa, that can<br />

just be awful for people.”<br />

Refugees are only given $900 to cover<br />

the first 90 days of expenses — including a<br />

security deposit and the first month of rent.<br />

These new Americans must initially rely on<br />

Syracuse’s carefully structured refugee assistance<br />

framework, which remains one of the<br />

strongest frameworks in the U.S., thanks to<br />

InterFaith<br />

Works and<br />

Catholic<br />

Charities.<br />

These are<br />

the two<br />

resettlement<br />

agencies in<br />

Syracuse,<br />

along with<br />

refugee support<br />

groups<br />

such as Hopeprint<br />

and<br />

the Refugee<br />

Assistance<br />

Program.<br />

The<br />

transition<br />

can take<br />

weeks,<br />

months or<br />

Photo by Sarah Smith<br />

Devi, from Nepal, far right, laughs with her<br />

friends after dancing at a Hopeprint event at<br />

Wellwood Middle School.<br />

years, depending on one’s particular circumstances.<br />

While money remains a big issue in<br />

the transition period, according to Horton<br />

and Broadway, the most universal issues that<br />

refugees face are learning English and getting<br />

jobs.<br />

“Learning the language is huge,” Horton<br />

said. “Probably right at the top [of priorities].”<br />

Thirteen-year old Devi, a Nepali refugee<br />

who has been in Syracuse for about two years,<br />

has gradually opened herself to the local<br />

community by performing traditional Nepali<br />

dances. Still, she finds the transition difficult,<br />

namely because of learning English, which<br />

illustrates the huge challenge agencies face in<br />

helping refugees jump over this hurdle.<br />

“I’m so scared,” she said. “I don’t know<br />

how to talk English … don’t know how to<br />

speak English.”<br />

Programs that both RAP and InterFaith<br />

offer help address language issues along with<br />

cultural adjustment. RAP offers English Language<br />

Learners five days a week, from Monday<br />

to Friday.<br />

Different members of the community<br />

have also contributed greatly to help refugees<br />

learn their way around Syracuse. Centro,<br />

Syracuse’s public transportation system, offers<br />

a free learning program so that new refugees<br />

— who mostly live in the city — can become<br />

winter 2017 | 25

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