There was a special celebration taking place in the basement of Trinity United Methodist Church in Springfield.
A family, stuck in a refugee camp in Zimbabwe for two decades, walked into cheers and applause from members of Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts, one of the resettlement agencies in the region.
They’re helping the family get settled in an apartment in Springfield and decided to throw them a potluck.
“This moment holds so much excitement and so much sadness at the same time,” Natasha Perales, senior director of the New American program at JFS, said. “But, we're here. We have a lot of good food. The family has prepared many dishes. They said [they’re only bringing] one, but as you can see, there's eight behind me…”
This moment seemed impossible when just one month ago more than 125,000 approved refugee cases were cancelled leaving many stranded and scrambling for safety. This followed President Donald Trump’s executive order indefinitely pausing the refugee resettlement program.
National resettlement agencies across the country have been in a seven month legal battle with the Trump administration to resume the U.S. refugee admissions program.
In July, a district court judge from Seattle, Washington issued an order reinstating the approval of 160 refugees who were due to arrive within two weeks of Trump's executive order to be admitted into the U.S.
“There’s no word to describe how I feel,” said a father of six who was among the 160 refugees who got approval to come to the U.S. The closest word he said is “happiness.”
We’re not using the father’s name because he’s afraid of getting deported.
He and his wife both fled the countries they were born in, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, fearing persecution. They met in a refugee camp in Zimbabwe where their children were born and raised.
The father said he’s ready to start a life here after living in the refugee camp for 20 years.
There are so many refugees in the camp, he said in Swahili, but they just took a few people to get this chance to come to the U.S. He said he’s grateful to have the opportunity, but the cost for others he knows in the camp is great.
“There is no life in the camp,” he said. “You don’t work, you’re just expected to wait for aid organizations to deliver medical supplies and food. There’s usually not enough.”
The father said back in the camp, he was allowed to maintain a small garden. He said it gave him some semblance of independence as a way to provide for his family, even a little, and for something to do.
This “new life” he said in America is a chance for his family to survive.
He and his wife say, as any parent in this country, they want their children to have a bright future. He said they want their kids to have a good education and succeed so they can help this country.
He said they’re also looking to become U.S. citizens.
Alda Balbino, assistant director for resettlement at Jewish Family Service in Springfield, said this family came into the country with some federal funding.
“It typically gets used for rent, first, last, and security. Furniture, if needed. All of the things that the family needs to be settled," she said.
Other important services, Balbino said, will be provided by JFS through state grants, since federal funds have dwindled for resettlement agencies.
“The kids will be registered for school, so they'll be attending Springfield schools,” Balbino said. “The parents will be enrolled in ESL, employment programs. Previous to this administration, all the families would be getting these services. So, it'll be permanent. They'll be settled, and they're just going to be living their normal lives.”
Balbino said securing English language classes for the parents and other members of the family will be vital to helping them get employment, which leads to them getting health insurance benefits.
While there are these challenges left to navigate in the near future, Balbino underscores how special it was for this family to even arrive after so much uncertainty.
“To be stopped and to be canceled, and then have nothing, and then to be rescheduled and to come in… and to have all the services available that a family would prior to the new administration is special, especially in the time we’re at,” Balbino said.
The father of this family only has one request of the federal government. He asks that they reconsider the executive order and wants the rest of the refugees at his camp in Zimbabwe who were approved to come to the U.S. to get the same opportunity he’s been given.
“The chance at a new life,” he said.
