PHOTO COURTESY OF WEST MICHIGAN REFUGEE EDUCATION AND CULTURAL CENTER
by Cynthia Price
Legal News
“I see these fear reactions as normal and not inherently wrong,” said Susan Kragt, Executive Director of the West Michigan Refugee Education Cultural Center on an informational conference call last Friday, “but what I’m speaking out against is using these fears to block refugees we should be welcoming.”
The subject was the potential influx of Syrian refugees to Michigan, and Gov. Rick Snyder’s decision, after the recent attacks in Paris, to hold off on discussions about their resettlement here pending certainty that security measures protect Michigan citizens. The central focus of the presentation was what those security measures are and how they work.
The call was organized on a timely basis by the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan as part of a new teleconference series called “As it Happens,” intended to give a more in-depth view of breaking news events.
The public is invited to these teleconference calls free of charge, though Executive Director Dixie Anderson and staff would encourage people to become members — which means a discount on some of the fees for other lectures and events. To explore this, and to find out about future “As It Happens” calls by viewing their calendar, visit www.
worldmichigan.org.
The site also compiles news articles on world affairs, currently featuring such provocative titles as “Why Islamic State Targeted France Instead of the U.S.” and “Dunford: US Will Rethink Its Iraq Presence If Russia Goes In.”
The Western Michigan Council is one of 100 in the U.S., and among the most successful. Members of several others, including those in Denver, Albany (New York), and Harrisburg (Pa.), joined dozens of West Michiganians for last Friday’s teleconference.
On the call, Director of Programming and Events Erica Kubik introduced Susan Kragt, saying, “One of the big reasons we wanted to do this is to start with a baseline of facts that will help us have an ongoing conversation driven more from a position of rationality versus one of fear.”
Kragt, originally from South Haven and recipient of a Masters in Public Administration from Grand Valley State University, has been at her position with the West Michigan Refugee Education and Cultural Center (WMRECC) for about three and a half years. Prior to that she worked at Bethany Christian Services, an important player in that it operates one of a handful of full-service resettlement programs in the state.
“They assist with getting refugees here, orientation, getting school age children, if there are any, enrolled in local schools, focusing on the parents and helping them find employment,” she said in a later interview.
At WMRECC, Kragt helps the organization support refugees and refugee families “to gain the skills necessary for successful integration into the community.” This includes educational support, youth development services, sharing cultural knowledge and understanding, and disseminating information about refugees to the general public.
Its co-founder and chair, who retired about two months ago, was Frederick Bw’Ombongi, a refugee himself. He is also on the board of the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan, which helped connect Kragt to the call.
“They did a great job at very late notice,” she comments.
As part of her presentation, Kragt noted, “The screening of refugees coming into the U.S. is the best vetting process in the world — it’s incredibly strong and it works. I have an infographic showing that zero of the entering refugees have ever been convicted of terrorism.”
The United Nations — whose definition of a refugee is a person who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of [his/her] nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country” — conducts the first round of interviews, at the refugee camp or urban center where the refugee has been given asylum.
That is followed by rigorous interviews with the U.S. Department of State, and collection of biometric data such as fingerprints, retinal scans, and DNA samples. These are then run through databases of the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center, the National Counterterrorism Center, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense.
Syrian refugees are then subjected to even more scrutiny, including further verification of their identities. “That’s where the interview process gets very stringent,” Kragt says. “Is there a change in their stories, does that match up with what they said before?
“Often the refugees are forced to recall traumatic events over and over so the interviewers can be sure they’re consistent,” she said on the call.
Shortly after Gov. Snyder’s pronouncement, 30 other governors followed suit and put a hold on their programs.
Kragt later added, “Governor Snyder did come back and clarify that the position was not anti-refugee or anti-immigrant, that he just wanted a review of federal government security. But in this state he’s gotten some pushback that some of the other governors may not have. There is a huge Arabic-speaking population on the east side of the state and on the west side a strong history of resettlement, so there is strong support for the refugee community.”
At the time, the aforementioned Bethany Christian Services issued a statement saying, “We understand Governor Snyder’s decision to suspend acceptance of Syrian refugees into Michigan. We anticipate this is a temporary response to a devastating situation.”
Mayor George Heartwell went on record as saying that Grand Rapids is open to welcoming refugees, and Detroit Mayor Duggan has recently as well.
A group led by Michigan resident Julie Quiroz delivered over 4700 signatures collected through moveon.org to the governor’s office. At that time, spokesperson Dave Murray reiterated that they are only looking at a “pause” in accepting refugees.
Indeed, prior to now, Michigan has accepted more than its share: of the 1,682 Syrian refugees admitted during 2015, Texas took in the largest number at 184, but California and Michigan were only shortly behind, accepting 179 each. This may be in part because there is already a large Syrian-born population in Detroit.
On the World Affairs Council call, Kragt introduced another critical consideration. “It’s also important to consider the security threat of not resettling refugees,” she said. “I too care about security but the Islamic State depends on the instability of regions, and we will be complicit in aiding its strategy of recruiting disenfranchised people if we turn these people away. Refugee camps can become breedings grounds for terrorists.”
In response to a question about why refugees pose an easy target, she said she believes it is because “it’s not something a lot of people know about or understand, and when we don’t understand something it’s easy to become afraid.” Kragt warned that the recent passage by the U.S. House of Representatives of the Refugee Resettlement Oversight and Security Act (which asks for the president to consult with congress when setting refugee acceptance numbers and “[e]xcept in the case of an unforeseen emergency..., no refugees may be admitted in a fiscal year until Congress enacts a joint resolution setting the number of refugees who may be admitted...”) may not achieve the security results its sponsors desire.
“What started with governors has escalated to Congress, and that has placed the entire U.S. resettlement process in jeopardy.
“I believe that not accepting these refu-gees also poses a threat to our nation — and not just by compromising its ideals,” she added.
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
http://legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
