After initially wanting to stop the flow of Syrians coming into his state because he doubted the effectiveness of the vetting process, Governor Charlie Baker changed his position saying he was satisfied with the screening process especially after learning that most of the refugees coming to the U.S. were women, children and families.
In spite of the governor’s initial reservations, many residents of his state were already on board with welcoming Syrians and helping them to adapt to their new home as the number of refugees resettled in Massachusetts more than doubled from 2015 to 2016.
In the city of Worcester, South High student Deni Hoxha added Arabic classes to his advanced curriculum and took a perspective-altering trip to the Middle East that was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
"I like the quote by Nelson Mandela who said that if you speak to a man in a language he understands, it goes to his head. But when you speak to him in his native language, it goes to his heart," Hoxha recently told Scott O’Connell of the Telegram.
"It just shows respect – you’re able to form much deeper connections with people if you can speak their language."
Hoxha, 18, emigrated to the U.S. from Albania with his family in 2010 so he knows what it’s like to start over again in a foreign country.
In 2014, he became aware of the State Dept.’s program that provides scholarships for going abroad to students learning a language not typically taught in U.S. schools.
Only U.S. citizens are eligible for the program so the ambitious teen studied for the test and acquired his U.S. citizenship a year later enabling him to spend two months in Jordan where many Syrians have taken refuge..
In part it was possibly for being able to dispel some of the "misconceptions about the (Middle East) region" that are all too prevalent in the U.S. that motivated him to choose to learn Arabic as his fourth language – besides English and his native Albanian, Hoxha is also studying French.
Hoxha says that he returned to the U.S. deeply inspired by the culture as well as his Jordanian hosts and the Syrian refugees he was able to speak with while he was there.
Last fall he founded the Students Together Assisting Refugees club at his school with the help of history teacher Suzanne Wise.
Along with providing support to local refugees, the 20-member club that includes six refugees from Burma, Iraq and Syria, has hosted talks by representatives of refugee assistance organizations and raised money to help them with their programs.
According to Ms. Wise, starting the club was nothing out of the ordinary for Hoxha, a top student who "really takes initiative when it comes to spreading justice and equality in this world."
"His uniqueness is his global awareness," Maureen Binienda, former principal of South High who is now superintendent of the local school district, told O’Connell. "He always works to be the best he can be. But he also raises everybody else up at the same time."
With career aspirations that include someday serving as a foreign diplomat, Hoxha was chosen by the State Dept. as one of four program graduates in the U.S. to go to Washington, D.C., to present their trip experiences to department staff.
In the meantime, fallout from President Trump’s executive orders is being felt in the Massachusetts social service agencies that have begun to lay off employees due to having no more incoming refugees to resettle.
Ascentria Care Alliance, formerly Lutheran Social Services of New England, is one of the agencies contracted by the government for handling refugee resettlement in Massachusetts but Trump’s current ban on all refugees entering the country has reduced the number of refugees being referred to it for services to zero.
Even though the courts have stayed the executive order President Trump signed in late January halting refugee resettlement, Ascentria has said that demand for services the agency provides to refugees has slowed or stopped altogether.
The executive order was recently revised, and while it too is being contested, refugee resettlement has been put on hold for 120 days starting March 16 and even when it resumes will be cut by nearly 55 percent – from 110,000 to 50,000.
Earlier this month Escentria stated its opposition to Trump’s newly revised executive order which seeks to restrict refugee resettlement in the United States in addition to banning travel from several Muslim-majority countries in a so-called effort to prevent terrorism.
"We aren’t afraid of those who have fled their war-torn homelands, seeking safety and freedom," Ascentria’s president and chief executive officer, Angela Bovill said on March 7. "We welcome new neighbors and embrace them. Refugees are part of what makes America great.
"We are better off as a country because of their hard work and contributions to our communities and economy. Refugees are customers, employees and entrepreneurs who pay taxes. And, as grateful neighbors, they help others in many acts of kindness."
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