skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, September 30, 2023

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Educators preserve, shape future with 'ALT NEW COLLEGE'; NY appeals court denies delay for Trump civil fraud trial; Michigan coalition gets cash influx to improve childcare.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A House Committee begins its first hearing in the Biden impeachment inquiry, members of Congress talk about the looming budget deadline and energy officials testify about the Maui wildfires.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A small fire department in rural Indiana is determined not to fail new moms and babies, the growing election denial movement has caused voting districts to change procedures and autumn promises spectacular scenery along America's rural byways.

WA Refugee Families Kept Apart Under Immigration Order

play audio
Play

Tuesday, January 31, 2017   

SPOKANE, Wash. – Families resettled in eastern Washington are being kept apart because of an executive order issued by President Trump at the end of last week. The order stops resettlement for refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries for 120 days.

World Relief Spokane runs a resettlement program in eastern Washington, providing employment services, housing assistance and other social services. Its development director, Johnna Nickoloff, says with the new order banning immigration from war-torn countries, resettled families in Washington will be separated.

"We have many families that were expecting their relatives to arrive this coming week, so of course they were very excited about that happening, and now they are being told that their families will not be coming," she said. "And so, of course, that is heartbreaking, especially since most of their families are in danger where they are."

World Relief Spokane also fears people who were approved in the vetting process, which can take two years or more, but are not in the United States yet will have to go through the entire vetting process again, putting many of them in prolonged danger.

Nickoloff notes vetting has been strict: Less than one-percent of refugees who apply move forward in the process.

Nickoloff says her office relies on federal funds to help resettle refugees, meaning that over the next few months they will have to depend on the help of volunteers, church services and other humanitarian organizations to help fill in the gaps.

"We will try to keep our office open so we can be advocates and help the refugees that are already here and prepare for the borders to open again to refugees so we can continue to resettle people who just want to start a new life here and live the American dream just like we do," she explained. "But, in the meantime, it's going to be a long four months."

While the executive order was promoted as a way to prevent terrorists from entering the country, a study by the Cato Institute found the likelihood of an American being killed by a terrorist entering the country as a refugee to be one in 3.64 billion per year.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Michigan is among 20 states to receive a multiyear grant from the Pritzker Children's Initiative. (SneakyPeakPoints/peopleimages.com/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The coalition known as "Think Babies Michigan" has secured more than $36 million in funding to offer grants to child-care providers for infants and to…


Social Issues

play sound

Nearly 100 school board elections are coming up in Minnesota this fall, with some gaining attention because of the candidates who are running…

Social Issues

play sound

The so-called conservative "hostile takeover" of a small, progressive liberal arts college in Florida is seeing some resistance from former students …


Only 546 of the tenants in the the 5,563 eviction cases filed in Nebraska in the first half of 2023 were represented by legal counsel. (tab62/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

High rent prices are draining the budgets of many Nebraska renters, who are paying between 30% and 50% of their income on rent. In some parts of the …

Social Issues

play sound

As the federal government nears a shutdown over a budget impasse in Congress, Wisconsin offices that help low-income individuals worry they'll have …

Lewiston, Idaho, sits on the Snake River at the border with Washington. (Guy Sagi/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Indigenous leaders are traveling through the Northwest to highlight the plight of dwindling fish populations in the region. The All Our Relations …

Social Issues

play sound

Washington performs well in a new report scoring states' long-term care systems. The Evergreen State ranked second in AARP's Long-Term Services and …

Social Issues

play sound

A lack of housing options, mental-health challenges and a lack of connections and support have combined to drive an uptick in the number of foster …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021