After HIAS Lawsuit, a Refugee Family Begins New Life in U.S.

The family’s arrival was the subject of a recent segment on the PBS NewsHour. Watch here.

Nearly six months into President Trump’s second term, following an arduous journey across the Atlantic, a family of eight disembarked from an airplane and walked into the terminal of a Connecticut airport. Originally from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the family had finally arrived to begin a new life in the United States. For 20 years they had waited, at a refugee camp in Zimbabwe, for this moment to arrive. 

Their story is at once routine and utterly extraordinary: These eight individuals are HIAS’ first resettlement case since January 20, when President Trump halted the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program on his first day of office. They are among only a few dozen refugees to be admitted thus far as the direct result of Pacito v. Trump, a lawsuit filed by HIAS and other plaintiffs that challenges the Trump administration’s halt. 

Upon entering the airport, the family encountered staff from Jewish Family Services of Western Massachusetts (JFSWM), a refugee agency and HIAS local affiliate partner assigned to resettle them in the United States. For days, JFSWM had anticipated their arrival, procuring housing for the family and arranging for them to meet local Rwandan and Congolese families just hours after they touched down. In the coming weeks and months, as the newly arrived children enroll in school and the adults begin jobs, JFSWM will be there to support them.  

The work of making a refugee family feel welcome in their new home represents, we believe, the best of America, a country that has represented safety, opportunity, and a new start to generations of immigrants. 

The Rwandan family’s arrival is a joyous occasion for HIAS. But it is also bittersweet. There over 125,000 refugees who were approved to travel prior to the start of the Trump administration, and who remain stranded. While HIAS and our partners continue our legal battle, we know that the Trump administration has made their values clear and has taken unprecedented steps to dismantle the refugee program and prevent the overwhelming majority of already-approved refugees from arriving at all. 

Jewish tradition teaches that to “save one life is to save a world.” It is an extraordinary privilege to make a life-changing difference for these eight individuals. In doing so, we are affirming a legacy of welcoming the stranger that we have embraced for over 120 years.  

But it isn’t just our legacy. It’s also America’s. 

HIAS will, as we always have, continue to do all that we can, every day, to advocate for the rights and safety of refugees — in the courts, in congress, and in communities. We could not do so without the support of our wider community who have stood by us despite the Trump administration’s full-scale assault on refugee rights. Their donations helped support our legal fight. In a moment when the immigrants and refugees are under attack, this arrival is a reminder of who we are fighting for — and why it matters. To them, we pledge that we will never stop fighting for the safety and rights of refugees around the world. The arrival late on Friday night only redoubles our desire to do so.