Before he became Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the Department of Homeland Security, León Rodríguez was the grandchild of Jews who fled anti-semitism in Poland and Turkey. “At the end of the day, refugees and refugee families are just like us, except in much more difficult situations,” Rodríguez says in an exclusive video interview.
The Holocaust survivors in the Righteous Conversations Project are very aware of the experience of the refugee and those who seek asylum and rescue from murderous regimes. For them, this is more than a problem that is unfolding on the other side of the planet. It is a story with kinship to their own. Recently, Los Angeles area high school students and Holocaust survivors teamed up to make a series of video public service announcements.
Forty four refugee children, all currently receiving therapy from HIAS’ trained staff, enjoyed a day out in Kampala, Uganda. “It’s an opportunity for the children to feel welcomed, loved and accepted in this world. It’s an opportunity to rekindle their hope," said Timothy Mukua, psychosocial program manager at HIAS Uganda.
On Thursday November 19, HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on the Syrian refugee crisis and its impact on the security of the U.S. refugee Admissions Program.
Winnie Gacheru, director of psychosocial programs at HIAS Kenya, describes working with some of the world's most vulnerable refugees in this short video.
Daniel*, a Colombian refugee living in Ecuador, showed me this music video when I visited his family’s home. Like so many other Colombian families we work with in Central America, gang violence made their life there untenable. When a local gang tried to force Daniel’s older brother to join, his mother Lorena* decided that their only choice was to flee.