BOISE, Idaho — On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that paused welcoming new arrivals and included people already in the pipeline. However, another executive order issued on Feb. 7 provided an exception for South Africans — this has led to new challenges for local refugee placement groups like the Idaho Office for Refugees.
Holly Beech with the Idaho Office for Refugees can’t say much about the South African refugees because she says she can only control what she can control. “It’s unusual, I haven’t seen a process like this in this work before," Beech said.
And Beech can, however, talk about the need for getting help to those already in Idaho. Over the past year, Idaho has welcomed about a thousand refugees a year, and all those folks who arrived are still getting on their feet.
Some of the challenges of the January executive order are getting refugees already chosen here to the U.S. to reunite with their families.
“It’s not just the delay in time, there’s background vetting, medical exams, those only have a certain time limit that they’re eligible, then they have to go through it all over again, and that takes time," Beech said.
I asked about how the community can help. “Right now, people who did get to arrive before the freeze in January, they still need support," Beech said. "There’s also a great community organization in Boise called the Global Community Partners. They have a family assistant fund, and they also pair families with new families with local Boise families."
On May 24, there will be a Pace for Peace 5K: Run for Refugees at Veteran's Memorial Park in Boise.
