26.1 Introduction

“We mostly lived in the jungle, because it was not safe to stay in the village. I had four children, each a year apart, I think the oldest was four. Ever since the Hmong started to flee the villages, if the communists found people in the villages they would kill them, so we hid in jungles most of the time… I did not have time to be afraid. Of course, I was scared the communists might find us, but I thought to myself that it did not really matter if I was afraid or not. I left it up to fate what was to become of us. There was no one to help us, and no safe place we could run to where we knew there would be help if we arrived, so we just kept running and hiding, all the while trying to decide if we should flee to Thailand.”

-Mai Vang Thao, Hmong refugee
Hmong Women’s Action Team Oral History Project,
Minnesota Historical Society

Throughout history, families who are persecuted or fear persecution in their home countries have sought refuge in foreign countries. As Mai Vang Thao’s story demonstrates, these families face daily threats of violence and struggle to provide basic security or resources for their children. Families seek physical safety for themselves and their children by fleeing to a new country. The United States, which has been the final destination for many of these families who have been forced to flee, can offer them refugee or asylee status as a protection. Refugee or asylee families can live in the United States, with temporary assistance to get settled and to begin providing for themselves and their families.

A refugee is someone who was persecuted or fears persecution (on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion), has fled to another country, and has not participated in persecuting others. There is a special subcategory of refugees called asylum seekers: refugees and asylum seekers are different only in the process of relocation. Refugees have applied for and been granted refugee status before they leave for the United States. Asylum seekers meet all the criteria for refugee status but have already reached the United States. Although the process of arrival is different, the term refugee will be used in this text to refer to refugees and asylees unless otherwise noted.

The purpose of this chapter is to identify the paths taken by refugee families from persecution to relative safety. We will continue to follow in Mai Vang Thao’s footsteps to see one story that demonstrates the steps of fleeing persecution, family separation, admittance to the United States, and becoming accustomed to the new home.

26.2 Fleeing Persecution and Separation from Family

During those times everyone was afraid, and we taught the children very young to be afraid, so at the age of one or two, they already learned to be afraid and did not cry either.

-Mai Vang Thao, Hmong refugee

Fleeing Persecution and Separation from Family

All refugees have experiences of loss and/or exposure to traumatic events, either personally or within their communities. Such experiences might include systematic discrimination and intimidation, civil war, ongoing military conflicts, forceful government expulsion from the country, ethnic cleansing, and even genocide. Families living in these contexts often experience violence, or they hear about it in their communities and have reason to fear it. Families’ top priority is to find safety. However, even after they relocate, some families will experience the long-term effects from the traumatic stress they have experienced.

“[The children’s father] was hardly with us. He went off with the men and left us hiding in the jungles. In fact he had prepared that in the event that we could no longer stay, he would leave to Thailand, and the children and I, if captured by the communists, would stay behind since the communist soldiers would not kill us because we are only women and children.”

-Mai Vang Thao, Hmong refugee

The conflicts and situations that cause people to flee their home countries often separate families. Families can become separated in the midst of a conflict or during the process of fleeing or migrating (families can also be separated during the resettlement process, see below). Even if parents and children are kept together through this arduous process, resettlement of an entire family unit (in many cultures, the family unit includes grandparents, aunts and uncles and their families) would rarely occur.

Separation from family members can be a source of guilt, loss, and added pressure. These losses of family ties and community support can often be characterized as ambiguous (Boss, 2006). When a family member dies, the loss is concrete, and the family can mourn. When family members are separated, there can be great ambiguity. Separated loved ones are physically absent but very present in the minds of their family members. Families have difficulty determining who is in the family, and what roles they play. This ambiguity can add to the stress of an already stressful migration. For example, youth separated from their parents during civil war wondered if their families had survived the fighting or had died. They described feelings of loneliness and intense depression. One child described, “The kids were most thinking – Are they alive or are they not alive?” (Luster, Qin, Bates, Johnson, & Rana, 2008, p. 449).

Wondering whether certain family members are alive or dead can cause individuals and families to become stuck with mixed feelings of hope, loss, guilt, and grief. These ambiguous losses compound the concrete losses of homes and family members. The impact of loss and traumatic events can be seen at both the individual and family level. In fact, one study found that the statistical relationships between traumatic events, grief, depression, and PTSD are stronger at the family level than they are at the individual level (Nickerson et al., 2011). Separated individuals must find ways to accept and live with the ambiguity. As one child said of his separation from his parents, “It happened. I did not have any control over it. I just think I wish it did not happen. But it did and I could not do anything about it” (Luster et al., 2008, p. 449).

When refugees are able to remain with close family members, it can ease the strains of relocation and coping with the traumas experienced in the home country. In a study of refugees in Norway, Lie, Lavik, and Laake (2001) found that the presence of close family in Norway had a positive impact on mental health symptoms, especially for those with higher exposure to traumatic events. McMichael, Gifford, and Correa-Velez (2011) similarly found that family connection is particularly important for youth early in the resettlement process.

26.3 Travel to Temporary Refuge

“When it became so unsafe we could not stay anymore. Some of the men who had returned [from Thailand] were my uncles, and they said that if we wanted to go with them to Thailand they would help us out, so that is why we decided to leave for Thailand… I still remember lots of things about living in camp, such as the sicknesses, not enough water to drink, the very hot weather, and not enough food…Everything about it was bad. We were living on the Thai people’s land, so they treated us any way they wanted. When the Hmong went to the flea market, they were beaten.”

-Mai Vang Thao, Hmong refugee

In order to be a refugee, families must have traveled to a new country in order to escape persecution. Families generally cross the border into another country where they have heard that some aid is available. Charity or government organizations will set up refugee camps, which provide some shelter, medical care, and food.

Refugee camps are set up in response to a sudden and great need. Consequently, there are rarely enough resources for all of the families. Women are particularly at risk after a disaster. They may struggle to compete with men for resources (Viswanath et al., 2013). Post-disaster resources tend to have little sensitivity to needs of women, such as sanitary towels, diapers, or privacy or protection near restroom facilities (Viswanath et al., 2013; Fisher, 2010). Women experience increased sexual violence and domestic abuse following a disaster (Luft, 2008; Neumayer & Plumper, 2007; Anastario, Larrance, & Lawry, 2008; Viswanath et al., 2013).

Families can sometimes be separated during this stage of relocation. For example, children are sometimes sent ahead to another camp that is thought to be safer, leading to separation from their parents (Luster, Qin, Bates, Johnson, & Rana, 2008). This can lead to both vulnerability and feelings of loss.

26.4 Family Admittance to the United States

Once refugees have entered a new country, they can begin the road to refugee or asylee status in the United States. This process can be arduous and often takes over a year. The first step is a Refugee Status Determination or RSD. An authorized official from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will determine if an individual is considered a refugee under international, regional, or national law. The official will then determine if the person should return to their home country, resettle in the neighboring country, or resettle in a third country (such as the United States). Less than 1% of refugees worldwide are ever resettled in a third country (UNHCR, 2015).

United States Policies about Refugee Admittance

The UNHCR or an authorized NGO can refer a refugee for admission to the United States. Each year, the United States prioritizes particular groups to be eligible for refugee status. The current priorities are:

• Priority 1: Cases that are identified and referred to the program by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a United States Embassy, or a designated non-governmental organization (NGO).
• Priority 2: Groups of special humanitarian concern identified by the U.S. refugee program.
• Priority 3: Family reunification cases (spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of persons lawfully admitted to the United States as refugees or asylees or permanent residents (green card holders) or United States citizens who previously had refugee or asylum status; PRM, 2018).

The United States President sets a refugee ceiling each year that identifies the number of refugees who can be granted refuge in the country (see Refugee Policy: A Brief History for a brief history of United States Refugee policy). Limits for refugees allowed from particular world regions are also set. Asylees are not included in this number. These limits can be influenced by national security threats and political will. As an example, the number of admitted refugees across all refugee groups dropped from 68,925 to 26,788 following the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001 (Refugee Council, 2012). In the following years, the ceiling was consistently set between 70,000-85,000. The Trump Administration has cut the ceiling to 18,000, the lowest number since the creation of the refugee resettlement program. For the most up-to-date numbers of United States-admitted refugees and their countries of origin, see http://www.state.gov/j/prm/releases/statistics/

People who receive a referral for refugee status (not asylum seekers) work with a Resettlement Support Center to prepare their application. They then are interviewed by an officer from the United States Citizen and Immigration Services. Applying is free and applications can include a spouse, unmarried children, and occasionally other family members. All individuals approved as refugees are medically screened for infectious diseases, which could prevent entry to the United States. For a case example of this process, please see Ester’s Story.

In contrast, asylum seekers apply for asylum at a port of entry to the United States or apply within one year of arriving in the United States. There are two methods of seeking asylum: affirmative and defensive. In the affirmative asylum process, individuals file an application for asylum to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). These individuals are free to live in the United States while their case is processed. In this past, a decision was required to be made within 180 days. However, processing time is currently estimated at 8 to 12 months (USCIS, 2019). During the application processing time or the first 180 days after filing the application (whichever is shorter), these individuals are not authorized to work. In the defensive asylum process, an immigrant who is in the process of being removed from the United States may request asylum as a form of relief. This process can happen when an immigrant 1) was apprehended in or entering the United States without documentation or 2) was denied asylum after applying to USCIS asylum officers. If an immigrant requests asylum as a defense against removal from the United States, they conduct removal proceedings in the immigrant court with the Executive Office for Immigration Review. An Immigration Judge hears these cases and makes a final decision about eligibility for asylum (American Immigration Council, 2018).

Many defensive asylum seekers are held in jails or detainment centers until they are paroled or a decision is made about asylum. They typically wear prison uniforms and are separated from opposite gendered family. This practice has been discouraged by the UNHCR and criticized by Human Rights First (Human Rights First, 2012). After an asylee declares a desire for asylum, he or she is interviewed to determine the credibility of the danger threat in their home country. If officials determine that there is a credible threat, there is still a process that must be followed before they are granted asylee status.

26.5 Entering the United States

Entering the United States

“In my opinion this country is even harder to adjust to, harder to live in because… because there are lots of rules and laws that bind us here. It is much harder to do things in this country. I came at an old age already, and learning English does not come easy. Everything is much harder for me.”

-Mai Vang Thao, Hmong refugee

Formal Supports

When refugees have been accepted for admittance to the United States, they are provided with a cultural orientation that can include information and education on basic English phrases, how to shake hands, interviewing for a job, using a western toilet, or the experience of flying on a plane. The International Organization for Migration provides a loan to refugees to cover their airplane ticket expenses from the United States government; they must repay this loan once they are resettled in the country.

Once they arrive, the Office of Refugee Resettlement assigns a voluntary agency (VOLAG) to offer them help (see “Key Organizations in Refugee Admissions and Integration” for a full description of agencies involved in refugee resettlement and policy). These VOLAGs often meet the refugee at the airport and arrange for housing and basic furnishings. They teach the refugees how to purchase groceries and use transportation, and connect them with resources for employment and education. These services are only available for 30-90 days. Across organizations and across states, there is no consistent process for these relocation/integration services, and availability of and applications for resources may vary. In some states, refugees are also eligible for cash assistance or medical assistance beyond this 90 day period (Refugee Council USA, 2019).

The VOLAG works with sponsoring relatives when applicable, and will sometimes find an individual, church, or other private groups that can assist with sponsorship if there is no sponsoring relative (Refugee Council USA, 2019). Refugees are eligible for all welfare benefits offered to citizens, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Medicaid.

Video

True Thao, MSW, LICSW discusses economic challenges facing refugees and highlights observations in the Hmong community.

An Overwhelming Transition

Imagine waking up, and finding that everything in your life has changed. Your bed is a different size, shared with a different number of people, and in a different location. You wake up to a new sound, and it is a different temperature than you expect. You get up, and find that the only foods available are foreign to you. You try to go shopping, but you do not know how to navigate the transportation system. When you get there, the food all seem unfamiliar. You do not know how to pay for your food – the currency seems odd, and you also have a “money card” that you don’t understand how to use. You cannot talk to anyone well. You come home and someone has put a piece of paper on the door, which you cannot read and do not know how to have translated.

After relocation, families must navigate a new completely new culture. Everything is new. Often, a family faces changes in every aspect of life. Betancourt, Abdi, Ito, Lilienthal, Agalab, & Ellis (2014) documented major shifts in the experiences of Somali refugee families in Boston, including:

• These Somali families lost resources during the flight from their home country, and arrived to the United States in poverty regardless of their previous status.
• Parents lost employment status, as their previous employment credentials were not accepted in the United States.
• Children were exposed to drugs, violence, and gain activity in the neighborhoods in which they were located.
• Despite this strained economic standing, families felt responsible to send money back to extended family in Somalia.
• Parent-Child authority structures shifted. Children who were more fluent in English withheld information about their situations at school.
• Children faced discrimination based on their nationality. Families were separated from extended support (Betancourt et al., 2014).

These changes, combined with encountering a completely new culture, would shake any family’s coping skills. Unfortunately, the social supports available to refugees are difficult to access. Parents lack knowledge of how to navigate school systems and the health care system and are further isolated from services by lack of transportation and financial resources (Isik-Ercan, 2012; Navuluri et al., 2014). Mental health services are frequently not culturally sensitive or geared towards refugees (Shannon et al., 2014; Weine, 2011).

After arriving in the United States, many states require or recommend that refugees receive physical screening. In spite of the inherent exposure to potentially traumatic events, no states currently require mental health screenings. Some argue that screenings would be unethical without a referral infrastructure in place while others suggest that this is part of the process of addressing mental health concerns and working toward an infrastructure (for additional information about mental health among refugees, please see “Mental Health”). After conducting focus groups with refugees about mental health needs, Shannon and her colleagues argue that existing infrastructures could be trained to be responsive to refugee needs. “Health care providers might require more training about how to work collaboratively with new populations of refugees to assess the mental health effects of war” (2014, p. 13).

“Understanding and healing the symptoms of political oppression starts in the initial assessment with validating the ways that political trauma has rendered refugees ‘voiceless.’ Listening, documenting, and witnessing individual and community stories of exposure to human rights violations is credited as an essential component of restoring human dignity.”

-Shannon, Wieling, Simmelink, & Becher, 2014, p. 11.

Video

Paul Orieny, Sr. Clinical Advisor for Mental Health at the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT), discusses the immense change families encounter after arriving in the United States (0:00-1:23).

Applying for Citizenship

Refugee status is granted for one year. After that time, refugees are required to apply to become a permanent resident alien, which provides them with the commonly known ‘green card’ (Refugee Council, 2014). Asylees are also eligible to apply for permanent resident alien status, although it is not required. A permanent resident alien is entitled to many of the same supports as citizens, including free public education, authorization to work in the United States, and travel documents to leave and return to the United States (Refugee Council USA, 2019). However, permanent resident aliens remain citizens of their home country, must maintain residence in the United States in order to maintain their status, must renew their status every 10 years, and cannot vote in federal elections (USCIS, 2019). After being a permanent resident for five years, refugees and asylees can apply for citizenship (Congressional Research Service, 2018).

Family Reunification

Once resettled, refugees are able to apply to bring certain family members to join them in the United States if they were not able to come together. In order to bring additional family members to the United States, refugees must apply within two years of being granted refugee or asylee status. Refugees are able to apply to bring a spouse or children who are unmarried, under 21 years old, and conceived before leaving. Only anchor or “principal applicant” refugees are allowed to apply to bring family members. A principal applicant is generally the first refugee from a family to arrive in the United States. These principal applicants then apply to bring their immediate family members. However, the family members coming to join a principle refugee will not be able to apply to bring additional family members (Refugee Council USA, 2019). For example, a refugee could apply to bring his/her parents, his/her wife, and their children to the United States. After they arrive, the wife/husband is not eligible to apply to bring her/his parents. This means that some refugees will continue to feel separated and isolated from loved ones.

The process for family reunification is onerous. Refugees currently residing in their host country and their family members awaiting permission to join them must both work through cumbersome systems in their respective countries. The anchor or principal applicant in the United States must file an application with USCIS, and must provide proof of their relationship to the family members (through birth or marriage certificates, receipts of remittances sent home, photographs, etc.). The family members in the home country must then complete visa interviews, medical examinations, security background checks, and DNA testing (in the case of children).

At any stage along this process, the official can deny the application if they suspect fraud. If an adjudicator suspects fraud in the anchor refugee’s application, they can request stronger evidence of the relationship. If they remain unconvinced that the refugee is telling the truth, they can deny the application. If officers suspect fraud during the visa interview process, they will decline to issue the visa. They may also decline visas for health reasons or for past criminal behavior. There are waivers available, but not all potential refugees are aware of the waivers. Denials require a written rebuttal, the processing of which can take many months. If the rebuttal is approved, the family members in the home country must complete the interviews again. Many lack the education or the resources to tackle these processes. Refugees may not even be aware that they are eligible for reunification, as there is no systematic way of informing them. Currently, it is not clear how many family members eligible for reunification are able to complete the process and submit a full application (Haile, 2015).

There are supports available to help refugees through this process. The VOLAGs who assist with refugee resettlement generally have services available to assist in applications for family reunification. Local community organizations often also offer services to help prepare and complete applications. In Minnesota, for example, the Minnesota Council of Churches hosts weekly information sessions about family reunification eligibility and the application process.

Support from Afar

In cases where families cannot be or choose not to be reunited, refugees still find ways to provide support to one another. Refugees may support family and friends through remittances or may spend time and money trying to locate and bring family members to the United States. In other cases, some may forgo long terms gains, such as job training or college, to be able to immediately help others (Betancourt et al., 2014). While this may cause emotional distress for some, it can also be the source of motivation to make the most of their opportunities. Transnational family connections help refugees retain a sense of identity within their culture and family (Lim, 2009).

Resilience

Refugees are inherently survivors. They have experienced loss and traumatic events but have found ways to survive. For example, Somali refugee families in Boston used religious faith, healthy family communication, support networks, and peer talks to make new lives for themselves (Betancourt et al., 2014). Refugee youth take on new responsibilities after migration, including interpreting, providing financial support, and helping parents navigate services (Hynie, Guruge, & Shakya, 2012). The ways refugee individuals, families, and communities find and create support differ greatly. They draw on family and community resilience to find ways to continue to survive and, in many cases, thrive.

Refugee resilience is seen when they rebuild community networks in the cities to which they relocate. Others have formed organizations to protect and lobby for their communities, and others have been elected to public offices.

 

Keith Ellison – Congressman Ellison with Minnesota State Senator Mee Moua – CC BY 2.0.

 

Mee Moua: Senator Mee Moua is the first Hmong American woman to become a Minnesota State Senator. Moua came to the U.S. with her family in 1978 and has since worked her way up from the public housing projects of Appleton, Wisconsin to the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota. Moua is also an accomplished attorney who lives with her mother, her husband, and their two children.

“The issue is not whether the Asian American politicians are ready, it’s really whether America is ready.”
For a complete interview about her path to the U.S., go to: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/06/29/moua.

26.6 Future Directions in Policy and Refugee Family Support

26.7 Conclusion

Refugee Stories: Policy in Practice

In this chapter, we have described the policies and processes that drive refugee resettlement. In order to have a complete picture, it is important to see how these policies and processes impact the real families who experience them. The case study highlighted throughout this chapter and the case study below provide examples of the opportunities and barriers they face during their transition.

References

26.8 Appendix