East County News Service

Photo:  Iraqi church leaders and families held prayer vigil in 2015 for Christians detained 6 months or more at ICE facility in Otay Mesa

February 11, 2017 (Sacramento) — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, along with the state attorney general from Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, yesterday filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Jennings v Rodriguez, a case involving the federal government’s authority to detain non-citizens pending completion of their removal proceedings.

By Miriam Raftery

February 9, 2017 (Seattle) – In a unanimous verdict in State of Washington v. Trump, a three-judge panel on the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against President Donald Trump and refused to reinstate a travel ban on refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim nations.  That means admission to the U.S. will resume for refugees  and for immigrants who are citizens of of Iran, Iraq, Libya Sudan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, as well as green card holders with permanent residency in the U.S.

In their decision, the judges wrote, “The Government has pointed to no evidence that any alien from any of the countries named in the Order has perpetrated a terrorist attack in the United States. Rather than present evidence to explain the need for the Executive Order, the Government has taken the position that we must not review its decision at all. We disagree…”

By Miriam Raftery

February 6, 2017 (San Diego) – The 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals on Saturday refused to halt refugees and citizens from 7 Muslim nations from entering the U.S., CNN reports.  The action follows a decision Friday by federal judge James Robart in Washington State that blocked President Donald Trump’s travel ban.

By Rachel Williams

February 5, 2017 (El Cajon) -- Falafel softly crackles and pops in the frying pan as the smell of tahini infuses the air at Cajon Terrace Apartments. While the kids practice their ABCs and numbers in their new living room, a Syrian husband and wife cook side by side.

By Miraim Raftery

Photo courtesy ECM news partner 10 News :  Among the first to gain entry was an Iranian infant in need of heart surgery.

February 4, 2017 (San Diego) –  Travelers barred from entering the U.S. due to President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order issued on January 27^th must now be admitted due to a ruling by U.S. District Judge James Robard on Friday.  

The court issued a nationwide halt to the entire executive order, though the Trump administration has said it will appeal the ruling. The ruling applies to refugees previously approved for admission to the U.S., as well as citizens of seven Muslim nations including Syrians.  It also requires admission of green card holders with visas.

By Miriam Raftery, Editor, East County Magazine

Hear our interview for KNSJ Radio by clicking the audio link

February 1, 2017(San Diego) – To learn the impacts of President Donald Trump’s executive action restricting refugee s’ entry into the United States,  we interviewed International Rescue Committee Executive Director David Murphy and Kathi Anderson, Executive Director at Survivors of Torture.

The order has created “fear for a lot of people” in San Diego, long a welcoming haven for refugees starting with the airlifts of Vietnamese boat people in the 1970s, says Murphy.  San Diego County takes in 3 to 4 percent of  all the refugees accepted into the U.S. each year.

By Miriam Raftery

January 31, 2017 (San Diego) — On Sunday, following a weekend of chaos at airports around the world due to President Trump’s executive order banning travelers from 11 nations that led to detention of even legal U.S. permanent residents, the Department of Homeland Security and its Secretary issued statements that seek to clarify the policy.

East County News Service

January 31, 2017 (El Cajon) -- The Chancellor and leaders at Grossmont-Community College District have sent a letter to students in the wake of  President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders regarding immigration, border security, and a travel ban on people from seven nations, as well as his threat to establish a Muslim registry.  The letter affirms that the district’s governing board will vote February 21 on whether to adopt the following policies:

• Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges are open to all students who meet the minimum requirement for admission, regardless of background, culture, religion, or immigration status. 
• The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District will not release any personally identifiable student information, including data related to immigration status, without a judicial warrant or court order unless authorized by the student or required by law.
• The District will not cooperate with any federal effort to create a registry of individuals based on any protected characteristics such as religion, national origin, race, or sexual orientation.
• The District stands proudly for the heritage of American community colleges as hallmarks of a diverse, engaged, and healthy democracy.

Below is the letter in full:

Order exempts nations where Trump has business ventures; protests erupt at airports nationwide

By Miriam Raftery, East County Magazine

Photo: A large crowd at JFK airport in New York is protesting the crackdown on refugees and immigrants tonight, where cab drivers have threatened to shut down airport traffic for an hour.  A smaller group of protestors has gathered at San Diego's Lindbergh Field airport,  CBS reports.

January 28, 2017 (San Diego)—An executive ordered signed Friday by President Donald Trump suspends admission of refugees from seven predominantly Muslim nations for at least 120 days pending “extreme vetting.”  Those nations are Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen, CNN reports. 

Despite banning refugees from Syria, Trump backed off his campaign pledge to establish a safe zone inside war-torn Syria for persecuted people.  

The order also puts a half million legal residents of the U.S. who are traveling overseas in limbo, unable to return home, and slashes in half the number of refugees the U.S. will admit this year from all countries.

East County News Service

January 23, 2017 (San Diego) -- Nile Sisters, a local organization dedicated to helping refugees in San Diego County, has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the California Endowment for its certified nursing assistant vocational training program.

By Miriam Raftery

December 19, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) -- Seven-year-old Bana Alabed’s tweets during the fall of Aleppo, Syria, have drawn global attention to the plight of people trapped in the city in recent weeks, drawing comparisons to the diary of Anne Frank.  An anguished plea during recent bombings, followed by days of silence, led to concerns that Bana may have perished—but now word has come that she is a survivor.

Hear our interview with Dilkhwaz Ahmed by clicking the audio link.

East County News  Service

December 10,2016 (El Cajon)—In an interview on KNSJ Radio, Dilkhwaz Ahmed with License to Freedom offered an urgent plea for help. Hundreds of Syrian families have just arrived in East County – with 50 to 60 more flooding in each day. 

The refugees fled a humanitarian crisis in their war-torn homeland, relocated here by the U.S. government at the request of the United Nations. Other countries are also offering shelter to refugees. But many who came here have large families, so their modest aid funds are scarcely enough to cover rent and food.  They need help to overcome trauma and learn how to build new lives in America. But there are not nearly enough people or resources to fill the desperate need.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo courtesy of ECM news partner 10 News

November 25, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) – The youngest survivors of Syria’s civil war are a traumatized generation.  In the U.S., 80% of the 10,000 Syrian refugees admitted in 2016 are children—and nearly all have suffered unspeakable trauma. 

Source: Newcomers’ Collaborative

November 20, 2016 (El Cajon) -- On Saturday, November 5^th, 2016, 91 Spanish Speakers and at least 24 children attended a resource event coordinated by the Newcomers’ Collaborative, a workgroup of the El Cajon Collaborative. The event provided an opportunity for newcomers to browse local resources and attend workshops on navigating the education system, immigration and civic engagement, Child Welfare Services, domestic violence, equal housing rights and employment. Attendees were also able to apply for public benefits such as Cal-Fresh and Medi-Cal on-site, or ask questions regarding their eligibility or specific case.         

A Foreign Affair: A True Story of Love and War, by Amanda Matti (Available at Amazon.com, 2016, 354 pages).

Preview by Dennis Moore

October 19, 2016 (San Diego) - I can’t wait to get my hands on this book, as the author, an El Cajon resident has indicated to me just today that she will be mailing it out to me for my review in the East County Magazine. She will also appear on our “East County Magazine Live!” radio show to be interviewed with all the salacious details of this book. A Foreign Affair has all the ingredients of true love and intrigue in a foreign country, which the author describes as “love at first sight” between herself, as a U.S. Navy Analyst, and her Iraqi translator Fahdi, in war-torn Iraq.