- Utah leaders, including the Refugee Justice League, reaffirm their support for refugees, distinguishing them from immigrants entering the country illegally amid the USRAP suspension.
- The Refugee Justice League aids refugees with police interactions and discrimination, offering resources like advisory cards and legal support.
- Speakers dispelled misconceptions about refugees, discussed their thorough vetting and lower crime rates compared to native-born Americans.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order temporarily suspending the United States Refugee Admissions Program until it is “realigned” with national interests.
On Wednesday, Utah legal advocates publicly declared their continued support for welcoming refugees to the United States, and said they were prepared to help those already in the country.
Brent Ward, a Utah Refugee Justice League board member and former federal prosecutor, spoke at a press conference on Wednesday in Salt Lake City.
“Utah attorneys are ready to help refugees,” he said.
“When we refer to refugees, we do not mean illegal immigrants. Far from it. Refugees are in fact the opposite. They are in our country lawfully and they are protected by their refugee status,” Ward said.
What does the Refugee Justice League do?
Norm McKellar, president of the Refugee Justice League, explained the organization’s two primary focuses to the Deseret News.
First, they can assist refugees who are interacting with law enforcement at a local, state or federal level.
“We don’t want them to go into that situation alone,” McKellar said.
He posed the following situation: “You move to another country, not even another country you pick, it’s where you were assigned. You may not know the language, you may not know the culture, and all the sudden you have law enforcement asking you questions.”
The organization provides refugees with cards with their contact information and possible responses to questions from law enforcement officers if approached.
The card states:
- I do not wish to speak with you or hand you any documents without my attorney present.
- I do not give you permission to enter my home unless you have a warrant with my name on it, signed by a judge or magistrate.
- I do not give you permission to search my vehicle or any of my belongings.
- Please contact my attorneys at Refugee Justice League for further information.
Also, the organization provides legal assistance when accusations of discrimination are present.
Maram Al-Shammari, 17, spoke during the press conference as a RJL beneficiary. As a fourth grader, Al-Shammari said she experienced both verbal and physical harassment from her classmates after she began wearing a hijab. When she told her teacher and the school district, they “brushed it off,” she said.
After this, Al-Shammari’s mom looked for other resources and found Jim McConkie, a Refugee Justice League board member. “Jim helped bring attention to my story and advocated for policies protecting religious attire in all Utah school districts,” Al-Shammari said.
Board member McKellar says perceptions of refugees are wrong
“I think one of the biggest problems we have is people just lump all immigrants together,” McKellar said.
He described the perception of an immigrant entering the country illegally “jumping across the border and swimming across a river in Arizona or California,” saying this perception is fundamentally wrong.
The path to gaining refugee status is long and involves many checkpoints, he said. It begins with the United Nations where they do background checks and verification. Then, the host country does their own background check on the individual. McKellar added that these checks include mental health evaluations and a look at political alliances.
McKellar told the Deseret News that crime rates among refugees are the lowest in the country, “so I mean, these people are clean as a whistle, so to speak.”
Utahns ‘owe a responsibility to our refugee community to welcome them with open arms’
Richard Lambert, a Refugee Justice League member, explained how during his time as head of the criminal division of the U.S. attorney’s office in Utah, his office “gained the distinction” of prosecuting and convicting more migrants in the country illegally than “any other state in the United States except those that directly border the country of Mexico.”
However, referencing Trump’s recent executive order, Lambert said some people believe refugees are also in the country illegally.
“Such a conclusion is both wrong and dangerous,” he said. “Current research shows that refugees are less likely to commit violent crimes, property crimes or terrorist acts than native born Americans.”
Lambert pointed to many Utah residents' shared history and pioneer ancestry, people who left their home countries to practice their religion freely. He said, “Many of my ancestors and perhaps many of yours were exiles and refugees who came to America or came to Utah fleeing persecution, imprisonment and sometimes even death.”
“Thank God for kind people who welcomed these ancestors with hospitality, generosity and kindness. May we do the same,” Lambert concluded.