Refugee Resettlement Coordinator Is Hopeful For What Comes Next Under Biden



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Corine Dehabey, the director of programs for the Toledo office of US Together, pictured in a 2017 story. Today she says her organization is hopeful and excited for the changes coming under President Biden.

David Gilkey/NPR




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David Gilkey/NPR


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She had to talk to families stuck in the middle. «We tried to be positive, but, at the same time, we gave them the truth,» Dehabey told NPR in January 2017.

US Together gets some of its funding from the government. But because the Trump administration cut the number of refugees, the government cut funding for resettlement programs, too. International Rescue Committee President and CEO David Miliband called the cuts an «effective demolition of the refugee resettlement program» nationwide.

Dehabey says US Together «had quite a few program cuts.»

«Honestly, we struggled, but we pulled it through and it was a little bit of agony to keep the programs live and up and running,» she said.

Her group was able to stay operational, but dozens of resettlement offices around the country have been forced to close.


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With Biden’s changes, Dehabey says she’s already getting calls from people hoping to resettle in the U.S. One of her clients is a man with an adult daughter and son who haven’t been together in close to five years, but they’re hopeful they can see each other soon.

«What makes the United States unique,» Dehabey told NPR in 2015, is that «everybody comes together to help» people in need. She noted at the time that US Together is an affiliate of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which has its origins helping Jewish refugees. Much of their donations now come from Christian churches to help Muslim refugees from Syria.

She’s held onto that view, even through the last several years.

«My view is humanity existed way before religion was formed. And God put us on Earth to lean on each other and to help each other. And that’s what [the] United States is all about. One hand holding other hands.»

Connor Donevan and Lee Hale produced and edited the audio interview.



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