We are still standing strong.
Dear Friend and Supporter:
The past 3 weeks have been a whirlwind of events for refugees and immigrants of the world- Lancaster included. We hope to update you the best that we can with this newsletter, in efforts of keeping you informed.
On Friday, January 27th, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order, halting all refugee resettlement efforts to the United States for 120 days; completely banning all Syrian refugees indefinitely, halting all immigration and resettlement from seven Muslim-majority countries including Yemen, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Syria, and Iran, for 90-days with an extreme vetting process to follow; and reduced the national capacity limit of refugee individuals from 110,000 to 50,000 for the fiscal year.
On the 27th, all newly arriving refugee cases scheduled to arrive to the United States, were cancelled. Those refugee individuals that were in the midst of travel to the US, were turned away and returned to their countries of origin, and the United States closed its doors to refugees fleeing war, persecution, famine, gender-based violence, human trafficking, and extreme trauma. This was an unprecedented move felt by hundreds of thousands across the globe.
One week later, on Friday, February 3rd, 2017, the state of Washington filed with the US District Court a temporary restraining order against the executive order signed by President Trump. This order held, and a stay was placed on the executive order—thereby allowing previously scheduled refugees to resettle into the United States from all regions of the world and with no restrictions or halts to the process.
By Sunday, February 5th, 2017, just two-days later, CWS-Lancaster received notice of the first rescheduled case to arrive to Lancaster. And on Thursday, February 9th, 2017, the ruling held with the 9th Circuit Courts, thereby lifting the ban outlined in the executive order, and moving the case to the Supreme Court. It was further expected for President Trump to appeal the ruling, however, he did not do so.
But, we are still not through this yet. As of last night, February 16th, 2017, President Trump announced that he is drafting a new executive order on this same topic that will once again restrict the flow of refugees from certain countries.
Over the past weeks, the Lancaster community has rallied in support of refugees and immigrants, and against the actions made through the executive order. Simultaneously, CWS-Lancaster has received more inquiries for support, more applications for volunteering, more in-kind and monetary donations than we ever have in a single month. The Concert for Refugees was a wild success, and a perfectly timed outlet for supporters to make their presence known-- raising more than $33,000 in one night. Only two short days later, more than 2000 allies gathered in Penn Square for a vigil, lifting their voices and letting it be known that 'Refugees are Welcome Here' and that Lancaster is a welcoming community for all-- regardless of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. And all along the way, Lancaster City was featured in major local and national media publications across the nation and across the globe.
We have said this before, and we will continue to say it over and over again—we know how incredible our Lancaster community is. We know the support, welcome, and acceptance that is here. And we are absolutely inspired, humbled, and ever so grateful to you for your strong, and unwavering support. Thank you, one hundred times over!
As we continue to move forward, we will keep you as up to date as we can. Please, keep the support coming our way. Now, more than ever, refugees need your voices heard with local and state officials. Please, don't stop calling your senators and congressmen-- you can find our most recent call-to-action found here. We have gotten this far—but still, we cannot rest yet. We must keep the pressure up, and let our government know that the actions of the executive order do not represent that of our nation, and certainly that of our community.
Thank you, on behalf of refugees and immigrants in Lancaster County, for all that you do. We are in this together, because we are #GreaterAs1 and in our book—refugees will always be welcome.
In solidarity,
CWS-Lancaster Team
