The Commercial Appeal

Biden executive order gives hope for refugee families

- Your Turn P.J. Moore Guest columnist

Ruth and Dieudonne were married in the Gihembe Refugee Camp in Rwanda in 2015.

Both their families had found refuge there almost 20 years earlier, and they met in the choir at their church.

A year later, Ruth was notified that her family had been granted a visa to America and soon after found out she was pregnant with twins. But because she and Dieudonne had filed separately for visas before they met, he wasn’t eligible to go with her.

Ruth, her mother and her siblings flew to Memphis, where they were welcomed by a World Relief team of volunteers who invited them to church, arranged for English classes, found Ruth an OB-GYN, and helped the family find work.

In 2017, when the babies were born, Dieudonne met them over video. They decided to name the twins Kelvin and Kelvine, after one of the first volunteers to greet Ruth in America.

Three years later, Dieudonne made it to America. As he walked past the security line where Ruth, their children, and dozens of family, friends and volunteers waited to greet him with flowers and American flags. Dieudonne held his children for the first time. Their reunion was recorded on video and shared on social media.

Since then, Dieudonne has learned to drive and has found a job. He and Ruth recently welcomed their third child, Israel. Dieudonne was able to be in the delivery room when his son was born.

Let’s ensure more stories like Ruth and Dieudonne’s come true

In 2020, Americans across the country learned what it was like to be separated from family. Across hospitals in every state, many fathers couldn’t be present for their children’s births. Weddings and funerals were held without guests. People endured illness alone.

President Biden announced an executive order that will strengthen the U.S. refugee resettleme­nt program and raise the refugee ceiling to 125,000 starting in October. I pray that, as a result, 2021 will be the “year of family,” and that refugees who have been separated from their loved ones will be able to enter safely following rigorous COVID-19 precaution­s. With the new administra­tion, our country has a chance to right the wrongs of the past, when the refugee ceiling was cut to historical­ly low levels, and tens of thousands of refugees facing homelessne­ss, violence, and lifethreat­ening circumstan­ces were shut out.

Cole Huffman, Senior Pastor of First Evangelica­l Church in Memphis, put it best: “Welcoming immigrants is one of the most tangible forms hospitalit­y takes. God calls us to see people as our neighbors, made in his image and likeness, regardless of what’s on their passport.”

Tennessee has a history of welcoming newcomers and welcoming those seeking refuge from violence and oppression. From 2010 to 2019, Tennessee admitted 12,478 refugees, ranking in the top 20 states for refugee resettleme­nt.

Last year, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee gave an “impassione­d defense” of his decision to accept refugees in our state. “I’m not turning my back on those people,” he said to opponents at a political gathering in Nashville. His wife, first lady Maria Lee, works with Kurdish refugees who came to the U.S. after their husbands, who served as translator­s for U.S. soldiers, were killed.

Refugees and immigrants also make up a vital part of our economy. In 2018, immigrant-led households in Tennessee paid $2 billion in federal taxes and $676 million in state and local taxes, generated $731.7 million in business income, and had $8.2 billion in spending power.

They are integral to our state’s workforce, making up 17% of the constructi­on industry, 11% of the architectu­re and engineerin­g industry, and 10% of the food service industry.

This year, as the country rebuilds its robust refugee program with President Biden’s commitment to refugee protection, we have an opportunit­y to show hospitalit­y as we welcome these new refugees to Tennessee. They often arrive with so much to offer our communitie­s, but they initially arrive with very few possession­s.

As we welcome more refugees into the program this year, we rely on the generosity and kindness of individual­s, organizati­ons and churches in the community to walk alongside them and facilitate their transition to a new life.

I pray that in 2021, we’ll see a lot more reunions like Ruth and Dieudonne’s.

P.J. Moore is director of World Relief Memphis.

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