At the Refugee Dream Center in Providence, executive director Teddi Jallow said fewer people are showing up for the center’s English language and computer literacy classes. She added that a weekly food pantry usually draws 150 people, but only about 80 people turned up last week.
Jallow said a woman from Senegal was so worried about being deported that she pulled her three children out of school, although the children are US citizens.
“She is very scared,” she said. “She said she plans to lay low for the next four years.”
The Refugee Dream Center runs a youth program that connects young refugees with mentors and youth from local high schools. They hear about the refugees who came to the United States before them and went on to college and promising careers.
One of the youth in the program is a 14-year-old girl whose family fled from political violence and drug cartels in Ecuador and applied for asylum in the United States.
The other day, the youths filled out their “vision boards,” spelling out their hopes and dreams. The girl listed just one goal: “I want to survive for the next four years.”
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