Anne Duggar of the Catherine McCauley Center in Cedar Rapids talked about their efforts working with refugees in Linn County for the Lisbon-Mount Vernon chapter of the League of Women Voters monthly meeting Wednesday, May 24, at Mount Vernon City Council chambers.
Duggar was recently promoted to the director of refugee services, making her the executive overseeing all programs pertaining to refugees.
An attendee asked if there are full numbers of refugees in Linn County.
“We tried hard to get an accurate count with the most recent U.S. Census, but once you start talking about lists and keeping track of refugees, you deal with some of the shady areas and the past where those items have been done,” Duggar said.
Duggars said that there are 56 countries represented in Linn and Johnson County, with many refugees coming to the county from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Catherine McCauley Center was started in 1989, and primarily focused on education in its early years. As the years have gone on, more and more wrap around services supporting refugees have been added.
“We offer hope and opportunity through educational and supportive services,” Duggar said. “The connection between hope and opportunity is the most important. You cannot offer help without the other two.”
Duggar explained the distinctions between immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Immigrants are anyone who comes from another country with the intention to stay in the United States. Asylum seekers are people who have well-founded fear of persecution or physical harm if they remain in the country they are fleeing from.
“The process is not the easiest way to come into this country,” Duggar said. “Many of the asylum seekers have to relive the worst things that have happened in their life, and even after that, they can still be denied asylum.”
It can take upwards of five years for an asylum seeker to even get asylum in the United States.
Refugees are anyone who has fled their home from well-founded persecution.
Refugees, once they are resettled in the United States, have 90 days to get their life in order. They have $1,275 per person for that three months from federal funding.
Iowa Finance Authority in the state of Iowa has offered to pay rent for refugees for the first year. The McCauley Center utilizes those funds for the first three months, hoping to help the refugees become more self sufficient.
Duggar explained there are a lot of wraparound services the Center offers for immigrants coming to the area. The Center helps with cash assistance and rent assistance, resume building, English classes and education assistance.
Even if immigrants or asylum seekers need additional help after those three months, there are resources available.
One of the big issues the agency faces is finding housing for immigrants, especially for families larger than four people.
Transportation is also a huge issue, which is why many refugees are not relocated to the Mount Vernon or Lisbon communities, as it’s a distance from Cedar Rapids or Iowa City without the transportation systems those communities have.
Duggar said there are more than 26 million refugees living in refugee camps around the world, and the United States currently only takes a cap of 125,000 in any given year.
“Refugees go through one of the most intense vetting processes,” Duggar said. “Those checks are all done before they even touch United States soil. There’s no question that refugees who come to this country are safe people.”
Duggar is really proud of the work that has happened to revamp their citizenship classes for immigrants, that they’ve gone from having seven students who pass the naturalization class to 28 students.
“One of the things we did with the revamped class was give the context of the slavery and oppression those people faced,” Duggar said. “It’s opened our eyes to some of the slavery that happens in countries like Africa as well.”
Refugees programs discussed at League of Women Voters meeting
June 1, 2023
About the Contributor
Nathan Countryman, Editor
Nathan Countryman is the Editor of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.