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Alaska Refugees At Risk in Border Dispute

US Department of Health and Human Services

Possibly the biggest domestic political conflict at the moment is the sudden influx of undocumented children to American borders.  With Immigration and Customs enforcement lacking the resources to adequately detain and process these individuals, President Obama has asked for additional funds.  But depending on where these funds come from, there may be unintended consequences.  KDLG’s Chase Cavanaugh has more.

State democratic representative Max Greunberg wrote a letter to US Republican Congressman Don Young expressing his concerns about how to provide funds for dealing with the recent surge in undocumented children at the border.   He urged Young to approve the $3.7 billion in emergency funding requested by Obama, warning that otherwise, Alaskan refugees would be severely harmed. 

Under the Department of Health and Human Services is the Office of Refugee Resettlement.  It has programs dealing with three different vulnerable populations, refugees, victims of human trafficking and undocumented minors.  According to Karen Ferguson, the state refugee coordinator, if ORR doesn’t get the emergency funds to deal with the minors, it would have to take money from the other two programs nationally.  Since Alaska only participates in the refugee program, she says the reallocation would have a disproportionate impact on the state.

“The refugee program has 94 million dollars being taken out of it to cover the unanticipated costs for the unaccompanied alien children, so for Alaska, that means we will lost almost half a million dollars in funding for the refugee program because we’re part of that greater picture of that shift of funding.”

120 of the roughly 70,000 refugees that are resettled each year come to Alaska, mostly settling around Anchorage.  They come from nations such as Sudan, Burma, and Iraq, which they have fled due to war or other extreme circumstances.  Upon their arrival, ORR, run in Alaska by Catholic Social Services, helps them find homes and jobs so they are able to live self-sufficiently.

Gruenberg says allowing funds to be taken from the refugee program would jeopardize an especially vulnerable population.

“Refugees are not just ordinary immigrants. They’re people who seek asylum in the United States. They can’t go back, they risk life and limb, not only for themselves and their families too. It’s very serious, these are people who are in dire straits, have nowhere else to go in the world.”

Congress is expected to take action on funding this week.