Seeking the American dream

Claudette Riley Springfield News-Leader | USA TODAY NETWORK

The moment the call came that Manal Alsaker and her children were allowed to enter the United States, they all broke into a spontaneous happy dance. ● At that point, the children had spent roughly half their lives without a country to call home.

● The family — a mother, two sons and three daughters — fled northern Iraq in 2014 when Islamic terrorists took over Mosul. They rushed to a different city, only for it to suffer the same fate. They woke up in the middle of the night, packed a bag and started running in the same direction as everyone else. ● They didn’t know where they were going. They ended up in Turkey, where they spent 10 years in limbo. ● Officially classified as refugees, their goal was to reach the safety of the United States. They did not care about the city or state.

“We always hear about America, how it’s great, about how people can achieve their dreams here and they can plan for the future,” said Ahmed Alaid, 25, who works six days a week as a delivery driver. The family of five — an older daughter stayed behind with her husband — arrived in Springfield. They felt lost but found a lifeline in the International Institute of Southwest Missouri, which has long connected immigrants and refugees arriving in the Ozarks with vital services to help them find work and integrate into the community.

“I was scared but at the same time I was excited,” said Imtihan Alaid, 21, the oldest daughter who made the move. “We feel so grateful for them. They showed us the way.”

The family arrived without savings or money to buy a car. Except for Imtihan and the two youngest in high school, the others had limited English skills.

The institute paid for them to stay in a hotel and then covered the first two months of rent at their first apartment on North Golden Avenue, where they encountered welcoming and helpful neighbors. In the fall, they moved into a new place off Battlefield Road.

Institute staffers helped family members obtain identification, fill out necessary paperwork and learn to navigate public transportation.

The family members enrolled in English classes and went through job training, which helped them with every facet of securing employment. They found jobs and bought a car.

“They have been like a mother for us, like we are newborn babies and they are the mother,” said Manal Alsaker, whose Arabic was translated into English by Imtihan. “Now we have to figure it out by ourselves.”

Agency receives ‘cease work order’

In late January, shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump suspended federal funding for refugee resettlement as part of executive orders focused on halting immigration. It halted nearly all the funding for the Springfield office and others located in Missouri, which meant widespread layoffs and a cessation of nearly all ser vices.

The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, managed by the U.S. government, was created with the 1980 Refugee Act, to help identify, screen and resettle refugees.

There has been a refugee resettlement agency open in the Springfield area since 2013.

Rebekah Thomas, executive director of the Springfield office, said the institute has helped more than 1,800 people in that time and resettled at least 746 refugees through the federal government’s Refugee Admissions Program.

She said the office anticipated changes would occur during the Trump administration but she was not prepared for a range of funding streams to be “paused” indefinitely.

“What we didn’t expect to happen is on Jan. 24, we received a cease work order for all resettlement activities, basically stating we would not be reimbursed for any work activities beyond that specific date,” Thomas said. “We had a lot of families, we had families in hotels.”

In the few months prior to the order, the office welcomed 177 individuals in Springfield, Ozark and Nixa. In the past year, the office served families from 21 counties with the largest number from Ukraine, Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan. The office operated with 10 federal grants, some of which were appropriated by the U.S. Congress and are still flowing. For the largest grant, the office provided services upfront and then sought reimbursement. The freeze meant the office was not paid for nearly $250,000 worth of work in December or January.

“Right now we have no indication whether or not that money will be reimbursed to us, which is a little bit concerning. I am sure it will be eventually but right now normal processes aren’t working,” Thomas said.

Thomas said she was forced to lay off nearly all of the agency’s 24 staffers.

“It is just heartbreaking, what is happening,” she said.

‘People come and they need help’

One of the agency staffers was Imtihan. The 21-year-old with excellent English skills wanted to help other families the way hers had been helped. She was among the many who lost their job.

“I saw many people come and they need help I just leave them behind,” she said. “I feel so bad.”

The office is set up to provide the most intense level of service in the first months of arrival but remains available as a resource to families as new challenges arise. The limited staffers are swamped trying to help the newer arrivals.

“In several months, you cannot learn everything. You cannot learn the system, the law, the language,” Imtihan said. “So when they become too busy, (the refugees) feel lost a little bit.”

Manal Alsaker and the four children she brought to Springfield are finding their way. They had some lucky breaks.

“We already have passports. My mom, she’s like really smart. She got all the documents we have and she just take us to Turkey because we felt there was no clear future for us,” Imtihan said of staying in Iraq.

In Turkey, the family struggled. They slept in a park for awhile. Finally, as refugees, they were able to access help and to start the process of applying to go to the U.S. They went through multiple rounds of interviews and screenings but remained in limbo for years.

Most of the family hope to stay in Springfield long-term. They celebrated the Fourth of July last year.

“I feel quiet here. It’s a quiet city and it’s small and nice and we have people here, neighbors and friends,” Imtihan said. “All of us, we want to stay here. It’s become our home now.”

In Springfield, they have not encountered the racism and bigotry they periodically faced in Turkey. There are not a lot of Muslims or Iraqis here but they have made friends.

‘Hard to plan for the future’

Family members invited the News-Leader into their home last week just before sunset. The family is observing Ramadan and the mother, a chef who wants to eventually sell desserts at a farmer’s market, prepared a feast.

Through her daughter, who translated, Manal said the toughest part of the transition is not knowing the language. She is taking English classes, which have been harder to find of late, at Ozarks Technical Community College.

“She is very social so this is hard for her. She has been a chef, she has worked in a restaurant,” Imtihan said. “English is her barrier.”

Ahmed, the oldest son, is working a lot of hours, and wants to own his own business someday.

Imtihan, who lost her job at the institute, is preparing to take the high school equivalency test — because there is no way to show she finished schooling in Turkey — so she can study to be a nurse. Her goal is to be a doctor. Mahmood Alaid, 18, and Shahed Alaid, 16, are both juniors in high school, despite their age difference. They started at Hillcrest but when the family moved to an apartment in south Springfield, Mahmood transferred to Kickapoo, where he plays soccer. Shahed stayed at Hillcrest, where she has developed a group of friends. They study and work part-time.

Mahmood, who wants to be a photographer, said he remembers the uncertainty the family felt while taking refuge in Turkey. He understands how other refugees might be feeling now.

“For 10 years, we’re like (maybe) tomorrow we’re going to the United States,” he recalled. “It was hard to plan for the future.”

The family said they are grateful for the help they received from the institute and hope others who arrive here will have the same help.

Someday, they’d like to visit Iraq to see family and find out what happened to their home and belongings. But, they say Springfield is now home.

“If we go back, we have to start from zero,” Imtihan said. “We have been starting from zero all the time.”