Living And Working In America: Asylum Seekers and Refugees

We hear the story of a local woman, “Maria,” who fled war-torn Syria for the United States more than 10 years ago. While her request for asylum languished in the courts for the last seven years, she carried on the work of creating a new life, forming a community, and working as an immigration advocate. Just this week, she found out that her request for asylum has been denied. She now finds herself in a state of limbo, unable to return to her own country out of fear of persecution, uncertain of a future here. In the final installment of our weeklong series looking into what it’s like to be an immigrant without permanent status in the U.S., we focus on the experiences of asylum seekers and refugees. We speak with “Maria” from Syria; Maya Oyarbide-Sanchez, Refugee One Wellness Director; Heena Musabji, Legal Director at CAIR-Chicago; and Maketh Mabior, a former refugee from Sudan and lay leader of the South Sudanese congregation at St Paul's Church. All of today’s guests work on representing, resettling, and supporting refugees and other displaced people under a cloud of uncertainty created by the current administration. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.