By Audrey Dutton, Idaho Capital Sun
(EAST IDAHO NEWS) BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — Idaho has welcomed thousands of refugees, from dozens of countries, for decades.
That tradition slowed in recent years, as the Trump administration placed record-low caps on refugee admissions and temporarily banned travel from Muslim countries, and last year as the COVID-19 pandemic halted travel.
President Joe Biden has lifted the cap, but warned that it will take time to restore the system that helped refugees resettle in the U.S.
When the Idaho Capital Sun asked three local refugees why they or their families chose to leave their original home countries, their answers were the same: Staying would have meant death, danger or misery.
“Nobody wants to leave their home. That’s why it’s called their home,” said Palina Louangketh, founder and executive director of a nonprofit that plans to open a museum in Boise dedicated to telling the stories of people forced out of their homelands.
Sometimes the decision to flee happens over a few years, she said. “Or sometimes, you’re not even thinking about it, but danger is around the corner, and you make the split-second decision to leave with just the clothes on your back.”
Azad Ghulami, 37, Boise
Five refugees arrived in Idaho in March. Three came from the Democratic Republic of Congo. One came from the Central African Republic. And there was Azad Ghulami, a Hazara refugee from the Ghazni Province of Afghanistan.
He came to Boise alone, without his wife or 7-year-old daughter. He doesn’t know how long it will take to reunite with them here, he said. But he’s trying to be patient. He is just starting to build a life here.
Ghulami went from business to business asking for work, he said. He found a security job at a call center and got a driver’s license. He couldn’t waste any time: The financial assistance he receives as a refugee will end soon. And the rent for his apartment is $800 a month.
