PROVIDENCE — Students are afraid to come to English classes. About half as many refugees are showing up for a weekly food pantry. And the Trump administration has abruptly cut off funding for the resettlement of refugees.
But Teddi Jallow, executive director of the Refugee Dream Center in Providence, is determined to continue her work helping newcomers to America.
“No matter how hard it is, we are going to work with them, and we will help them to be self-sufficient,” Jallow said on the Rhode Island Report podcast. “That is what we are going to do, no matter what message we get from D.C.”
After taking office on Jan. 20, Trump immediately paused refugee resettlement, calling for the secretaries of Homeland Security and State to submit a report within 90 days to determine if it should be restarted, and his administration cut off funding for resettlement programs.
As a result, the Refugee Dream Center had been forced to cut five staff members devoted to refugee resettlement, bringing the center’s total staffing down to 14, Jallow said.
While she is worried, she said the center will continue its mission.
“I also have the belief that we will survive because we do have good people around,” Jallow said. “Rhode Islanders are reaching out to volunteer a lot, and some are also donating individually. We receive calls every day.”
Jallow and her husband, Omar Bah, founded The Refugee Dream Center in 2015, and they are refugees themselves, having fled The Gambia. Bah, who worked as a journalist in The Gambia, was beaten and tortured after he tried to cover a secret trial, and he narrowly escaped the country alive.
Jallow believes it is illegal for the Trump administration to halt funding to resettle refugees who came to the United States legally. And the US Conference of Catholic Bishops is suing the Trump administration, accusing it of violating various laws as well as the constitutional provision giving the power of the purse to Congress, which already approved the funding.
But meanwhile, Trump’s immigration orders and edicts are sending waves of fear through Rhode Island’s refugee community, Jallow said. “Everybody’s scared,” she said. “Many people are coming and saying, ‘What is next?’”
Refugees are in the United State legally and have I-94 forms documenting their entry, Jallow noted. But many have family members remaining in the country they came from, and they fear they will never be reunified now, she said. And since Trump’s inauguration, some immigrants have decided to leave for Canada, she said.
The chilling effect is evident at the Refugee Dream Center’s weekly food pantry, for example. “We used to see nothing less than 150 families, but now we see like 80 or even less,” Jallow said.
Many immigrants are going to and from work only, while avoiding other public places, and some are not showing up for medical appointments, she said.
Some young immigrants are trying to find second or even third jobs because they think they will need more money if they get deported. At the same time, factories and other employers are calling the center, looking for workers, she said.
Jallow said she feels compelled to speak out despite the widespread fear.
“I am a voice to so many thousands of people,” she said. “It is important for me to speak up to tell America – or to tell the world – that this is happening every day. This is what we are facing. When people know what is going on, it is easier for them to help.”
Jallow said she wants to challenge Trump’s attempt to portray all immigrants as criminals. She said people like her are drawn here by the “American dream.”
“People come here and become whatever they want to be, because America gave us that opportunity,” she said. “I was born and raised in a very remote village in The Gambia where girls are not allowed to go to school, but America gave me the opportunity.”
Now, Jallow said she is contributing to her community, the economy, and society.
“I am also a role model to so many other refugees and immigrants that I serve here, and even Americans,” she said. “So I think Trump should see the impact that immigrants and refugees are creating in the United States, and not just brand them as criminals or illegal.”
To get the latest episode each week, follow Rhode Island Report podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcasting platforms, or listen in the player above.
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.