LEXINGTON, Ky. — Experts and people who have experienced being a refugee are discussing how to improve state and federal policy to better support Kentucky's new immigrants. The panel discussion is happening today at the University of Kentucky.

Each year, Kentucky accepts refugees in numbers more than twice the national average. In 2017, more than 1,500 refugees were settled statewide, according to the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.

Mary Beth McGavarn is a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the University of Kentucky who works with refugees. She said while housing, employment and language are major barriers to getting settled, mental health often is overlooked.

"We more and more think of mental health as an entity, or as a separate thing. And many people that we work with, they connect mental and physical health,” McGavarn said. “So they might not be saying, 'My mental health is impacted,' even though they're talking about grief and loss, but they might be feeling it more in their bodies."

Since 2011, Kentucky has resettled refugees from Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and other war-torn countries. Studies have documented high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression among those fleeing their home countries.

Diane Sumney is an English as a Second Language teacher with Fayette County Schools. In 2008, her elementary school suddenly had an influx of around 80 refugees. Sumney started an after-school program to help children cope with their trauma.

She said on the surface, children can appear to be adjusting. But often they have deep psychological issues from experiencing war that manifest in other ways, such as drawing pictures. She told a story of one such student.

"He started his picture and he kept saying, 'I shouldn't be drawing this. I shouldn't be drawing this,' and he kept moving around, 'I shouldn't be drawing this,' and he was drawing suddenly and frantically,” Sumney said. “This was a kid who was doing well in school, and wasn't having too many problems. Before he had finished that picture, he had scooted somehow under the table at the end of the hallway and was in the corner."

For older children and teenagers, the experience of being helpless or dependent on others can be just as traumatic.

Elisha Mutayonwa arrived in Kentucky as a teenage refugee from the Republic of Congo with his father and six siblings.

"I went to high school here. My first day of high school, they wanted to put me in ninth grade. I was turning 19 then,” Mutayonwa said. “They wanted to put me in ninth grade, so there was no communication between us. They didn't know anything about my background - if I went to school before or anything."

Mutayonwa now is a student at Bluegrass Technical and Community College. He said the biggest change he'd like to see in the resettlement process is allowing refugees to make decisions for themselves.


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Leaders at the 5th annual Immigration Summit, which wrapped up in Los Angeles Friday, have vowed to stand strong no matter what happens with the November election.

The Republican candidate for president has called for mass deportations.

Miguel Santana, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation, said it alarms many people in a county where more than one-third of the residents of all ethnicities are foreign-born, and about 60% of children have at least one immigrant parent.

"We've been engaged in scenario planning," Santana explained. "We've prepared our immigrant community so that they know their rights, that we have the proper defense, but also, we're advancing comprehensive immigration reform. That is really what's needed."

The summit was co-sponsored by the California Community Foundation, the Council of Immigrant Inclusion and the Equity Research Institute at the University of Southern California.

Manuel Pastor, director of the institute, said deportations would leave a huge hole in the economy and tear families apart.

"In L.A. County, about a fifth of all Angelenos are either undocumented themselves or living with a family member who is undocumented," Pastor pointed out. "Fear of deportation, problems with accessing services because of status, affect a wide number of families."

Researchers also released the 5th annual State of Immigrants in Los Angeles report, which found naturalizations and wages for immigrants are up over the past few years. It also recommended continued support for county programs providing legal aid and help people access services in their preferred language.


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The Missouri House of Representatives has formed a special committee to look into what the House Speaker refers to as crimes committed by immigrants living illegally in Missouri.

The formation of this committee has sparked a debate between those who see it as a necessary step for public safety and those who view it as a misuse of resources driven by political motives.

House Speaker Dean Plocher - R-St. Louis County - said he's convinced this committee's findings will increase the safety of Missourians.

"The message needs to be," said Plocher, "'If you're not here in the state of Missouri legally, you're going to be detained - and you're going to be deported if you're committing crimes.'"

Data provided by Customs and U.S. Border Protection show last year, there were more than 1,200 violent crimes by committed non-citizens in the U.S. nationwide, and more than 2,000 related to drug trafficking and possession.

The first committee hearing will be in Jefferson City on July 11.

State Rep. David Tyson Smith - D-Columbia - said this isn't an issue in Missouri, and believes the committee is a waste of time and resources. He said it's all being done for political talking points.

"If we are really serious about these issues," said Smith, "we would form a special committee on gun violence to crack down on the shootings that are happening all over our state, that need to be clamped down on."

Studies have repeatedly shown that immigrants - legal and illegal - are more law abiding than people born here.

Research from The Marshall Project has found no correlation between undocumented immigrants and a rise in violent crimes.

However, some committee members believe people living in the U.S. illegally are to blame for an increase in Fentanyl and sex trafficking.




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A "Dreamer" running for the New Mexico Senate said a Biden administration plan to create pathways allowing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals beneficiaries to more quickly gain legal status could encourage others to follow her lead.

Cindy Nava bested her primary opponent earlier this month to face Republican Audrey Trujillo in November for the state's Senate District 9 seat. Nava was the first DACA recipient to receive a presidential appointment as Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.

Nava worked in the New Mexico Statehouse on behalf of Democratic lawmakers for a decade but could not get paid because she was undocumented. She eventually enrolled in the DACA program and became a U.S. citizen through marriage.

"I believe our families come from a place where we have always been afraid and my own parents tell me day to day," Nava pointed out. "But we learn to live with that fear and build resilience to work forward."

The 12-year-old DACA program provides protection from deportation and work authorization for undocumented young people who arrived as children and grew up in the U.S. The recent Biden initiative would allow those who have earned a college degree and received an offer of employment from a U.S. employer in a field related to their degree to more quickly receive work visas.

Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, Nava grew up in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. She noted the U.S. population is shifting and predicted soon, DACA recipients will be occupying seats in Congress. She believes they need a more stable pathway, requiring bipartisan cooperation at all levels of government.

"New Mexico's a great example of having leaders who have invested in opening opportunities for immigrants, from educational opportunities to driver's licenses for immigrants," Nava emphasized. "All of those things actually can be undertaken at a state level, and can be deeply meaningful."

There are currently about 600,000 DACA recipients across the country, with more than 75% in the workforce.


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