Somali Bantu Community Association of Pittsburgh

Refugees are vetted carefully prior to their admissions to the United States. Re-verifying them does destroys their last hope of settlement after years of seeking permanent place to call home. Being a refugee isn't a choice and no one wants to become a refugee for better opportunities or for resources of other countries. Safety and well founded fear of one's own life is the main factor.

Operation PARRIS, announced by USCIS on Jan. 9, stands for “Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening.” It’s a sweeping Trump administration initiative to re-vet thousands of refugees through new “background checks, reinterviews and merit reviews of refugee claims,” according to the news release, which characterized the effort as a “war on fraud.” (Research shows immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born citizens.) It targets those who haven’t yet obtained their green cards, which refugees are required to do within one year of arriving in the country.

The operation was piloted in Minnesota, where more than 100 refugees from about a dozen countries were arrested in January and flown to detention centers in Texas for interviews. None had criminal records and all cases reviewed by the New York Times had applied for green cards. Experts said DHS wants to expand PARRIS to other states, which could affect some refugees in the Pittsburgh region. It follows the administration’s indefinite refugee ban, which has been in place for more than a year.

Lawfully present refugees tend to feel less vulnerable to immigration enforcement than undocumented people and other types of immigrants. It’s why the letters — and the broader federal crackdown on refugees — have stunned those who’ve resettled here and the network of nonprofits and community groups that serve them.

“They’re shocked, right?” said Dana Gold, COO of Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS), one of the region’s four resettlement agencies. They’re thinking, “I went through years in a refugee camp, I went through so much vetting, I went to cultural orientation classes … and when I got here, I was finally free. I was going to be able to contribute and build a life here in the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

Read more at publicsource.org.

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Happy, safe and healthy Eid Al-Fitri Mubarak.

"Somali Bantus survived a dictatorship government, racial hatred , civil war in the 1990s in Somalia and many years in refugees camps taught us lessons of a hope and resiliency."

___Aweys Mwaliya

Pittsburgh Somali Bantu leaders say Trump rhetoric, ICE crackdown has residents fearful Even before Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday night, ocal leaders say this has been a difficult time for Pittsburgh’s Somali Bantu community. "People are no longer living, they're just surviving," said one local leader.

Wishing you a happy and a safe blessed month of Ramadan.!

The power of a community lays on a organized voices of advocacy and reliance.

Happy new year 🎉 2026

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