Refugee Stories, GRMR
Victoria Simoni Assuncao
Refugees in Malaysia Find a Home in the Arts

A life begun in gunfire and instability is brought to the stage. Fluid motions and words embody the resilience of the stateless—reframing a narrative of victimization to one of powerful actors, playwrights, and directors.

This is the everyday work of Parastoo Theater.

Gabriela Pieschacon
Election Year Hot Topic: Immigration Policies ...

Many are used to election years bringing highly controversial topics to the forefront of social media and news outlets. It is easy to step back from the political conversations, but what happens when this leaves few advocates for highly impacting causes?

Currently, the US-Mexico border has been experiencing escalating tensions, and Americans have taken notice. With the assumption of front-runners being Joe Biden and Donald Trump, a recent poll in the Wall Street Journal highlighted the importance voters placed on the 2024 presidential candidates’ immigration policies. This poll suggested that 13 percent of respondents chose immigration as the most important issue when voting in November of 2024, becoming the second-most relevant issue, only ranked 8 points behind the economy. A large percentage of these voters also claim to refuse to vote at all if the candidates do not provide immigration policies that align with their immigration views.

Resettlement

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Welcome Corps: Getting Ordinary Americans Involved in Resettlement Efforts in the U.S.

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Launched and announced earlier this year on January 19th, 2023, the Welcome Corps is a new private sponsorship program that creates a way for everyday Americans to play a welcoming role in resettling refugees throughout the United States (U.S. Department of State, 2023). A collaboration of the Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services has worked to create this pilot private sponsorship program that shifts away from the way previous refugee resettlement in the U.S. has worked. Described as the “boldest innovation in refugee resettlement in four decades” by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, this program works to empower Americans to take ownership in creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for refugees.

A Different Kind of Humidity

A Different Kind of Humidity

I remember my last night in Beirut like it was yesterday.

I was fourteen at the time and a true daydreamer, with a vast imagination acquired through long nights of reading. My creativity blossomed into full fruition: I was always writing some stories or crafting narratives within my head.

Yet, whenever I thought of the future ahead of me, where I would be standing in two days, my mind drew a blank. I had no idea what America looked like, let alone south Florida. I didn’t know what my surroundings would entail, what color my bedroom walls would be, what shape the bathroom faucet would curve into, what the scenery outside held, or the scent of the sky.

But what I knew were my friends’ familiar faces, how we walked around Hamra chatting the day away, and the local bakery across my home with fresh bread. I loved Beirut and its winding roads, chaotic traffic, and historic buildings. I liked strolling by the Corniche and watching my hair stick up from the humidity, a love-hate relationship I had with the Mediterranean sea.

I was born and raised in Kirkuk, Iraq until 2006, when the sectarian violence erupted. The situation became more precarious by the day…