SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - In a story April 2 about an advocacy group that has held legal training sessions for refugees and immigrants, The Associated Press, relying on information from the group, erroneously reported the name of the organization. The name is Refugee and Immigrant Center - Asian Association of Utah, not the Asian Association of Utah’s Refugee and Immigrant Center.
A corrected version of the story is below:
Travel ban prompts training sessions for Utah refugees
A Salt Lake City group is hosting a series of legal training sessions this month to ensure refugees and immigrants understand their legal rights as President Donald Trump tries to invoke a travel ban and a refugee resettlement suspension
By HALLIE GOLDEN
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Salah Omar escaped war-torn Somalia around the age of 5 with his parents and siblings and spent a decade living in a Kenyan refugee camp. He finally found a welcoming home in Utah as a teenager in 2004.
More than a decade later, the 28-year-old father of four is now terrified that President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration will translate into his deportation back to Somalia and separation from his U.S.-born children.
Omar is among dozens of refugees and immigrants who have attended legal training sessions this month in Salt Lake City by a refugee advocacy group working to make sure they understand that most should not be affected by Trump’s suspended executive order to freeze the U.S. refugee program.
“That would be the worst hurtful weapon somebody could use to hurt me, to take my kids away and separate me,” said Omar, who worries his application to renew his permanent U.S. residency could be in jeopardy.
On Wednesday, the revised travel ban was blocked by a federal judge in Hawaii who issued a longer-lasting order hours before it was set to take effect.
The Utah legal training sessions are among hundreds held across the U.S. since Trump signed the executive order, said Betsy Fisher, Policy director at The International Refugee Assistance Project, a New-York based group.
The six Utah training seminars for refugees and immigrants led by lawyers offering their services free are a first for the Refugee and Immigrant Center - Asian Association of Utah- and designed to ease uncertainty for the refugees who usually feel welcomed in Utah.
Although Utah voted for Trump, the state has had a long history of being welcoming to refugees.
Most Utah residents are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and many feel a connection with refugees because the state was founded by Mormon pioneers who crossed the country looking for a safe place to settle and practice their religious beliefs without interference.
Refugees who come to the sessions ask about their rights and what they should do if the police show up at their house, said attorney James McConkie, a lawyer and founder of the non-partisan group Refugee Justice League of Utah
“Since refugees are not acquainted with our customs and our laws and have been in countries where some have been tortured and placed in jail, they come to this country expecting that that could happen to them here,” he said.
If Trump’s order eventually goes into effect, some refugees living in Utah may not be able to return to the U.S. if they travel abroad, said Brad Parker, another founder of the group.
On a recent weekday evening, Omar and other refugees took notes as immigration lawyers spent three hours with them explaining the law and answering questions.
Omar said after he attended the session that he decided to consult with a lawyer to ensure he is not separated from his children. He had plans to visit Somalia, but decided he likely won’t make the trip.
“Now it’s like I don’t even have that chance,” he said.
Michael Kwan, a city justice court judge and outspoken Trump critic who is chair of the refugee and immigrant center’s board said he has heard of people afraid to leave their homes.
“They wonder if they are subject to being picked up, arrested and deported,” he said.
Utah ranks middle-of-the pack in the U.S. for the number of refugees it receives, taking in about 1,100 each year.
Nearly 11,000 refugees have settled in Utah since 2007 - the 22nd most among states, according to an analysis of U.S. State Department data by The Associated Press. The 1,319 refugees who arrived in 2016 represented the most annual arrivals since 2009.
Nearly 80 percent are from Bhutan, Burma, Somalia, Iraq and Congo.
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Associated Press writer Brady McCombs in Salt Lake City contributed to this story.
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