Amid calls by the incoming administration to halt the flow of refugees from Syria, religious and other non-profit groups continue to help them find homes in New Jersey.
CAMDEN--The clock begins ticking the moment Patrick Barry gets an email.
The director of the refugee and immigration services program at Catholic Charities of Camden, Barry has just two weeks to prepare for the arrival of a refugee family from some war-torn corner of the globe once he gets word they are coming. In that time, he has to find an apartment where they can live, solicit donations to get them on their feet, and make sure there is a translator available when they are picked up up at the airport.
After they arrive, there are language classes, job fairs and lessons in cultural immersion aimed at making them self-sufficient as quickly as possible.
Barry, whose own relatives fled the Khmer Rouge regime of Cambodia in late 1970s, said it can be complicated and messy, but many of the refugees have been in limbo for years, not knowing what was going to happen to them.
"They want to find a way to thrive," he said. "The reason they're here is because they cannot go back home."
Despite a growing backlash against the admission of any refugees, fueled by Trump's recent election as president, a number of religious groups and other non-profits in New Jersey continue to work to help resettle those fleeing violence in their homelands.
This past week, the Archdiocese of Newark said it would restart a refugee resettlement program it had been forced to suspend several years ago because of funding problems.
And the Diocese of Camden, which has resettling refugees for decades, found new homes for nearly 100 of them this past year.
The issue of welcoming refugees to this country, which became a flashpoint during the presidential campaign, has sparked strong emotions even before the election.
Last year, anti-refugee demonstrators clashed with activists in Newton. In 2015, Gov. Chris Christie declared he would not accept any refugees from Syria, in the wake of the deadly terrorist attack in Paris. Then a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, he urged President Barack Obama not to admit anyone from Syria. And in April, the administration announced that New Jersey would no longer will participate in the federal government's refugee resettlement program.
President-elect Donald Trump, while still a candidate, pledged that he would suspend the Syrian refugee program, and threatened to deport those already here.
Several non-government organizations continue to help refugees in New Jersey, including the International Rescue Committee, Church World Service, and Catholic Charities in Camden, and now the Newark Archdiocese.
Jim Goodness, a spokesman for the Newark Archdiocese, said retiring Archbishop John J. Myers has been very focused on the efforts to ease the international refugee crisis and that there was no political agenda in play over the decision to launch a resettlement program.
"This was something that well before the election was on the mind of the archbishop," Goodness said.
Cardinal Joseph Tobin, who defied a ban by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on resettling Syrian refugees. (Vincenzo Pinto | AFP/Getty Images)
Myers' successor, Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis, is not likely to change course. Last year, he defied a ban by Indiana Gov. Mike's Pence--the vice president-elect--on resettling Syrian refugees in the Hoosier state.
Maria Biancheri, senior grants specialist with the Catholic Charities organization of the archdiocese, said the agency felt it was important to heed the Biblical call to "welcome the stranger."
"We looked at the issue and felt it was important to get back into it," she said.
They plan to start small, initially with a group of at least 50 refugees next year. They are expected to come from Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
"They all go through a rigorous and comprehensive background check with a number of federal agencies involved," she noted.
Biancheri said the program is a challenge. With only minimal federal funding available, she said agencies that get involved in the resettlement efforts are not covering their costs.
"One of the things I'm hope is to get our parishes involved and 'adopt' a family," she said. She is also already seeking volunteers.
Elsewhere, others have gone out of their way to welcome refugees in their own ways.
Last Christmas, Bnai Keshet, a Jewish congregation in Montclair, hosted 10 Syrian Muslim refugee families living in Elizabeth for a "traditional" Jewish Christmas dinner of Chinese food. But it didn't end there, said Rabbi Elliott Tepperman, the leader of synagogue. Since then, there have been a continuing series of meals shared in peoples' homes, and Thanksgiving celebrations.
"That dinner became a platform for us to build on relations that far, far exceeded my expectations," he said.
According to Rep. Bill Pascrell, (D-9th Dist.), some 582 refugees were resettled in New Jersey over the past year. Those numbers, from the Department of State, included 355 people from Syria--most of them finding a home in Elizabeth.
Christie administration won't help resettlement
The refugee resettlement programs, though, can be costly and difficult to administer.
Last January, the Diocese of Metuchen announced plans to launch a refugee resettlement program through a partnership with the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops' Office of Migration and Refugee Services--one of nine volunteer agencies in the country that manages reception and placement programs under agreement with the Department of State. It anticipated taking in 40 families within the first year.
The effort never got off the ground. On Friday, diocese officials disclosed they had abandoned the effort before it even began.
"While we hoped to have already begun the refugee resettlement program in the Diocese of Metuchen, we are not in a position to move forward at this time," diocesan Chancellor Lori Albanese said in a statement.
Albanese had been appointed to oversee the program.
"Staff of the diocese are working to consider the many details necessary to support this program and hope that, with due diligence, we may build a strong resettlement program to welcome and assist these refugee families in the future," she said.
Patrick Barry, director of the refugee resettlement program for Catholic Charities of Camden. (Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com)
Kevin Hickey, executive director of Catholic Charities of Camden, said the agency's refugee resettlement work can be difficult to administer.
"It's not a well-subsidized program," he said. "This was designed to be a public- private partnership."
Most refugees come without being able to speak English, their children have spent years in camps with no education, and they are provided with only a limited amount of funds before they are expected to find work and become self-sufficient. At the same time, Hickey said the agency works to diversify where they settle the new arrivals, not to create ghettos or overwhelm school districts.
This past year, Catholic Charities of Camden placed 96 refugees, but also signed up more than 50 new volunteers to help support the effort.
Barry said the refugees come tired, relieved but excited. Many have not been on airplanes before. They require help in navigating what most people take for granted.
But they figure it out, he said. They come with smart phones and Google Translate. After a few months, he said they are already assimilating to the American culture.
"They want to start a new life. They want to protect their children," he said. "To no longer have to worry about what's going to happen to them is extraordinarily comforting."
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
