Monday, October 18, 2004
Columbus trails only Minneapolis in U.S. population of Somali refugees.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Although Amina Said Mohamed has escaped the violence in her home country of Somalia and the turmoil of Kenyan refugee camps, life in Ohio hasn't been easy.
She's taking nursing classes at Columbus State Community College while struggling to rear her six children alone. Her husband, Afi Mohamed Abdi, is still in Kenya, sharing a room with three other men in a slum on the fringes of Nairobi.
Mohamed is one of about 600 refugees in central Ohio who have applied during the past year to be reunited with 4,000 relatives stuck overseas, The Columbus Dispatch reported Sunday in a series on the refugee camps.
"Life is better since we left Africa, but it's still not complete," said Mohamed, 43, who's been separated from Abdi for 3 1/2 years.
The two married in December 2000, when Mohamed and her children were going through the process of immigrating to the United States. Resettlement workers told the couple that adding Abdi to the family might mean years of delays, so they decided Mohamed and the children would go without him.
Columbus has the second-largest population of Somali refugees in the United States, behind Minneapolis. Many think it could surpass Minneapolis as immigration officials work through application backlogs that date back 10 years.
Reason for surge
A recent easing of security delays and travel restrictions has led to a surge of refugees who will soon be joining family members here. The family reunification program accounts for nearly two-thirds of all permanent immigration to the United States each year.
Almost all the 577 refugees approved to join relatives in Columbus this year are from Somalia and other African countries, said Angela Plummer, director of Community Refugee & amp; Immigration Services, a nonprofit Columbus group. Applications for almost 4,000 more refugees are being processed.
The growing number new arrivals, with varying degrees of need, has taxed the support systems in the city and Franklin County.
"The cultural, educational, health care and employment barriers for these new Americans are enormous," Mayor Michael Coleman said. "In Columbus, we embrace and extend our hands to everyone."
The Columbus public school district spent nearly $10 million on introductory English classes last year. Nearly 1,120 of the district's 62,200 were Somali. About 25 percent of them spent the school year at one of three welcome centers, taking English-as-a-second-language classes.
"It will take most of these students seven to 10 years before they reach the same competency as students raised here," said Ken Woodard, who supervises the language program. "That's a huge gap."
Spending funds
The federal government will spend more than $1.2 million this year -- a 23-percent increase from last year -- helping Somalis and other refugees resettle in Franklin County through such aid as English lessons, health screenings and job training.
To bring a family member to the United States, a refugee must promise to support that person and must have an income of at least 125 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $18,850 a year for a family of four.
Mohamed, who has lost two husbands, has vowed to bring her husband to the United States.
"I'm here legally," she said, raising her fist in the air for emphasis. "I will never give up on bringing my husband here -- even if it takes me the rest of my life."
Abdi has already interviewed with resettlement workers but still awaits a medical checkup and security screening.
"We were told we'd be together again in 120 days. That was seven days ago," he said in late August in Kenya. "I love and miss Amina and the children so much. They are my life."
He's still waiting.