Washington’s refugee communities brace

Refugee service providers and immigration attorneys in western Washington said they are seeing a rapid surge in fear and confusion after President Trump issued sweeping statements signaling major shifts in U.S. immigration policy including the possibility of revisiting cases of people already living in the country legally.

At Jewish Family Service of Seattle, which provides resettlement and case management support for refugees, staff members say both employees and clients were jolted by the comments.

“Our clients and our staff are sort of reeling themselves at this moment,” said Griff Lambert, a program director at the organization.

Families, he said, began asking whether it was safe for their children to attend school and whether Afghan refugees would face backlash after the shooting of National Guard members in Washington, D.C., which renewed national scrutiny of immigration vetting.

“We’ve heard from families who are wondering: is it safe for them to send their kids to school? To what degree are Afghans going to be blamed for the actions of this one individual?” Lambert said.