Annual Reports

Still Welcome: Syrian Refugees,
U.S. Resettlement Policies, and
Community Response

Resettled refugee families are resilient. Each individual Syrian refugee has their own unique experience, from what caused them to leave Syria, to their experiences at different stages of displacement, to the process of adjusting to their new life in the U.S. We highlight numerous experiences and reflections of resettled Syrian refugees in this report. Through conversations with them and members of community resettlement organizations, we reflect on several trends in their experiences:

• Families are being split up.

• The language barrier is one of the greatest challenges to adjusting.

• Cultural adjustment and navigating new bureaucracies can be intense.

• Mental health treatment is often needed but often inaccessible.

• Rising levels of discrimination and Islamophobia can be frightening, but at the same time communities throughout the country are stepping forward to support refugees.