BILLINGS — A Montana refugee program based in Missoula is fearing the impacts of President Donald Trump's executive order, which restricts immigration and pauses travel for approved refugees to the United States.
The orders were signed by Trump in his first week back in the White House and come after he promised to issue mass deportations during the campaign.
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His decision hits Montana, specifically in Billings and Missoula — the state's only two cities with resettlement offices.
"A lot of that policy is created to create this atmosphere of fear," said Mary Poole, the director of Missoula's office called Soft Landing. "We're trying not to play into the fear that is trying to be created, but we have to be aware that there are challenges."
Soft Landing has been around for about nine years. The office in Billings, called Nations to Neighbors, opened just last year. Officials at Nations to Neighbors were unavailable to speak to MTN Wednesday, but Poole said she can sense the apprehension in the 700 refugees the nonprofit serves in Missoula.
“They want to know what this means for them," Poole said. "Many are still trying to be reunited with family, and so it’s really challenging to see the resettlement system take this pause, or at least what we hope is a pause."
Poole said all 700 refugees in Missoula came to the United State legally and are at no risk of being deported. The order brings questions about the future of the immigration and refugee processes.
"It's really a challenge to say with any certainty what this is going to look like for those most vulnerable," Poole said.
In Billings, the news weighs on the mind of the school district, as it is currently wrapping up its first semester with three new charter schools. One is the Multilingual Academy, dedicated to non-English speaking students.
“Academic language is the support area they need,” Assistant Superintendent Chris Olszewski said. "We have newcomers that are coming to the country either through a refugee or asylum program."
Olszewski said the academy was designed for students facing language barriers, which includes more than 40 students. The majority are from Central and South America, but some are from Iraq and other nations.
Olszewski said some students are refugees, but nobody's background matters at the Multilingual Academy.
“It’s amazing to watch students from the Middle East sit down and work with students from Central America,” Olszewski said. "That's the success we're seeing here. We want to be a place where multiple cultures can come together."
Like the refugees in Missoula, all students came to the United States legally, so Olszewski doesn't predict any problems. He did add that the district will do everything to help the students feel more comfortable during an uncertain time.
"We're always worried about the social or emotion well-being of our students," Olszewski said. "That's one of the pillars of the district."
