KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda. Fernanda spoke with refugees and agencies that help them get settled for this story.
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Local refugee resettlement agencies are concerned about the Trump administration's plans to review and potentially re-interview all refugees who entered the U.S. between January 20, 2021, and February 20, 2025.
Souleymane Adam came to the U.S. carrying a heavy burden.
He and his family are survivors of the genocide in 2003 in Darfur in the Sudan.
They fled to Chad, where they lived for seven years in a refugee camp.
On his bag were memories of a past he wanted to leave behind.
“It was really inhumane," he said. "The killing, the massacre, the genocide."
But he also carried the hope of rebuilding in the United States.
“It's kind of like being in heaven on Earth,” Adam said.
He moved to Kansas City in 2014, when he was 18, after years in the process of becoming a refugee in the U.S.
“You're just surviving day by day,” he said.
Adam says the process to become a refugee in the U.S. is long and not easy.
“They're going to ask you every detail of your life,” he said, while remembering the interviews he went through and the information he shared.
Now, he's afraid his friends will have to relive their trauma as the Trump administration plans to review refugees admitted under former President Joe Biden.
A memo obtained by The Associated Press, said a comprehensive review and “re-interview of all refugees admitted from January 20, 2021, to February 20, 2025” is needed.
The memo also indicates there will be a list of people to re-interview within three months.
I received a statement attributed to the Department of Homeland Security's Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. The statement is below:
“For four straight years, the Biden administration accelerated refugee admissions from terror- and gang-prone countries, prioritizing sheer numbers over rigorous vetting and strict adherence to legal requirements. This reckless approach undermined the integrity of our immigration system and jeopardized the safety and security of the American people. Corrective action is now being taken to ensure those who are present in the United States deserve to be here.”
“Bringing back all these horrific memories for these kinds of people… this is very traumatizing,” Adam said. “We want to restart our lives. We don't want to live in fear again.”
Adam now works for JVS, a local resettlement agency. Since 2021, they’ve helped more than 1,600 refugees resettle in the area.
"It's really demoralizing and really scary,” said Executive Director Hilary Cohen Singer.
On the other side of the state line, Jarrett Meek with Mission Adelante helped more than 170 refugees last year.
“It felt like a gut punch when I first heard the news,” Meek said. “To imagine them potentially having to go back to those places... it's unthinkable to me.”
They say refugees have done immigration 'the right way.'
Earlier this year, the Trump administration suspended the refugee programs, affecting the work of both JVS and Mission Adelante.
Cohen Singer says they have more questions than answers at this time.
“There's a lot of uncertainty and a lot of fear,” she said.
Adam says his friends are scared and can’t go back to their home countries because of safety concerns.
“When you think of refugees, don't just think of numbers," he said. "Don't just think of case numbers. These are real humans. I hope the government respects the security checks and the process that these people have already been through.”
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