FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) – President Donald Trump's order suspending the U.S. refugee program for 120 days is affecting a local organization that resettles refugees in our area.
Canopy NWA has resettled three families in Northwest Arkansas since December 2016.
Chairman of the board for Canopy NWA Clint Schnekloth said he feels like this suspension is scapegoating the wrong group of people.
“We hear our elected leaders saying that the reason they are going this is for reasons of national security, but if you are trying to keep dangerous people or like terrorists out the country this is the wrong population,” Schnekloth said.
He said statistically these refugees are not likely to be the group that would do something dangerous and said these refugees have already been through thoroughly vetted multi-year interviews in order to be cleared to come here.
“You have to think it really is a lot about race and religion, that they are wanting minority groups and religious minority groups to literally feel unsafe and like this is not a good place or safe place or sanctuary for them,” he said.
He said these people are fleeing their own home country because they feel unsafe and their job as a resettlement agency is to provide a safe space for people to arrive regardless of where they're from or background.
“It's very destabilizing and disheartening just for those families and then it really is disruptive of our work as an organization. We've been planning on resettling a number of families here in the spring and that's now all been put on hold,” he said.
Canopy NWA has sent a letter to Senator Cotton asking him to continue to support the countries commitment to refugee resettlement and to help to reverse the executive order by the president.
Another organization called Ozark Indivisible is hosting a demonstration outside of Senator Tom Cotton's office in Springdale on Wednesday, February 1 at 10 a.m.