Public meeting held in Joplin to discuss Afghan refugees coming to the area

JOPLIN, Mo. – Around 50 Afghans are expected to be settled in the Joplin metro area. A local group handling the Afghans held a meeting in Joplin today to let the area know what to expect.

Refugee And Immigrant Services and Education, or “RAISE”, held a public meeting Tuesday in Joplin to discuss what this means for the Joplin area. Raise is based in Noel, and helps immigrants relocate to the area. The Afghans could be settled anywhere in the Joplin metro area, not just the city itself. RAISE Executive Director Mike Newman says there are several reasons they picked Joplin. “Because we have so many faith-based and community support services, we have tens of thousands of people that are attending churches that have a heart for the foreigner, we have affordable housing that a lot of the places, especially the urban cities do not have.”

Newman adds that RAISE provides extra support to those who settle in the area beyond what other agencies can provide. “The volunteers don’t necessarily stay with the family, so we are unique, as far as I know, in that we’re going to be able to have people that are going to surround these people, make them feel part of the community, and really be with them during their stay in Joplin.”

Newman says there’s a term floating around that describes the Afghan refugees as “parolees” but he says that word is different when it comes to immigration terms. “So they’re not on parole, they are parolees because they did not get their paperwork done in Afghanistan, so, they are over here finishing their paperwork and then they have up to two years to change their status legally, through the immigration court system.”

Joplin resident Alan Bemo went on five separate trips to Afghanistan with a company to provide support to the residents over the past several years. He came to the Tuesday meeting to learn more about the plans on getting the Afghans here and how the community felt. “I was pleasantly surprised, it seemed like generally, people are just wanting more information and even wanting to know how they can help.”

Bemo says he supports the idea of resettling the Afghans in the area. “If they can come here to America, the land of the free and home of the brave and setup some businesses here, do business, I’d be glad to help them.”

Right now, the refugees are at various bases in the United States. Newman says the plan is to begin moving them by the end of January.

MAP: Distribution of Afghan evacuees to resettle in US

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