Student Refugees respond to Trump’s Ban

Akriti Saxena, Business Manager
February 27, 2017

Issued on Jan. 27, President Donald Trump’s executive order kept refugees and immigrants entering the country from seven predominantly Muslim nations. At West Fargo High, several English Language Learning (ELL) students and their families were directly affected by the executive order.

During 2014, freshman Furqan Mahdi and her family moved from Iraq to South Fargo for a better education. For Furqan, America offers more freedom and opportunity than in Iraq. However, she faced discrimination and unfair treatment once arriving to the nation.

“When I first came here I was at South [High School] and a lot of students were bullying me because of my hijab,” Mahdi said. “They were saying I was ISIS, and some of them took my country’s flag and put it on the ground. I used to cry when I got home and I didn’t want to come to school anymore, but I’m used it now.”

Junior Muhamed Osman shares a similar story. Osman left behind relatives living in Kenya and came to America looking for a better life. In his ELL U.S. History class, Osman and others in his class wrote a letter to the state legislators, who debated a bill proposal last week that would give local communities more control in refugee resettlement.

“We wrote about how we came here and the way we get treated, and how we’re supposed to get treated.A girl started crying because her mom is Liberian and Trump said she can’t come,” Osman said. “We were welcomed when we came here, but now it doesn’t seem like it.”

ELL English teacher Teresa BlackCloud interacts with many students who are refugees and tries her best to alleviate the hostile environment the students face.

“On the Monday after the ban was instated, you could feel the unease in the classroom,” BlackCloud said. “As a teacher, I want to make sure that all students feel safe and welcome in the classroom– no matter where from the world they come to our school.”

Freshman Saido Issack hopes the ban doesn’t escalate to discrimination against all Muslims. After not seeing her for eight years, Issack’s sister was originally supposed arrive in America on Feb. 13. Due to the travel ban, however, the trip seems unlikely.

“That broke my heart because my family gave her a lot of money so she could gift us a lot of things,” Issack said. “Every religion has good and bad people in it. Some students who always get judged think they don’t have the right to speak up. But that’s not me. I always thought my voice was important.”