It’s easy to numb ourselves to the regular news drip of stories on war, famine, and human suffering. But rather than switch the channel, one small community in northern New Mexico decided to officially sponsor resettlement of a refugee family.
It all started when a parishioner of St. Francis Church in Lumberton, NM saw an EWTN news special about the ongoing genocide and persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. She felt moved to action and assembled a group of like-minded neighbors.
“There were about five of us at that first meeting, in November of 2023,” recalls Elena Talamante, principal of St. Francis School in Lumberton. “So often, refugees who are resettled in the U.S. are resettled into the cities, but so many people don’t want that and prefer to live a more rural lifestyle. We’re a pretty small rural area and it seems like, well, we might be a really good fit for people who would prefer to live that kind of lifestyle.”
They decided to foster a refugee family because the need is greater and much of the legal legwork has already been done.
“Refugees usually have already fled their country. And then they’re not allowed into the U.S. without being fully vetted by the State Department. They go through about 10 different background checks. They have medical exams.”
The group officially partnered with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and were approved as community partners, after which they received training in cultural orientation, how to navigate banking and medical systems, and community outreach. For the community outreach process, they began asking other citizens and organizations in Lumberton for feedback and volunteers.
They also had to consider what kind of family would be a good fit.
“There are a lot of people [here] that speak Spanish and we’re a pretty Catholic community. And so, if we had somebody coming from a Spanish-speaking Catholic background, they would probably be one that settles in the best, right?” said Talamante. “When the IRC is looking for a family to send to us, they’re taking into account who would be able to settle into the community with the least kind of resistance or culture shock.”
Initially, the reaction to their work was lukewarm, with little to no feedback. But once it was announced that a refugee family would be arriving, they began to face some resistance.
“We saw community numbers kind of coming up out of the woodwork saying they don’t want it, they didn’t think it was safe, they didn’t like it. ‘Who are these people anyways? Where are they coming from? Why are they coming here?’” recalls Talamante.
This pushback ultimately led to the housing that they had arranged falling through two days before the family was set to arrive.
Often, Talamante recalls, they were asked why so much time and effort were being spent on a refugee family instead of on local issues.
“Of course there are people in our community, but they have resources that people who are living in a refugee camp don’t,” said Talamante. “They could find connections that can help them where in a refugee camp you just don’t have those services at all.”
But many, too, were supportive – in particular, the students and families at St. Francis School.
“It was like, ‘all right kids, this is it’! This is where we put everything into practice, right? We could spend all this time talking about putting food in somebody’s mouth who’s hungry and ‘if you need shelter, I gave you a home’, like we read in the Bible all the time. This is where we put into practice for those who really, truly are in need, even though we’re small community and we’re a poor community” Talamante said.
“For Catholic Schools Week, we had jars out for the different color teams that we do [for fundraising]. And I saw a kid come in with a hundred-dollar bill – ‘This is for the refugees.’ We did a clothing drive at the school and parents were bringing uniforms for kids and bringing their kids’ clothes and toys. And saying ‘these are for the refugees. We don’t know who we have yet, but this is all for them.’”
The school also made the decision to offer free tuition to the children of the refugee family, if they chose to accept.
“The students and the families of the school were actually all very, very excited, especially because we were purposely applying for larger families because so often in refugee camps, there are large families who, you know, can’t be resettled all in one group, or it’s really hard if they’re resettled in cities to find space for them. But again, as a rural community that has a lot of large families, we know how to do that. That’s a group we can help that usually doesn’t get as much attention or is left in camps because it’s too difficult to find a place [for] them.”
They were ultimately able to secure alternative housing, and after some initial culture shock, Talamante says the family has begun to adapt and settle in to life in Lumberton.
Other community organizations and churches also stepped in to help – the Lutherans offered legal services, and a Mormon church sent English language teachers from Farmington, NM.
For Talamante and the other refugee committee members, the entire process has been more than worth the effort, especially for the example it sets to St. Francis School students.
“First and foremost, as a Catholic school, it’s important for us to live what we preach, right? Do we say we’re the poor and we just accept things? Or do we have things that other people don’t have that we can offer? We’re trying to teach the kids and let them see that this is something we take seriously, and we take it seriously because we’re Catholic. Because this is how we serve God. Because all that we do is for the glory of God.”