Born in a refugee camp in Kenya, Khadijo Abdulkadir came to the United States at the age of 15 without knowing a word in English and was immediately thrust into an American high school.

She is now a junior studying international relations at Syracuse University. Abdulkadir is also the Women’s Empowerment Project program coordinator at Syracuse Refugee and Immigrant Self-Empowerment, a group in the city devoted to advocating for the local immigrant and refugee population, according to their website.

“I have gone through so much and there is a lot of ideas that women should not be educated, women should not be out of the house and women should not do this and that,” Abdulkadir said. “That really bothers me, and I have to deal with that on my own.”

Abdulkadir said she cried of happiness when Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner reaffirmed Syracuse’s status as a sanctuary city at the State of the City address earlier this month. In that speech, Miner said city resources, including those of the police, would not be used to enforce federal anti-immigration policies.

A sanctuary city is a city that protects undocumented immigrants even if they are in violation of federal immigration laws. President Donald Trump has previously proposed deportation of such undocumented immigrants, which could put refugees in the city of Syracuse at risk.

Miner’s comments, though, made Abdulkadir feel welcomed as part of the Syracuse community, she said. Last year, she went back to Kenya to visit the refugee camp there. Reflecting on her upbringing at the camp, she said she feels blessed to be a citizen of the U.S. But at the same, it was painful, knowing that many of the people at the camp could not emigrate to the U.S., she said.

“There is no person in this world that is an illegal immigrant,” she said. “We are all humans just because paperwork defining us doesn’t make us unhuman or anything different.”

Rebecca Miller, director of programs at RISE, said it was an emotional moment and a positive sign to hear Miner announce that law enforcement agencies will not be used to enforce anti-immigration policies in the city.

Miller also said there is misunderstanding in how the community and the country see refugees, basing opinions on what they look like and act like. She said she encourages neighbors and community members to volunteer and get involved in RISE’s work.

“It’s more important than ever for people to spend time with refugees and immigrants and new Americans and their community, especially here in Syracuse because we are a gateway city,” Miller said.

Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law practice at Cornell University, said the mayor’s announcement doesn’t change any federal policies, but it may change Syracuse city policies in terms of allowing city police to not cooperate with immigration officials.

The sanctuary status, Yale-Loehr said, provides city officials — including the city police — general instructions on how they should not follow federal anti-immigrant policies, even though adopting sanctuary ordinances do not carry much legal weight.

A sanctuary city status can also lead to effective operation of the city’s police department, he said.

“It can help Syracuse police because they want the cooperation of city residents to investigate crime,” he said. “If immigrants fear that the city police would turn them over to (federal) immigration (authorities), they will be unlikely to cooperate.”

Published on January 23, 2017 at 9:23 pm

Contact Chieh: chchen@syr.edu