Ban Brings Anxiety to Upstate NY Refugee Haven

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=OGuUm5aqPBM

(3 Feb 2017) UTICA, NEW YORK, IS A SMALL, GRITTY CITY THAT WELCOMES REFUGEES FROM AROUND THE GLOBE, A PLACE WHERE HOUSE-PROUD BOSNIANS SIP STRONG COFFEE IN CAFES AND YOUNG WOMEN IN HIJABS FEEL AT HOME. • SOUNDBITE (English) Hana Selimovic, resident who came as a refugee from Bosnia: • We are Utica, the city that loves refugees. • BUT NOW PRESIDENT TRUMP'S EXECUTIVE ORDER LIMITING THE FLOW OF REFUGEES INTO THE U-S HAS SENT A SHUDDER THROUGH THIS UPSTATE NEW YORK CITY. • SOUNDBITE (English) Manal Alawsaj, a recent U.S. citizen who came as a Palestinian refugee born in Iraq: • It makes me terrified. It's like I ran out of Iraq because of this. And now I'm here, and yet I'm feeling the same way and I'm having the same exact feeling about maybe this is not home. Maybe I should move, or this is not my country. • THE MOHAWK VALLEY RESOURCE CENTER FOR REFUGEES IN UTICA SETTLES ABOUT 400 REFUGEES A YEAR. THIS CITY OF 62,000 PEOPLE IS NOW HOME TO THOUSANDS FROM BOSNIA, MYANMAR, VIETNAM, SOMALIA AND OTHER COUNTRIES. REFUGEES ACCOUNT FOR AN ESTIMATED 15 TO 20 PERCENT OR MORE OF UTICA'S POPULATION. • MAYOR ROBERT PALMIERI SAYS THE REFUGEES HAVE IN TURN HELPED ENERGIZE THE CITY. REFUGEES MEAN REFURBISHED HOMES, MORE WORKERS AND MORE CULTURE. • SOUNDBITE (English) Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri: • I would love to have the president come to Utica, New York to see what it's all about and how beneficial it's been as a melting pot and blending them into the fiber of America. • NOW THE REFUGEE CENTER IS LOOKING AT POSSIBLE LAYOFFS. AND REFUGEES WHO HOPED MORE RELATIVES COULD COME FROM OVERSEAS ARE FRUSTRATED. • SOUNDBITE (English) Mowlid Hussein, resident who came as a Somali Bantu refugee,: • I really feel sad about that. Imagine your kid is away from you. You don't have enough sleep at night when you sleep. And the order comes: they cannot come anymore until for four months ... What can we do. How did this happen? • UNCERTAIN TIMES IN A CITY WHERE THE SIGNS OF REFUGEE CONTRIBUTIONS ABOUND. • MICHAEL HILL, ASSOCIATED PRESS • UTICA, NEW YORK • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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