By Dan Greenwood
dgreenwood@mankatofreepress.com
May 30, 2021
8 min ago
From left, Mohamed Ibrahim, Ruth Aganya, Habiba Rashid and Ahmed âJafferâ Mohamud of Minnesota Council of Churches Mankato Refugee Services. The past year led to expanded programming and a new position in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pat Christman
MANKATO â Within the past year, refugee resettlement agencies have had to contend with anti-immigrant rhetoric during a contentious presidential election cycle, the fallout from a 2017 executive order banning refugees from countries like Somalia or Sudan â where most of Mankatoâs refugees come from â to battling misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
But with the pandemic on the wane, and the election of President Joe Biden, who announced on May 3 that he would raise the cap of refugees allowed into the country from 15,000 to 62,500, with the plan to double that the following year, Habiba Rashid, director of MCC Mankato Refugee Services, is feeling optimistic.