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Critical programs that brought some 30,000 refugees to Iowa over the past 35 years are ending. The Iowa Journal examines changes to refugee services, what that means to the state, the people who live here and those wanting to come.
The state's long-standing commitment to providing sanctuary for refugees gave the Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services a unique status of being the only federally funded, state-run refugee resettlement program in the country. The Bureau, and Lutheran Services in Iowa, two agencies responsible for settling the majority of international refugees in the state, will end their resettlement programs. The remaining refugee resettlement program, operated by Catholic Charities, is also re-assessing its program.
The Iowa Journal will examine changes to refugee services. Guests on the program include: John Wilken, bureau chief, Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services; Jill Stuecker, director for the refugee resettlement program, Lutheran Services in Iowa; and Sol Varisco-Santini, program director of outreach services, Catholic Charities, part of the Diocese of Des Moines. (27:46)
