Pioneer Legacy
Utah’s refugee program localizes the global, drawing upon a 200-year tradition of offering refuge to the persecuted. In July of 1847, Mormon pioneers fleeing religious persecution reached the Salt Lake Valley—and over the coming decades, built a state that continues to offer the freedoms and liberties they so desperately sought to those still in search of safety
That tradition continues today.
Utah has offered refuge to Afghan women and their daughters fleeing the Taliban, Iraqis who worked alongside our troops, Sudanese and Somali families fleeing conflict, children born in Rwandan refugee camps, and Syrian physicists escaping political persecution, among others.
Deseret News writes, “Utah has been recognized as having one of the best refugee resettlement services systems in the country.”
Today, as America plans to resettle the lowest number of refugees in U.S. history, Utah’s tradition of welcome is at risk.
Will Utah’s pioneer spirit survive resettlement’s collapse?
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