By FāVS News Staff
In an interview about her latest story, FAVS journalist Cassy Benefield discusses the work of the International Rescue Committee in Spokane, Washington and the challenges refugee women face today. The organization, along with World Relief, helps resettle refugees and provides services such as legal assistance to immigrants.
Benefield explains that this year’s International Women’s Day gatherings will be smaller because many refugee women feel unsafe attending large events amid heightened immigration enforcement. She hopes the story raises awareness about the experiences of refugee families and encourages Spokane residents to learn more, advocate for, and support neighbors navigating life in a new country. Read the whole interview here online.
Q: Explain the Spokane IRC’s mission and impact and why this is important. What first drew you to cover this story?
The International Rescue Committee in Spokane’s main role is to resettle and serve refugees from across the world. They are one of two agencies in Spokane who can do that. World Relief is the other. They also serve the local immigrant community with legal document help among many other things. Soon after Trump took office the flow of refugees into the country and the money to support the ones here ended. They now are working at a much smaller budget and needing to replace those funds to serve their clientele.
This event for me was important for two reasons. One, the IRC in Spokane celebrates their female clientele around International Women’s Day, which was March 8 this year. But the women they serve are afraid of gathering, and so the celebrations will be small gatherings, as my story explores. I wanted to both bring to light this day of recognition, which many Americans don’t know about, but is celebrated around the world. The irony I was not able to share in the story was this day of celebration came out of the U.S. Suffrage movement, and yet many women in America don’t even know about it. I learned about it when I served in the Peace Corps in Romania.
Q: Why do these women not feel safe gathering in large groups within this community? What’s changed and why is this important?
What these women see in their daily lives is this neighbor or that friend has been taken. They don’t know that, hopefully, many if not all in Spokane who are taken are not refugees and have outstanding immigration issues, 73% of which are not criminal violations. The current administration has tasked ICE and other agents to do these tasks more provocatively in public spaces and by placing many in detention centers, while the government explores further that person’s status. Unfortunately, these agents and the U.S. government make mistakes. You can read my latest column on Nurul Amin Shah Alam, which is one of many sad mistakes made.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from your coverage of the event?
My hope is that they are curious to learn more and that some in the community will learn how they too can advocate for and support this population of people. While the women aren’t going to gather in one big event for their women’s day celebration, the IRC in Spokane will host a learning event for the community and treat them to a brunch.
Q: Why do events like this matter for the Spokane community?
These stories and events matter because they highlight the very real needs of many of our neighbors, who are doing one of the hardest things anyone can do — resettling in another country where they know very little about its rules and its language. And many of us can help them.
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