This weekend, Secretary of State John Kerry pledged to increase the number of refugees the U.S. will accept each year - up to 100,000 in 2017. Here in Vermont, upwards of 7,000 refugees have resettled through a federal program since 1980: from Bosnia, Vietnam, Somalia, Bhutan, Iraq, Congo, Sudan, and many more.
To discuss the past and future of refugee resettlement here, and the challenges these communities face, we're joined by Amila Merdzanovic, director of the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program. And by Alisha Laramee, a program director at the Association for Africans Living in Vermont - which now serves many different refugee and immigrant populations in the state.
Also on the program, Bidur Dahal joins us. He's a member of an organization seeking to build a Hindu temple in Vermont for the Bhutanese community and others.
Broadcast live on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
