Editor,
I was pleased to read your recent coverage of the one-year anniversary of the Association of Burundian Americans in New Mexico. Although I commend your coverage of this organization, I was disappointed to find multiple factual errors in the June 6, 2011, report, “African refugees adapt to NM.”
First, the article makes mention of the limited financial support available to refugees. However, the article fails to contextualize that discussion within the federal refugee resettlement system and the laws and policies that define the aid available to refugees.
Financial assistance to refugees is provided through federal funds from the Department of State and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The brief timelines for assistance are entirely the result of federal policy.
I fear that your article made it appear that local resettlement agencies were responsible for the economic plight of refugees when in reality refugees are resettled into poverty as a direct result of [these policies].
In short, the poverty we see in our own community among refugees resettled to Albuquerque is the direct result of federal policy that operates under unrealistic timelines and rarely leads to positive outcomes anywhere nationwide.
Second, the article states that refugees must repay a loan for the cost of travel to Catholic Charities.
This statement is totally and utterly false. All refugees take out a loan from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which is an intergovernmental organization that assists in the overseas processing phase of refugee resettlement and is widely subsidized by governments, including the United States government.
National resettlement agencies assist in the collection of these loans. However, local affiliates such as Catholic Charities play no role in the collection of travel loans and do not benefit directly or indirectly from the proceeds of the loans.
Third, the article states that Catholic Charities provides financial support to the Association of Burundian Americans in New Mexico. This is also incorrect.
Catholic Charities assists and encourages the association in several ways. However, it provides no direct financial support.
As the Director of the Center of Refugee Settlement and Support, I serve on the advisory board of the association and am actively engaged in assisting the association in obtaining grant funds so that it may be fully self-sufficient.
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What alarms me most about the statements and the tone of the article is that although Catholic Charities was mentioned multiple times, no one at Catholic Charities was contacted for comment even though several staff members were present at the celebration last Saturday.
The Lobo’s editorial practices quite simply lack care and do not comply with minimum journalistic standards.
In the future, I would respectfully request that the Lobo more thoroughly vet the facts mentioned in its publications and provide organizations and individuals mentioned in its stories the opportunity to comment prior to publication.
Marshall Jensen
Director of the Center for Refugee Settlement and Support for Catholic Charities
