The International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Salt Lake City and the 2022 Utah Legislative Session

The IRC in Salt Lake City’s work has expanded dramatically over the past year—and so, too, has our work on the Hill. In partnership and with robust support from the Refugee Advocacy Lab, the IRC worked with Utah legislators to advocate for the needs of refugees, immigrants and new Americans during the 2022 Legislative Session by conducting a legislative briefing, advocating for bills that will expand educational opportunities for our newest neighbors, and advocating for the recognition of refugee skills and pathways that enable new Americans to return to work in their professions. 

2022 Legislative Briefing

In partnership with the Utah Refugee Services Office (RSO) and Catholic Community Services of Utah (CCS), the IRC in Salt Lake City hosted a legislative briefing on refugee resettlement in Utah. The briefing was sponsored by Representative Dan Johnson and featured an update on Utah’s response to the crisis in Afghanistan. 

Representative Johnson shared his family’s own immigration history and how that spurs him to support refugees as a legislator:

I come from an immigrant background myself. I often think about my father--who immigrated from Sweden--and my grandmother and grandfather who I didn't know...How did they end up in a little farm in Nebraska? It's pretty amazing...They didn't speak English. They didn't know how to do anything in America. I don't think it's any different for those of you who are experiencing that same thing as you're coming to America now...The American dream really can be realized--but it won't be realized if we don't have a clear path forward for people. If we don't help them. That's what I want to do.

Mohammad Shafi Bahaduri, an Afghan SIV recipient who supported the U.S. military in Afghanistan from 2005-2015 and now works as a Refugee Community Liaison for the IRC, shared his experience with Utah’s legislators: 

I love to help and support refugees, especially the new arrivals...Many families who arrive have not heard about Utah, but when I work with them and explain about the culture, help, and support that I received from IRC and from the community, they show more interest to live in Utah and stay here...Please help and continue to welcome new refugees by serving your neighbors, volunteering, and voting for bills that support refugees.

Elie Ngabonziza, a refugee from Burundi who now calls Utah home, also shared his experience during the briefing: 

It was a good decision that the government and the leaders have made to welcome refugees, because, according to me, when the refugees come to these states, they get work. And when they work, they not only get money to support their families, but also, they can pay taxes...raise the economy of the Country...I would like to ask our legislators to continue to see how they can support refugees: providing proper trainings, like ESL...vocational trainings, which will help them, help their families, and can help the Country.
 

Education Advocacy

“This is really important. When you think about what’s happening, the most important thing is sending a message to kids and families that they’re welcome in Utah and that there’s people here who care for them.” – Representative Dan Johnson

Refugee students and their families enter American schools ready to learn. The IRC in Salt Lake City advocates to ensure that Utah’s public schools are ready to welcome newly-arrived refugee families; during this past Legislative Session, the IRC supported two education-related bills sponsored by Representative Dan Johnson in the Utah Legislature. Representative Johnson shared information about these pieces of legislation in the Deseret News. 

 

House Bill 230: Refugee and Immigrant Student Policies Amendments

The first education-related bill that the IRC in Salt Lake City championed during the 2022 Legislative Session is House Bill 230: Refugee and Immigrant Student Policies Amendments. The IRC in Salt Lake City supports refugee parents as they enroll their children in Utah schools for the first time. This bill ensures the enrollment process is as welcoming as our great State, by addressing three challenges faced by refugee students during the enrollment process—namely, accuracy and transparency in the interpretation of their prior educational experiences; recognition of their actual ages; and clarity in their eligibility for extensions of the conditional enrollment period. 

The IRC in Salt Lake City developed this proposal through conversations with refugee and education community stakeholders and leaders over a year and a half. Several of those stakeholders participated in the presentation of the bill to the House and Senate Education Committees. 

Beverly Herrmann, the State and Federal Programs Administrator for Canyons School District, described the importance of the bill’s resources for transcript evaluations during the presentation to the House Education Committee: 

A lot of our refugee—and newcomer families, in general—arrive with...a lot of optimism. Optimism that their child is going to get a solid and robust educational opportunity. When it is hard to transcribe these [transcripts], it lessens the opportunity that these students will have to achieve their goals and graduate from a U.S. High School.

Yassan Assad, a senior in high school and refugee from Sudan, described the importance of the age recognition section of the bill during the presentation. He stated:

When I came to the beautiful state of Utah, I was supposed to be enrolled in school on September 2nd, but I waited until February 12th to start school because of a birthday translation error that occurred in Chad...We had to wait. We had to wait until February 12th for my mom to call someone during the conflict to locate my birth certificate where my Dad buried our documents for us before he was killed...A lot of family members are still in the refugee camp. They’re going to come to Utah, most of them; they are going to have the same problem. I would like for you to support this bill because it’s going to help a lot of families that are coming right now and some that are already here.

Several of Yassan’s family members are Sudanese diplomats; he was able to follow in their footsteps by presenting to and successfully influencing his state’s own legislative body. 

Many additional community stakeholders spoke in favor of the bill, including: the Utah Director of the National Education Association; the Associate Superintendent of Jordan School District; both the Programs Administrator and Public Engagement Coordinator of Canyons School District; the Chief of Staff of Granite School District; the Family Life Commissioner of the Utah Parent Teacher Association; the Director of the Refugee Services Office; a member of the Salt Lake City School District Board of Education; and a representative of the Utah Muslim Civic League.

HB230 passed with unanimous votes in both the House and Senate Education Committee and full chambers. Several refugee students from West High School were recognized for the bill’s unanimous passage in the House. The pledge of allegiance was said in Spanish on the House floor when the students attended; one student later remarked, “That was the first time I understood what the pledge of allegiance meant.”
 

House Bill 302: Educational Language Services Amendments

The second education-related bill that the IRC in Salt Lake City advocated for is House Bill 302: Educational Language Services Amendments. This bill works to ensure that every school district has a commitment, plan, and resources to communicate with Utah’s refugee families as they learn English.

Representative Johnson described the importance of language access for enabling refugee families to participate in basic school activities:

Simple language translation for things like: What’s the lunch schedule? What’s the bus schedule? What’s the vacation schedule? Anything related to a school’s—a child’s life...As we get these kids and parents here in our communities, we want to make sure they understand what’s expected of them, how to do education...it’s just one of those things that make a big difference in the lives of people.

Abril, an immigrant to Utah and aspiring lawyer, prepared testimony—although she was unable to deliver her remarks due to the time constraints of the committee. An excerpt from her remarks below references her efforts at interpreting and translating for her parents when she was only 13 years old: 

With my limited knowledge of the language I had to help my parents to translate documents. I tried my best but it was hard because I was the only one who back then was exposed to the “process of learning English” since my parents had little to no time to do that. But at the same time it was extremely difficult because I was learning the basics, I wasn't proficient. I had to explain to my mom everything that I could understand, so we could complete the registration process in schools...If each school had a plan to communicate with families learning English, families who are JUST COMING to a new country would feel more included. It is that simple. That feeling of inclusion can change lives!

The Utah Parent Teacher Association, the Utah Education Association, the Young Women’s Christian Association of Utah, several teachers, and the Commissioner of UServeUtah also provided supportive testimony. 

H.B. 302 passed unanimously in the House and Senate Education Committees and on the Senate floor.

Both bills were supported by the Joint Legislative Committee of the Utah State School Board and Utah State Superintendent Associations. The Parent Teacher Association of Utah is developing a resolution in support of refugee students and their families, one of the first of it’s kind amongst state PTAs. 

Licensing Advocacy

“With the influx of refugees and the challenges of qualified workforce, we’d now like to take the next step. If you have a license from anywhere worldwide, you come to Utah, you get a license.”
-    Senator Bramble

Working and driving are essential to fully participating in life in Utah. The IRC in Salt Lake City works to enable all new Americans to obtain licenses that will support their journeys to self-sufficiency.

 

Senate Bill 43: Occupational and Professional Licensing Modifications

The IRC supports refugees and new Americans in their search for employment that will allow them to obtain self-sufficiency, support their families, and contribute to their communities. The IRC in Salt Lake City provides job readiness classes that assist refugee clients in searching and applying for jobs, preparing for job interviews, building an English workplace vocabulary, and retaining their positions. Beyond job readiness, the IRC in Salt Lake City also maintains several micro-enterprise programs to support refugee entrepreneurs, including Spice Kitchen Incubator.

The IRC in Salt Lake City frequently supports refugee workers who were accomplished professionals in their countries of origin—nurses, lawyers, cosmetologists—but are employed in jobs that do not fully allow them to utilize their skills—laundry assistants, protein powder packagers—due, in part, to regulatory barriers. According to a recent study by the Migration Policy Institute, Utah is identified as having a “strikingly wide gap” between the underemployment of highly skilled immigrants and the underemployment of U.S. born graduates. Over 33% of Utah’s internationally-born workers are effected by brain waste--which is approximately 20% higher than the percentage of Utah’s native-born population affected by brain waste.

Senate Bill 43: Occupational and Professional Licensing Modifications would allow the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing more flexibility in recognizing the skills, educations, and credentials Utah’s refugees bring to our State’s economy. The bill also creates an expedited pathway to licensure for international professionals, aiding refugees in their return to work. S.B. 43 was sponsored by Senator Bramble and Representative Ferry, who presented at a Cultural Orientation for some of Utah’s Kinyarwandan-speaking refugees last year. The IRC in Salt Lake City worked closely with the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing and World Education Services on this bill and is grateful for their efforts.

S.B. 43 passed, with unanimous votes in the Senate Business and Labor Committee, on the Senate Floor, the House Business and Labor Committee, and in both Chambers for final passage. 
 

H.B. 163: Driver License Testing Modifications 

Recently, the IRC has played a key role in Utah’s welcome of Afghan allies—resettling over 600 of Utah’s newest community members. Many of the Afghan allies do not have same immigration pathway of refugees arriving to Utah: most entered the United States on humanitarian parole. Prior to the passage of H.B. 163, Afghan humanitarian parolees were not allowed to utilize interpretation and translation services while taking their driver’s licenses exams, unlike refugees and approved asylees. 

To be self-sufficient in caring for your health—able to take your daughter to urgent care late at night or your pregnant wife to the emergency room—you need to be able to drive. If your son woke up late for school and missed the bus, you need to be able to drive. If your schedule—one with two jobs, English class, and your kid’s homework—doesn’t match the Trax schedule, you need to be able to drive.

The IRC in Salt Lake City supported H.B. 163. The IRC in Salt Lake City also supports expanding the permissibility of the use of interpretation and translation on driver’s license examinations for any individual who would prefer that support, particularly as future humanitarian crises may expand our service population to other legal categories—and change the legal status of Utah’s newest arrivals.

H.B. 163 bill was signed by the Governor at a ceremonial event. Several Afghan clients were able to attend, participate in media interviews, and receive recognition by both the Governor and the House of Representatives. In the House Gallery, one Afghan woman remarked, “I feel so loved, I could cry.”
 

Take Action With Us

The IRC in Salt Lake City plans to continue its efforts to ensure refugee representation in the Utah Legislature—and we hope you will join us in our efforts. To stay apprised of our federal and state advocacy opportunities, text RESCUE to 40649 or visit Rescue.org/TakeAction.