© 2024 KLCC

KLCC
136 W 8th Ave
Eugene OR 97401
541-463-6000
klcc@klcc.org

Contact Us

FCC Applications
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Refugee Advocates Will Spotlight Asylum Seekers On World Refugee Day

Photo courtesy of Anne Bridgman

The Refugee Resettlement Coalition of Lane County will observe World Refugee Day for the 3rd year in a row. The organization will focus on the growing number of asylum seekers at the southern U.S. Border.

Anne Bridgman with the coalition says since the Trump Administration put a cap on refugees, they don’t see as many in Lane County.

BRIDGMAN: “In that that context the Refugee Resettlement Coalition decided to branch out and begin a pilot program to help asylum seekers.”

The focus on asylum seekers coupled with the growing crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border contributed to this year’s theme for World Refugee day. As part of the observance, Bridgman will talk about her experience at a Florida facility where thousands of immigrant children are being detained.

BRIDGMAN: “Visiting Homestead was an emotionally jarring experience. I was there for a week, we would climb up on stepladders and look over a fence into a field into where the children were.”

World Refugee Day is June 20th and Bridgman will speak on the 22nd at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene.

Melorie Begay is a multimedia journalist for KLCC News. She was the Inaugural KLCC Public Radio Foundation Journalism Fellow. She has a bachelors in Multimedia Journalism from the University of New Mexico. She previously interned at KUNM public radio in Albuquerque, NM and served as a fellow for the online news publication New Mexico In Depth.
Related Content