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IMPORTANT Immigration Policy Changes  تغييرات في سياسات الهجرة د کډوالۍ د پالیسیو بدلونونه تغییرات در پالیسی‌های مهاجرتی Cambios en las Políticas de Inmigración Mabadiliko katika manufaa ya umma Chanjman nan Politik Imigrasyon Зміни в імміграційній політиці

⚠️ IMPORTANT Public Benefits Changes • Cambios en os Beneficios Públicos ⚠️ په عامه ګټو کې بدلونونه ⚠️ تغييرات في المنافع العامة ⚠️ تغییرات در مزایای عمومی. ⚠️ Mabadiliko katika manufaa ya umma

Check out our New Merch Shop!

IRIS CT merch - tshirts and products to support immigrants

Our donation drop-off hours are Monday 9:30am to 12:30pm at 75 Hamilton St, New Haven. Please email Donations@IRISCT.org to make an appointment for donations outside of the regular hours or sign up for an appointment here.

Our mission remains unchanged — to welcome, support, and empower refugees and immigrants — the individuals and families we serve are gripped by uncertainty and fear.  Far too many immigrants across the country and right here in Connecticut have already been detained or deported. Thousands more remain stranded, unable to reach safety in the U.S. despite having been approved for resettlement. The travel ban and restrictions impacting nationals of 19 countries means millions more have no chance of rebuilding their lives or being reunited with family.

The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, built on the foundation of the overwhelmingly bipartisan Refugee Act of 1980, serves those who have demonstrated a credible fear of persecution and harm based on race, religion, nationality, social group, or political opinion. These are the world’s most vulnerable people. We reject the prioritization of those who have not been properly screened over the thousands who have already been thoroughly vetted, and have waited years, sometimes decades, to be resettled.

We must adapt. We want to be here to welcome refugees again, whenever that becomes possible. We also know that resettlement alone is not enough. All immigrants — including refugees who are already here — struggle to achieve self-sufficiency, and too few are actually thriving after several years in the U.S.

We know what to do. IRIS has over 40 years of experience serving newcomers through their first five years, and often much longer through case management, education, legal, and employment programs.

We are exploring new partnerships and deep collaboration to maximize every dollar while expanding our reach and ensuring our sustainability.

We’re ready to keep fighting — for those in danger, for those already here, and for the values that define us.  This is a moment of crisis — but also of moral clarity.  Join us.

Beware of Immigration Scams!

Use this information from uscis.gov to avoid common immigration scams or if you suspect you are a victim of immigration fraud. 

HOUSING ASSISTANCE

Including furniture, groceries and household goods

EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE

Career counseling, job skills training, and outreach to employers

HEALTHCARE SUPPORT

Medical appointments and system navigation training

LEGAL SERVICES

Adjustment of status, U.S. citizenship, and resources/referrals

EDUCATION ASSISTANCE

Enrollment for children in school, tutoring, and daily English classes for adults

CASE MANAGEMENT​

Critical support achieving self-sufficiency for refugees, humanitarian parolees, and asylumseekers

WHAT WE DO

Read/Watch our Stories

For over 40 years, IRIS has helped thousands of refugees and other displaced people start new lives in Connecticut and across the U.S. Learn about their difficult journey, the challenges they encounter as they settle in, their aspirations and dreams for the future, and the many ways they enrich local communities.
READ HERE

NEW RESOURCE FOR CONNECTICUT'S POLICYMAKERS & CONCERNED RESIDENTS

Immigrants and their children are a vital part of Connecticut’s present and its future. Comprising 15 percent of the state’s residents, immigrants have driven all population and workforce growth over the last decade and a half. In addition, about 30 percent of Connecticut children are part of immigrant families. READ MORE

immigrant-opportunities-in-ct

NEw, free resource: Red, White, & Blue cards!

In honor of the 250th anniversary of our nation of immigrants

The Constitution guarantees ALL residents of the U.S. freedom from tyranny and civil liberties. These wallet-sized cards remind us of those core freedoms, speech, assembly, press, religion, petition, and other key rights.

PRINT YOUR CARD NOW!

Interview with WPKN

Listen to IRIS’ Executive Director Maggie Mitchell Salem discuss the true meaning of Red, White and Blue!

upcoming EVENTS

Dec
6
iris-christmas-craft-fair-flyer
IRIS Craft Fair
First Presbyterian Church
In support of immigrant and refugee communities. Saturday, December 6 1 PM to 4 PM First Presbyterian Church 704 Whitney Ave. New Haven Connecticut Art • Crafts • Desserts • … Read More "IRIS Craft Fair"
Dec
13
wishing-wheels-flyer
2025 Wishing Wheels Bike Drive
Guilford Fair Grounds
We are excited to announce the launch of the 2025 Wishing Wheels Bike Drive. As always, we want to express our heartfelt appreciation for your continued dedication to the children … Read More "2025 Wishing Wheels Bike Drive"

IRIS Craft Fair

iris-christmas-craft-fair-flyer
December 6 @ 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
First Presbyterian Church
704 Whitney Ave
New Haven, CT United States + Google Map

In support of immigrant and refugee communities. Saturday, December 6 1 PM to 4 PM First Presbyterian Church 704 Whitney Ave. New Haven Connecticut Art • Crafts • Desserts • … Read More "...

Find out more »

2025 Wishing Wheels Bike Drive

wishing-wheels-flyer
December 13
Guilford Fair Grounds
111 Lovers Lane
Guilford, CT 06437 + Google Map

We are excited to announce the launch of the 2025 Wishing Wheels Bike Drive. As always, we want to express our heartfelt appreciation for your continued dedication to the children … Read More "...

Find out more »

Our Impact in 2024

world-map

VENEZUELA

UKRAINE

AFGHANISTAN

SYRIA

HAITI

Democratic Republic of Congo
Burma/Myanmar

SUDAN

Ethiopia

Clients served in 2024
0
Countries represented globally
0
Jobs for new immigrants
0
Students enrolled in school
0
Families receiving weekly groceries
0

Check out our new merch shop!

IRIS CT merch - tshirts and products to support immigrants

Your purchase directly supports refugees and immigrants—providing housing, education, and hope. Every item makes a difference.

SHOP NOW

PUBLISHED BY THE DAY Oct 29, 2025

AG Tong, talking immigration in New London: 'They will make it if we fight for them'

 
tong-speaking-on-immigration

Attorney General William Tong speaks at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation in New London on Wednesday, Oct. 29. The event by Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services focused on the impact of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. (Alison Cross/The Day)

By Alison Cross
Day Staff Writer
 
New London — State Attorney General William Tong visited the city Monday evening to share a message of hope and resistance amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The event at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation was organized by Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, the New Haven-based nonprofit known as IRIS.
Since 1982, IRIS has welcomed and resettled thousands of refugees and immigrants within the state, but Maggie Mitchell Salem, the organization’s executive director, said new federal policies have upended longstanding pathways to legal immigration.
As a result of these changes, Mitchell Salem said IRIS will not participate in the U.S. government-supported refugee admissions program for the first time in the nonprofit’s history, starting on Jan. 1. Mitchell Salem said IRIS will continue to resettle refugees from Afghanistan and other countries without federal funding.
During his speech, Tong described the Trump administration’s policies and actions over the last nine months as “awful, brutal, (and) painful.” Tong spoke about lawsuits he has filed against the federal government to block the Trump administration from ending birthright citizenship and coercing states into following the administration’s immigration agenda.
Tong said people often put refugees and immigrants into separate categories but “very often they’re one and the same.”
“My grandparents and my dad ran for their lives (from China),” Tong said. “I’m a kid that comes from refugees and immigrants. I grew up in a Chinese restaurant. … If you go to a takeout joint around here and you see a high schooler ring up your Tuesday night takeout, that was me.”
“In one generation, I went from that hot Chinese restaurant kitchen in the state of Connecticut in Wethersfield, to being the 25th attorney general of the state,” Tong continued. “I don’t tell you that story because it’s a good story, I tell you that story because it is an unremarkable story. It is a story shared by so many people. And there are kids right now, our kids in this city, the sons and daughters and grandchildren of refugees and immigrants who are just like us … and I know they will make it if we fight for them right now.”
Maryam Elahi, the president and chief executive officer of the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, said that right now, children are not getting an education because “so many parents are terrified to take their kids to school (and) pick them up.”
“This is not acceptable,” Elahi said.
Elahi encouraged people to reframe the way they speak about immigrants.
“Unless you’re a Native American, you’re an immigrant in this country,” she said. “Some of us came earlier on boats. Some of us came later by foot or plane or both, but the end result is the same. It’s really important for all of us to change the narrative, to talk about immigrants as all of us, to talk about immigrants as people who bring so much richness to our community and to put our arms around them.”
Jeanne Milstein, the human services director for the city, said that New London’s history is rooted in immigrant communities who have made the city stronger.
“It is our diversity which is our strength. New London is a seaport town. It has always been a rich mix of people. It is a community where everyone is welcome,” Milstein said. “The feds may be trying to kill the American dream, but here in New London, it is alive and well.”

PUBLISHED BY THE HARTFORD COURANT

After four decades, CT organization won’t resettle refugees this year. Here’s why

For the first time in more than four decades Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services made the decision to not resettle refugees through the United States Refugee Admissions program, due to the Trump administration’s intent to shift the program’s focus.
“We will not resettle populations that aren’t refugees,” said Maggie Mitchell Salem, director of IRIS. “That is basically the point. This is not about Afrikaners or right wing groups in Europe. This is not about ideology or politics. This is about our mission. Our mission is to resettle the world’s most vulnerable people who have been screened for the credible fear they possess which keeps them from going home.”
Mitchell Salem added: “We are not a relocation service. We work with and for a very specific population and as part of the humanitarian pathway within this immigration system.”
The New York Times reported Wednesday that the Trump administration “is considering a radical overhaul of the U.S. refugee system that would slash the program to its bare bones while giving preference to English speakers, white South Africans and Europeans who oppose migration.” 
The Trump administration has said that white South African farmers face discrimination and violence at home, which the country’s government strongly denies.
The IRIS board made the decision last month to change course after learning about the Trump’s administration’s plans to change the refugee program, including limiting the number of refugees to 30,000 to 40,000, Mitchell Salem said.
“That only reinforced that decision,” Mitchell said. “We have never had to question the U.S. government’s decision. This is not about who is in charge of our government. We have supported refugee resettlement in Republican administrations, and Democratic administrations without fail. We had to do some critical thinking about whether based on what we understood to be the administration’s policy on the U.S. refugee program, whether there was an alignment between our mission and how they were implementing the program.”
The Church World Service, which IRIS is an affiliate of, and contracts with the State Department to help refugees “expressed its dismay and deep concern in response to the Trump administration’s plans to reduce the refugee admissions’ goal “to the lowest level in history,” according to a press release from the agency.
New numbers reported from the Associated Press suggest the Trump administration is considering admitting far fewer refugees than IRIS had initially learned, with just 7,500 admitted.
Dana Bucin, an immigration attorney and partner with Harris Beach Murtha in Hartford, said the administration’s ban against refugees at the beginning of 2025 is not advisable.
“The entire policy that is against refugees in particular is harmful at a time when the world is seeing a record number of refugees due to wars, civil wars, famine, climate change and a bunch of other factors,” she said. “We have never had so many refugees as we do now and so few tools to deal with them and so definitely in general an anti-refugee policy is not conducive to humanitarian endeavors.”
Bucin said she does not believe that all Afrikaners qualify as a group for refugee status.
“But as attorneys we are open to hearing of any individualized case of persecution for Afrikaners, much like anyone else,” she said.
Since the Trump administration suspended the refugee program in January, IRIS relocated its New Haven office and had to shut its Hartford office.
In fiscal year 2024, IRIS served more than 2,000 people and resettled 900 refugees.
In fiscal year 2025 they were planning to resettle 800 refugees but have only been able to settle 241 refugees as many were denied entry or delayed.
As a result of the suspension of the refugee program, IRIS lost about $4 million in funding and had to lay off employees.
In the United States, some 128,000 refugees have currently been approved for resettlement in the United States and are now stuck in limbo, said Mark Hetfield, president of HIAS, the Jewish refugee resettlement agency. In addition, 14,000 Jews, Christians and other religious minorities in Iran have long been registered with the refugee program.
New vision
IRIS is not suspending its activities though. The organization is realigning its focus to help refugees and immigrants with assistance securing housing, food, addressing health issues and advocating for more English Language Learning programs to help them succeed in the workforce, Mitchell Salem said.
Mitchell Salem said she is concerned about provisions in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill particularly eliminating SNAP for refugees. She said IRIS needs more support to provide basic proteins for refugees in its food pantry.
Targeting ELL programs aligned to workforce development programs is critical, she said, so “people are getting the right vocational training and entering these programs successfully and entering higher paying jobs in the healthcare, hospitality and manufacturing sector. This is a win for the state. The state has to become more competitive.”
Mitchell Salem said IRIS will focus on deepening partnerships with the Chambers of Commerce and workforce boards and adult literacy organizations that exist in every town and city in the state.
In addition to those being barred from entering the country, Mitchell Salem said immigrants who are here are being terrorized. Calling it inhumane, Mitchell Salem said rounding up of people in the community at their place of employment is having an impact on everyone.
“It is going to impact the price of food and whether your grandmother is being taken care of in an assisted living community,” she said. “It is impacting employers. It is impacting tax bases. You don’t remove this significant number of people from our community and have no impact.”
With ICE arrests continuing in Connecticut and immigrant advocates calling for state officials to act, lawmakers are in discussions about increasing legal protections during an upcoming special session.
ICE agents stormed a Hamden car wash Wednesday and detained and took away eight people including a husband and wife and a customer, according to information from state Sen. Jorge Cabrera’s office.
“Since we passed the TRUST Act a decade ago, Connecticut has always carved out exceptions for dangerous felons,” Cabrera said in a statement. ”Democrats don’t have a problem with that. Neither does the governor. What we do have a problem with is Donald Trump and ICE telling us that they are arresting the scum of the Earth – murderers and gang members and pedophiles. And then who do they arrest? Landscapers. Dishwashers. High school kids. People working at car washes.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Originally Published: 

October 17, 2025 at 5:37 AM ED