IRIS Empowers Students Through School Partnerships

By Tatum Courtmanche

IRIS has an ongoing initiative to expand its outreach to involve the community in its underlying mission. Schools are an important part of our outreach efforts and, since 2022, IRIS has offered an organized, student-led approach that directly prioritizes youth involvement. There are currently 60 schools involved in the School Outreach Initiative in some capacity. They range from Nursery School to University level, include public, private and magnet schools, and are located throughout the state.

Since the start, IRIS has participated in approximately 50 individual school events per year, consisting of a mix of class presentations, donation drives, and various activities with student-led clubs and organizations. There are several important long-term, student-led relationships with local universities such as Yale, Quinnipiac, and UCONN, as well as many collaborations with high school students across Connecticut.

This past year’s high school collaborations have included donation drives organized by the Hopkins High School IRIS Club, led by students Saidan Thapa and Evan Yan, as well as card-making activities with Avon High School, spearheaded by student leader Saanika Tipnis. Our youngest collaborators included students from Westville Community Nursery School, who hosted IRIS speakers for a multicultural tea party. Other schools that continue to participate include East Haven High School, Choate Rosemary Hall, as well as a few newer ones, such as Pierrepont School in Westport, CT.

Marya Fisher, the Head of High School at the Pierrepont School, was initially introduced to IRIS through the Run for Refugees, having participated herself with a group of students in the past. This past school year, the student leadership group at her school decided they wanted to engage with IRIS on a larger scale as a community service project. Soon after, the School made arrangements for Hossna Samadi, IRIS’ Outreach Coordinator, and Tabitha Sookdeo, the previous Director of Community Engagement, to speak at an assembly program in January.

The presentation was attended by about 100 students from grades 6-12 and was a powerful experience for both students and adults. Hossna and Tabitha shared their personal stories, explained the work of IRIS, and fielded questions from the audience. Marya later noted that “the younger students were especially engaged, asking most of the questions and finding the session particularly productive.” For many young students, this was their first time learning about others who have been forced to flee their homes and hearing people speak about their personal experiences.

Marya stated, “This initial speaking engagement was incredibly positive and eye-opening, offering clear ways for students to help and raising awareness about the refugee crisis close to their community.” The head of the school also attended, immediately wanted to find ways to get engaged and a student-led IRIS club was started. Aman, one of the students who had participated in the Run for Refugees, led the school in organizing a school supply drive in the spring.. As Marya pointed out, this partnership was driven by genuine interest and engagement from the students, with no service hours required.

One of IRIS’ other long-standing relationships is with Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT. Over the years, IRIS has had interns from Quinnipiac along and has participated in a few different community collaborations. This past year, political science student Jannat Butt took the partnership to another level, by interning as a liaison between Quinnipiac University and IRIS. Jannat is currently in her second year in this role.

During the initial ten month period, Jannat coordinated seven different events throughout the school year, including: an immigration panel featuring Hossna Samadi, two attorneys from IRIS, and a Quinnipiac professor of international business; an IRIS Kahoot night; a tabling event on the Quinnipiac quad during the Students for Environmental Action Fair; as well as a school-wide drive for kitchenware and personal care products. She also raised several hundred dollars by creating a Quinnipiac University team for the 20234 Run for Refugees.

Jannat has noted that “by engaging with IRIS, students not only become educated on important issues but also take concrete steps to support and uplift both the local community and those who are giving back to it.” This involvement fosters a sense of responsibility and empowerment among students, ensuring the continuity of community service and support for IRIS. Jannat believes “it is crucial to establish and maintain a strong relationship with IRIS within the university setting to ensure that the connection does not fade over time.” This sustainable continuity is central to the School Outreach strategy.

Providing a different perspective, Amy Christman, the Assistant Principal of ACES Educational Center for Arts in New Haven, also cultivated a relationship with IRIS this past year. Amy had known about IRIS for a long time through events such as the “Run for Refugees” and she was always looking for meaningful ways for her students to get involved in the community. Amy emphasized “because ECA is a magnet school representing 27 school districts, this was especially exciting because it immersed students from outside New Haven into the community.”

Last summer, Amy met with the IRIS Community Engagement team and put together a plan. The initiative kicked off with a presentation by Hossna which was designed to raise general awareness. This presentation was followed by a coffee house fundraiser to collect backpacks and school supplies and was soon followed by the launch of ACES’ involvement in the IRIS after-school program, where groups of ACES students visited the IRIS Education Center once a month to share their skills and have fun with IRIS youth through the arts. Amy explained that, “Over five months, these workshops built strong relationships between a core group of students and faculty from each department”, noting that not only was this a great opportunity for IRIS, but also an opportunity for her students to gain the privilege of service and giving back.

Amy emphasized that she believes in the power of connecting through the arts to overcome language barriers and using dance, movement, and visual arts to foster deeper communication without words. She stated, “The power of allowing students to take initiative and create these relationships and bonds with IRIS gives them a sense of empowerment as well and fosters such a positive partnership between students and IRIS as an organization.”. This collaboration with ACES is also in its second year.

As IRIS continues to deepen and expand its reach in Connecticut communities, the organization’s commitment to involving educational institutions remains a cornerstone of its strategy. The strategic emphasis on youth involvement and community engagement has allowed IRIS to not only raise awareness about refugee resettlement but also to inspire tangible actions and support from students and educators alike.The positive experiences and strong relationships built through these initiatives ensure that IRIS’s mission will continue to thrive, supported by a new generation of engaged and informed advocates.

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PUBLISHED BY THE DAY Oct 29, 2025

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

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.

Man shot, police find him in a hospital in Hartford

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