Only in America with Ali Noorani Ali Noorani

This week, Ali talks to Mark Hetfield, President and CEO of HIAS, about what a Biden administration means for refugee resettlement. HIAS is one of nine primarily faith-based organizations partnering with the federal government to help resettle refugees.

Mark & Ali spoke about the obstacles refugees face on the road to resettlement, the policy decisions facing the Biden administration, and what a modernized refugee program could look like.

We’re hitting the ground running in 2021 and for season 4 of Only in America, with a series focused on what President-elect Biden’s first 100 days mean for the 117th Congress and what our immigration system could look like.

We’ll start by seeing what the Biden administration can do during its early days — and then shift to what the implications are in Congress for longer-term, bipartisan solutions for reform on key issues like DACA, border security and more. 

In our final episode of the season, we get a glimpse of the challenges migrant youth face in other parts of the world.

Ali talks with Irena Abdelalem Abdelmaksoud, a protection officer who specializes in working with unaccompanied children at Info Park, a grassroots NGO in Belgrade, Serbia, that has been assisting refugees in the area since 2015. They provide aid and other services for refugees across Belgrade, a major transit hub for refugees making the arduous journey to the European Union.

This week we dive into the importance of mental health care in the U.S. — in particular for immigrant youth.
Ali talks with Luna Greenstein, a senior content manager at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, about personal stories of immigrants’ mental health experiences, and how by understanding these stories, we can get a sense of the mental health challenges that young immigrants may face more often than their peers.

Ali talks to two people who have years of experience creating a safer environment for young immigrants to address their trauma and heal. Their work focuses on disrupting cycles of poverty and helping them build skills and access resources to build a better life.

Molly Baldwin is the founder and CEO of Roca in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Victoria Ramirez-Morales leads Roca’s Central American Youth Initiative.

For the last few episodes of season three, we’re taking a look forward. Specifically, to the young immigrants who are shaping our nation’s future.

We’ll hear about immigrant youth experiences and the unique challenges they face across a variety of backgrounds, including growing up as a first-generation immigrant, addressing trauma and violence prevention, and navigating higher education.