Lawmakers seek refugee funding amid federal uncertainty
In Liberia, Musa Kanneh’s family didn’t have electricity.
Instead, they made their own candles for light.
When the now-22-year-old came to Albany in 2005 with his parents and two siblings, life changed. There was baseball, guitar lessons, skiing — and the culinary offerings of McDonald’s.
But as Kanneh — who grew up in Albany alongside Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy’s son, Brendan — now studies architecture at SUNY Delhi, some state lawmakers are warning that federal action on refugee resettlement could stymie new immigrant stories like Kanneh’s.
Fahy, along with fellow Assembly Democrats from upstate’s other major cities, on Wednesday called for $12 million in the state budget to, for the first time, provide state funding for refugee resettlement. That plea comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to decrease the number of refugees who can enter the United States.
Read more: http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/272707/lawmakers-seek-refugee-funding-amid-federal-uncertainty/