Naturalized citizens honored in Las Vegas ahead of World Refugee Day

Juana Maria Garcia felt comforted by the mix of languages and cultures at East Las Vegas Library on Thursday. It reminded her that the United States is a country of liberty and democracy, she said.

Garcia was one of nearly two dozen newly naturalized citizens honored by Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada and the ECDC African Community Center during a World Refugee Day event.

The United Nations established the occasion, observed annually on June 20, in 2001 to raise awareness of the millions of people displaced from their homes because of conflict, natural disasters or political persecution. And while there are millions across the globe seeking refugee status in other countries, far fewer resettle, said Carisa Lopez-Ramirez, vice president of immigration and migration services at Catholic Charities.

“Refugees are different from your regular immigrant community,” Lopez-Ramirez said. “Every refugee goes through a screening process, to a point that less than 1 percent of them will ever arrive here. I think that’s a challenging thing to communicate.”

From October 2019 to September 2020, 440 people were resettled in Nevada, Lopez-Ramirez said. Since October 2020, 390 more have come to the Silver State. Catholic Charities also serves as the refugee resettlement office for the state.

Catholic Charities and other resettlement agencies help refugees adjust to their new lives for up to five years, though many only use the services for about a year. Help comes through a case manager who helps set up Social Security and health care options or enroll children in school, a job trainer who helps refugees prepare for interviews and an English-language teacher who acclimates them to the language and eventually helps them prepare for the U.S. citizenship test.

All that work may not be noticed by American-born citizens, said Catholic Charities CEO Deacon Tom Roberts.

“There are great lessons for all of us that were born here that are easily taken for granted, for the gift of our country,” Roberts said while addressing the honorees. “We know it’s not perfect, and we know there are challenges here. But each of you, our new brothers and sisters, make our community better, richer, more inclusive.”

For Adrian Cardenas, coming to Las Vegas from Cuba seven years ago was a gift and a challenge. Cardenas was reunited with his mother and brother, who arrived the year prior. The biggest shock, he said, was learning a different society. He had to learn new systems like Social Security and health care, and learn new behaviors such as how to act if a police officer pulled him over.

Cardenas became more comfortable and rose through the ranks while working at Wynn Las Vegas, he said. The aid he got from Catholic Charities inspired him to help others in English classes as they went remote during the pandemic starting last year. He continues to help with interpreting even though he moved to Miami last fall.

“I always received support and always received help from the people, the teachers, the staff at Catholic Charities,” Cardenas said. “This was a way to give back, to help other people to become American citizens.”

McKenna Ross is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact her at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on Twitter.