All are welcome to join the Pace for Peace Run for Refugees in Boise on May 24, 2025, in support of Agency for New Americans.
The agency has been resettling refugees in Boise for many years. Community support is even more important this year as federal funding has been frozen. Proceeds from the race will help new refugee neighbors afford rent, utility, and medical expenses as they get on their feet in Boise.
Brandee Robles from the Agency for New Americans shares with us how her agency is navigating the new national changes and continuing to support the hundreds of people who have been welcomed over the past year.
Sayed Mirbacha, an organizer with Pace for Peace, shares why he is passionate about helping fellow refugees adjust to their new lives with hope, health, and community.
Pace for Peace Run for Refugees: http://www.anaidaho.org/runforrefugees.html
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41:19
Lok Darjee: Preserving American Democracy Takes All of Us
Lok Darjee works to empower others from refugee and immigrant backgrounds to use their vote and their voices to help shape and preserve the American democracy that he cares deeply about. His family is originally from Bhutan, but they were among the more than 100,000 Nepali-speaking people who were displaced in the early 1990s due to government persecution and attacks on their language, culture, religion, and citizenship. Lok resettled in Twin Falls, Idaho, as a teenager. While in Twin Falls, he founded a program to pair refugee students with American-born mentors.
He now runs Refugee Civic Action in Pennsylvania and is a fellow at Foreign Policy for America. Lok holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University and has written extensively on immigration, policy, and identity.
Lok said pausing the refugee resettlement program goes against who we are as Americans. The program “gives a lot of hope to kids like me who are refugees, gives a second chance to people like my family to come to this nation and build up again,” he said.
Check out his recent powerful op-ed in the Inquirer.
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41:36
Displaced for her Baha'i faith, Mona Heern holds on to joy
Mona Heern shares with Mosaics about her experiences as a young girl growing up during the Iranian revolution of 1979. Mona’s family and other members of the Baha’i faith - Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority – became the targets of intense persecution and restrictions, which continue to this day. Mona, her mother, and younger sister fled Iran after her father was murdered in prison simply for being Baha’i. Mona shares how she has found healing through sharing her story and serving alongside her community to maintain joy and hope.
Mona is now an educator and public speaker. She currently serves as an instructor and field experience coordinator at Idaho State University in Pocatello, preparing the next generation of teachers.
“I come from a country where it’s against the law for Baha’is to be teachers, so to having come to the United States where I can be a teacher, and now being part of that training process of future teachers, just means so much to me,” she said.
Through her public speaking engagements, Mona sheds light on the challenges faced by refugees in various forums, including school assemblies, community groups, and the media. Her hope is that through education and dialogue, we can build communities that embrace refugees and human rights in all social and institutional settings.
Mona was the recipient of the Freedom Festival Award and the NAACP Ron Timpson Award for her “significant contribution to the community through volunteerism and dedication to human rights."
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42:37
City Cast Boise: The Resettlement Program is Paused. Now What?
Join us for a conversation with local podcast City Cast Boise about Boise's rich history of resettlement and the current executive order that abruptly suspended the program. Where are things now? Moses Mukengezi was resettled with his family in 2007, and he’s talking about his story alongside Holly Beech from the Idaho Office for Refugees. City Cast Boise host Lindsay Van Allen is finding out the pause means on the local level — both for the families caught in limbo and the agencies scrambling to support them. Plus, what would a permanent pause in resettlement mean for Boise’s identity?
Here’s more information on the lawsuit that was filed in federal court in Seattle seeking to reverse the Trump administration’s refugee resettlement order.
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24:23
Sisters from Afghanistan Stand in Solidarity
Razma and Hasina are sisters who resettled in Idaho with their family in 2022. Razma is continuing her education at Boise State, where she is majoring in computer science, and Hasina is a senior in high school. They are pursuing dreams of education and future careers that would not be possible for them under new rules in Afghanistan banning girls and women from school and work opportunities and even leaving the house without a male escort.
The sisters are sharing their stories because they care deeply about advocating for Afghan women and girls. Their voices offer hope and encouragement to others facing hardships. Their journey hasn’t been easy, but they have learned to stay determined and work toward making a difference for themselves and for others.
National Update: Also in this episode is an update on the recent changes to refugee admissions to the United States. A presidential executive order issued on Jan. 20 suspends the arrival of refugees into the U.S. for at least 90 days, at which point it will again be under review by the president. The pause creates painful delays for refugees who have been approved for resettlement or who were about to reunite with their families after years of separation. The order does not impact the status of those who have already arrived, and the Idaho Office for Refugees and local resettlement agencies in Idaho are continuing our work to support them. Please share Mosaics and your support for resettlement with your networks to show that Americans care about our heritage of being a nation of hope, welcome, and freedom.
Idaho has a heritage of refugee resettlement that’s enriched our culture, economy, and communities. On the Mosaics podcast, we’ll hear from Idahoans with lived refugee experience and from community members who are building a culture of belonging. We all have a role to play in creating the bigger picture of a vibrant and connected society.
Presented by the Idaho Office for Refugees with grant funding from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.
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