Pessimistic Slant

Dear Editor,
    I am writing to express my disappointment in the article that appeared in the Dec. 5 edition entitled “Iraqis Find a Home in Austin” [News]. While I appreciate the effort to address the significant challenge refugees face integrating into American and Austin culture, the tone of the article was pessimistic and lacked hope. The United States and other Western countries have been part of the international humanitarian effort to assist refugees for over 40 years. As a part of this enduring effort, Caritas of Austin expects to resettle 500 refugees this year and over 90% of them will fully integrate and have no need to return to our organization for service. The overwhelming majority of refugees in Austin make it their home in every respect of the word. It is unfortunate the article included such a slanted focus on the rise of ISIS since the refugees we are currently resettling have no connection to that crisis whatsoever. The staff members featured in the article were harmed rather than helped by it. I hope The Austin Chronicle will, in the future, work more cooperatively with the subjects of such articles to ensure that the facts and tone are accurate.