“[Islamic] women are more likely targets because of the head scarf,” Melanie Trimble said last week. As a program director for the International Institute of New Jersey, based in Jersey City, Trimble has met with a variety of refugees and immigrants who have been subjected to racial intolerance since Sept. 11. “There’s a pool of anger that is being directed at them for no reason,” she said.
Located on 880 Bergen Ave., the IINJ has over a dozen programs that provide legal services, educational classes, and interpreting assistance for immigrants. “So many different immigrant communities pass through the county,” said Nicholas Montalto, executive director. “The need is so great and our resources are so limited.”
The IINJ started, in February, a program to help immigrants affected by 9/11. They have already aided dozens.
The program is a step in a new direction for the institute. For the most part, the institute, founded in 1918, has dealt only with immigrants who have suffered persecution in their homeland by helping them assimilate to their new surroundings.
Operating on a $2.5 million annual budget that is largely funded through donations and grants, IINJ has historically served political refugees. “A lot of funding is earmarked to serve refugees,” Montalto said. “We don’t have additional funding to serve the non-refugee population.”
The institute employs 27 full-time people and has a databank of translators that it can call upon when necessary to interpret up to 50 different languages.
Based on the Immigration Naturalization Services criterion, political refugees are those who have been threatened in their country because of their race, political opinions or religion. For instance, the civil war that broke out in Liberia in the 1990s sent thousands of civilians fleeing abroad. The institute helped rescue one refugee’s grandson who had been tortured along with his family. The IINJU’s Refugee Resettlement program brought him and his son to the United States in 1998. Since then, his wife and baby girl have been brought to this country, and he has received career training and plans on becoming a computer programmer.
Many of these clients come to IINJ through word of mouth, Montalto said. “We usually have more clients than we can handle,” he said. The institute also publishes ads in a variety of foreign language media outlets. Of those who have come since 9/11, some have faced verbal abuse. Some have faced job discrimination. Some have been left unemployed and are afraid to ask for financial assistance because of their status in the country.
Although government agencies have sought to find and help these people, deep-rooted fears have kept many of them silent.
Recently, Trimble restored confidence to an Islamic high school girl who was being verbally assailed at school. Fearing that she would be subjected to further attacks if she complained, the girl simply stopped going to school. The school, which initially refused to believe that the accusations were accurate, eventually sat down with Trimble and realized that the issue of racial intolerance needed to be addressed.
Trimble said that in many instances, the institute serves as a broker between different agencies and the clientele, sometimes referring people to the ACLU. Trimble said the IINJ is a good start for refugees seeking assistance because it will help people find a solution to a problem even if the IINJ itself cannot be the organization providing that solution.
Immigrants who have suffered since the attacks in any way and seek emotional help, financial assistance, or general support should call (201) 653-3888 ext. 24.