A look at life for small group of refugees allowed in U.S. since Trump took office
PBS News Hour - Segments
PBS NewsHour
4.1 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 18 July 2025
⏱️ 9 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Shortly after being sworn into office, President Trump indefinitely suspended refugee admissions to the United States. |
| 0:07.5 | After months of legal challenges, only a small group of refugees has been allowed into the country. |
| 0:13.1 | White House correspondent Laura Barone Lopez, and it has an exclusive report on one family's journey here. |
| 0:20.4 | In the early morning hours last Saturday, It has an exclusive report on one family's journey here. |
| 0:29.8 | In the early morning hours last Saturday, John, Anna, and their six children arrived at Bradley Airport in Hartford County, Connecticut, |
| 0:33.2 | ending a journey more than a decade in the making. |
| 0:42.3 | Our journey was long. We were very tired when we arrived, but the manner in which we were welcomed, all the exhaustion faded away. That welcome came from staff at the Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts, a local nonprofit that resettles refugees. |
| 0:50.3 | John and Anna, whose names we've changed for their safety, met and lived in a refugee camp in Zimbabwe |
| 0:56.3 | for nearly 20 years. Both had fled their own countries, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic |
| 1:03.5 | of the Congo, fearing for their lives. They built a family, but were never able to live outside |
| 1:09.3 | the camp or put down roots. |
| 1:11.6 | There was no purpose to our lives, and every day was a struggle. |
| 1:15.6 | When we got the news that we could travel to the U.S., we were very happy. |
| 1:19.6 | But the family's arrival in their new home is five months late. |
| 1:24.6 | They were all set to come to the U.S. earlier this year, after packing up, |
| 1:29.5 | giving most of their possessions away, and leaving the refugee camp. But then, hours after taking |
| 1:35.7 | office on January 20th, President Donald Trump indefinitely stopped all refugee admissions, |
| 1:42.0 | following through on a campaign promise. |
| 1:45.1 | When day one of the Trump presidency, I will restore the travel ban, suspend refugee admissions, |
| 1:51.0 | stop the resettlement. |
| 1:53.7 | What did you think when you found out you could not come to the U.S. anymore? |
| 1:57.7 | Okay. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from PBS NewsHour, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of PBS NewsHour and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

