BERLIN -- Refugees living in the Greater Hartford area gathered at a mosque in Berlin to support each other Friday night, sharing stories of their escapes to America for a better life.
"I love life in America, I love people in America, I love people in the church welcoming me and I love the people in the mosque," said Ali Alfagar, who came to Connecticut from Syria as a refugee with his wife and three daughters. Now, the family lives in West Hartford and has welcomed a baby boy.
But despite only being in America for five months, Alfagar says he is worried that others won't get to experience his idealistic American dream now that Donald Trump has been elected.
"A lot of refugee and the life is not good there in Arab states. I come to America, the people good...but the Trump speaker not good," Alfagar said.
It's a particular worry in Connecticut which has been especially welcoming to refugees. According to Connecticut's Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, about 500 refugees settled in Connecticut this year. As for the U.S. government, it invited 85,000 people from all over the world to come to this country.
Reza Mansoor is the president of the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford. He says many families have approached him--worried about what a Trump presidency means for them.
“He said he's going to stop all refugees from coming. Number one this is not America, this is antithetical to everything that America stands for in welcoming refugees and welcoming people who don't have,” Mansoor said.
