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How one refugee family made it to LA after years stuck in Vienna
Lilia Tarverdi, left, cooks at home in Tujunga while her brother Argisht, right, holds one of her young children. Argisht, his older brother and their parents recently arrived as refugees from Iran after waiting nearly three years in Vienna.
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Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC
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How one refugee family made it to LA after years stuck in Vienna
A year ago, 87 Iranian refugees bound for the United States who’d been waiting in Austria since 2016 were stranded there indefinitely, after the U.S. denied their applications. They had been waiting to come to the U.S. through a program for religious minorities since before the January 2017 travel ban. Last month, following a court order, about a dozen of them were admitted into the country.
A year ago, 87 Iranian refugees bound for the United States who’d been waiting in Austria since 2016 were stranded there indefinitely, after the U.S. denied their applications. They had been waiting to come to the U.S. through a program for religious minorities since before the January 2017 travel ban. Last month, following a court order, about a dozen of them were admitted into the country.
They included a family of four that's now settled in Los Angeles. With no permission to work in Austria, they exhausted their life savings and depended on charity to survive. Their story is another illustration of the personal cost of U.S. government immigration decisions.
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
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