A Refugee and his first job

90 Days

The United States offers financial support for Refugees during the first 90 days after their arrival. They have three months to settle into housing, learn English, find employment, and become basically self-sufficient. This financial aid covers the simplest physical needs – food, shelter, clothing. It’s based on formulas and allocations determined by committees and agencies. It’s a well-developed process. 

But learning how to navigate through American culture is not a process that can be guided merely by formulas or committees. It happens “in the trenches” of doing life. Being a World Relief “Good Neighbor Team” means standing with our refugee families as they learn how to live daily life in America – how to engage life “in the trenches.” This involves helping them learn how to do basic things like paying utility bills, shopping for groceries, finding a bus route … and most recently, cashing their first paycheck.

Just one week after his arrival, Samuel quickly found a job with a local landscaping company. It seemed like God’s amazing provision for him and his family. Working in landscaping seemed like a perfect match. Samuel is physically strong, loves the outdoors, and wants to study agriculture. This job (his first job in America) seemed like a God-given opportunity, especially since this company had hired many other refugees through a local Refugee service agency.

No pay! No pay!

But after a couple weeks, Samuel called me. “No pay! No pay!”  I couldn’t understand what Samuel was trying to tell me in his broken English.  But he was obviously upset about not getting paid, so I encouraged Samuel that the first paycheck might take some time to be processed for a new employee. Hang in there. It’ll come.

After two more weeks, Samuel’s protests intensified. He began to share more information. “I take three checks to bank – no pay! Bank says no money!”  Now I’m concerned. Three checks?  “No money?”

So, I turned to Samuel’s Swahili-speaking caseworker and asked him to speak directly to Samuel, in Swahili, about the paychecks. We quickly learned the painful truth behind Samuel’s problem.

Samuel started work in early November. But after getting his first three paychecks, he was unable to cash them. He didn’t have the proper ID, such as a Florida State ID or driver’s license. Without ID, he couldn’t get cash for his work - he had three worthless pieces of paper, called “checks.”

In December, Samuel obtained a Florida ID.  He proudly took his three checks to the bank to get his money, but he was told the accounts were closed, the checks were worthless. I was stunned. Samuel was unable to receive his first earnings, totaling over $800. It seemed that Samuel was confronting either incredible ineptitude or diabolic deception. Either way, we were going to find the truth and find Samuel’s money. I arranged to pick up Samuel, to make a call on his employer.

It was time to be an advocate. Being an advocate is a big part of serving refugees. They don’t know the language, or the customs, or the “ways” of America. At times, they literally need to be guided by the hand.

Samuel’s boss, we’ll call him George, seemed surprised to see us at his door. I introduced myself as Samuel’s “volunteer advocate from World Relief,” and told him we needed new checks to cover Samuel’s work.

George cut an imposing and dark figure. Probably 6 and half feet tall, 200 pounds, he towered over Samuel, and glared at me. He was angry. He blamed Samuel for the checks being bad. He claimed that Samuel took too long to cash the checks because they’re only good for a month (which is not true) and that he didn’t have the money to cover all three checks because a former employee had robbed him. (“Do we look like idiots, or what?” I thought.)

We didn’t back down – we weren’t leaving without Samuel’s money.

With sweat on his brow and a trembling hand, George found a blank company check and wrote out the amount for only half of what he owed Samuel. “That’s all I have. The rest you can get next week.”

Samuel never got the second check. He found another job and didn’t want to talk to George again. I didn’t blame him. George was scary; something about him was, in a word, dark. I didn’t feel safe being in his office. I had never met someone with such a frightening presence. It was weird, and sad. This was Samuel’s first job. What was your first job? You probably got paid for your work. Samuel didn’t. He lost 400 bucks.

After George handed Samuel that check, we turned and got out of that office.

As we have tried to serve refugees, we have seen how the most vulnerable can be preyed upon by the most powerful. In this incident, George was a powerful man compared to my friend, Samuel. George owned a business; Samuel needed a job. George enjoyed all the privileges of his country and class; Samuel had to flee his country and was poor and dependent. George’s story about being robbed and having no cash might have been true. We never found out. But we do know that he was unmerciful and angry, and refused to extend a helping hand to Samuel. Just to save a couple hundred bucks.