Refugees II

Families carrying their belongings walk up to a U.S. officer who leans against a flagpole with the Somali and U.S. flags. In this condensed image of exile and immigration, people leave Somalia as refugees to the U.S. for a new life. The artist was one of them and settled in Minneapolis in 2002. A sign on the office building in the background reads “JVA, ” which stands for Joint Voluntary Agency. This is a U.S. faith-based organization that works for the Department of State to document and process overseas refugees for admission to the United States.