Farhiya Muhyadin, the wife of Omar Shekey, photographed in her store, Benadir Dollar Store, in Clarkston, Georgia. The town is just outside of Atlanta’s city limits and has become known as the “Ellis Island of the South.” Photo by DUSTIN CHAMBERS; Photo illustration by Caitlin Ellingson/USA TODAY Network

Clarkston, Georgia — A train rattled through Clarkston momentarily drowning out the swell of conversation and music inside Refuge Coffee on a gray late October morning.

The coffee shop, which doubles as an unofficial town center, sits on a slight hill past the train tracks, surrounded by a collection of grocery stores and restaurants catering to palates from across the globe.

The steely sky threatened rain as a woman in a rust-colored sari jumped out of her car with two children in tow and rushed into the Biryani Point grocery store.

Next door in the South Asian Market, the store manager coated the front counter with the ingredients used to make paan.

He explained, as he rolled a mixture of cloves, coconut powder and fennel into leaves — that paan is a breath freshener, gesturing to his mouth.

Refuge Coffee in Clarkston, Georiga. Dustin Chambers

Leon Shombana 47, a former high school teacher who emigrated from the Democratic Republic of Congo seven years ago, was busy taking coffee orders inside the original home of Refuge Coffee — a red coffee truck parked in the lot of a former gas station that now houses the expanded business.

Customers waited for their coffee near a chalkboard sign with the word "Welcome" neatly printed in 12 languages.

You don’t have look far beyond the circle of businesses around this coffee truck to understand why Clarkston has been coined “The Ellis Island of the South” and “The Most Diverse Square Mile” in recent years.

Leon Shombana, 47, a former high school teacher from the Democratic Republic of Congo now works as a manager at Refuge Coffee in Clarkston, Georgia. Rudika, a neighbor, customer and sometimes- jewelry vendor from Bhutan sits outside. The coffee and food truck provides employment and job training to refugees recently resettled in the community. Leon Shombana, 47, a former high school teacher from the Democratic Republic of Congo now works as a manager at Refuge Coffee in Clarkston, Georgia. Rudika, a neighbor, customer and sometimes- jewelry vendor from Bhutan sits outside. The coffee and food truck provides employment and job training to refugees recently resettled in the community. Leon Shombana, 47, a former high school teacher from the Democratic Republic of Congo now works as a manager at Refuge Coffee in Clarkston, Georgia. Rudika, a neighbor, customer and sometimes- jewelry vendor from Bhutan sits outside. The coffee and food truck provides employment and job training to refugees recently resettled in the community. Joe Gonzalez

Representing diversity in America

Over the last three decades, this quiet suburb just 30 minutes northeast of downtown Atlanta has become home to thousands of refugees representing more than 40 countries and speaking at least 60 languages, according to the city's mayor.



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While it started attracting displaced people from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries in the late 1970s, it didn’t officially become a refugee resettlement site until the 1980s, after former president Jimmy Carter passed the United States Refugee Act.

The law set up a framework that allowed displaced people with special humanitarian concerns to apply for refugee status in the U.S.

Most of whom came to Clarkston through the refugee resettlement program that provides support for refugees coming to the U.S. fleeing political persecution, war and other humanitarian crises.

While most states receive a certain amount federal funding to support these programs, Georgia has historically been among the top 10 states accepting the highest numbers of refugees annually, according to data provided by Welcoming America, a non-profit organization that supports refugees.

Ted Terry has been mayor of Clarkston, Georgia, since 2013. Ted Terry

Clarkston’s proximity to Atlanta, support services and availability of affordable housing have traditionally been a draw for refugee families contributing to the striking demographics of this 1.4 square mile city.

With a population of just over 13,000, Clarkston Mayor Ted Terry, estimates that about 40 percent of residents were born abroad.

“It’s a little microcosm of a much more diverse America,” Terry described.

Copy text Copy this quote's text The quote has been copied Tweet Share Ted Terry It’s a little microcosm of a much more diverse America. Quote icon

As an example of this, he pointed out a new mosque that was nearing construction in the fall. It’s across the street from a Buddhist temple and blocks away from a Methodist church, a Baptist church and an Ethiopian Orthodox church, “all within a square mile of each other,” he said.

It’s all part of a larger vision for Clarkston that Terry has championed since he was elected mayor in 2013.

While the town has a history dating back to the late 1970s of being home to refugees, it hasn’t always supported this ideal.

Terry ended a three-year moratorium that had been put in place banning new refugees from residing in Clarkston and declared it “Welcoming City” to refugees.

Since Terry took office, three former refugees have run for public office and two have been elected to City Council.

These efforts have inspired younger generations of new Americans to run for public office and participate in the shaping of the city’s future.

Show caption Hide caption Portrait of Darara Gubo, left, 40, a law student from Ethiopia, and Samuel Rai, 26, who grew up in a Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal,... Portrait of Darara Gubo, left, 40, a law student from Ethiopia, and Samuel Rai, 26, who grew up in a Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal, photographed in front of Refuge Coffee in Clarkston, Georgia. They both ran for city council seats in early November, the first time either had run for office. DUSTIN CHAMBERS

Darara Gubo, 40, a law student from Ethiopia and Samuel Rai, 26, who grew up in a Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal, both ran for council seats in November, 2019 on the same ticket as incumbent council member Andrea Cervone, 30.

This was the first time Gubo and Rai ran for public office.

While the election did not go in their favor, it’s symbolic of the changes that have taken place in this city over the last seven years.

Gubo and Rai said days after the election that they had been successful in engaging new voters among refugee residents and met with people who had no idea they could participate in the election.

“Many people are scared of voting because doing this in their home country sometimes could be really dangerous,” Rai described.

While Clarkston has placed itself on the map by celebrating its diversity, the city is in a state of flux. Rising housing prices in Atlanta have driven younger people into Clarkston and other surrounding suburbs seeking affordable housing. City officials estimate that about 80 percent of the community's housing stock are rental units.

Impact of national policies

Despite being a ‘Welcoming City,’ Clarkston has also not been immune to national policies that have rattled immigrant communities across the U.S. in recent years.

The travel ban, on seven predominantly Muslim countries in 2017 had an immediate chilling effect on the vast Somali community that settled in Clarkston.

In September 2019, the Trump administration issued an executive order granting local and state governing bodies the authority to decide whether or not to allow refugees to be resettled in their borders. In December of that year, Dekalb County voted to continue accepting refugees, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

The order coincides with a year-over-year reduction in the number of refugees allowed in the country since 2016. Beginning in October, the Trump administration set a cap on the number of refugees allowed in the U.S. at 18,000 people for fiscal year 2020, making it one of the lowest admissions levels in the history of the refugee resettlement program. The reduction has already come at a cost with one resettlement agency, World Relief, closing its Atlanta office within weeks of the announcement.

The cap has had a dramatic effect on the number of refugees coming into Georgia. In 2019 the state accepted approximately 1,200 refugees according to the Pew Research Center. In Clarkston, new refugee arrivals have dropped from 327 in FY 2016 to 10 last year, according to the Refugee Processing Center.

The reduction has an immediate impact on the town’s budget, Terry explained.

“Caps on refugee numbers means fewer support services. We’re losing that institutional knowledge, people who are really good at taking someone from another country and helping them start their entire lives over here,” he said.

As funding for larger resettlement agencies has become more restricted in recent years, smaller organizations like the Somali American Community Center and the Amani Women Center have become important lifelines for hundreds of refugees. While large resettlement agencies provide up to three months of support services, such as job training, and help procuring housing, these organizations step in to help with day to day concerns.

Doris Mukangu runs the Amani Women Center, a space for refugee women in Clarkston, Georgia, to meet and commune, as well as obtain job training and learn weaving and sewing skills. Unique items, such as an elephant puppet made out of wire and a Coke can, can be found at the center. Doris Mukangu runs the Amani Women Center, a space for refugee women in Clarkston, Georgia, to meet and commune, as well as obtain job training and learn weaving and sewing skills. Unique items, such as an elephant puppet made out of wire and a Coke can, can be found at the center. Doris Mukangu runs the Amani Women Center, a space for refugee women in Clarkston, Georgia, to meet and commune, as well as obtain job training and learn weaving and sewing skills. Unique items, such as an elephant puppet made out of wire and a Coke can, can be found at the center. Dustin Chambers

Located behind a row of small businesses, the showroom of the Amani Women Center is a tribute to artwork and crafts from all over Africa. When Doris Mukangu, 45, isn’t rushing to give someone a ride to the doctor she is at the center which she founded in 2006 as a way to provide job training to refugee women. She explained that when refugee families come to the U.S. they are already in debt. Families have to pay back travel expenses when they are accepted into refugee resettlement programs.

Mukangu wanted to help women become self-sufficient earning money from what they already knew how to do. So, she started a sewing program.

“There is so much untapped potential that exists in so many of these homes,” she said.

The program shifted its focus to work with women who had already been living in Clarkston for several years and from countries across the globe not just those within the African continent.

“When you come to our classes it is like the United Nations,” she added.

Show caption Hide caption Omar Shekey is photographed outside of the mall where his office is located in Clarkston, Georgia. Clarkston, Georgia, is a town just outside of Atlanta’s... Omar Shekey is photographed outside of the mall where his office is located in Clarkston, Georgia. Clarkston, Georgia, is a town just outside of Atlanta’s city limits that has become known as the “Ellis Island of the South.” Dustin Chambers

The Somali American Community Center experienced a similar evolution. Within the walls of the chaotic offices, Omar Shekey, 69, has organized everything from soccer camps for immigrant children to classes for adults taking their U.S. citizenship exams. A wall of filing cabinets tells decades worth of stories of families who have come here for help.

“Iraqi, Irani, Somali, Syrian, Bhutan,” he names off the top of his head, emphasizing each country by opening and closing the drawer.

While the center started out working specifically with Somali immigrants, Shekey also expanded to offer help with everything from filling out food stamp applications to finding housing.

He remarked on how Clarkston has changed in recent years.

“If you asked me seven years ago, I used to get hate mail,” he said. “They came up with this moratorium for refugees not to come to Clarkston. Things were rough until we mobilized ourselves and put our councilmen (Ahmed Hassan) and a man from Eritrea on the council (Awet Eyasu).”

A growing government

The city's governing body currently has two officials who were born outside of the U.S.

Copy text Copy this quote's text The quote has been copied Tweet Share Darara Guba Only in America, can I have this opportunity. Where I come from I don’t have that. Quote icon

Rai and Gubo had hoped to carry on in this legacy and continue being a voice for Clarkston’s refugee population as its new council members.

Though he didn’t win, Gubo remarked it was a victory to even be able to run only four months after becoming a U.S. citizen in July.

“Only in America, can I have this opportunity. Where I come from I don’t have that. To be able to judged based on what I say and my actions and do this freely? I am already a winner,” he said.

While she didn’t run for council this year, Fatima Haji, 31, (spelled Fatuma on all her legal documents—a clerical error that occurred when she immigrated to the U.S. 21 years ago from Somalia) is already planning ahead for next year.

Fatima Haji, 31, who plans to run for city council, is photographed in front of a mural in the center of Clarkston. Dustin Chambers

After more than two decades living in the Clarkston-area she sees herself as part of the fabric of the community. She admonishes the term refugee, which she said specifically applies to people who are newly arrived in the U.S.

She pointed to herself and many of the young residents inside Refuge Coffee that October morning.

“This is not the same place I moved to 21 years ago,” she said. “It’s changing quickly, and I think quite a bit for the better.”

Maria Clark is a correspondent with a focus in public health and immigration policy based in New Orleans. Follow her on Twitter @MariaPClark1.