{"id":731664,"date":"2023-12-28T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-28T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/?p=731664"},"modified":"2023-12-21T17:24:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-21T23:24:00","slug":"refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When fifth-grader Mohammed F\u00e1izy walked into his Tulsa school, just months after fleeing Afghanistan, he didn\u2019t speak, read or write English.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He faced the prospect of learning the language while adjusting culturally and catching up on the core subjects of reading, writing, science and math.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although government support of recent Afghan refugees is strong, refugee students from other countries face identical barriers without the same level of federal help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Across Tulsa Public Schools, 261 Afghan children enrolled in Pre-K through 12th grades about the same time as F\u00e1izy, and were thrust into the same challenge. More than 100 additional Afghan students enrolled in Putnam City, Edmond, Stillwater and Jenks Public Schools, state records show.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Federal policy changes since 2020 led to increased refugee arrivals, according to a June report by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.migrationpolicy.org\/article\/refugees-and-asylees-united-states#top-states\">Migration Policy Institute<\/a>. State data shows that as of early November, about 40% of Oklahoma\u2019s 4,074 refugees supported with federal money over the last three years were school-aged children, mostly from Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But refugees arrived in Oklahoma from more than 20 countries in the past three years, and while schools have resources to help all refugee children, including specialized English Language Development teachers and books translated into various languages, there is federal money available to schools to help Afghans specifically, leaving students from countries such as Cuba, Haiti, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo without the same level of support.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\t<div\n\t\tclass=\"wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles is-style-borders wpnbha show-image image-alignright ts-4 is-1 is-landscape is-style-borders\"\n\t\tstyle=\"\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t<div data-posts data-current-post-id=\"749855\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-section-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>the latest<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"754196\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-attorney-general tag-cdc tag-covid-19 tag-george-monks tag-measles tag-oklahoma-news tag-oklahoma-state-department-of-health tag-oklahoma-state-medical-association tag-whooping-cough category-health category-publichealth type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"post-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2026\/01\/05\/oklahoma-health-department-refuses-to-share-county-level-measles-data\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Monks_15-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-newspack-article-block-landscape-large size-newspack-article-block-landscape-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"Oklahoma Health Department Refuses to Share County-Level Measles Data\" data-hero-candidate=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Monks_15-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Monks_15-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Monks_15-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Monks_15-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Monks_15-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Monks_15-scaled.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 2400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Monks_15-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 782px) 600px, (min-width: 600px) 42.5vw, 90vw\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure><!-- .featured-image -->\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2026\/01\/05\/oklahoma-health-department-refuses-to-share-county-level-measles-data\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Oklahoma Health Department Refuses to Share County-Level Measles Data<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/author\/paulmonies\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" alt='Avatar photo' src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cropped-Paul-Monies.jpg?resize=48%2C48&#038;ssl=1\" srcset='https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cropped-Paul-Monies-96x96.jpg 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height=\"48\" width=\"48\" \/><\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"author-prefix\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/author\/paulmonies\/\">Paul Monies<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><!-- .author-name -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-01-05T06:01:00-06:00\">January 5, 2026<\/time><time class=\"updated\" datetime=\"2026-01-05T11:05:42-06:00\">January 5, 2026<\/time>\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n<p>Since 2020, the amount of money Oklahoma has received from the federal government for long-term refugee support services has increased by 3,142%. What used to be a funding pool of about $830,000 in 2020 grew to $26.8 million this year, state records show.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of the $16 million awarded to nonprofit and state organizations for refugee support services, $1.3 million went to public school districts in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metros and Stillwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With few exceptions, that money is restricted to their Afghan students, forcing educators to spend creatively so they can help the most students without violating funding guidelines.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>District officials hired additional English Language Development teachers and English-speaking Afghan refugees as family liaisons. They also funded summer school courses for students, training programs for teachers, family social events and field trips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Toni Hill is a full-time English Language Development instructor at Tulsa\u2019s Patrick Henry Elementary alongside her colleague, Bethany Henretty, who was hired part-time in light of the recent increased number of English learning students. Together they support 100 children, including F\u00e1izy, with in-class assistance on assignments, separate supplemental group classes and at-home tutoring.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hill works with students in third through fifth grades on reading and writing skills. Henretty helps students in kindergarten through second grade develop very basic vocabulary and pronunciation. Both teachers said overcoming the language barrier early is essential to help students feel safe and like they are in an environment in which they can learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hill said the first weeks and months children from Afghanistan were arriving at Patrick Henry were the most difficult.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDuring that time, these students were coming in with a lot of trauma,\u201d Hill said, \u201cWe had students that were trying to run out the doors that were not understanding what we were trying to do, that we were friends and that we were here to protect them.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She said it\u2019s important to consider the students\u2019 perspectives when trying to teach them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf I was in a strange country and I\u2019m sitting in a classroom and I\u2019m hearing all these things and I have no idea what\u2019s being said, and I\u2019m trying to communicate, wanting people to understand, I\u2019d be frustrated too,\u201d Hill said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To help Afghan students, Tulsa Public Schools hired eight Afghan refugees to facilitate communication among the district, schools, students and families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two of the refugees are navigators, who help with district-level communication to families. They translate things such as bus routes and any correspondence and documents sent home with students. The other six, known as liaisons, work inside schools and bridge understanding gaps between school staff and students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mia Qadri is the refugee liaison at Patrick Henry. Hired last March with federal money, he took the opportunity to use his English proficiency and experience as an educator in Afghanistan to help make life easier for the Afghan students in Tulsa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Qadri follows a daily schedule, visiting four to five classrooms of various grade levels, and helps Afghan students with their assignments in real-time. He is also on call while on campus, just in case he is needed to help translate when students are being disciplined, or there is an emergency and non-English speaking family members need to be contacted.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said most Afghan students received an education while living in their home country. The exceptions being some who lived in remote areas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;\u201cEspecially in south and southeastern Afghanistan, there were no schools,\u201d Qadri said. \u201cIf there were schools, they didn\u2019t have buildings, they were studying in tents.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said Afghan students enrolled at Patrick Henry have made noticeable improvements in their English skills in the past year, and consequently improved in other core subjects such as science and math. One reason is the encouragement they get from their parents, who want their children to take advantage of the opportunity to get an education, he said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMost of the parents are not educated,\u201d Qadri said. \u201cSo they are happy their kids will be educated and will have a bright future.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Students such as F\u00e1izy are on a path to that future, said Patrick Henry\u2019s principal Jene&#8217; Carpenter, during a short tour of some of the classrooms where Afghan students participated seamlessly alongside their peers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>F\u00e1izy, who Carpenter said knew only a few English words when he enrolled in Patrick Henry, was reading aloud about how matter can change physically and chemically in Michele Fischer\u2019s fifth-grade class. All educational materials provided to refugee students, regardless of their country of origin, are in English. While the school\u2019s Afghan refugee liaison can help translate some classwork for Afghan students, most translations occur when teachers, counselors, nurses and other school staff need to communicate with parents about their children.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-medium\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"336\" height=\"219\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents8.jpeg?resize=336%2C219&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-731667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents8.jpeg?resize=336%2C219&amp;ssl=1 336w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents8.jpeg?resize=771%2C503&amp;ssl=1 771w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents8.jpeg?resize=768%2C501&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents8.jpeg?resize=400%2C261&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents8.jpeg?resize=706%2C461&amp;ssl=1 706w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents8.jpeg?w=935&amp;ssl=1 935w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents8-336x219.jpeg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bethany Henretty, left, and Toni Hill, right, are the English Language Development teachers at Patrick Henry Elementary School. They serve a total of 100 ELD students, 35 of whom are from Afghanistan. (Lionel Ramos\/ Oklahoma Watch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Hill and Henretty agreed that Qadri\u2019s help has been the most important element in ensuring the success of the Afghan children in the classroom. But of the 100 English learners at Patrick Henry, only 35 are from Afghanistan. The rest are from Latin American, African and Asian countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the school has a robust curriculum to help students from places other than Afghanistan, Hill said, teachers don\u2019t have designated liaisons to help them communicate with students or their families. Instead, the English Language Development teachers use over-the-phone translation services, which are less reliable.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have a special curriculum through National Geographic that we utilize in the classroom to teach the basics of the English language,\u201d Hill said. \u201cWe get dictionaries and books translated in the languages Afghans speak, for example, but we have those same books translated into Spanish, Chinese and various other languages.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Educators at Stillwater Public Schools used federal money to hire three language-interpreting teacher assistants and pay<a href=\"https:\/\/www.elachieve.org\/partner-districts\/\"> E.L. Achieve<\/a>, a consulting and curriculum company, for cultural training for teachers to help them build lesson plans that are suited to English learners from Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stephanie Coca, the district&#8217;s multilingual program coordinator, said the increased money was immensely helpful. The district has 25 Afghan students and an increasing number of<strong> <\/strong>students from Spanish-speaking countries, she said, and the training helps them all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Professional development is helping teachers present subject matter in a way that acknowledges every student is learning each subject\u2019s jargon<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cScience has a specific language: laboratories, beakers, the scientific method, all those things are new terms for everyone,\u201d Coca said. \u201cIt\u2019s looking at your lesson plan, at the language that you\u2019re teaching students, and helping them prepare to understand that language and practice it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She is one of two educators undergoing the training now, but more teachers will get the training as Afghans age and enroll in their classes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coca said that while many Afghan students enrolled in Stillwater Public Schools in 2022, and the money to support them provided necessary resources, most refugee students enrolling in Stillwater Public Schools today are Venezuelan.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the kind of help afforded to F\u00e1izy and other Afghan students doesn\u2019t extend to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGosh,\u201d Coca said. \u201cIf I could do this for our Venezuelan families, for all of our new families, it\u2019d be a game changer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot-600x600.jpeg?resize=600%2C600&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-750496\" style=\"width:193px;height:193px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot.jpeg?resize=600%2C600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot.jpeg?resize=140%2C140&amp;ssl=1 140w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot.jpeg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot.jpeg?resize=800%2C800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot.jpeg?resize=400%2C400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot.jpeg?resize=200%2C200&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot.jpeg?resize=780%2C780&amp;ssl=1 780w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot.jpeg?resize=706%2C706&amp;ssl=1 706w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot.jpeg?resize=100%2C100&amp;ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot.jpeg?w=972&amp;ssl=1 972w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot-600x600.jpeg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Lionel Ramos covers state government for KOSU. Reach him at <a href=\"mailto:lionel@kosu.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lionel@kosu.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:4px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\t<div\n\t\tclass=\"wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles  wpnbha is-grid columns-3 colgap-1 show-image image-aligntop ts-3 is-3 is-landscape \"\n\t\tstyle=\"\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t<div data-posts data-current-post-id=\"731664\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-section-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>MORE FROM lionel ramos<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"750476\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-brad-alexander tag-david-bryning tag-fletcher tag-ice tag-immigration tag-jason-delonais tag-law-enforcement tag-lorena-rivas tag-seling tag-vinita category-criminaljustice category-government category-immigration category-politics type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"post-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2025\/08\/19\/oklahomas-small-town-police-take-federal-immigration-role\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250804_vis_SterlingFletcherPDs-18-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-newspack-article-block-landscape-large size-newspack-article-block-landscape-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"Oklahoma\u2019s Small-Town Police Take Federal Immigration Role\" data-hero-candidate=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250804_vis_SterlingFletcherPDs-18-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250804_vis_SterlingFletcherPDs-18-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250804_vis_SterlingFletcherPDs-18-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250804_vis_SterlingFletcherPDs-18-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250804_vis_SterlingFletcherPDs-18-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250804_vis_SterlingFletcherPDs-18-scaled.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 2400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/250804_vis_SterlingFletcherPDs-18-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw \/ 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw \/ 12)), 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure><!-- .featured-image -->\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2025\/08\/19\/oklahomas-small-town-police-take-federal-immigration-role\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Oklahoma\u2019s Small-Town Police Take Federal Immigration Role<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"731664\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-afghan tag-barriers tag-education-2 tag-federal-aid tag-refugees category-children category-education category-race-in-oklahoma type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"post-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-newspack-article-block-landscape-medium size-newspack-article-block-landscape-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support\" data-hero-candidate=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw \/ 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw \/ 12)), 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure><!-- .featured-image -->\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"731363\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-democracy tag-hispanic tag-latino tag-latino-caucus tag-pac tag-politics tag-state-sen-michael-brooks tag-voting category-democracy-democracy category-democracy category-government category-race-in-oklahoma type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"post-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/07\/plan-set-to-engage-more-latinos-in-oklahoma-politics\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/samcampaignmeetedit3_upscale.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-newspack-article-block-landscape-large size-newspack-article-block-landscape-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"Plan Set to Engage More Latinos in Oklahoma Politics\" data-hero-candidate=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/samcampaignmeetedit3_upscale.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/samcampaignmeetedit3_upscale.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/samcampaignmeetedit3_upscale.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/samcampaignmeetedit3_upscale.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/samcampaignmeetedit3_upscale.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/samcampaignmeetedit3_upscale.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw \/ 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw \/ 12)), 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure><!-- .featured-image -->\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/07\/plan-set-to-engage-more-latinos-in-oklahoma-politics\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Plan Set to Engage More Latinos in Oklahoma Politics<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal regulations mean some refugee students in Oklahoma are getting more support than others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2625215,"featured_media":731666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"gigafact_has_fact_brief":false,"gigafact_remote_fact_brief_post_id":0,"gigafact_remote_sync_timestamp":"","gigafact_remote_sync_status":"","gigafact_remote_sync_response":"","gigafact_has_been_published":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"everlit_article_id":"","everlit_hide_embed":false,"everlit_embed_size":"","everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_article_id":"","_everlit_hide_embed":false,"_everlit_embed_size":"","_everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_content_hash":"","_everlit_metadata_hash":"","_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"Afghan Refugee Students Benefit from Generous Aid While Others Make Do","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[199,13,4693],"tags":[12321,20050,88,20049,12325],"series":[],"coauthors":[10266],"class_list":["post-731664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-children","category-education","category-race-in-oklahoma","tag-afghan","tag-barriers","tag-education-2","tag-federal-aid","tag-refugees","entry"],"fact_brief":null,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support - Oklahoma Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support - Oklahoma Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Federal regulations mean some refugee students in Oklahoma are getting more support than others.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Oklahoma Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OklahomaWatch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-28T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"802\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lionel Ramos\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OklahomaWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OklahomaWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lionel Ramos\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lionel Ramos\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/7208a4ca14860fcb1eca4f39950f9d6a\"},\"headline\":\"Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-28T12:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/\"},\"wordCount\":1473,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Afghan\",\"Barriers\",\"Education\",\"Federal Aid\",\"refugees\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Children &amp; Youth\",\"Education\",\"Race &amp; Equity\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/\",\"name\":\"Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support - Oklahoma Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-28T12:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":802,\"caption\":\"Mia Qadri, an Afghan refugee liaison hired by Tulsa Public Schools, stands ready to help fifth grade Afghan student Mohammed \u201cGaris\u201d F\u00e1izy as he reads out loud to his classmates. (Lionel Ramos\/ Oklahoma Watch)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/\",\"name\":\"Oklahoma Watch\",\"description\":\"No Favorites No Falsehoods No Fear\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Oklahoma Watch\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023-Oklahoma-Watch-Black.png?fit=1878%2C381&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023-Oklahoma-Watch-Black.png?fit=1878%2C381&ssl=1\",\"width\":1878,\"height\":381,\"caption\":\"Oklahoma Watch\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OklahomaWatch\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/OklahomaWatch\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/oklahoma_watch\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/10175470\/admin\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/7208a4ca14860fcb1eca4f39950f9d6a\",\"name\":\"Lionel Ramos\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/538220258b2ff29fa0e11725b867b8cf\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot-96x96.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot-96x96.jpeg\",\"caption\":\"Lionel Ramos\"},\"description\":\"Lionel Ramos is a Report for America corps member who covers race and equity issues for Oklahoma Watch. Contact him at 405-905-9953 or lramos@oklahomawatch.org. Follow him on Twitter at @LionelRamos_\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.kosu.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/author\/lionel-ramos\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support - Oklahoma Watch","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support - Oklahoma Watch","og_description":"Federal regulations mean some refugee students in Oklahoma are getting more support than others.","og_url":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/","og_site_name":"Oklahoma Watch","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OklahomaWatch","article_published_time":"2023-12-28T12:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":802,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lionel Ramos","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@OklahomaWatch","twitter_site":"@OklahomaWatch","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lionel Ramos","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/"},"author":{"name":"Lionel Ramos","@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/7208a4ca14860fcb1eca4f39950f9d6a"},"headline":"Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support","datePublished":"2023-12-28T12:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/"},"wordCount":1473,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1","keywords":["Afghan","Barriers","Education","Federal Aid","refugees"],"articleSection":["Children &amp; Youth","Education","Race &amp; Equity"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/","url":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/","name":"Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support - Oklahoma Watch","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1","datePublished":"2023-12-28T12:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1","width":1200,"height":802,"caption":"Mia Qadri, an Afghan refugee liaison hired by Tulsa Public Schools, stands ready to help fifth grade Afghan student Mohammed \u201cGaris\u201d F\u00e1izy as he reads out loud to his classmates. (Lionel Ramos\/ Oklahoma Watch)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/","name":"Oklahoma Watch","description":"No Favorites No Falsehoods No Fear","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#organization","name":"Oklahoma Watch","url":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023-Oklahoma-Watch-Black.png?fit=1878%2C381&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023-Oklahoma-Watch-Black.png?fit=1878%2C381&ssl=1","width":1878,"height":381,"caption":"Oklahoma Watch"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OklahomaWatch","https:\/\/x.com\/OklahomaWatch","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/oklahoma_watch\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/10175470\/admin\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/7208a4ca14860fcb1eca4f39950f9d6a","name":"Lionel Ramos","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/538220258b2ff29fa0e11725b867b8cf","url":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot-96x96.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-Lionel-Ramos-KOSU-Headshot-96x96.jpeg","caption":"Lionel Ramos"},"description":"Lionel Ramos is a Report for America corps member who covers race and equity issues for Oklahoma Watch. Contact him at 405-905-9953 or lramos@oklahomawatch.org. Follow him on Twitter at @LionelRamos_","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.kosu.org"],"url":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/author\/lionel-ramos\/"}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support","url":"http:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/12\/28\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?resize=140%2C140&ssl=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1"},"articleSection":"Children &amp; Youth","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lionel Ramos"}],"creator":["Lionel Ramos"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Oklahoma Watch","logo":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/okwatch-logo-1.png"},"keywords":["afghan","barriers","education","federal aid","refugees"],"dateCreated":"2023-12-28T12:00:00Z","datePublished":"2023-12-28T12:00:00Z","dateModified":"2023-12-28T12:00:00Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Refugee Students Face the Same Hurdles But Get Different Levels of Support\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/oklahomawatch.org\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/28\\\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/oklahomawatch.org\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/28\\\/refugee-students-face-the-same-hurdles-but-get-different-levels-of-support\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/oklahomawatch.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?resize=140%2C140&ssl=1\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/oklahomawatch.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1\"},\"articleSection\":\"Children &amp; Youth\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Lionel Ramos\"}],\"creator\":[\"Lionel Ramos\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"Oklahoma Watch\",\"logo\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oklahomawatch.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/okwatch-logo-1.png\"},\"keywords\":[\"afghan\",\"barriers\",\"education\",\"federal aid\",\"refugees\"],\"dateCreated\":\"2023-12-28T12:00:00Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-28T12:00:00Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-28T12:00:00Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/oklahomawatch.org\/p.js"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Afghanstudents6.jpeg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"author_name":"Lionel Ramos","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2625215"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731664"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":731668,"href":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731664\/revisions\/731668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/731666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731664"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=731664"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=731664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}