CLARKSTON, Ga. (RNS) — Soon after Muzhda Oriakhil and her husband came to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2014, they settled in Clarkston, a small but thriving city outside Atlanta known as the “Ellis Island of the South” for the tens of thousands of refugees who have resettled there.
It was not an easy path. Without transportation, insurance or easy access to medical care, she lost her first pregnancy. Oriakhil has spent the past 12 years trying to make that landing easier for others. She is now a senior community engagement manager at Friends of Refugees, a faith-based organization that offers refugees adapting to American life a host of services, including healthy-mom classes and mom circles.
Now she worries for the 300 moms who take part in the nonprofit’s initiatives for expectant mothers. The eight-week healthy-mom classes, which include throwing the moms a baby shower and offering postpartum support, used to draw 30 women. Now only 10 are enrolled.
Terrified of the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, families have retreated indoors — keeping children home from school, avoiding neighbors, cutting off the outside world, at least among newer arrivals who have yet to secure U.S. citizenship.
“There are not any positive words to give them hope, except we say, ‘We are with you. We are here,’” Oriakhil said. “But the real questions never get answered, because that is out of our control.”
Muzhda Oriakhil poses in Clarkston, Ga., on April 27, 2026. (RNS photo/Nicole Craine)
As the U.S. turns away from welcoming immigrants to deporting them, leaders in Clarkston and the Atlanta area are strategizing how to best …