On the last day of last January, the Trump administration announced an 18-month extension of the temporary permission that granted some Syrians to stay in the United States.

Washington, DC. (April 10, 2018) — The American Relief Coalition for Syria (ARCS) condemns Saturday’s chemical attack in Douma, Syria, that killed at least 42 people. The victims’ symptoms, according to ARCS member Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), indicated that they suffocated from exposure to toxic chemicals. Over 500 people, most of them women and children, were rushed to nearby medical facilities also with symptoms indicative of chemical gas exposure.

(February 22, 2018) More than 300 civilians have been killed by the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian allies in the last 72 hours in an extermination campaign against the civilians of besieged Eastern Ghouta.

February 12th, 2018 (Washington, D.C.)--Over the past weeks humanitarian organizations on the ground have been witnessing some of the most intense and distressing scenes since the conflict started. Recent reports of chemical weapons attacks and airstrikes targeting hospitals attest to the deterioration of any semblance of safety or security on the ground. Members of the American Relief Coalition for Syria (ARCS) urgently appeal to the international community and all conflicting parties to halt violence and cease the intentional targeting of schools, hospitals, and other civilian areas.

Washington, DC (January 31, 2018)- Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it is renewing, but not redesignating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syria. While we, as Syrian American organizations, are reassured by the renewal which will allow Syrians with current-TPS status to remain inside the country, we are deeply disturbed by the failure of the Administration to redesignate TPS--a decision that will prevent nearly 2,000 non-TPS-holders already living in the United States from applying for TPS.

It has been five long years since Ahmad, his sister, and their parents were all together as a family back in Damascus, Syria. Today, as uncertainty swirls about the status of Syrian refugees in the US, Ahmad is not sure when--or where--there will be another family reunion.

This much he does know: He does not plan to go back to his war-torn country any time soon. Now 33 and a cyber security expert working at a US-based company, Ahmad’s dream--the dream of all displaced people--is to find a place to settle and live a decent life.

He goes by Moe, his favorite character from The Simpsons. And it’s thanks to them--along with a hearty diet of American movies, shows, and video games--that Monzer’s English is so good people have a hard time believing he’s from Syria, a country he fled five years ago after being arrested for peacefully protesting the government and its policies.