Photo: AZPM

Refugee Laxmi Upreti (right) is starting a new life in Tucson, far from his native Bhutan.

The discussion about immigration and Arizona tends to center around ongoing controversies, like legislation aimed at illegal immigrants or smuggling along the border.

But the immigrant community in Tucson encompasses a broader spectrum of stories and experiences than that narrow focus would lead the nation to believe.

One example is the number of refugees who settle here legally every year as guests of the United States government. It's part of a global effort to find them new homes, and many are coming from embattled countries like Somalia, Eritrea, Iraq and Bhutan.

That's where Laxmi Upreti was born and lived until he was a teenager and his family fled to nearby Nepal.

After years at a refugee camp in Nepal, Upreti and his close relatives were able to move to Tucson, where they are now beginning new lives.

“I’m very much happy, my parents--both my father and mother--they are very happy to be here because the system over here is great," he says. "Everybody likes it.”

Upreti came here with his two young daughters, who are quickly learning English and settling in. So are he and his wife, who now have another person to care for. She's an American in the household--a daughter who was born in Tucson and whose name is Lucky.

''And to be here she’s lucky because in all the ways she’s getting everything whenever she grows. She’s getting good education in the future, she’s getting good health, facilities, everything," says Upreti.

It's a long way from a refugee camp, and Upreti says he and his family will always be grateful.

Reporter Tony Paniagua interviewed two Tucsonans who help refugees resettle, the International Rescue Committee's Diane Stuart and Bryan Kaplan of the Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest, for another perspective on this issue. Click to watch that video:

For more information: Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest
International Rescue Committee

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