Clarkston, Georgia

Clarkston is a city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, widely known as the "Ellis Island of the South" for its role as one of the most significant refugee resettlement communities in America. With a population of approximately 14,756 as of the 2020 census, the city spans just 1.4 square miles yet is home to residents from over 150 ethnic groups speaking more than 60 languages. Since 1980, an estimated 60,000 refugees have been resettled in Clarkston and its surrounding neighbourhoods, averaging approximately 2,000 arrivals per year. The city hosts a substantial Bhutanese refugee population alongside Somali, Congolese, Burmese, Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Syrian communities.^[1]

History of Refugee Resettlement

Clarkston's transformation into a refugee resettlement hub began in the mid-1970s, when the first refugees arrived following the fall of Saigon. The Refugee Act of 1980 formalised the United States' resettlement infrastructure, and the U.S. State Department designated Clarkston as one of approximately 190 communities suitable for refugee resettlement. The city's appeal lay in its affordable housing — much of it in large apartment complexes built in the 1960s and 1970s — accessible public transport via the MARTA rail system, and proximity to Atlanta's employment market.^[2]

Successive waves brought Cambodians in the 1980s, Bosnians and Croatians in the 1990s, and Somalis, Ethiopians, and Eritreans in the 2000s. Bhutanese refugees began arriving after the United States commenced large-scale resettlement from camps in Nepal in 2007–2008, joining what had by then become one of the most diverse communities in the American South. Today, more than 100 different ethnic groups have begun their American lives in Clarkston.^[3]

Bhutanese Community

The Bhutanese Community of Georgia (EIN 27-0726693), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit granted tax-exempt status in February 2014, serves the Lhotshampa population in the Clarkston area. The organisation is headquartered at 3662 Market Street, Clarkston. A second organisation, the Bhutanese Gurung Society of Georgia, represents the ethnic Gurung subset of the Bhutanese community. Community media also serves the population: Sagal Radio broadcasts in six languages, including Bhutanese-Nepali, connecting refugee communities across the Atlanta area.^[4]

Resettlement Organisations

Multiple organisations support refugees in Clarkston. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), one of the largest resettlement agencies in the United States, maintains an Atlanta-area office that provides casework services, citizenship support, and youth employment programmes. New American Pathways and Catholic Charities Atlanta also assist with housing, employment, school enrolment, and language classes.^[5]

Friends of Refugees, a faith-based nonprofit, provides summer camps, after-school programmes, English instruction, career development, a community garden, and a business accelerator. The organisation has achieved an 89 per cent self-sufficiency rate among refugees within six months of arrival, significantly exceeding the 74 per cent national average. Refuge Coffee, a social enterprise, provides hospitality training and employment to recently resettled refugees.^[6]

Leadership and Recognition

Former mayor Ted Terry, elected in 2013 at the age of 30, became an outspoken advocate for refugee rights and popularised the "Ellis Island of the South" designation for Clarkston. Terry took his administration into the city's coffee houses, restaurants, and parks to meet constituents from dozens of countries. Approximately 45 per cent of Clarkston's residents were born outside the United States, and the city's political leadership has increasingly reflected this diversity.^[7]

Challenges

Clarkston has faced recurring challenges including federal budget cuts to resettlement agencies, fluctuating refugee admission caps, and the practical difficulties of integrating speakers of dozens of languages into a small municipal infrastructure. The proposed 50,000-person annual refugee admission cap in 2017 — the lowest since the Refugee Act of 1980 — threatened the pipeline of new arrivals that had sustained the city's identity and its service ecosystem for nearly four decades.^[8]

See Also

• Bhutanese Diaspora in the United States
• Bhutanese Refugee Crisis
• Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio
• Lhotshampa

References

1. Bitter Southerner. "The South's Ellis Island." https://bittersoutherner.com/the-souths-ellis-island-clarkston-georgia-refugees
2. NBC Today. "Clarkston, Georgia, is home to thousands of refugees." https://www.today.com/news/clarkston-georgia-home-thousands-refugees-t132421
3. Bitter Southerner. "The South's Ellis Island." https://bittersoutherner.com/the-souths-ellis-island-clarkston-georgia-refugees
4. GuideStar. "Bhutanese Community of Georgia." https://www.guidestar.org/profile/27-0726693
5. International Rescue Committee. "US State Department visits Georgia's refugee resettlement community." https://www.rescue.org/announcement/us-state-department-visits-georgias-refugee-resettlement-community
6. Bitter Southerner. "The South's Ellis Island." https://bittersoutherner.com/the-souths-ellis-island-clarkston-georgia-refugees
7. BuzzFeed News. Ted Terry. "Refugees Made Our City Great. Turning Them Away Is A Moral Disaster." https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tedterry/how-refugees-made-our-city-great-clarkston-georgia
8. Bitter Southerner. "The South's Ellis Island." https://bittersoutherner.com/the-souths-ellis-island-clarkston-georgia-refugees