Inserts:

00:03 Report / Janelle Dumalaon
00:18 Janelle Dumalaon / DW Correspondent
00:47 BLAKE HAMILTON / CEO of International Institute
01:22 NEGINA SHINWARY
01:30 SAYED MOHAMMAD ANWAR
02:25 Fahime Mohammad, Restaurant Owner

 
Script:

0.00
St. Louis is shrinking — and quickly. At one of the fastest rates among cities in America, in fact.
As families moved to the suburbs and deaths outpaced births, fears have grown of a looming demographic winter — a future where too few people remain to sustain the local economy.

0.16
+++PTC JANELLE DUMALAON+++
Like many cities across the United States, what St. Louis needs to remain economically viable long-term, is people. And many here had hoped that welcoming immigrants and refugees would at least partly offset the years-long population decline here. But more restrictive immigration policies under the Trump administration have made pursuing that strategy harder. 
++++
0.37 
Few understand that better than Blake Hamilton, CEO of the International Institute of St. Louis — a nonprofit that supports immigrants and refugees.
0.45
+++SOT BLAKE HAMILTON, CEO International Institute+++
We hear stories from immigrants who are afraid to go to work, afraid to take their kids to school, afraid to seek health care for chronic conditions because of this fear that they are going to be somehow plucked up and issued deportation orders. So that creates a strain on growth, period. ++++
1.06
A recent travel ban on Afghans has been a source of distress for the growing community here – especially those with remaining loved ones back home. After the Taliban retook Afghanistan in 2021, Afghan arrivals hit historic highs in St. Louis. 

1.20

+++NEGINA SHINWARY+++
It makes me feel sad for my cousins, not just for my cousin, for all Afghans, Afghan. Especially for Afghan women

1.27
+++SAYED MOHAMMAD ANWAR+++
And lots of families, they wait to get their close family members here. But by new rules or by whatever the government decided, it makes hard.
1.41
Still, they consider themselves lucky – with many hoping to lay down roots and establish businesses. Today, some are pitching for a $20,000 grant sponsored by the International Institute.
Negina Shinwary wants to launch a clothing line for South Asian women.
1.56 
((NATSOUND NEGINA: This is my idea))
1.58
Sayed Mohammad Anwar is planning to import gemstones from Afghanistan.
2.03
((NATSOUND SAYED: Move on, maybe the time is right))
2.07
They would be following in the footsteps of fellow Afghan entrepreneurs who have long established themselves in St. Louis. One of the judges of the contest is Fahime Mohammad.

((MOVE TO RESTAURANT PICS))
He has owned a restaurant here since 2005. But he says that stricter immigration policies are likely to hit him as a business owner.

2.24
+++SOT Fahime Mohammad, Restaurant Owner+++
To be honest, I felt like we still have not recovered from the psychological shockwave that was associated with the COVID, the pandemic, the inflation, the labor //With the policies of the current administration, it's really hard to have… There's definitely shortage of workers for not only the restaurant, but for every other sector of the economy. When you have restricted immigration, you notice this president policy, someday he will enforce it, and the day after, he will take it out.
3.01

Despite the uncertainty, Fahime Mohamed has decided on optimism. 

3.05
+++SOT Fahime Mohammad, Restaurant Owner+++
All I'm doing is just waiting. It's just three and a half more years, a little bit less than three and a half, and we'll endure it. America is resilient.
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3.15

Back to the contest. The 20,000 dollar grant has gone to Negina Shinwary and her South Asian apparel business idea. A hopeful step forward for one more immigrant, in a city that says it needs people like her, so it too can move forward.