A Sudden ContractionLong before the current wave of new immigration policies, coming to the United States as a refugee was not easy. The new policies have required organizations that were once focused on early integration, such as the Charlotte-based Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency, to shift their daily focus. Similarly, D.D., a refugee from the same country I am from who now lives in Charlotte, took no chances when immigration officers began raids in North Carolina last November. The safe box where the author keeps his family documents. The expired booklet sits in a fireproof box alongside the other important documents my family depends on.