A record number of runners raced through New Haven on Sunday to raise money for Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, a Connecticut refugee resettlement agency.
This year’s “Run for Refugees” smashed attendance records after President Trump signed an executive order that halted the federal refugee resettlement program.
About 2,500 hundred runners lined up at East Rock Park, some dressed in Statue of Liberty costumes and carrying signs saying “Refugees Welcome.”
Chris George, executive director for IRIS, says attendance was triple last year’s and they raised a record number of donations – more than $180,000.
About 1,100 people were signed up for the race before Trump signed an executive order that temporarily banned refugees and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Race registration reached capacity within four days of the ban. Those who couldn’t register joined IRIS in a march for refugees after the race.
The travel ban has since been temporarily suspended by a federal judge.