When Refugee Services of Texas closed its doors in 2023, it was not the first or last roadblock for refugees and asylees in the state. In January 2025, by order of Donald Trump, the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program was suspended. Six months later, a new travel ban was issued. Then, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act cut longstanding eligibility for SNAP benefits and healthcare access. At the beginning of 2026, the Department of Homeland Security began to reexamine and potentially end the protection of refugees previously vetted through the USRAP. Adding that to the existential threat of ICE, it’s easy to see why refugees in the U.S. are struggling.
Still, local pockets of support exist. “We’re just seeing more and more of the hardship and the widening gap,” said Dez Dalton, studio director for the Refugee Collective. “We exist as a way to try to help bridge the loopholes and the gaps … supporting refugee livelihoods and providing individual case management and wraparound support when we can.”
The Collective was founded in 2009 by two Liberian refugees and two American women as a way for immigrants to earn fair wages working at an organic farm in Elgin and a manufacturing studio in Downtown Austin. Both enterprises were purposely built at the intersection of skills many of their refugee employees already have and the growing market for local artisan production. It is also a community center of sorts – employees are paid to take volunteer-led English classes twice a week, and are also provided support in preparing their citizenship requirements.
“It was [originally] a place for refugees to come together, to learn English, to have a sewing circle, to have a soccer team, to go through junk mail and realize what’s real mail and what’s not real mail,” Dalton said. “When you resettle here, you only get about three to six months of support, then nothing. You were expected to find a job and be able to make things work when you don’t know the language, you don’t know the culture, and you’re just trying to navigate your new life.”
The staff of four women in the studio create products for seven local businesses, including Newton Supply Co., which designs bags, and Major Darling, a pet product company. They often experiment with ways to repurpose materials, and waste from the farm is utilized as fabric dye for the Collective’s own retail items.
Mahbobeh, who along with the other refugee sources is identified by first name only for safety and privacy, is the studio’s newest seamstress, and drives from her home in Georgetown to work every day. Originally from Afghanistan, driving was one of the biggest adjustments to life in Austin.
“One thing is very important for me, because for this work in this place, I can drive and also I can drive [on] the highway. I just can drive the frontage road, but this job, I don’t have any choice,” she joked. “At first I have more stress, but right now I am okay.”
Along with the volunteer-taught English classes that the Collective provides, Mahbobeh is taking classes at Austin Community College, looking to earn a degree in electrical engineering. In Afghanistan, she studied math and physics. Since the situation has worsened for women in her native land, she hopes to use her American education to provide opportunities for women in her hometown, including her sister.
“In Herat City in Afghanistan, the situation is very bad for girls and women, especially girls who went to college. Right now, no college, no high school, no nothing. I want to have some online program for Afghan girls, especially for my sister – she was in her 10th semester of psychology,” she said. “Right now, she is at home, just sewing. If I make money in the future and learn English, I want to have some online program with Afghan girls.”
All four women had previous experience sewing, but working at the Collective has allowed them to make money from their craft. Paying fair wages is a central tenet of its mission, and for many of the women, it’s their first paying job.
“I love this sewing job,” said Christina, who is originally from Myanmar. “Before, in my country, I did sewing at home. And this job is my favorite.” After learning about the studio through a relative, Christina is now lead artisan and recently bought her first home.
“We’ve seen prior seamstresses move out of the studio and own their own businesses in the restaurant industry,” Dalton said. “It’s really exciting to see that upward mobility happen, that may not be behind a sewing machine, but is fulfilling a dream.”
“I did not work in Afghanistan, I lived at home,” said Farzana, a mother of five who has lived in Austin for eight years now. “[This is] my first job, and I was thinking this one [is] very hard for me because I have no job.”
Because she has a paying job, Farzana’s husband has been able to focus on his education, and recently graduated with a master’s degree in engineering. Next, she is excited to support her children’s education. She said, “Maybe next time, inshallah, my children going to study. I’d love this.”
This article appears in July 31 • 2026.
A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.