The Cost of Starting Over: Anjum Malik on Refugees, Affordability, and the Shrinking Safety Net
By Jeff Oppenheim
Oct 19, 2026
With the mid-terms looming and Texas potentially poised for a seismic shift back to being a Democratic state, the issue of immigration, migration and global displacement is one of the hotbed issues – but not the way many might think. Anjum Malik, Executive Director of the NGO Global Impact Initiative and long-time Austin resident, explains why helping refugee families achieve stability is both a humanitarian responsibility and an investment in the future of Texas.
Anjum Malik (right), Executive Director of the NGO Global Impact Initiative greets Channel4cause’s Director of Partnerships & Campaigns, Alibe V. Hamacher
Austin has long promoted itself as a city of opportunity—a center of technology, education, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. But behind that success lies an increasingly difficult question: Who can afford to build a life here?
For refugee families arriving in Texas, the challenge is particularly acute. Many have fled persecution, conflict, or human trafficking, enduring years of uncertainty before reaching the United States. Some have chosen the states they have ended up in, while others have not. But all of them arrive ready, willing and able to work and adapt to their new life.
