Teenage refugees overcome obstacles to graduate in Utah

There are approximately 25,000 refugees currently in Utah with 99 percent of them residing in the Salt Lake Valley, according to Gerald Brown, the director of the Refugee Services Office of the Department of Workforce Services.

Last year, 836 refugees came to Utah, a drop from an average of 1,100 a year in 2009 and 2010. So far this fiscal year, the department has received 485 refugees.

CCS has about 70 refugees in its program, which is celebrating the achievements of 15 teens in the program this week as they graduate from different high schools along the Wasatch Front. All have stories similar to Mbaogu, who joined his graduating friends at a Liberty Park cookout last week to honor their accomplishments. Deseret News