Christina Lee, Head Photography Editor

Thousands gathered at a snow-flanked starting line at Wilbur Cross High School Sunday morning for the annual Run for Refugees, organized by New Haven’s Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, or IRIS.

Originally scheduled to kick off at 10 a.m., IRIS organizers postponed the 5K race to noon to allow for city clean-up of Saturday night’s snowstorm. But the snow was far from the first wrench in IRIS’s plans in recent weeks. 

On Jan. 24, the Trump administration issued a stop-work order for refugee resettlement agencies nationwide, nixing $4 million in IRIS’s planned budget for 2025. The agency has laid off 20 percent of its around 100-person team as of the end of January, according to Executive Director Maggie Mitchell Salem.

For Salem, Sunday’s race — which saw a record-high 3,400 people registered and nearly $150,000 raised — was a bright spot amid the turmoil of the last few weeks.

“We came together in joy,” she said. “We stand together, and we are unified in our belief that immigrants, refugees, whatever your status, you are welcome.”

The race, usually dubbed IRIS’s Run for Refugees, was rebranded as the Run with Refugees and All Immigrants this year. Salem described this as a “very deliberate” change prompted by a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment in recent years.

Mahnoor Lodi, secretary of the IRIS student chapter at Quinnipiac University and a participant in this year’s race, praised the title change.

“Saying ‘run with refugees’ really brings them to the forefront,” Lodi said. “It’s not just like we’re doing this for them. We’re doing this with them.”

Salem spotlighted city and state officials that attended the race, including Connecticut’s Attorney General William Tong, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, state Rep. Roland Lemar, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker and city Alders Caroline Tanbee Smith and Eli Sabin. The race was Tong’s first 5K, according to a post on his Instagram. 

Sam Niazai, whose family’s company is a signature sponsor this year, said that he ran the race to show that immigrants are embraced in New Haven. In his previous work as an IRIS volunteer, he helped new families settle into a new city by grocery shopping with them and teaching them how to use public transportation. 

For others, like Danielle Burney, this year’s race was their first time engaging with IRIS. Burney, a sophomore at Quinnipiac, decided to volunteer for the race after interacting with the IRIS affiliate at her school. As a volunteer, she spent her afternoon helping to deliver food, setting up the dining area and handing out water to runners. 

Steph Bittle ’26, a first time runner in the IRIS race, explained that running the race made a “statement through unity.” Especially in light of the Trump administration’s motions to restrict immigration, Bittle said that running along packs of families and kids made her feel hopeful. 

In the hours leading up to the race, IRIS displayed a message on its website encouraging attendees to bring immigration documentation. “This is a large public event [and] we cannot predict or control who may show up,” the message read. “Your safety is our primary concern.”

Salem said that she and other IRIS staff put a lot of thought into whether to issue this precautionary message.

“We wanted to inform, but not create more fear,” she said. “Right now, that is a really hard line to draw.”

Jake Jayworth won first place in this year’s race, crossing the finish line after 15 minutes and 54 seconds.