PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― 

A family of eight is living in a two-bedroom apartment and after three years of working, they say the money they make is not enough to support themselves.

KDKA

You may not notice them, but Pittsburgh is home to hundreds of political refugees who've fled their native countries under fear of death and persecution. 

Although the U.S. government has welcomed them, many immigrants who've relocated to the Pittsburgh region are struggling just to get by. 

KDKA Investigator Andy Sheehan has found a group of refugees from Burma who have yet to find the American Dream. 

They fled one of the most brutal regimes in the world in search of American freedom, but so far, the promise of a new life has eluded them. 

A family of eight is living in a two-bedroom apartment and after three years of working, they say the money they make is not enough to support themselves. 

Through an interpreter, an immigrant told Sheehan life was better back in the refugee camp. 

Sheehan: "You're saying they wish they were back in the refugee camp?" 

Interpreter: "Yeah." 

Sheehan: "It's better than what they're living in now?" 

Interpreter: "Yeah." 

The U.S. has taken in more than 10,000 Burmese refugees with the promise of housing, jobs and eventual citizenship. However, the 400 or so who have settled in the Pittsburgh area have not fared well. 

Two families are being evicted from their apartments at the Prospect Park housing complex in Baldwin. 

Apartment complex managers refused to come to the door when Sheehan attempted to ask them about the evictions, but the Burmese interpreter, Paw, says Prospect Park has rejected his pleas to let the families stay on. 

"You know I talk with the landlord, they told me because they over-occupy," Paw said. 

Sheehan: "Too many kids." 

Paw: "Yeah, too many kids." 

But, even those who remain are struggling to pay rent and feed their kids. Many work at the W&K Steel Refabrication Plant and after three years say they're making $9.50 an hour – about half of what their American counterparts are making. 

"They do the same work, they work just as hard, they're there every day," Timothy Hand, a co-worker, said. 

Hand says he has gone on strike in sympathy with the refugees. 

"They came here ... bright-eyed and promised everything, and look what they're being thrown into," he said. "Wage discrimination, their housing is awful, it's just not right." 

"People are paid in different pay grades but that's true anywhere you go depending on what job you're doing," Susan Rauscher, head of Catholic Charities, said. 

W&K declined comment. Catholic Charities, along with the Jewish Family and Children Services, resettled the refugees and believes the complaints are off base. They say W&K trained the workers, has given them a good benefits package and that the refugees are performing less-skilled jobs than the Americans. 

Rauscher says they've exceeded their commitment despite the demands of social services throughout the community. 

"We've been getting squeezed on both ends. We've got more calls coming in, more need and the dollars coming in from donors are smaller," she said. 

These days, the immigrants meet in one apartment and it's the interpreter, Paw, who is handling their problems with healthcare, education, transportation and housing. 

Some say Pittsburgh relief agencies need to do more. 

"But, I think if they saw and listened to what we saw today, I think things could change, hopefully," Father Jack O'Malley, an activist priest, said.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

http://kdka.com/kdkainvestigators/Burmese.political.refugees.2.1274824.html