The agency has been working in refugee support since the close of World War II. At present, the agency contracts with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and reaches an agreement about the number of people to resettle. Catholic Charities of Winona also helps resettle refugees in Minnesota.
Ohmann acknowledged some Americans' safety concerns about refugees.
"I've always believed it's really important to name the fear, and to see some facts that help place your fear in context," she said.
"I know that people are very worried about the vetting requirements of refugees."
She said part of Catholic Charities' practice has been to help people understand the vetting process.
"If folks believe some of the hyperbole, they wouldn't understand that there's been a lot of background checking before someone ever comes here," Ohmann said.
Sometimes refugees face challenges in integrating into U.S. society.
"Like other resettlement agencies around the country, Catholic Charities is doing its best to help refugees get on their feet within the first 90 days of their arrival to Minnesota," Ohmann added. "Given the trauma they've endured and the significant language and cultural shifts, all refugees face challenges in making ends meet and in adjusting to life in the U.S. for some period of time."
"From our experience, most refugees – with time – become integrated members of our community," she said.
Among those aided by Catholic Charities affiliates was Abdul Razak Ali Artan, the 20-year-old who in November drove a car into a crowd at Ohio State University then started to stab passersby before he was shot and killed by a campus police officer. The attacker hurt 11 people, one critically.
Artan had come to Dallas as a refugee from Somalia in June 2014 and stayed in Dallas with his six siblings and his mother for about three weeks before moving to Columbus, Ohio. They had been aided by Catholic Charities of Dallas after vetting by the U.S. State Department.
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Dave Woodyard, the Dallas agency's president and CEO, said there was nothing that stood out about Artan during his brief stay there.
"We help hundreds of people over the years and thousands are coming to America through all types of different agencies to seek comfort and aid and unfortunately bad things can happen in any walk of life and this is an example of one horrific action," he said, according to Fox4News.com.
Ohmann said that refugees are "the most thoroughly vetted and screened people to come to the U.S." and face the highest level of scrutiny.
"Any additional changes that might limit admission solely based on national origin, race or religious affiliation would be against the values of the immigrant nation of the United States," she said.
"Catholic Social Teaching invites us to join in solidarity with others who are vulnerable and to see them as members of one human family," she added. "Refugees have suffered tremendously. Our nation was founded to receive the tired, the poor and those yearning to breathe free. Refugees are yearning to be free people. They are source of great opportunity for this nation and will continue to contribute greatly to our country as refugees have before them."
Kevin J. Jones is a senior staff writer with Catholic News Agency. He was a recipient of a 2014 Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship.