Congolese refugees to Dover - an update - Granite Grok

Congolese refugees to Dover – an update

Welcome to DoverWell, that went fairly well – or badly, depending on your point of view.  It seems that my posts on the subject…

…got quite a lot of attention, especially in Foster’s Daily Democrat (reformatted, emphasis mine): which was brought to my attention by one of the ‘Grok commenters.

Congolese refugees to resettle in region: Mayor says cities have no say in the matter

DOVER — Misinformation has surfaced this week regarding the relocation and settlement of Congolese refugees to Tri-City communities; however, one aspect of the program through the Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success is true — the communities of Dover, Somersworth and Rochester will have no say in the matter.  Dover Mayor Karen Weston said Friday that the notion of 3,000 refugees being resettled in the Garrison City is not accurate and also the GraniteGrok.com report by Skip Murphy that a meeting scheduled with ORIS Aug. 13 will not allow for residents to ask questions is a total fabrication.

What is known is that no more than 100 Congolese families would be resettled throughout Tri-City communities and as a community, Weston said, there is no authority on whether to accept or not.  How the families will be chosen or denied is a method unknown, as is whether individuals in the program may be mentally, physically, or chronically ill.  “We need to have that meeting to ask these hard questions,” she said.  That meeting she said is not only public and will allow for questions through a citizens forum, but is also one she’s extended invitations to for Somersworth Mayor Dana Hilliard and Rochester Mayor T.J. Jean along with their respective councils.

Hilliard said officials are eager to learn more information as there are many concerns from the communities. Weston said gaining answers to those concerns is exactly the intention of the meeting.  She also said this is not a program, federally operated through the state, that Dover is embracing.

The entire piece is after the jump.  As well as this one.  And one more note: that last bolded quote? And she made that quite clear to me last night.

 

Turns out that the “total fabrication” was told to me was wrong in fact – so consider this the MEA CULPA and correction to that (now) non-factoid.  That said, pretty much the rest was accurate  as Mayor Karen Weston and I spoke for just over an hour last night.  You see, after having my attention drawn to the article, I placed a call to her published phone number, the City Manager (asking that he / his office relay the request), and an email to Andrea Bullfinch of Fosters (who has yet to return my email request to speak with her).  IF ORIS decides to show up; see the second article below.

It seems that the hornet’s nest that got stirred up surprised everyone.  Given the angst on the Right concerning the abrupt Open Borders policy now being unilaterally imposed upon us by the Obama Administration, Mayor Weston evoked a head snap and a “WHAT??” from me when she said several concerned folks had reported numbers that would be coming in the range of 500 to 700 attendees.  Quite the firestorm, eh?

The plan WAS to have the Dover City Council ask all of its questions first, then the Somersworth and Rochester mayors (who were invited) were asked to ask theirs.  Then it was going to be opened up to the general public but due to the large number (if it is held, it was unclear where they could actually hold it as the Mayor DOES want to be able to accommodate all that wish to attend) except those time limits would be reduced from 5 to 3 minutes simply because there may be LOTS of questions for ORIS or of the tri-cities officials.  I will say this, she has done her homework – she has a LOT of great, to the point, comprehensive questions on a whole range of issues related to having these refugees simply being pushed upon Dover.  She has talked with a lot of folks that are already facing this onslaught in their town (e.g., Manchester, Springfield, Nashua, as well as cities outside the state).

She is taking this very seriously.

As I said, we talked for over an hour on a whole range of sub-topics.  I don’t think it over-stated hyperbole to say this caught her unawares and is now starting to see both the short and long term ramifications of a “government captured” social services organization (by lots of taxpayer money)  acting as merely another amoeba tendril of the Federal Government doing what it wants regardless of what is right for the local town. She gave me the timeline in which this started:

  • end of May / begin of June was the  first meeting with ORIS – would we welcome these folks to come in and make a presentation.
  • June 11 – further discussion
  • July 9th – City Mgr announced at their regular meeting that ORIS was coming, date to be confirmed.
  • July 14 -ORIS confirmed an August 14th presentation
  • July 23 – Mayor Weston announced that meeting – 3 weeks out now – during her Mayor’s report
  • July 25 –  Fosters had an article on it

And now, with the heat that has been applied, ORIS has backed out.  The tri-city folks will still probably talk about it.  In fact, I believe that they should – the more, the better.  I also think that ORIS should come as well – they lit this fire and they ought to man up and show up because there are a ton of unanswered questions.  Not addressing them will certainly give the impression of something is not being hidden – or that they already know similar outcomes have not gone all that well.  We supposedly live in a country where our elected officials, and those that they appoint and hire, are to be always accountable to those that elect them.  This is no different – if taxpayer money is being used for some purpose, we have the right to full disclosure in a matter such as this.

I also remind folks of this from the NH Constitution:

[Art.] 28-a. [Mandated Programs.] The state shall not mandate or assign any new, expanded or modified programs or responsibilities to any political subdivision in such a way as to necessitate additional local expenditures by the political subdivision unless such programs or responsibilities are fully funded by the state or unless such programs or responsibilities are approved for funding by a vote of the local legislative body of the political subdivision.

Yes, this is to limit the State Government from imposing on the local towns and cities.  But as we have seen, if those local town and cities do not push back, it renders this moot.  But shouldn’t our State level official be enrolled in the efforts, under this principle, to protect NH towns and cities?  When is the last time YOU heard the Governor or the Legislature actively stand up for State Principles in this?

I believe that Mayor Weston is rightly scared of some of the possible outcomes – for if (with chain migration) those 3,000 are put, how can the town afford it?  The standard answer from folks like ORIS is “raise taxes” – sure, and what happens when that tax base moves out?  So much for “unfunded mandates”….

…Or is that part of the plan, as HHS and the Federal Office of Refugee Relocation Services continue to put the illegal alien kids storming our borders all over the country?  So that folks CAN’T get move away from what seems to be the “social justice” end game by Obama and his Leftist advisors?  From DOT to the EPA to HHS and the DOJ, that’s all we hear – “social justice” wrapped up in words to make anyone that opposes them to be uncaring, selfish, and racist (and sure, throw homophobic in there for good measure).  What it DOES mean, when you finally wade through the gibberish is that “social justice” combined with “disparate outcomes” means an American society run on quotas for “equal outcomes”.  Not the right kind of “diversity”?  You will be made to care for others, and like Mayor Weston said with respect to her city, without your say-so.  I’ve already seen some of this being implemented – it turns out that our posts about the Sustainable Communities Initiative by HUD / EPA / DOT is also being used to push this ahead.

That phrase we use often here at the ‘Grok – free money with strings attached?  Yeah, if you have signed up for this “Federalizing of local zoning laws”, you too may be seeing “made to care” at the town level.

All said and done, it was a very good conversation.  Believe it or not, I still have no idea what her political stances are, nor do I particularly care.  All I know is that we agreed on a LOT of stuff and I believe that she is not happy about what is to be thrust upon her and her city.  Really, where’s the Freedom in all this?

Anyways, I have gone FAR too long in this post; there will be other opportunities to opine.  In ending, I have offered GraniteGrok’s live streaming capability if she so desires if ORIS comes back to defend themselves.

Here is that first article:

Congolese refugees to resettle in region: Mayor says cities have no say in the matter

DOVER — Misinformation has surfaced this week regarding the relocation and settlement of Congolese refugees to Tri-City communities; however, one aspect of the program through the Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success is true — the communities of Dover, Somersworth and Rochester will have no say in the matter.  Dover Mayor Karen Weston said Friday that the notion of 3,000 refugees being resettled in the Garrison City is not accurate and also the GraniteGrok.com report by Skip Murphy that a meeting scheduled with ORIS Aug. 13 will not allow for residents to ask questions is a total fabrication.

What is known is that no more than 100 Congolese families would be resettled throughout Tri-City communities and as a community, Weston said, there is no authority on whether to accept or not.  How the families will be chosen or denied is a method unknown, as is whether individuals in the program may be mentally, physically, or chronically ill.  “We need to have that meeting to ask these hard questions,” she said.  That meeting she said is not only public and will allow for questions through a citizens forum, but is also one she’s extended invitations to for Somersworth Mayor Dana Hilliard and Rochester Mayor T.J. Jean along with their respective councils.

Hilliard said officials are eager to learn more information as there are many concerns from the communities. Weston said gaining answers to those concerns is exactly the intention of the meeting.  She also said this is not a program, federally operated through the state, that Dover is embracing.  Dover City Manager Mike Joyal said he was contacted by a director at ORIS who was interested in the Garrison City as a relocation community. Weston, along with Planning Director Chris Parker and Economic Development Director Dan Barufaldi, met with a representative from ORIS. Joyal was unable to attend that day but said the three city officials who went were able to raise concerns.

“As a result of those questions and also wanting to make sure the public was informed, we asked that they would come back and address the city council as a whole,” he said. “We’re looking for some data on what exactly is the success rate, what the impacts are on local community services, and where will financial assistance come from after the support from the agency runs out.”

The goal of the program is to promote self-sufficiency with the refugees.  Very little is known at this time as far as details into who would pick up financial and educational responsibility after the eight-month commitment of support ends from the program.  Once refugees have lived in the community for a certain length of time, they will also be able to sponsor additional family members to join them. [this is called chain migration, resulting in far higher number than originally reported – Skip].  The refugees, she said, are not immigrants, though there is yet another rumor surrounding the proposal indicating that some of the illegal children crossing the Mexican border may be given refugee status. That fact has not been confirmed at this time.  Calls to ORIS on Friday were not returned by deadline.

We have not endorsed these folks and we do have major concerns of the financial and educational impact on each of our cities,” Weston said.  Hilliard said the idea that the community would legally have to support the refugees through both social services and education once the assistance from the state runs out is totally unacceptable for the Hilltop City. And while he said he could not speak on behalf of Dover and Rochester, he knows each community shares the same concerns.  “It certainly isn’t going to be acceptable to the city of Somersworth and I can bet it won’t be acceptable to Dover or Rochester,” he said.  Jean said he has the same concerns with the welfare and needs of residents of the Lilac City being his number one priority.  “I really see this as really taxing the resources of the Tri-City communities for years to come if it’s not very clear up front how many refugees will be coming and where it’s capped, if at all,” he said.  The state is very clear, he said, on what municipalities must do to provide for residents in need of assistance and meeting those needs is already a challenge.  Like Hilliard and Weston, he hopes to learn at the Aug. 13 presentation from ORIS, what the true obligation will be in terms of providing all services.  “From a humanitarian standpoint my heart goes out to them and I certainly understand the difficulties they might be facing,” he said, but added that the needs of residents in his community have to come first and not be compromised.

Hilliard, who acknowledged his ancestral roots in Somersworth as being a result of immigration, said all three Tri-City communities were built on immigration.  “Our country was founded on immigration and it’s through the hard work of immigrants that we move forward,” he said. “However, with that in mind and, again, knowing very little of what the intent is other than just through some brief conversations with Mayor Weston, there is a balance between the intentions of the federal government and relocation programs and then ensuring that they are going to meet the needs of the community where the people resettle.”  He noted the federal government doesn’t necessarily have a positive track record when it comes to making good on promises of assistance.  “Short term promises do not equal long term solutions,” he said.

Beyond his concern for Somersworth, he is also concerned for what actually happens to the refugees, many of whom may have come from crises and travesties in their native homes.  Leaving local communities to provide for the refugees, including English as A Second Language resources for children who will have to be integrated into local school systems, is not fair to the families relying on promises of opportunity, he said.  “Neither one of our communities are about dampening hopes and spirits. We are dedicated to the success of those who move to our area. It’s not fair to the community and it’s not fair to them. It’s not fair to the human beings you are giving the hopes and promises to,” he said.

The presentation will be held Wednesday, Aug. 13, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall.

But also this – stopping the efforts:

Refugee officials cancel meeting with Dover City Council

DOVER — A state group that helps facilitate the resettlement of international refugees has canceled a meeting with the City Council.  Representatives of the Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success, based in Manchester, were scheduled to meet with the City Council on Aug. 13.

In a letter addressed to City officials, including City Manager J. Michael Joyal, Jr. and Mayor Karen Weston, the Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success said it is premature to discuss resettlement in Dover and the Tri-City region.

I would like to assure you that ORIS has no intention of moving forward with refugee resettlement in the tri-city area unless we have significant support from the communities,” wrote Emma Tobin, associate director for the Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success. “Further, our initial meeting with you was meant to be the beginning of a very slow process; refugee resettlement in the tri-city area was never meant to happen overnight, or in a vacuum.”

ORIS is one of several agencies that help identify communities suited for refugee resettlement under the U.S. State Department’s Reception and Placement program. The program provides assistance for refugees to settle in the United States, including assistance with living expenses during a refugee’s first few months in the community. The Reception and Placement program is limited to the first three months after arrival; however, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement works with states and other nongovernmental organizations to provide longer-term cash and medical assistance, as well as language, employment, and social services.

ORIS indicated it would consider meeting with Dover officials and the community in the future.

In other words, waiting for the fire to go away.

>