Storm Lake, Iowa: Filling America’s “dead spots”
with diversity! by Ann Corcoran 11/22/16
Storm Lake population 10,600 in 2010. Looks like we have found another of
the 47 new resettlement sites we learned that the US State Department has
identified to place some of Obama’s 110,000 refugees for FY2017. Of
course, as we just said for Rutland, VT, some locations are on hold as the contractors try to
figure out how far out on the limb (financially) they wish to climb.
Since refugee contractors get most of their federal money on a per head
basis, any slowdown in resettlement after Trump is inaugurated cuts in to their
budgets.
This is the second story we have
seen lately about Catholic resettlement agencies spreading out their
responsibilities to smaller organizations (or churches) presumably to make
resettlement cheaper for themselves. We told you about Hudson, Wisconsin here last
week.
The problem of transparency is something I will be pushing the Trump
Administration on as soon as we know who will be Secretary of State. It is maddening that here we are nearly 2 months in
to FY17 and we have only identified some of the 47 new sites we heard the DOS
has chosen. Citizens have a right to know when their towns have been selected
for refugee placement.
Once again from a local paper, we
learn (inadvertently) some nuggets that should help all of us.
From the Storm Lake Pilot-Tribune last week: The Bridge of Storm Lake’s mission has grown in an
unexpected direction. The neighborhood ministry has become a refugee resettlement
agency along with its other programs.
The first two refugees from Thailand
have been successfully settled in Storm Lake, and a mother and small child will
be arriving before the end of the year, freed from the desperate conditions of
refugee camps.
The role was not one the program
expected to play.
Catholic Charities, one of the national agencies charged with
resettling refugees accepted to enter the United States, had reached out to The
Bridge to see if could help.
There are placement
agencies in larger cities like Omaha and Minneapolis, but Storm Lake sits in
a “dead spot” in the midst of a vast rural region, unserved by any
existing resettlement office.
Jay Dahlhauser of The Bridge explained that the national resettlement
agencies [The Contractors—ed]
meet each Wednesday to see what refugees are arriving, from where, and figure
out which refugees each will handle.
We should demand that the Trump State Department not hold these
meetings in secret. Imagine this! Non-profit
groups are sitting around a table in DC every Wednesday making decisions that
will effect your community for decades/generations!
Pilot-Tribune: With the country beginning to reach out to
more rural regions for resettlements, The Bridge accepted the challenge
from Catholic Charities, but not before wrestling over the decision. [What do they mean the “country” is reaching
out to place refugees in rural areas! The Obama State Department and the US
Conference of Catholic Bishops may be reaching out, but they are not the
“country!”—ed]
So here (below) we learn something completely new—the feds can send up
to 30 refugees to a town before making a formal agreement with the agency! BTW,
none of this is in the law, this is all decided within the Department of State
without any legal underpinning (so it could easily be undecided by a Trump
Secretary of State).
Pilot-Tribune: Storm Lake and The Bridge are currently
capped at a maximum of 30 resettled individuals. If the number reaches that
level, a more permanent agreement would be necessary, or possibly a formal
resettlement office to be located in the community. Continue reading here.
I would love to know if the
contractors get any little rewards from the meatpackers when they supply them
with cheap refugee laborers.
To see if your town is an existing
resettlement site check out the US Department of State database. But when you look at that data base know three things. 1) the data base is out of
date, 2) we are told there are 47 new sites not listed and, 3) see if you live
within 100 miles of one of these offices because that means your town is fair
game to receive refugees.
Here are some of the new sites being
chosen by the US State Department (that we know of!). We are adding Storm
Lake, Iowa. If anyone there is interested in learning more, check out our ‘Ten Things Your Town Needs to Know‘
byclicking here.
Asheville, NC
Rutland, VT
Reno, NV
Ithaca, NY
Missoula, MT
Aberdeen, SD (may have been thwarted
as a primary resettlement site!)
Charleston, WV
Fayetteville, AR
Blacksburg, VA
Pittsfield, MA
Northhampton, MA
Flint, MI
Bloomington, IN
Traverse City, MI
Poughkeepsie, NY
Wilmington, DE
Watertown, NY (maybe)
Youngstown, OH (maybe)
Storm Lake, Iowa
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