North Dakota county may become US’s 1st to bar new refugees

[PSOL]

https://apnews.com/01348f66da430a4140ba5a4cd22618bc

...

Panchol hopes to share his story on Monday with members of a local commission who are set to vote on whether their county will stop accepting refugees. If they vote to bar refugees, as expected, Burleigh County — home to about 95,000 people and the capital city of Bismarck — could become the first local government to do so since President Donald Trump issued an executive order making it possible.

The county postponed a vote last week when more than 100 people showed up and overflowed the commission’s normal meeting space. Monday night’s meeting will be held in a middle school cafeteria to accommodate public interest that Chairman Brian Bitner said is the most intense he’s seen in more than a decade on the commission.

Though he declined to predict which way the commission would go, Bitner said he would vote against accepting additional refugees.

“The overwhelming public opinion is so clear to me, that I think if you vote for it, you’re not going to be reelected if you choose to run again,” he said.

Trump’s executive order this fall came as he had already proposed cutting the number of refugees next year to the lowest level since Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980. He declared that refugees should be resettled only in places where the state and local governments — counties — gave consent. Since then, many governors and counties around the country have declared that they would continue taking refugees.

[Kingpoleon]

“The overwhelming public opinion is so clear to me, that I think if you vote for it, you’re not going to be reelected if you choose to run again,” he said.

Shameless politicians. Not surprised.

[Indy Texas]

North Dakota has less than 800,000 people.

Are they afraid they don't have enough room?

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

https://twitter.com/pewresearch/status/1194266860491091968?s=20

Most Americans support taking in refugees.  Even in somewhere like Burleigh, the opposition may be a vocal minority.

[lfromnj]

https://twitter.com/pewresearch/status/1194266860491091968?s=20

Most Americans support taking in refugees.  Even in somewhere like Burleigh, the opposition may be a vocal minority.

Its could be NIMBYISM?

[Nutmeg]

Its could be NIMBYISM?

I'd actually be curious to know how public opinion in those communities that have participated in the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program looks and whether it's changed since refugees arrived in those communities. For example, Fort Wayne, Indiana, has taken in many Burmese refugees. There are visible signs of thriving Burmese-American-owned businesses, particularly in the formerly crumbling downtown. Seems on the surface like it's going quite well for Fort Wayne. Whether long-time locals see it that way, though, I'm not sure.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

This is my home county and my parents and brother still live there. While it's a conservative place this is probably just as related due to strains on public services than Trumpy xenophobia. I mean don't get me wrong that's definitely a factor and I'd definitely oppose it if I still lived there but that's what the quotes from politicians in the article are stating and they're more of a scapegoat than just being targeted for that sake.

North Dakota has less than 800,000 people.

Are they afraid they don't have enough room?

In Burleigh County, yeah, kind of. It's not a question of "room" but accommodations. Bismarck's population boom wasn't something the city was prepared for, especially as the city didn't require extensive social services due to the lack of violent crime and poverty in the area before the new millenium. Bismarck has a bit of a housing crisis, while there's tons of new houses being built due to all the empty space for development that's not really helpful if you can't afford to buy one (these are pretty large houses aimed at families after all), daycare is hard to get, all the local ones are full and there's about a five month waiting period to get in, homelessness is a pretty severe problem especially as there isn't a lot of homeless shelters, two years ago the only men's shelter in the city closed and had to resort to makeshift ones partnered with local non-profits and things like putting people in school gyms and YMCAs over the winter. The court system, police department, social services, hospitals are all pretty strained and overworked despite expansions the last couple years as violent crime has skyrocketed.

Of course refugees aren't the reason for this and this is basically a scapegoating attempt.

[QAnonKelly]

What do they hope to accomplish with this?

[Landslide Lyndon]

I'm sure back in the 1800s the overwhelming majority of Native Americans was against admitting new refugees from Germany and Sweden in what is now North Dakota.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Enjoy your dwindling population, idiots.

[Tintrlvr]

Enjoy your dwindling population, idiots.

In North Dakota, that will have to wait until natural gas becomes uneconomical to extract in about 10-15 years.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I'm sure back in the 1800s the overwhelming majority of Native Americans was against admitting new refugees from Germany and Sweden in what is now North Dakota.

I’ve always thought this kinda thinking is uber-weaksauce, even coming from you. Yes, my white ancestors WERE immigrants. What harm did they do? You know, beside all the genocide, sexual violence, breaking up indigenous communities, forced death marches, and forced conversions?

[Kingpoleon]

I’ve always thought this kinda thinking is uber-weaksauce, even coming from you. Yes, my white ancestors WERE immigrants. What harm did they do? You know, beside all the genocide, sexual violence, breaking up indigenous communities, forced death marches, and forced conversions?

Yes, because immigrants are basically just neo-colonialists.

We’ve had much higher rates of immigration, especially from Germany and Ireland, in the late 1800s. Nothing bad happened then. Furthermore, without immigration, we will go into a population decline like China’s on track to - and that would be HORRIBLE for our economy.

[GP270watch]

 Canada took in more refugees than America and we have 10x the population, just shameful how far America has fallen.

Canada now leads the world in refugee resettlement, surpassing the U.S.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Narrowly averted by a 3-2 vote:
https://twitter.com/KXMB/status/1204249100390154240?s=19

Also pleased to see the father of one of my brother's best  friends in high school voted the right way.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Oh and fun fact: had this been passed in the 90s, my brother would've never met who went on to be the best man at his wedding: who is now a doctor and is moving back to work at a Bismarck hospital next year. Gee looks like having refugees helps!

[HAnnA MArin County]

What do they hope to accomplish with this?

OWN THE LIBS!!!!

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

What do they hope to accomplish with this?

OWN THE LIBS!!!!

The actual answer is to provide an easy scapegoat for strained social services, housing crisis and in response skyrocketing property taxes. Of course it's also very obviously true that the average of 25 refugees a year that are settled in the county are not a major factor in that.

[Grassroots]

Good, hopefully hundreds (and thousands) more follow.

[Pericles]

Disgusting that this is even being considered, sad how far racism has gotten over basic compassion. These are refugees after all, not 'criminal illegal aliens'.

[Xing]

Glad that they voted the right way here. Shame on the two who decided that being cruel is justified if it triggerz thoz libz.

[Grassroots]

Enjoy your dwindling population, idiots.

Yes, because the only way to increase the population is by importing foreigners.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Enjoy your dwindling population, idiots.

Yes, because the only way to increase the population is by importing foreigners.

If people aren't having babies and nobody wants to move there, yeah it sort of is.

[Grassroots]

Enjoy your dwindling population, idiots.

Yes, because the only way to increase the population is by importing foreigners.

If people aren't having babies and nobody wants to move there, yeah it sort of is.

Why don't we just encourage Americans to have more children to sustain the population?

[Grassroots]

Disgusting that this is even being considered, sad how far racism has gotten over basic compassion. These are refugees after all, not 'criminal illegal aliens'.

Don't care. They shouldn't be here.