MINNEAPOLIS — President Trump vowed to give local communities more control over refugee resettlement, and followed that up with an executive order in September that put decision in the hands of county leaders.
Between now an Jan. 21 Minnesota's 87 counties need to notify local resettlement agencies and state officials about whether they'll still welcome new refugees after June 1, 2020. The federal government will assume counties that don't respond are declining new refugees.
"This executive order is really about those first 30 to 90 days, receiving somebody, making sure when they leave the airport there’s a place to go, beds in that place, there’s food in that refrigerator to make sure they can build that strong foundation," Rachele King, Minnesota's state coordinator for refugee resettlement, told KARE.
To be clear, we're talking about new immigrants who've already been vetted by the US Dept. of Homeland Security and are being placed in Minnesota through a US State Department program. The federal government contracts with five different nonprofit agencies in Minnesota to help refugees get their feet on the ground.
"We're providing referral services for housing, health care, public assistance, schools for the children, ESL classes," said Ben Walen of the Minnesota Council of Churches, one of the agencies that works with refugees in the State Department's 90-day resettlement program.
The other Minnesota agencies in the program include Arrive Ministries, Catholic Charities of Winona, International Institute of Minnesota, Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota and Lutheran Social Services of St. Cloud.
"A big important thing for folks is to get into employment programs and get into jobs, so they can ultimately sustain themselves here in Minnesota."
Walen said most refugees in the Council of Churches program have begun earning money and paying bills within six months. But family support is an important aspect.
At least 95 percent of the refugees coming to this state have family members here already. The problem would arise if a refugee's relatives live in a county that opts out of resettlement.
Those refugees could still join their relatives, but resettlement agencies like Walen's wouldn't be allowed to provide services to them.
"If their relatives live in a county that does not consent to resettlement, it’s kind of an open question now whether they would be admitted to the US at all, or whether they’d need to be resettled in a different community not close to their relatives."
Kandiyohi County, where Willmar is located, and Olmsted County, home to Rochester, were the first two counties to signal they want to continue receiving refugees. Ramsey County will be voting on the issue in January, but formal discussions aren't yet underway in Hennepin County.
A total of 848 new refugees were placed in Minnesota in fiscal 2019, which ended in October. That total has ranged from 800 to 5,000 since 1980, when Congress established the humanitarian acceptance and resettlement program.
The federal total was 18,000 new refugees, compared to an average of 85,000 over the previous four decades. That level was set by President Trump.
And at his rally in Minneapolis Oct. 10, the president boasted that refugee resettlement had fallen sharply since he took office.
"Since coming into office I have reduced refugee resettlement by 85 percent!" the president declared to thunderous applause from the Target Center crowd.
He repeated a comment he made during the 2016 race, that federal authorities had sent Somali refugees to Minnesota without knowledge or consent of the people here.
"In the Trump administration we will always protect American families first and that has not been done in Minnesota!"
The agencies that work with refugees say they have a long tradition of consulting with local cities and counties about families being placed in Minnesota communities. But the president's executive order essentially gives county leaders power to prevent agencies from helping refugees with resettlement.
"What this executive order changes is it gives the power to state and local governments to stay yes or no to resettlement happening in their communities," Walen explained.
"So it’s taking it a step beyond the consultation that has been going on for decades."
The strong current of anti-refugee sentiment runs in President Trump's rhetoric, who asserts those newcomers are a drain on local schools and social services.
But King points to the many contributions made by refugees who came to America after it was no longer safe to return to their own countries.
"They are a good and reliable workforce for our community," King remarked.
"They are taxpayers. They are bringing innovation. They are business owners and a continued atmosphere of welcome to newcomers benefits us all."
