Dover - NH update: No refugees coming (yet!), but mayor wants a plan and federal legislation…
…..that would give local communities more say in the matter, assure financial help!
This is an update of the hot story we reported last summer about the possibility of the US State Department granting authority to a wannabe refugee resettlement agency to begin resettling refugees into the Tri-cities area of New Hampshire. The nascent plan was killed when it appeared that a planned public meeting would be explosive.
Sensible Dover Mayor Karen Weston wants a plan! Bio here:
Backpedaling now, the resettlement agencies in the state say there are no plans in the immediate future for Dover and surrounding towns. However that isn’t the most important thing about this article! First we learned some new bits of information and secondly, and most astoundingly, the Mayor of Dover wants to seek federal legislation to give communities a greater say in resettlement plans for American cities. Wow!
She needs to call for a meeting of bipartisan(!) mayors from “pockets of resistance” including mayors of Athens, GA, Amarillo, TX, Springfield, MA, Lynn, MA, Manchester, NH and Lewiston, ME for a start!
From Foster’s Daily Democrat:
DOVER — There are no plans to resettle African immigrants in the Tri-Cities, according to state officials and two refugee relocation groups.
The refugee issue emerged last summer when representatives from the Manchester-based Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success, or ORIS, approached Dover officials about becoming a resettlement community. The group appeared to back away from the plan amid concern from residents and local officials.
Barbara Seebart, the state refugee coordinator for the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services, said she’s not aware of any plans for refugee resettlement in the Tri-Cities.
This is the first we have heard that there is a certain time period for wannabe refugee contractors to get approval ...
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