Twin Falls, Idaho: College board (supporting refugee resettlement) limits free speech at recent meeting
Posted by Ann Corcoran on July 22, 2015
News from a “Pocket of Resistance” to more federal government colonization of towns throughout America…..
Here is the latest from MagicValley.com *** the publication that sent a threatening letter to RRW and editorialized against us recently.
One of the favorite techniques used to tamp down resistance to refugee resettlement was apparently on display at a recent Board meeting of the College of Southern Idaho (which houses and supports a refugee resettlement contractor). They don’t want to hear the opposition, so they come up with methods to silence speech.
From local reporter, Julie Wootton, here is how the story begins. But be sure to read the whole thing because this publication wants to be sure you visit them to see their paid ads and so forth (emphasis is mine):
TWIN FALLS • A crowd showed up Monday to a College of Southern Idaho meeting to voice opinions about the Refugee Center program.
It’s the third month community members have come in droves to a board of trustees meeting.
Board chairman Karl Kleinkopf told the crowd of more than 50 people that it’s board policy that those who have spoken within the last six months would be moved to the end of the list of speakers.
He set a time cap of 30 minutes for the public forum due to the “tremendous amount of new business.” This is the first time the board has set a time limit for a public forum.
One commenter who did get to speak was Terry Edwards who said the program is costly, secretive and puts the community at risk. That about says it!
Note to ‘Pockets,’ you don’t have to always play in their sandbox!
Go on the offense! Why not call for a public meeting and invite all the players! Invite the US State Department, the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (in HHS), the major federal resettlement contractors (and their subcontractors) operating in Boise and Twin Falls, and the Idaho Office of Refugees/Jannus Inc. .
Don’t forget to include elected officials at the city and state level who support the program, ask them to come to a public forum in order to answer the many questions citizens have. Maybe CSI would offer a free auditorium for the evening because surely they would like all the facts reported to the public. Surely, the elected officials and ‘stakeholders’ have nothing to hide!
Ask those who advocate bringing more UN-chosen refugees to Idaho to answer all of the public’s questions about how the program is run, who is coming to Idaho, what industries are seeking cheap immigrant labor, what will the resettlement cost be to local and state taxpayers, how are the refugees screened (for health problems and security concerns), what might the impact be on housing for Idaho’s own poor and disabled people, what will the impact be on the local health department, how many children are now going into the school system and how many are projected for the future, etc.
Let those who support the program make their case IN PUBLIC. But, organizers, be sure that all questions are asked and answered if it takes all night!
This post is filed in our new “Pockets of Resistance” category to inform those of you forming ‘pockets’ where you live of what others are doing!
We first heard that phrase— pockets of resistance—(coined by the federal government to refer to us who want transparency!) at an Office or Refugee Resettlement meeting in Lancaster, PA in June 2013, here. It is the same meeting where we heard that the “NEW Americans” are “seedlings” being purposefully planted in the “soil” of your communities. ...