No Resettlement Without Representation

5/17/18, Maine First Media Staff Report,

Ending the disastrous refugee resettlement racket here in Maine is not as easy as simply announcing the state will no longer cooperate with the federal resettlement program. Unfortunately, we had to figure that out the hard way.

In fact, Gov. Paul LePage already removed Maine from the federally funded refugee resettlement program in 2016. However, refugees are still entering the state. Largely thanks to organizations profiting from the resettlement racket — organizations like Catholic Charities, which has transported several thousands of refugees into Maine over the past decade (more than 3,400 as of 2016).

In a new feature (one we will try to make as close to weekly as possible), Maine First Media will be looking in depth at the agenda for Maine proposed by our friends at Maine First Project.

This week we look at one of their top priorities, ending the refugee resettlement racket. You can see Maine First Project’s 20-point Maine-First Agenda by clicking here.

Before we look at what Maine-first lawmakers can do to end the racket, we must first look at why it needs to stop.

Pocketbook Concerns

First, there are the pocketbook concerns. In fact, it is estimated each refugee in the United States costs American workers about $65,000.

So, why are swamp politicians so willing to force Mainers to foot the bill to transport a new population from overseas? Two fold. First, Democrats want the votes. Remember, Leftist believe Maine is too old and too White. Meanwhile, RINOs want the cheap foreign labor.

As Maine First Media Previously reported, it is hardworking Mainers forced to fund this population displacement championed by the open-border crowd.

Looking at education costs alone, Maine is spending $19-Million annually (up from $7.9-Million in 2006) on teaching English as a second language. There are 5,349 English Language Learning students in Maine. That’s more than $3,500 per pupil/per school year, just for English lessons. That number doesn’t even begin to factor in all the other education requirements of these non-English speaking students.

Maine First Media previously reported the Biddeford School District is doubling their number of English-As-A-Second-Language teachers. In salaries alone — not counting any benefits or bonuses — that’s nearly $500,000 on teachers who will only work with non-English speaking students. And remember, that figure is just one district, for just one year.

Biddeford School District now has 200 students from 20 different foreign countries, speaking 22 different languages. Out of the 200, more than half (111) speak Arabic.

And this explosion of non-English speaking students isn’t exclusive to Biddeford.

The Lewiston Sun Journal published a puff piece “reporting” on the wonders of International Day at Lewiston High School. There are 34 different languages heard around the halls of Lewiston schools. There are about 1,700 English-As-A-Second-Language students throughout the district. That’s nearly 30% of the student body!

Don’t live in one of these school districts? You’re still funding the forced diversity experiment.

The fact is, while the state only funds about 46% of a district’s expenses for English-speaking students — the state funds 100% of costs associated with ELL students.

Mainers are told by the lying, dying Fake News outlets, these costs are worth it, because “new Mainers” are the solution to our economic woes and pending labor force shortages.

But how can refugees be the answer to all that ails our state when Maine’s immigrant population has only a 60% workforce participation rate. Meanwhile, Maine’s overall population has a 64% workforce participation rate. As Maine First Media recently reported, a further dive into the numbers reveals nearly half of the “new Mainers” aren’t working or even looking for employment.

Please don’t worry, non-working immigrants aren’t going without. You get to buy them lobster rolls now that Maine’s Supreme Court has ruled asylum seekers are entitled to welfare benefits.

Safety Concerns

As bad as the pocketbook issues are in relation to the refugee resettlement racket, they pale in comparison to the safety concerns.

According to FBI data, in 2014, non-citizens accounted for 42% of all federal crimes in America. Anecdotally, it seems almost daily we see stories of Somali immigrants committing heinous crimes. Stories like the Somali chain-migrant in Vermont who used a machete to attack a 73-year-old Meals-on-Wheels volunteer.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, we’ve also found ISIS terrorists living amongst us in Maine! And throughout our country, on average, two suspected terrorists are arrested every week!

And we also know they’re changing our culture — changing the Maine way of life.

There may be no better example than the immigrant resistance to banning the barbaric child-abuse ritual of Female Genital Mutilation. But we’re also seeing a push for more Halal options in the Pine Tree State. And we now have a Somali immigrant, with a history of radical social media posts on the Lewiston Library board — with a say over what books are circulated and which cultural programs are sponsored.

Moving On Up

Maine First Media also exposed an open-borders plot to relocate large numbers of refugees from downstate to rural Maine.

The Maine Community Foundation and Northern Maine Community College brought 45 Somali refugees on a tour of an Aroostook County farm last August. Their stated goal is to open northern Maine as a new hub for more refugees.

But Maine Community Foundation and Northern Maine Community College aren’t alone. According to Maine Open Checkbook, Catholic Charities of Maine receives tens of thousands of dollars every year from Maine taxpayers. The vast majority of the money goes toward “reader and interpreter services.” Below is a breakdown of the Maine taxpayer dollars provided to Catholic Charities of Maine dating back to 2009 (As far as Maine Open Checkbook goes back).

• 2017: $149,552
• 2016: $83,829
• 2015: $79,951
• 2014: 106,360
• 2013: $226,306
• 2012: $268,050
• 2011: $533,945
• 2010: $140,157
• 2009: $459,498

That’s a grand total of more than $2-Million over nine years, an average of more than $225,000 every year. We were unable to determine the percentage of those taxpayer dollars going to Catholic Charities of Maine’s refugee resettlement program. However, as we mentioned, the bulk of the invoices went toward “reader and interpreter services.”

Catholic Charities of Maine has a history of failed schemes aimed at sending refugees to small Maine communities. About one year ago, they experimented by relocating a refugee family from the Congo — who had been settled in Portland — to work as cheap labor for a nursing home company in Thomaston, Maine. The population of Thomaston is 2,781. The refugee family ultimately moved back to Portland after families of the nursing home residents complained about the “new Mainers” not being able to speak English while caring for their loved ones.

And we know this is just the beginning. The Marxist Pedophile Authority, (or the so-called Maine People’s Alliance) is asking office-seekers to sign on to an open-borders agenda. MPA wants Mainer-funded Foreign Welcome Centers, welfare and other freebies for asylum seekers, and driver’s licenses for illegals.

Ending the Refugee Resettlement Racket

Now that we’ve established this is a problem — how do we stop it?

As we stated earlier, Gov. LePage already removed Maine from the federal refugee resettlement program. However, that hasn’t stopped the influx of “new Mainers.” More has to be done.

We can start with legislation mandating penalties against organizations — like Catholic Charities, for example — which profit from defying Gov. LePage’s ruling pulling the Pine Tree State out of the federal refugee resettlement program.

And we also need to demand “No Resettlement Without Representation.”

Maine First Media offers this five-point plan (suggested to us by a long-time reader) to give Mainers say in who — if anyone — is resettling into their neighborhoods.

1. All refugee resettlement plans shall be presented to local voters of towns that are selected for refugee resettlement. Two-thirds of local voters must approve the plans. These plans shall include comprehensive information regarding the funding and housing of all refugees.
2. All refugees shall have a financially stable sponsor who is a legal American citizen.
3. All initial and subsequent costs of refugee resettlement shall be covered by private, non-government funds.
4. Refugee resettlement shall not be considered a pathway to citizenship. Resettlement should be legally and statutorily defined as a contractual obligation with a mandatory termination date.
5. Refugee resettlement programs shall be repurposed as training programs for qualified refugee applicants who wish to attain valuable skills and education that can be utilized to improve their homelands. This should be a comprehensive partnership between government and the market sector to train motivated applicants who are willing to assist in creating economic and political stability in their homelands. And let it be Mainers who are paid to teach them these skills.
   

Remember the mantra, “No Resettlement Without Representation!”