(Editor’s note: This story was updated April 26 at 7:15 p.m. with a comment from Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and April 27 at 2:30 p.m. with remarks from Bruce Lisman.)
[T]he city of Rutland announced Tuesday that it will welcome up to 100 refugees, including many fleeing the civil war in Syria.
“As a community whose forefathers, including my own grandfather, came here to escape poverty and persecution, we have a unique opportunity to repeat our storied history,” said Rutland Mayor Chris Louras on Tuesday. “Just as our grandparents and great-grandparents were welcomed to Rutland in the late 1800s, early 1900s and during the World War II era, we will welcome new families facing peril.”
The city will start to welcome the refugees — mostly families with children — into the community by as early as October. Rutland officials estimated that all 100 refugees would be settled within a year.
In their first months in Rutland, the new residents will receive a stipend from the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Government officials will help them find housing, employment, schooling and other necessities.
The move was hailed by city leaders as an important step in revitalizing Rutland’s economy.
“As much as we will be helping these refugees, their presence will benefit the entire region by adding to the flavor and energy of our neighborhoods and stoking our economic engines,” said Carol Tashie, a farmer and community leader in Rutland.
The decision also brought praise from Gov. Peter Shumlin, who strongly rebuffed calls to close borders and halt refugee programs in the wake of the Paris terrorist attack in November.
The debate over accepting refugees became heated quickly last fall after authorities announced that key actors in the Paris attack — and later, in the Brussels bombings — had posed as Syrian refugees to cross borders into Europe.
Shumlin and many others have pointed to the American process for vetting refugees, which involves multiple agencies and can take up to two years. He said last fall that seven or eight Syrian refugees were in the process of relocating to Vermont.
“Today, Rutland showed the rest of the country and the world that the values of respect for others, caring for those who need it most, and common decency are still alive and well in Vermont,” Shumlin said in a statement Tuesday.
The Vermont Democratic Party also hailed Rutland’s work to welcome refugees while making a dig at Republican gubernatorial candidates Bruce Lisman and Phil Scott, who have expressed reservations about the resettlement of Syrians in the Green Mountains.
“This action by Rutland is a step against the fear-driven agendas advanced by Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, and even Vermont’s own Phil Scott and Bruce Lisman, both of whom initially called to suspend any process that would bring refugees to Vermont,” said spokeswoman Christina Amestoy from the Vermont Democrats.
However Scott, the lieutenant governor, said Tuesday that he now feels reassured about the refugee program.
“Vermont has a long history of providing opportunity for those who look to America as a symbol of freedom and hope. We should continue to be welcoming to those who seek this way of life,” he said.
“I understand the concerns some Vermonters have. That’s why I took the time to learn about the refugee resettlement program from the Department of State and the Department of Public Safety, and I have gained confidence in the program.
“We don’t always know the people who come asking for help, but as humans, Americans and Vermonters we should not turn our backs.”
On Wednesday, Lisman hailed America’s long tradition of immigration while also calling for vigilance.
“I have called for a ‘timeout’ on immigration from Syria to make sure our checks of refugees are as thorough as possible,” Lisman said. “As the head of the FBI has not provided high-level assurances of the ability to track and vet refugees, that I am aware of, from Syria, I believe nothing has changed and we must keep the ‘timeout’ in place.”
