BURLINGTON — Mayor Miro Weinberger notified the federal government that the state’s largest city would continue to welcome refugee resettlement after President Donald Trump issued an order in September allowing cities and states to refuse refugees.
“Refugees are a vital and valued part of our community, and we have been proud to welcome many people fleeing situations of persecution and great upheaval to our small city,” Weinberger wrote in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Weinberger announced the city’s position Wednesday, the same day a federal judge issued an order temporarily blocking the Trump order in a lawsuit challenging the policy. The mayor said Burlington would proceed with filing the notification despite the stay.
Trump’s executive order would change federal policy so refugees could only be resettled in communities where both the state and local governments have agreed to receive them. Gov. Phil Scott sent a similar letter of consent to Trump and Pompeo last week.
Weinberger has long been a supporter of welcoming immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers to Vermont’s largest city.
He called Trump’s order “un-American” and “problematic,” saying it will continue to add roadblocks to welcoming refugees to Burlington, which Weinberger said the city has been doing for decades.
“Nonetheless, since this is the system the Trump administration is creating, the city of Burlington wants to ensure that Burlington will continue to be a place where refugees are able to be resettled and welcomed,” Weinberger said.
As Weinberger announced his letter, news broke that a federal judge in Maryland issued a temporary stay of the order. Weinberger’s communications coordinator, Olivia LaVecchia, confirmed City Attorney Eileen Blackwood had been notified of the stay.
Under the order, states and municipalities had a deadline of Jan. 21 to submit their consent.
“You know, if there were separate action, as we’ve often seen with the Trump administration where they’re not able to invoke their immigration plans, all the better,” Weinberger said.
Weinberger said his position is consistent with Burlington’s policies, including the Welcoming City resolutions City Council adopted in 2016, and the Fair and Impartial Policing policy in 2017.
The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants has resettled 1,495 people to Vermont over the last six years, and many of them to Chittenden County, according to Weinberger.
Director of USCRI in Vermont Amila Merdzanovic said in fiscal year 2017, Vermont welcomed 386 refugees — roughly the annual average over the last 20 years, according to Weinberger. FY 2019 only saw 115. Merdzanovic called the large decline since Trump took office “historic.” In FY 2020, 120 refugees are expected to be resettled in Vermont.
Merdzanovic is a refugee herself, and resettled to Burlington in 1995 after leaving war-torn Bosnia. She said Burlington “felt like home” when she first arrived, and the best part of the city was how nice everyone was.
“You walk down the street and people just smile at you,” Merdzanovic said after the announcement. “That doesn’t happen in other cities.”
City Councilor Brian Pine, P-Ward 3, said new Burlingtonians have helped revitalize his Old North End neighborhood over the last 20 years. Pine said he counted the storefronts on North Street, and of the 20 businesses, eight of them are owned by new Americans who arrived in the last 10 to 20 years.
“It’s a great continuation to have new arrivals through the Refugee Resettlement Program to basically bring new life and bring vitality — bring new families into the neighborhoods,” Pine said.
