Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
The chairman of the board of Catholic Charities Maine, Jack McCormack, has written an Op-ed piece to the Portland Press Herald to supposedly dispel some misconceptions about the local refugee resettlement program here.
Mr. McCormack claims that these misconceptions include that his group seeks out refugees to come to Maine, that the program takes money and social aid out of the hands of Mainers, and that refugees are here illegally.
RIS does not “bring” refugees into the United States or Maine. The U.S. State Department works with the United Nations to provide resettlement opportunities for refugees.
…The refugees that arrive in Maine are not illegal aliens, but rather people who have been persecuted in their countries of origin and are brought here by the federal government for their own safety.
The number of refugees that arrive in Maine is determined annually by RIS’ completion of a capacity survey that is approved by the State Department. The survey assesses the refugee populations who are already here, the housing market, the employment market, access to health care, languages spoken and available interpreters, staff to client ratios, etc.
As far as funding is concerned, RIS is financed by a number of grants, almost all of which are federal and are either allocated directly from Washington, D.C., or are funneled through Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
All of the federal grants that RIS currently receives are specific to meeting the needs of refugees being resettled in the United States and cannot be applied for by U.S. citizens or other immigrant groups. There is only one grant from a local agency, which represents 1 percent of total funding.
He claims Catholic Charities Maine does not “bring” refugees to Maine, and that an annual State Department capacity survey determines the number of refugees who arrive in Maine each year. Yet, this is really trying to mislead the public into thinking that the federal government somehow forces refugees on Maine each year, when in fact Catholic Charities Maine essentially does bring the refugees to Maine. Catholic Charities Maine cannot have more refugees than the capacity survey determines his group can handle, but his group takes the largest number of refugees each year allowed by the survey. If his group doesn’t want that many refugeess they could just reduce capacity.
In addition, if not for Catholic Charities Maine’s participation in USCCB’s refugee refugee contract with the State Department, the refugees would be placed elsewhere. The program is entirely voluntary, hence the moniker “voluntary agencies”. Maine is not required to resettle refugees.
Then the legal immigrant vs. illegal alien issue. It strikes me as a red herring. Does the public really believe that refugees are illegal aliens? I doubt it.
What bothers me about these type of Op-ed’s is the implication that in order for us to get public support for the refugee program we must mislead them. It’s nice that Mr. McCormack takes credit for bringing federal dollars to Maine, but he also fails to mention the local costs of refugee resettlement. It’s inarguable that local counties pay salaries and other administrative expenses for state and federal aid programs that refugees use. Local school districts also have to teach refugee children basic English, with much of the costs footed by city and county property owners. Must the public be misinformed to get their support for the refugee program?
