County OKs resettlement resolution
SANDPOINT — Bonner County commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution Tuesday joining Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter’s call for a halt resettlement of refugees from Iraq and Syria.
Commission Chairman Cary Kelly called the resettlement issue a “huge problem.”
“I can assure you we’re going to do everything we can to get our governors and people that represent us in Washington to put a halt to this. And that’s what this resolution says — to halt the program until the whole vetting process is looked at,” Kelly said.
The resolution holds that approximately 4 million Syrian nationals have fled to other nations since 2011 and there is concern that a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria could infiltrate the country by posing as a refugee. Moreover, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have stated that it is impossible to adequately investigate the legitimacy of each claim of refugee status.
The resolution was met with mostly enthusiastic support from a crowd that filled an 85-seat conference room to overflowing. However, some in the audience told commissioners the resolution didn’t go far enough, while others saw it as a step too far.
Mary Haley said the resolution amounted to a political statement that will cast a pall on tourism and refuel perceptions that North Idaho is redoubt for racial and religious intolerance.
“This will have no effect other than to paint a Nazi symbol on North Idaho again,” said Haley.
Much of the audience, however, disagreed with that assessment.
Foes of the resettlement program said it was at worst a nefarious attempt to overpopulate America with Muslims so Sharia law could be implemented and at best a well-intentioned program that will inadvertently import radicalized terrorists.
“We are opening the doors to people who hate us because we are non-believers of their Islamic faith. They will do anything and everything — lie, deceive, whatever they have to do — to get into this country,” said John Weyant.
Critics of the program also raised concerns that welcoming refugees would overburden schools and social welfare programs, a problem Minnesota is grappling with due to a burgeoning population of Somali refugees.
“There’s been a massive increase in the amount of government assistance that has had to go on. It’s been a very expensive proposition,” said Foster Cline.
Glenn Rohrer of Priest River argued the resolution is not worded strongly enough.
“Perhaps add to it that you will use all the legal means within your power to stop the immigration of Islamic Syrians. Make it clear what we’re going to do,” he said.
Commissioner Todd Sudick said his military service and work as a commercial airline pilot has brought him to every Middle Eastern country except Iraq. As an armed federal flight deck officer, he received nearly daily briefings on terrorist threats to air travelers.
“I’m very concerned knowing what these threats are and I have intimate knowledge about the threats,” said Sudick.
Commissioner Glen Bailey said he has compassion for genuine refugees fleeing war-torn areas in Syria and Iraq, but they can be safely resettled elsewhere in the Middle East. He added that refugees’ home countries simply don’t have reliable background data on their residents.
“It is not necessary to bring them here when there is such a threat from the lack of ability to determine who this is and what their intentions are,” Bailey said.