What Happens If 20,000 Migrants Enter Your City ?

[80zephyr]

Not the new migrants. They only thing they own is the clothes they're wearing.

Immigrants coming to America with nothing is hardly a new story in our country, and it's what makes us great.

Please. These people had to make their own way. Today, America is a welfare state. Asking the citizens of this country to support people they don't even want here is immoral.

Mark

In fact, if you learn about the history of immigration in this country, you will learn that it took each wave of immigrants as many as several generations to assimilate into America. It wasn't that long ago, when the public services of many major cities were dominated by those of Irish and Italian descent. This is a direct result of political graft at a city level. Ethnic city councilors or aldermen handed out city jobs to their communities in exchange for votes.

This has been the pattern of immigration for centuries in America.

Both sides of my family came to America in the 1880's. They didn't get welfare, food stamps, or housing. What they did get was opportunity. A far cry from what is happening today.

I say again, most immigration is incompatible with a welfare state.

Mark

 

[80zephyr]

Just know it's lowly people like me and my family that have to bear the brunt of the failure of your multiculturalism experiment.

Among the first 'white men' to set foot in this country. Many were Spanish, their captain was Italian. The fleets interpreter was a Jew.

America has been a multicultural 'experiment' since 1492.

So what? Situations change. America NEEDED people back then. Today, the country has too many people. We used to bleed people with leeches to. We learned.

Mark

 

[CarlinAnnArbor]

Both sides of my family came to America in the 1880's. They didn't get welfare, food stamps, or housing. What they did get was opportunity. A far cry from what is happening today.

I say again, most immigration is incompatible with a welfare state.

Mark

Im betting they didn't sneak across the border in violation of our immigration laws either.

 

[fncceo]

I have known plenty of immigrants. None of them treated like mexican illegal so called imigrants are NOW. Why are they so special? They dispace poor American workers of all races, over the last thirty years. Mexican workers are the new cheap disposable neoslaves. So this is what lib NPCs call humanitarian? Oh, goody.

"They hate our order, our civilization, our enterprising industry, our pure religion. This wild, reckless, indolent, uncertain and superstitious race have no sympathy with the English character. Their ideal of human felicity is an alternation of clannish broils and coarse idolatry. Their history describes an unbroken circle of bigotry and blood."

Benjamin Disraeli, concerning the Irish

 

[impuretrash]

Just know it's lowly people like me and my family that have to bear the brunt of the failure of your multiculturalism experiment.

Among the first 'white men' to set foot in this country. Many were Spanish, their captain was Italian. The fleets interpreter was a Jew.

America has been a multicultural 'experiment' since 1492.

Spanish and italian? that's pretty weak multiculturalism dude. Not like today trying to blend desert nomads with Scandinavian ice people with jungle warriors.

 

[impuretrash]

These brown people, they come over here and look at us as easy targets. As prey. Think that's racist? Oh well, just look at the crime rates in the UK over the last decade. Little white girls rounded up and abused on an industrial scale by disgusting muslim creatures while the police sit on their hands and do nothing about it because they're afraid of being called racist.

Black people have been free for over a century and they still haven't gotten their shit together, they still hate whitey. Mexico and south america is populated by a breed that is even more violent than the middle east savages. Oh yeah, lets just throw our borders open wide, let em all in. What's the worst that could happen?

 

[80zephyr]

I have known plenty of immigrants. None of them treated like mexican illegal so called imigrants are NOW. Why are they so special? They dispace poor American workers of all races, over the last thirty years. Mexican workers are the new cheap disposable neoslaves. So this is what lib NPCs call humanitarian? Oh, goody.

"They hate our order, our civilization, our enterprising industry, our pure religion. This wild, reckless, indolent, uncertain and superstitious race have no sympathy with the English character. Their ideal of human felicity is an alternation of clannish broils and coarse idolatry. Their history describes an unbroken circle of bigotry and blood."

Benjamin Disraeli, concerning the Irish

Why do you think that people that are against ILLEGALS have to believe they are substandard? Can't a person be against them simply for being here illegally?

BTW, I am anti immigration. Both legal and illegal. And I don't care if you are brown or white, Polish or Ethiopian.

Mark

 

[fncceo]

Why do you think that people that are against ILLEGALS have to believe they are substandard? Can't a person be against them simply for being here illegally?

I'm totally OK with that. But that clearly isn't what the OP and his many other posts are saying. He's demonizing all Hispanics (and non whites), regardless of the status of their immigration.

 

[Care4all]

Anybody here from Fort Stockton, Texas ? You guys are very close to the Mexican border. You're vulnerable too.

With a population of only 8,283, you would be swamped by a massive wave of illegal invaders. What would you do ?

it all works out in the end....

LEWISTON, Maine — The arrival of thousands of Somali refugees in this former mill city in the nation’s whitest state
By DAVID SHARP
Associated Press

Last modified: Monday, February 08, 2016
LEWISTON, Maine — The arrival of thousands of Somali refugees in this former mill city in the nation’s whitest state sparked a backlash at first, complete with a rally of white supremacists and a pig’s head rolled into the local mosque.

Fifteen years later, the Somali newcomers are solid members of the community, as evidenced by its proliferation of shops, restaurants and mosques — and a championship-winning high school soccer team featuring players from Somalia and other African countries.

Shukri Abasheikh, owner of Mogadishu Store, a general store that caters to the African community, said she and her fellow newcomers have won respect from residents through hard work.

“When Somalis came in, Lewiston people, Maine people, they think we need welfare, but we don’t need welfare. We need jobs. We need peace. We need education,” said Abasheikh, who worked as a janitor before achieving her dream of running her own business.

As the U.S. prepares to accept thousands of refugees from war-torn Syria in coming months and years, this riverside community illuminates the challenges such newcomers can face — and shows that integration can be slow and painful, but ultimately successful.

Since February 2001, more than 5,000 Africans have come to Lewiston, a city of 36,500 on the Androscoggin River, in a prime example of what scholars call “rapid ethnic diversification.”

The first Somalis found Lewiston after a refugee resettlement program was established in Portland, Maine’s largest city.

Because of a housing shortage in Portland, they looked 30 miles to the north, where aging apartments that once housed Lewiston’s mill workers provided plenty of low-cost homes. Despite the bitter winters, Somalis saw a safe place with good schools that was walkable and not too big.

There was no formal plan. It just happened.

At first, Lewiston residents didn’t know what to make of these newcomers who spoke no English, providing a challenge for schools. Many knew little of Somalia beyond news coverage of a soldier from a nearby town who was killed in a Somali firefight that became the basis for the movie “Black Hawk Down.”

Some locals resented so many black Muslims moving to a Roman Catholic community where the twin spires of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul dominate the skyline. Rumors spread that the newcomers were getting perks like better housing and even free cars.

Then came a letter from the mayor to the Somali community in 2002, asking them to discourage their friends and family from moving to Lewiston, saying “our city is maxed-out financially, physically and emotionally.”

An out-of-state white supremacist group seized upon the discord to hold a rally.

Residents were bewildered to find their community painted as racist in the national news, and that low point became a turning point. They began to embrace the Somali community, and thousands staged a support rally far larger than the handful of people with the white supremacists.

“That was definitely eye-opening, to see that they support and accept us,” said Abdirahman Mohamud, Abasheikh’s son, who grew up in Lewiston.

Three years after the rally, when someone rolled the pig’s head into the mosque, swift condemnations followed. The governor at the time visited Lewiston to denounce the act, and police quickly charged the perpetrator.

Today, the smell of deep-fried samboosa fills a store in Lisbon Street, and the aroma of basmati rice and goat meat emanates from another. Shops feature colorful clothing and African staples like fufu flour.

Somalis have taken jobs with L.L. Bean, Maine’s iconic outdoors retailer, and other local employers.

The city’s unemployment and crime rates have dropped since the Somalis’ arrival, said Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau. Refugees and asylum seekers will account for about half the city’s general assistance spending in the coming year, but overall spending is the same as it was in 1990, he said.

The success flies in the face of a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment nationwide that’s fueled by concerns over recruitment by Muslim extremists, something that could cause problems for Syrian refugees, said Westy Egmont, director of the Immigrant Integration Lab at the Boston College School of Social Work.

Immigration opponents include Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who wants to ban Muslims, and several governors who have rejected the president’s call to accept Syrian refugees.

“Syrians, like all newcomer groups, will face both a warm welcome and serious opposition,” Egmont said, “depending on where they end up being placed.”

In Lewiston, which isn’t expecting Syrian refugees, white residents now see the black newcomers want the same things they do — a safe place to raise a family, good schools, freedom and jobs, said Abdi Said, a refugee who was originally put in San Jose, California, before he moved to Lewiston.

“We are working hard, and we’re going to school and everything — like regular American people,” said Said, who hopes to buy a home for his family. “They see that we are not different.”

Longtime residents have largely accepted the immigrants, said Jimmy Simones, whose grandfather was a Greek immigrant who opened Simones’ Hot Dog Stand, an eatery that’s now a regular stop for politicians and city leaders.

“They became a part of our community,” he said. “We move on.”

The signs of acceptance are apparent at Lewiston High School, where newcomers from soccer-loving countries helped elevate the already-good team to the state championship in November.

Coach Mike McGraw, whose undefeated soccer team featured players from Somalia, Kenya and Congo, said he likes that the Muslim players often stop to pray before a game.

“It doesn’t take long for kids to become Americanized,” he said. “What I’m happy about my kids is that they have not lost touch with their culture.”

The players don’t like to talk about immigration or politics. Their success is simply an example of teamwork, said Abdi Shariff, a co-captain who lived in a Kenyan refugee camp before his family relocated to Louisville, Kentucky, and then Lewiston.

“It just shows,” he said, “that people from different races, different cultures, can all work together and accomplish a goal if they want to.”

 

[Care4all]

BTW, I am anti immigration. Both legal and illegal. And I don't care if you are brown or white, Polish or Ethiopian.

Why?

 

[impuretrash]

Anybody here from Fort Stockton, Texas ? You guys are very close to the Mexican border. You're vulnerable too.

With a population of only 8,283, you would be swamped by a massive wave of illegal invaders. What would you do ?

it all works out in the end....

LEWISTON, Maine — The arrival of thousands of Somali refugees in this former mill city in the nation’s whitest state
By DAVID SHARP
Associated Press

Last modified: Monday, February 08, 2016
LEWISTON, Maine — The arrival of thousands of Somali refugees in this former mill city in the nation’s whitest state sparked a backlash at first, complete with a rally of white supremacists and a pig’s head rolled into the local mosque.

Fifteen years later, the Somali newcomers are solid members of the community, as evidenced by its proliferation of shops, restaurants and mosques — and a championship-winning high school soccer team featuring players from Somalia and other African countries.

Shukri Abasheikh, owner of Mogadishu Store, a general store that caters to the African community, said she and her fellow newcomers have won respect from residents through hard work.

“When Somalis came in, Lewiston people, Maine people, they think we need welfare, but we don’t need welfare. We need jobs. We need peace. We need education,” said Abasheikh, who worked as a janitor before achieving her dream of running her own business.

As the U.S. prepares to accept thousands of refugees from war-torn Syria in coming months and years, this riverside community illuminates the challenges such newcomers can face — and shows that integration can be slow and painful, but ultimately successful.

Since February 2001, more than 5,000 Africans have come to Lewiston, a city of 36,500 on the Androscoggin River, in a prime example of what scholars call “rapid ethnic diversification.”

The first Somalis found Lewiston after a refugee resettlement program was established in Portland, Maine’s largest city.

Because of a housing shortage in Portland, they looked 30 miles to the north, where aging apartments that once housed Lewiston’s mill workers provided plenty of low-cost homes. Despite the bitter winters, Somalis saw a safe place with good schools that was walkable and not too big.

There was no formal plan. It just happened.

At first, Lewiston residents didn’t know what to make of these newcomers who spoke no English, providing a challenge for schools. Many knew little of Somalia beyond news coverage of a soldier from a nearby town who was killed in a Somali firefight that became the basis for the movie “Black Hawk Down.”

Some locals resented so many black Muslims moving to a Roman Catholic community where the twin spires of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul dominate the skyline. Rumors spread that the newcomers were getting perks like better housing and even free cars.

Then came a letter from the mayor to the Somali community in 2002, asking them to discourage their friends and family from moving to Lewiston, saying “our city is maxed-out financially, physically and emotionally.”

An out-of-state white supremacist group seized upon the discord to hold a rally.

Residents were bewildered to find their community painted as racist in the national news, and that low point became a turning point. They began to embrace the Somali community, and thousands staged a support rally far larger than the handful of people with the white supremacists.

“That was definitely eye-opening, to see that they support and accept us,” said Abdirahman Mohamud, Abasheikh’s son, who grew up in Lewiston.

Three years after the rally, when someone rolled the pig’s head into the mosque, swift condemnations followed. The governor at the time visited Lewiston to denounce the act, and police quickly charged the perpetrator.

Today, the smell of deep-fried samboosa fills a store in Lisbon Street, and the aroma of basmati rice and goat meat emanates from another. Shops feature colorful clothing and African staples like fufu flour.

Somalis have taken jobs with L.L. Bean, Maine’s iconic outdoors retailer, and other local employers.

The city’s unemployment and crime rates have dropped since the Somalis’ arrival, said Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau. Refugees and asylum seekers will account for about half the city’s general assistance spending in the coming year, but overall spending is the same as it was in 1990, he said.

The success flies in the face of a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment nationwide that’s fueled by concerns over recruitment by Muslim extremists, something that could cause problems for Syrian refugees, said Westy Egmont, director of the Immigrant Integration Lab at the Boston College School of Social Work.

Immigration opponents include Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who wants to ban Muslims, and several governors who have rejected the president’s call to accept Syrian refugees.

“Syrians, like all newcomer groups, will face both a warm welcome and serious opposition,” Egmont said, “depending on where they end up being placed.”

In Lewiston, which isn’t expecting Syrian refugees, white residents now see the black newcomers want the same things they do — a safe place to raise a family, good schools, freedom and jobs, said Abdi Said, a refugee who was originally put in San Jose, California, before he moved to Lewiston.

“We are working hard, and we’re going to school and everything — like regular American people,” said Said, who hopes to buy a home for his family. “They see that we are not different.”

Longtime residents have largely accepted the immigrants, said Jimmy Simones, whose grandfather was a Greek immigrant who opened Simones’ Hot Dog Stand, an eatery that’s now a regular stop for politicians and city leaders.

“They became a part of our community,” he said. “We move on.”

The signs of acceptance are apparent at Lewiston High School, where newcomers from soccer-loving countries helped elevate the already-good team to the state championship in November.

Coach Mike McGraw, whose undefeated soccer team featured players from Somalia, Kenya and Congo, said he likes that the Muslim players often stop to pray before a game.

“It doesn’t take long for kids to become Americanized,” he said. “What I’m happy about my kids is that they have not lost touch with their culture.”

The players don’t like to talk about immigration or politics. Their success is simply an example of teamwork, said Abdi Shariff, a co-captain who lived in a Kenyan refugee camp before his family relocated to Louisville, Kentucky, and then Lewiston.

“It just shows,” he said, “that people from different races, different cultures, can all work together and accomplish a goal if they want to.”

10 Most Dangerous Places In Maine - Movoto

http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Lewiston-Maine.html

Interesting, the crime statistics only go back as far as 2002. I wonder why...

 

[Care4all]

Anybody here from Fort Stockton, Texas ? You guys are very close to the Mexican border. You're vulnerable too.

With a population of only 8,283, you would be swamped by a massive wave of illegal invaders. What would you do ?

it all works out in the end....

LEWISTON, Maine — The arrival of thousands of Somali refugees in this former mill city in the nation’s whitest state
By DAVID SHARP
Associated Press

Last modified: Monday, February 08, 2016
LEWISTON, Maine — The arrival of thousands of Somali refugees in this former mill city in the nation’s whitest state sparked a backlash at first, complete with a rally of white supremacists and a pig’s head rolled into the local mosque.

Fifteen years later, the Somali newcomers are solid members of the community, as evidenced by its proliferation of shops, restaurants and mosques — and a championship-winning high school soccer team featuring players from Somalia and other African countries.

Shukri Abasheikh, owner of Mogadishu Store, a general store that caters to the African community, said she and her fellow newcomers have won respect from residents through hard work.

“When Somalis came in, Lewiston people, Maine people, they think we need welfare, but we don’t need welfare. We need jobs. We need peace. We need education,” said Abasheikh, who worked as a janitor before achieving her dream of running her own business.

As the U.S. prepares to accept thousands of refugees from war-torn Syria in coming months and years, this riverside community illuminates the challenges such newcomers can face — and shows that integration can be slow and painful, but ultimately successful.

Since February 2001, more than 5,000 Africans have come to Lewiston, a city of 36,500 on the Androscoggin River, in a prime example of what scholars call “rapid ethnic diversification.”

The first Somalis found Lewiston after a refugee resettlement program was established in Portland, Maine’s largest city.

Because of a housing shortage in Portland, they looked 30 miles to the north, where aging apartments that once housed Lewiston’s mill workers provided plenty of low-cost homes. Despite the bitter winters, Somalis saw a safe place with good schools that was walkable and not too big.

There was no formal plan. It just happened.

At first, Lewiston residents didn’t know what to make of these newcomers who spoke no English, providing a challenge for schools. Many knew little of Somalia beyond news coverage of a soldier from a nearby town who was killed in a Somali firefight that became the basis for the movie “Black Hawk Down.”

Some locals resented so many black Muslims moving to a Roman Catholic community where the twin spires of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul dominate the skyline. Rumors spread that the newcomers were getting perks like better housing and even free cars.

Then came a letter from the mayor to the Somali community in 2002, asking them to discourage their friends and family from moving to Lewiston, saying “our city is maxed-out financially, physically and emotionally.”

An out-of-state white supremacist group seized upon the discord to hold a rally.

Residents were bewildered to find their community painted as racist in the national news, and that low point became a turning point. They began to embrace the Somali community, and thousands staged a support rally far larger than the handful of people with the white supremacists.

“That was definitely eye-opening, to see that they support and accept us,” said Abdirahman Mohamud, Abasheikh’s son, who grew up in Lewiston.

Three years after the rally, when someone rolled the pig’s head into the mosque, swift condemnations followed. The governor at the time visited Lewiston to denounce the act, and police quickly charged the perpetrator.

Today, the smell of deep-fried samboosa fills a store in Lisbon Street, and the aroma of basmati rice and goat meat emanates from another. Shops feature colorful clothing and African staples like fufu flour.

Somalis have taken jobs with L.L. Bean, Maine’s iconic outdoors retailer, and other local employers.

The city’s unemployment and crime rates have dropped since the Somalis’ arrival, said Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau. Refugees and asylum seekers will account for about half the city’s general assistance spending in the coming year, but overall spending is the same as it was in 1990, he said.

The success flies in the face of a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment nationwide that’s fueled by concerns over recruitment by Muslim extremists, something that could cause problems for Syrian refugees, said Westy Egmont, director of the Immigrant Integration Lab at the Boston College School of Social Work.

Immigration opponents include Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who wants to ban Muslims, and several governors who have rejected the president’s call to accept Syrian refugees.

“Syrians, like all newcomer groups, will face both a warm welcome and serious opposition,” Egmont said, “depending on where they end up being placed.”

In Lewiston, which isn’t expecting Syrian refugees, white residents now see the black newcomers want the same things they do — a safe place to raise a family, good schools, freedom and jobs, said Abdi Said, a refugee who was originally put in San Jose, California, before he moved to Lewiston.

“We are working hard, and we’re going to school and everything — like regular American people,” said Said, who hopes to buy a home for his family. “They see that we are not different.”

Longtime residents have largely accepted the immigrants, said Jimmy Simones, whose grandfather was a Greek immigrant who opened Simones’ Hot Dog Stand, an eatery that’s now a regular stop for politicians and city leaders.

“They became a part of our community,” he said. “We move on.”

The signs of acceptance are apparent at Lewiston High School, where newcomers from soccer-loving countries helped elevate the already-good team to the state championship in November.

Coach Mike McGraw, whose undefeated soccer team featured players from Somalia, Kenya and Congo, said he likes that the Muslim players often stop to pray before a game.

“It doesn’t take long for kids to become Americanized,” he said. “What I’m happy about my kids is that they have not lost touch with their culture.”

The players don’t like to talk about immigration or politics. Their success is simply an example of teamwork, said Abdi Shariff, a co-captain who lived in a Kenyan refugee camp before his family relocated to Louisville, Kentucky, and then Lewiston.

“It just shows,” he said, “that people from different races, different cultures, can all work together and accomplish a goal if they want to.”

10 Most Dangerous Places In Maine - Movoto
View attachment 248349

http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Lewiston-Maine.html
View attachment 248350


Interesting, the crime statistics only go back as far as 2002. I wonder why...

FYI
Maine and Vermont are the safest states in the USA...

CRIME went DOWN in Lewiston after the refugees settled there

 

[impuretrash]

Anybody here from Fort Stockton, Texas ? You guys are very close to the Mexican border. You're vulnerable too.

With a population of only 8,283, you would be swamped by a massive wave of illegal invaders. What would you do ?

it all works out in the end....

LEWISTON, Maine — The arrival of thousands of Somali refugees in this former mill city in the nation’s whitest state
By DAVID SHARP
Associated Press

Last modified: Monday, February 08, 2016
LEWISTON, Maine — The arrival of thousands of Somali refugees in this former mill city in the nation’s whitest state sparked a backlash at first, complete with a rally of white supremacists and a pig’s head rolled into the local mosque.

Fifteen years later, the Somali newcomers are solid members of the community, as evidenced by its proliferation of shops, restaurants and mosques — and a championship-winning high school soccer team featuring players from Somalia and other African countries.

Shukri Abasheikh, owner of Mogadishu Store, a general store that caters to the African community, said she and her fellow newcomers have won respect from residents through hard work.

“When Somalis came in, Lewiston people, Maine people, they think we need welfare, but we don’t need welfare. We need jobs. We need peace. We need education,” said Abasheikh, who worked as a janitor before achieving her dream of running her own business.

As the U.S. prepares to accept thousands of refugees from war-torn Syria in coming months and years, this riverside community illuminates the challenges such newcomers can face — and shows that integration can be slow and painful, but ultimately successful.

Since February 2001, more than 5,000 Africans have come to Lewiston, a city of 36,500 on the Androscoggin River, in a prime example of what scholars call “rapid ethnic diversification.”

The first Somalis found Lewiston after a refugee resettlement program was established in Portland, Maine’s largest city.

Because of a housing shortage in Portland, they looked 30 miles to the north, where aging apartments that once housed Lewiston’s mill workers provided plenty of low-cost homes. Despite the bitter winters, Somalis saw a safe place with good schools that was walkable and not too big.

There was no formal plan. It just happened.

At first, Lewiston residents didn’t know what to make of these newcomers who spoke no English, providing a challenge for schools. Many knew little of Somalia beyond news coverage of a soldier from a nearby town who was killed in a Somali firefight that became the basis for the movie “Black Hawk Down.”

Some locals resented so many black Muslims moving to a Roman Catholic community where the twin spires of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul dominate the skyline. Rumors spread that the newcomers were getting perks like better housing and even free cars.

Then came a letter from the mayor to the Somali community in 2002, asking them to discourage their friends and family from moving to Lewiston, saying “our city is maxed-out financially, physically and emotionally.”

An out-of-state white supremacist group seized upon the discord to hold a rally.

Residents were bewildered to find their community painted as racist in the national news, and that low point became a turning point. They began to embrace the Somali community, and thousands staged a support rally far larger than the handful of people with the white supremacists.

“That was definitely eye-opening, to see that they support and accept us,” said Abdirahman Mohamud, Abasheikh’s son, who grew up in Lewiston.

Three years after the rally, when someone rolled the pig’s head into the mosque, swift condemnations followed. The governor at the time visited Lewiston to denounce the act, and police quickly charged the perpetrator.

Today, the smell of deep-fried samboosa fills a store in Lisbon Street, and the aroma of basmati rice and goat meat emanates from another. Shops feature colorful clothing and African staples like fufu flour.

Somalis have taken jobs with L.L. Bean, Maine’s iconic outdoors retailer, and other local employers.

The city’s unemployment and crime rates have dropped since the Somalis’ arrival, said Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau. Refugees and asylum seekers will account for about half the city’s general assistance spending in the coming year, but overall spending is the same as it was in 1990, he said.

The success flies in the face of a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment nationwide that’s fueled by concerns over recruitment by Muslim extremists, something that could cause problems for Syrian refugees, said Westy Egmont, director of the Immigrant Integration Lab at the Boston College School of Social Work.

Immigration opponents include Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who wants to ban Muslims, and several governors who have rejected the president’s call to accept Syrian refugees.

“Syrians, like all newcomer groups, will face both a warm welcome and serious opposition,” Egmont said, “depending on where they end up being placed.”

In Lewiston, which isn’t expecting Syrian refugees, white residents now see the black newcomers want the same things they do — a safe place to raise a family, good schools, freedom and jobs, said Abdi Said, a refugee who was originally put in San Jose, California, before he moved to Lewiston.

“We are working hard, and we’re going to school and everything — like regular American people,” said Said, who hopes to buy a home for his family. “They see that we are not different.”

Longtime residents have largely accepted the immigrants, said Jimmy Simones, whose grandfather was a Greek immigrant who opened Simones’ Hot Dog Stand, an eatery that’s now a regular stop for politicians and city leaders.

“They became a part of our community,” he said. “We move on.”

The signs of acceptance are apparent at Lewiston High School, where newcomers from soccer-loving countries helped elevate the already-good team to the state championship in November.

Coach Mike McGraw, whose undefeated soccer team featured players from Somalia, Kenya and Congo, said he likes that the Muslim players often stop to pray before a game.

“It doesn’t take long for kids to become Americanized,” he said. “What I’m happy about my kids is that they have not lost touch with their culture.”

The players don’t like to talk about immigration or politics. Their success is simply an example of teamwork, said Abdi Shariff, a co-captain who lived in a Kenyan refugee camp before his family relocated to Louisville, Kentucky, and then Lewiston.

“It just shows,” he said, “that people from different races, different cultures, can all work together and accomplish a goal if they want to.”

10 Most Dangerous Places In Maine - Movoto
View attachment 248349

http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Lewiston-Maine.html
View attachment 248350


Interesting, the crime statistics only go back as far as 2002. I wonder why...

FYI
Maine and Vermont are the safest states in the USA...

CRIME went DOWN in Lewiston after the refugees settled there

View attachment 248351

The article states that the immigration wave began in 2001 and statistics referring to the years before that are unavailable.

 

[CarlinAnnArbor]

The article states that the immigration wave began in 2001 and statistics referring to the years before that are unavailable.

The left ALWAYS loses on FACTS. MEANWHILE, the country just keeps dying from their "mistakes" of a thousand unnecessary "cuts"

 

[Care4all]

Anybody here from Fort Stockton, Texas ? You guys are very close to the Mexican border. You're vulnerable too.

With a population of only 8,283, you would be swamped by a massive wave of illegal invaders. What would you do ?

it all works out in the end....

LEWISTON, Maine — The arrival of thousands of Somali refugees in this former mill city in the nation’s whitest state
By DAVID SHARP
Associated Press

Last modified: Monday, February 08, 2016
LEWISTON, Maine — The arrival of thousands of Somali refugees in this former mill city in the nation’s whitest state sparked a backlash at first, complete with a rally of white supremacists and a pig’s head rolled into the local mosque.

Fifteen years later, the Somali newcomers are solid members of the community, as evidenced by its proliferation of shops, restaurants and mosques — and a championship-winning high school soccer team featuring players from Somalia and other African countries.

Shukri Abasheikh, owner of Mogadishu Store, a general store that caters to the African community, said she and her fellow newcomers have won respect from residents through hard work.

“When Somalis came in, Lewiston people, Maine people, they think we need welfare, but we don’t need welfare. We need jobs. We need peace. We need education,” said Abasheikh, who worked as a janitor before achieving her dream of running her own business.

As the U.S. prepares to accept thousands of refugees from war-torn Syria in coming months and years, this riverside community illuminates the challenges such newcomers can face — and shows that integration can be slow and painful, but ultimately successful.

Since February 2001, more than 5,000 Africans have come to Lewiston, a city of 36,500 on the Androscoggin River, in a prime example of what scholars call “rapid ethnic diversification.”

The first Somalis found Lewiston after a refugee resettlement program was established in Portland, Maine’s largest city.

Because of a housing shortage in Portland, they looked 30 miles to the north, where aging apartments that once housed Lewiston’s mill workers provided plenty of low-cost homes. Despite the bitter winters, Somalis saw a safe place with good schools that was walkable and not too big.

There was no formal plan. It just happened.

At first, Lewiston residents didn’t know what to make of these newcomers who spoke no English, providing a challenge for schools. Many knew little of Somalia beyond news coverage of a soldier from a nearby town who was killed in a Somali firefight that became the basis for the movie “Black Hawk Down.”

Some locals resented so many black Muslims moving to a Roman Catholic community where the twin spires of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul dominate the skyline. Rumors spread that the newcomers were getting perks like better housing and even free cars.

Then came a letter from the mayor to the Somali community in 2002, asking them to discourage their friends and family from moving to Lewiston, saying “our city is maxed-out financially, physically and emotionally.”

An out-of-state white supremacist group seized upon the discord to hold a rally.

Residents were bewildered to find their community painted as racist in the national news, and that low point became a turning point. They began to embrace the Somali community, and thousands staged a support rally far larger than the handful of people with the white supremacists.

“That was definitely eye-opening, to see that they support and accept us,” said Abdirahman Mohamud, Abasheikh’s son, who grew up in Lewiston.

Three years after the rally, when someone rolled the pig’s head into the mosque, swift condemnations followed. The governor at the time visited Lewiston to denounce the act, and police quickly charged the perpetrator.

Today, the smell of deep-fried samboosa fills a store in Lisbon Street, and the aroma of basmati rice and goat meat emanates from another. Shops feature colorful clothing and African staples like fufu flour.

Somalis have taken jobs with L.L. Bean, Maine’s iconic outdoors retailer, and other local employers.

The city’s unemployment and crime rates have dropped since the Somalis’ arrival, said Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau. Refugees and asylum seekers will account for about half the city’s general assistance spending in the coming year, but overall spending is the same as it was in 1990, he said.

The success flies in the face of a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment nationwide that’s fueled by concerns over recruitment by Muslim extremists, something that could cause problems for Syrian refugees, said Westy Egmont, director of the Immigrant Integration Lab at the Boston College School of Social Work.

Immigration opponents include Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who wants to ban Muslims, and several governors who have rejected the president’s call to accept Syrian refugees.

“Syrians, like all newcomer groups, will face both a warm welcome and serious opposition,” Egmont said, “depending on where they end up being placed.”

In Lewiston, which isn’t expecting Syrian refugees, white residents now see the black newcomers want the same things they do — a safe place to raise a family, good schools, freedom and jobs, said Abdi Said, a refugee who was originally put in San Jose, California, before he moved to Lewiston.

“We are working hard, and we’re going to school and everything — like regular American people,” said Said, who hopes to buy a home for his family. “They see that we are not different.”

Longtime residents have largely accepted the immigrants, said Jimmy Simones, whose grandfather was a Greek immigrant who opened Simones’ Hot Dog Stand, an eatery that’s now a regular stop for politicians and city leaders.

“They became a part of our community,” he said. “We move on.”

The signs of acceptance are apparent at Lewiston High School, where newcomers from soccer-loving countries helped elevate the already-good team to the state championship in November.

Coach Mike McGraw, whose undefeated soccer team featured players from Somalia, Kenya and Congo, said he likes that the Muslim players often stop to pray before a game.

“It doesn’t take long for kids to become Americanized,” he said. “What I’m happy about my kids is that they have not lost touch with their culture.”

The players don’t like to talk about immigration or politics. Their success is simply an example of teamwork, said Abdi Shariff, a co-captain who lived in a Kenyan refugee camp before his family relocated to Louisville, Kentucky, and then Lewiston.

“It just shows,” he said, “that people from different races, different cultures, can all work together and accomplish a goal if they want to.”

10 Most Dangerous Places In Maine - Movoto
View attachment 248349

http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Lewiston-Maine.html
View attachment 248350


Interesting, the crime statistics only go back as far as 2002. I wonder why...

FYI
Maine and Vermont are the safest states in the USA...

CRIME went DOWN in Lewiston after the refugees settled there

View attachment 248351

The article states that the immigration wave began in 2001 and statistics referring to the years before that are unavailable.

Began in 2001

in Portland

Which was too expensive, so they found an old mill town where the paper mill had closed and people had exited for lack of work, WHERE homes were cheaper..... Lewiston, 30 miles from Portland.

 

[danielpalos]

Nobody is above the law clause. Not even sneaky Mexicans. Everyone else managed to immigrate legally, follow the immigration laws, up to and including my great grand parents. Why can't modern Mexicans? What makes them soooo special they get sanctuary FROM immigration laws? And especially, since nobody was given a vote to approve it?

There is no immigration clause in our federal Constitution.

Agree. accept, why do the NPC liberals condemn Orange man but then create exclusionary zones for people to violate federal immigration laws? And then, NOBODY gets to vote on whether or not your city can be made a sanctuary for folks skirting federal laws? Doesn't that seem a tad...unconditional if not morally wrong?

We really do have an express welfare clause General and a Commerce Clause. It is morally wrong to lose money on public policies.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

a stable, historically developed community of people, with a territory, economic life, distinctive culture, and language in common.

America hasn't been that for 40,000 years. Our nation has always been, and will continue to be, a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-lingual continent.

A Hideout Is Not a Homeland

There was no America before 1492. The savages who occupied our continent had no concept beyond the closest tribe that they wanted to exterminate. They were criminal fugitive gangs that had been driven out of Asia.during the ascendancy of the first Chinese race. Calling the unexplored territory "America" is no different from calling some Stone Age feral culture by the name its fluid territory used after it became civilized.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Yes, YOUR city. Where YOU live. These 20,000 people are going to need a place to live, food, medical care, and other things. Many if not most, are destitute. Will they get immediate help ? How ? From whom ?

And if help doesn't come immediately to these migrants, will they turn to crime ? Will they steal cars (thereby increasing traffic congestion immensely) Will they burglarize, or just rob people in the streets ? Will they have communicable diseases ?

Will they overwhelm the social services department ? Will they overwhelm hospital ERs. What about school classrooms ? Will they cause massive litter problems ?

What if these 20,000 all stream into Douglas, AZ ? With a last counted population of just over 17,000, there would be more illegal aliens than residents (and who knows how many of those residents are illegal aliens themselves ?). What will happen to Douglas AZ ? (or its residents ? ; or the migrants ?) Anyone want to venture a guess ?

How about Loving, New Mexico ? Their population is only 1,413. Imagine them being swamped by 20,000 penniless, illegal migrants. How about Van Horn, Texas, with a population of 2,063. With a sudden influx of migrants 10 times their population, what would it be like for the residents of this town ?

Maybe those who say we don't need a wall, and there is no emergency, would like to tell us how these folks will get along ?

U.S. tracking three migrant caravans, one with 12,000 people

We should be upgrading Ellis Island to address our refugee problem.

We have 350000000 people here. 12 k is nothing
It's well known we have an aging population.
Immigrants, as always will keep us white boy rubes as they assimilate
Thank god we have mexican restaurants now.
Zero in the 60's

we should not have a refugee problem on our southern border if they could be going to Ellis Island, instead. An upgraded Ellis Island could process that group in a single day.

Vatican City, Tear Down Your Wall!

Let the hopelessly backward foreigners freeload off some country that disapproves of our nationalism. That could include some religion, since Pope Frankie is in control of trillions to give away to border jumpers if he wants to practice what he preaches.

 

[danielpalos]

Yes, YOUR city. Where YOU live. These 20,000 people are going to need a place to live, food, medical care, and other things. Many if not most, are destitute. Will they get immediate help ? How ? From whom ?

And if help doesn't come immediately to these migrants, will they turn to crime ? Will they steal cars (thereby increasing traffic congestion immensely) Will they burglarize, or just rob people in the streets ? Will they have communicable diseases ?

Will they overwhelm the social services department ? Will they overwhelm hospital ERs. What about school classrooms ? Will they cause massive litter problems ?

What if these 20,000 all stream into Douglas, AZ ? With a last counted population of just over 17,000, there would be more illegal aliens than residents (and who knows how many of those residents are illegal aliens themselves ?). What will happen to Douglas AZ ? (or its residents ? ; or the migrants ?) Anyone want to venture a guess ?

How about Loving, New Mexico ? Their population is only 1,413. Imagine them being swamped by 20,000 penniless, illegal migrants. How about Van Horn, Texas, with a population of 2,063. With a sudden influx of migrants 10 times their population, what would it be like for the residents of this town ?

Maybe those who say we don't need a wall, and there is no emergency, would like to tell us how these folks will get along ?

U.S. tracking three migrant caravans, one with 12,000 people

We should be upgrading Ellis Island to address our refugee problem.

We have 350000000 people here. 12 k is nothing
It's well known we have an aging population.
Immigrants, as always will keep us white boy rubes as they assimilate
Thank god we have mexican restaurants now.
Zero in the 60's

we should not have a refugee problem on our southern border if they could be going to Ellis Island, instead. An upgraded Ellis Island could process that group in a single day.

Vatican City, Tear Down Your Wall!

Let the hopelessly backward foreigners freeload off some country that disapproves of our nationalism. That could include some religion, since Pope Frankie is in control of trillions to give away to border jumpers if he wants to practice what he preaches.

apples and oranges.

Our Constitution is Express not Implied. We should merely be more constitutional regarding our Constitution.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Nobody is above the law clause. Not even sneaky Mexicans. Everyone else managed to immigrate legally, follow the immigration laws, up to and including my great grand parents. Why can't modern Mexicans? What makes them soooo special they get sanctuary FROM immigration laws? And especially, since nobody was given a vote to approve it?

There is no immigration clause in our federal Constitution.

Agree. accept, why do the NPC liberals condemn Orange man but then create exclusionary zones for people to violate federal immigration laws? And then, NOBODY gets to vote on whether or not your city can be made a sanctuary for folks skirting federal laws? Doesn't that seem a tad...unconditional if not morally wrong?

Why are you asking questions? You're not allowed to do that! Are you some kind of racist or something?!

Electing Is Not Voting; It is Giving Up Your Democratic Rights and Giving Them Away to a Pre-Owned Candidate

You're all slavish fools if you don't question the Constitution, which canceled our natural rights to vote on the issues (such as sanctuary) and gave them to an oligarchy that fears giving any power to the dispossessed real Americans.