Kamala blew immigration
2023-07-02 01:31:14 UTC
Ha! Ha! Deal with it you fuckheads. Tell Biden to enforce federal
immigration law.Portland officials are asking the state to support a proposal to house
asylum seekers on a college campus in Unity or call in the National Guard
to set up a new emergency shelter.
In a letter to Gov. Janet Mills dated Thursday, Portland Mayor Kate Snyder
and City Manager Danielle West asked Mills to support the proposal from
the Greater Portland Council of Governments to house as many as 600 asylum
seekers at the rural Waldo County campus of Unity College, which recently
changed its name to Unity Environmental University.
When the school underwent a rebranding during the pandemic and
transitioned to more distance learning, many of its facilities in Unity
were left largely unused.
We believe the GPCOG Unity College proposal offers near-immediate
transitional housing for asylum seekers already here in Maine, and we ask
for your support, the letter reads.
If Unity College cannot be used, we ask you to call up the National Guard
to stand up and operate an emergency shelter for asylum seekers, it
states.
The likelihood of the GPCOG proposal getting approval and funding is
unclear. As is the potential use of the National Guard, and what deploying
those service members could look like.
West was not available for an interview about the request Friday
afternoon, city spokesperson Jessica Grondin said. Snyder did not respond
to voicemail messages or an email seeking to talk about the letter.
The request follows a protest that asylum seekers staying at the Portland
Expo held on Wednesday, calling on the city and state to come up with
long-term solutions for where they will go after the city closes the
shelter on Aug. 16. so it can honor commitments for events scheduled at
the Expo this fall.
The letter was already being drafted before Wednesdays protest, Grondin
said, and comes as Portland has seen more than 1,540 asylum seekers arrive
in the city since Jan. 1.
The influx has left local officials desperate for long-term housing and
shelter solutions.
SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS
Officials from GPCOG, a regional planning organization, submitted their
proposal to the state about two weeks ago.
The Unity campus can provide transitional housing for 600 individuals for
less than it costs to shelter 300 people at the Saco hotel or 125 at the
South Portland one, the proposal said. The cost savings alone are reason
to explore this further.
The likelihood the proposal will come to fruition remains unclear as
questions remain about how it would be funded and whether it would be
supported by the residents of Unity, which is about 15 miles east of
Waterville. The citys letter to the governor notes some of the potential
challenges.
While this would be a complex undertaking that would require, among other
things, local community buy-in, involvement and support, we welcome the
opportunity to work with you, your staff, GPCOG and local, regional and
community partners, it says.
RELATED
State reviewing proposal to pay Unity university $7.8 million to house
asylum seekers
Ben Goodman, a spokesperson for Mills, said in an email Friday that the
governor is reviewing the letter and the GPCOG proposal.
We consider all ideas to address the urgent issue of homelessness, and we
appreciate the effort by partners to propose options for housing and
shelter, Goodman said.
However, any potential application for funding for the Unity proposal, if
funding were to become available, would be considered by MaineHousing,
rather than the governors office.
Goodman said the governors office would not speculate on the potential
use of the National Guard.
He did not respond to additional questions about how decisions about
deploying the National Guard are made and whether the state has ever
utilized it before to respond to asylum seekers or any kind of emergency
shelter needs.
A spokesperson for MaineHousing, meanwhile, said that while the agency is
willing to explore the Unity idea, there is no funding mechanism in place
right now to pay for it and there are questions about whether area
residents would be receptive.
Were taking the idea seriously, as we would any idea that would help
with homelessness or the asylum seeker population, but its difficult,
MaineHousing spokesperson Scott Thistle said. We need to have all the
pieces and one of the most important pieces is the buy-in from the local
community and giving them the opportunity to consider the idea.
COMMUNITY RECEPTION
Belinda Ray, director of strategic partnerships for GPCOG, said in an
email Friday that the organization hasnt talked broadly with residents
about their proposal, but that she did meet with the vice chair of the
Unity Select Board to discuss it.
We talked about the proposal and how important it would be to make sure
all of the necessary resources were in place before moving people into
transitional housing there, Ray said.
Still, some local residents and officials are wary of the idea.
Unity is a town of around 2,300 residents and adding 600 people would
increase the population by 26%.
RELATED
Asylum seekers protest conditions at Portland Expo, lack of long-term plan
There needs to be a plan if were going to spread asylum seekers out to
rural areas and what does that plan look like? said Rep. Benjamin Hymes,
R-Waldo, whose district includes Unity. Is it 100 people on different
campuses? And what are the services? It doesnt seem like theres been any
long-term planning.
Dr. Melik Peter Khoury, president of Unity Environmental University, said
in a statement Friday that there is still much more planning that would
need to take place before asylum seekers could be housed on campus.
The number of asylees that could be housed at our Quaker Hill Road
facilities would depend on a range of factors, Khoury said.
There has not been a meeting between GPCOG, Unity Environmental
University, the governors office, and the town of Unity to discuss the
full scope, feasibility, timing and infrastructure support required to
effectively accommodate and provide for the potential influx of asylees at
our Quaker Hill Road facilities.
We remain willing to help, but will not put the cart before the horse.
https://www.pressherald.com/2023/06/30/portland-asks-gov-mills-to-house-
asylum-seekers-at-unity-college-or-call-in-national-guard/