Five Things to Know About Rhode Island’s Refugee Influx
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
From Presidential candidates to local talk radio show hosts - there is a lot of talk about about refugees coming into the United States and some local stress about who is being relocated to Rhode Island.
On Wednesday, Donald Trump is expected to offer a new policy on immigration in a speech in Arizona. That speech is supposed to kick-off his morning trip to visit with the President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto.
SEE FIVE SURPRISING FACTS BELOW
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTEarlier this week, WPRO-AM talk show host John DePetro appeared on CNN and defended Trump’s position on immigration. DePetro is a vocal supporter of Trump and the talk show host has been a long-time critic of American immigration policy and has blasted efforts in RI to offer licenses to illegal immigrants and free tuition at state colleges and universities for those who are undocumented.
Governor Gina Raimondo had signed a pledge when running for Governor to provide those living in Rhode Island who are undocumented with drivers licenses, but she has failed to follow through on that promise.
Previously, Trump had called for a ban on Muslims coming into America, but during his speech at the GOP Convention he recast the ban to be limited to those wanting to enter the country from countries where he considers terrorism to be unchecked.
GoLocalProv.com has delved into the United States State Department Refugee Processing Center’s numbers and found some surprising statistics for Rhode Island and the country.
Battle Over Who and How Many
Last last year, Rep. Bobby Nardolillo (R-Coventry) called for a ban on new refugees from Syria in the wake of the Paris terrorism attacks. “I implore Governor Raimondo to rescind the offer that Rhode Islanders will host Syrian refugees.”
In contrast, the ACLU argued for more to enter. "The ACLU of Rhode Island is deeply concerned by calls from legislators and others to close Rhode Island's doors to any Syrian refugees fleeing from violence and oppression. Rather than ceding to this parochialism, Governor Raimondo should instead be reaffirming the position she espoused just two months ago in response to this humanitarian crisis, when she stated that “if Rhode Island is called upon … we’ll be ready to help.”
"For decades, Rhode Island has been a welcoming environment for immigrants and refugees from around the world, including Syria. We should take pride in this. Whether any particular person deserves to be given refugee status obviously needs to be made on a case-by-case basis, but no refugee should be denied consideration solely because of their ethnicity or national background,” said the RI ACLU in November 2015. “We urge Governor Raimondo not to lend credence to this message of intolerance, and to instead affirm the need to welcome Syrian refugees who are fleeing the brutality of ISIS.”
Despite a lot of the narrative about the issue - the numbers tell a very different story about how many have come to Rhode Island, where they have come from, and how Rhode Island ranks against other states.
GoLocal looked at the data for the past three years plus, from August 1, 2013 to the end of August of 2016. This time period covers much of the time period of mass exodus from Syria and the corresponding rise of ISIS as a threat to Americans.
