The New England state, home to the Kennedys, isn’t referred to as the “Peoples Republic of Massachusetts” for nothing. The Boston Globe is reporting this morning that the town of Amherst will consider officially inviting two Guantanamo Bay prisoners, who fear persecution in their home countries, to live as refugees in their town. Hat tip: Mars.
AMHERST – This quaint leafy town in Western Massachusetts is known for its diverse mix of college students and retirees, a former farming community characterized by suburban small talk just as much as cultural institutions. But it is never one to shy from foreign policy, either.
“We like to set our own foreign policy,’’ said Ruth Hooke, a retired University of Massachusetts professor, a Town Meeting member, and participant in Pioneer Valley No More Guantanamos, a local chapter of a national movement calling for the release of detainees imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay.
Hooke and others want to welcome at least two of the detainees to Amherst, population around 30,000 depending on whether classes are in session.
Under a petition Hooke submitted to the town’s Select Board – approved by a 2-1 vote Monday night – the town will call on Congress to rescind its ban on detainees resettling in the United States, and will welcome Ahmed Belbacha, originally from Algeria, and Ravil Mingazov, arrested in Pakistan, to Amherst. The measure will go before a Special Town Meeting on Nov. 2.
Only natural that they would go to Amherst! And, what is this “open borders” business?
Hooke noted that Amherst has a sizable refugee population. And thus it was only natural that this town, home to UMass and two private colleges, would open its borders once again, possibly making its local government the first in the country to debate the issue.
They want Belbacha and Mingazov:
In Belbacha’s case, according to human rights groups, the Algerian-born man fled death threats in his country to London. While awaiting asylum, he vacationed in Pakistan [ROFLMHO], only to be sold for a capture bounty to the US military. His asylum in London was never granted.
Mingazov, a former Russian soldier who converted to Islam, had moved to Afghanistan to escape persecution. After the US invasion in 2001, he fled to a refugee camp in Pakistan and was arrested in March 2002 on charges of having ties to Al Qaeda.
Will the town also foot their bill for resettlement, or will the federal taxpayer be on the hook for that?
Back to the open borders remark. Is Ms. Hooke going to assure that with the borders wide open they stay in Amherst and plan no more “vacations” in Pakistan or moves to Afghanistan?
Funny! Just as I posted this the FBI arrested a Massachusetts terrorist suspect!