Your tax dollars
Yes, that is correct. Professor Catherine Besteman (with Ishmail Ahmed) says in a report (seeking to dispel rumors, she says) that federal grant money flowing into the Lewiston/Auburn area has positively benefited the community and offsets any expense the Somali refugee influx has cost Maine. Hat tip: Susan [ The report is a pdf file so let me know if you would like a copy, or if someone finds a link, please send it.]
Besteman:
In other words, to date the refugee demographic has been economically beneficial to the Lewiston/Auburn area.
Professor Besteman, grant money does not grow on trees. Any money flowing to Maine from the federal government comes from taxpayers in other states, so while it may not cost Lewiston, it costs the country!
I note that the professor is on the Board of advisors for the local Somali ECBO (Ethnic Community Based Organization). ECBO’s as I have reported on many occasions are basically mini-ACORNs. They are run with tax dollars, teach immigrants how to access ‘resources’ (welfare benefits), and then act as a political voice for their respective ethnic group. See our whole category on ECBO’s here.
By the way, it is my observation that ECBO’s do not foster assimilation but act as divisive forces in communities.
I can’t find any record at Guidestar that this Somali ECBO exists. I suspect their money is coming through the State of Maine Dept. of Health and Human Services (among other government sources) that gets federal ECBO funding here.
It is my suggestion that folks concerned about tax dollars in Maine do some serious investigative digging into the documents and learn who is and who is not benefiting from the refugee influx to Maine.
New readers might want to visit this older post to understand how the secondary migration of Somalis to Maine began and why.