And, one in four students is in an ELL class.
We haven’t mentioned Lewiston much recently (no Somali kids have burned down apartment buildings there in the last few years).
This is your usual fluffy story about coming to America and I’m just posting it to tell you about the school system challenges your town will face if it “welcomes” refugees this year. Changing America one town at a time. Photo: http://www.ci.lewiston.me.us/Index.aspx?NID=469
Besides the expense to the school system, this family obviously entered the US illegally and are in Maine where the welfare is good for so-called ‘asylum seekers.’ They are hoping to persuade an immigration judge that they are legitimate refugees and they have been told to go to Maine to wait out the legal process.
BTW, the article tells us Dad had a job selling cellphones and computers throughout Europe, so why didn’t he simply take the kids on one of his trips to Europe and ask for asylum there? There must be much more to his ‘story.’
From the Lewiston-Auburn Sun Journal:
LEWISTON — Joao Rodrigues and his children moved to Maine this past winter from Africa.
His children are among the city’s 1,374 students in the English Language Learner program. One out of every four Lewiston students is in the ELL program; most are Somali children, but ELL students speak a total of 34 languages.
[….]
Speaking Portuguese and communicating through an interpreter, he shared how he and his children fled their native Angola, a country of unrest and violence. They escaped to the Democratic Republic of the Congo before making their way to the United States. [“making their way” is code for arriving through questionable means—ed]
They arrived in New York in January with nothing. A pastor there recommended he take his family to Maine, where there are African communities and where he could get help.
See our very large archive on the Somali capital of New England—Lewiston—here. And, click here, for much more on Maine the welfare magnet where the governor was trying to slow the giveaways to non-citizens, but not sure he ever succeeded.
Watch investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson’s debut of her new show—Full Measure. (Hat tip: Joanne). This is the “tease” for the show. You will have to click hereto watch the whole episode.
Immigration took center stage in the show’s debut. Host Attkisson explored why Lewiston, Maine has become an unlikely refuge for Somali asylum-seekers, “Full Measure” correspondent Scott Thuman examined life in European refugee camps, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump explained why he wouldn’t welcome any Syrian refugees to America.
In the program, please note the discussion about refugees vs. asylum seekers. Remember the Somalis in the program were brought here by the UN/US State Department, but many of the others in the story are asylum seekers. Those are migrants who got here on their own (no screening) perhaps illegally (across our borders) or came in on a temporary visa and then they apply for asylum. The US does not allow them to work so they go to states like Maine where they are permitted to receive welfare as non-citizens who have not yet been designated refugees (aka asylees) after proving they would be persecuted if they went home. The word is out all over Africa—go to Maine!
As I said in my previous post. All of the media attention on refugees now will help (we hope) wake up Americans to the very real likelihood that their towns will soon be populated with third worlders (as Lewiston, ME has for over a decade). Folks, you will have to start speaking up if you want to see our American culture survive (and your town’s resources not depleted). Your town could easily become the next Lewiston….
See our complete (and lengthy) archive on Lewiston, Maine by clicking here.
While I was away, I missed posting this story from World Net Daily. It is not just about the police chief’s new officer recruitment, but is a good summary of how Lewiston became the Little Mogadishu of New England. Protesters chant outside city hall in Lewiston, Maine, after delivering petitions asking for the resignation of the city’s mayor because of comments he made about Somali refugees,Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) http://news.yahoo.com/maine-mayor-somalis-leave-culture-door-135314654.html
If you would like to catch up on the happenings in Lewiston, including the case of the Somali kid who burned down an apartment building, see our huge archive, here, on the little city being colonized.
I’ve only snipped a small segment of the story by Leo Hohmann at World Net Daily, so be sure to read the whole thing:
“One place in Lewiston where that growing diversity is not evident is the city’s 82-member police force, but Chief Michael Bussiere aims to change that amid an intense national debate over race and policing,” Reuters reports.
The Lewiston-Auburn area now has a Somali population of 7,000, which accounts for nearly 10 percent of its total population. They arrived in the U.S. either as refugees or were born in the U.S. as children of refugees.
About a quarter of Bussiere’s officers will become eligible to retire in the next few years, so he figures to have quite a few openings.
“We have to think about who is living here now and who’s going to live here 10 years from now,” he told Reuters reporter Scott Malone.
“We need a department that is reflective of the demographics of the community it serves.”
Lewiston, a city of 36,000 people that spent decades struggling through job losses from mill closings and a shrinking population, may seem an unlikely place for such a rebirth given that Maine is among the whitest U.S. states, Malone reports.
But, according to U.S. Census data, 8.7 percent of Lewiston’s population identifies as black or African-American, a rate higher than any other city in the state and more than seven times the 1.2 percent state average.
And the Somali population is exploding not just in Lewiston. It has spread to nearby Auburn and Portland.
Many Somalis originally came as refugees to larger cities, Atlanta in particular, but then moved to Maine after hearing that it had a wider array of subsidized housing available and also was easier to get on the welfare rolls. This is called “secondary migration” when a refugee is assigned to one city but then moves elsewhere after arrival in the U.S.
Read it all, here. And, again, see our archive on Lewiston. There is probably enough there to write a book! About the photo: These Somali refugees sure do have the protest (community organizing) thing down pat, don’t they!
This is an update of our post earlier this month, here, about the then 12-year old admitted arsonist in Lewiston, Maine (the Somali capital of New England!).
Lewiston, Maine May 4, 2013: Displaced residents of Bartlett St. fire. When ‘Welcoming America’ promotes those economic studies about how refugees bring economic benefits to communities, do they factor in the cost of criminal activity? Photo: http://www.pressherald.com/2013/05/04/lewiston-hit-with-another-large-fire/
From WMTW.TV (notice no mention here of the word “Somali” in the text). Hat tip: ‘Pungentpeppers’
LEWISTON, Maine —The last of the criminal cases involving a string of arsons in Lewiston nearly two years ago has been resolved.
On Monday, a 14-year-old Lewiston boy was convicted of one count of aggravated criminal mischief, a felony, in connection with the May 3, 2013, fire that destroyed several apartment buildings in downtown Lewiston that displaced dozens of people.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop four counts of arson against the boy, who was 12 at the time of his arrest.
The boy will be sent to a juvenile detention facility for an undetermined amount of time, up to the age of 17.
Prosecutors said because of language issues, they were not confident they would be able to prove their case against the boy. [“Welcoming” communities, pay attention! The cost of qualified interpreters falls on local and state government.—ed]
Prosecutors did ask the judge to levy a penalty of $58,000 on the Somali family, but the judge dismissed that crazy idea saying where the heck would they ever get that much money (not exactly in those words!).
Another article at Insurance News Net gives us a much more thorough review of the case and makes the following point. Keep in mind that Abdi Ibrahim will be out of the juvenile facility in 3 short years!
Charges against Ibrahim stem from fires that burned four apartment buildings and a garage on Bartlett and Pierce streets in Lewiston on May 3, 2013. According to a forensic psychology report, Ibrahim is considered a moderate arson risk to the community in the future. That same report concluded the teen presents a higher behavioral and social risk because of a history of poor social skills and chronic behavior problems in multiple settings, including assaulting others and running away, according to court records.
That reference to assaulting people and running away reminded me of this story we reported from Lewiston, Maine in December 2009 where ‘youths’ were doing just that, was little Abdi Ibrahim among them?
By the way, some of you have asked where is the father? He lives in Lewiston too! I bet he has another wife tucked away! From a 2013 story at the Bangor Daily News:
Ibrahim lives with his mother, Marian Ibrahim, according to court papers. His father, Yussef Abdi, lives at a separate address in Lewiston.
For our VERY extensive archive on Lewiston, click here.
May 2013 Lewiston inferno. http://bangordailynews.com/2013/05/03/news/lewiston-auburn/another-multiple-building-fire-hits-lewiston/
Gee, no kidding! Wait until you read the latest on the Somali refugee youth who is charged with burning down four apartment buildings in Lewiston nearly two years ago. He could end up walking free!
Update January 14th: Plea deal struck, arsonist sent to juvenile facility for three years.
I laughed when I saw the Sun Journal headline which said he was a “moderate risk” to the community if released, but that was for setting fires. What else is he capable of? Hat tip: ‘Pungentpeppers.’ (Emphasis below is mine)
LEWISTON — Abdi Ibrahim is capable of “criminal thinking” and is considered a moderate risk to “act out” using fire if released from the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.
Ibrahim, who is facing four felony counts of arson in connection with fires that burned four apartment buildings and a garage on Bartlett and Pierce streets in Lewiston on May 3, 2013, is considered a higher behavioral and social risk to the community because of a history of poor social skills and chronic behavior problems in multiple settings, including assaulting others and running away.
And even though he has hidden cigarette lighters in his bedroom and twice been found smoking since he was placed in state custody, a state forensic examination found no specific indication he has “any fascination with fire as a means of acting out.”
Now, here is that interpreter issue again. Remember “welcoming” communities, it is your responsibility to find and pay for interpreters in every case involving an immigrant (that means in school discipline situations, for health care issues, and for the criminal justice system, among others).
Ibrahim will appear in 8th District Court on the morning of Jan. 12 to argue that his arson confession to police be suppressed because an interpreter did not translate his Miranda warning correctly.
Ibrahim was born in Africa and spent his early years living in a refugee center in Kenya before his family emigrated to the United States. They first settled in Baltimore, Md., moving to Lewiston when Ibrahim was 6 or 7 years old. (Hey, look at this—Baltimore dodged this bullet!—ed).
The law requires a minor to have parental consent or have a parent present during a police interview, but according to Ibrahim’s attorney, Jeffrey Dolley, Ibrahim’s mother, Marian Ibrahim — who is Somali and not fluent in English — did not have an adequate understanding of the procedure for that interview because the Miranda warning wasn’t translated to her or her son correctly. As a result, her consent was never “given.”
According to court records, Ibrahim was interviewed at the Lewiston Police Department, where he waived his Miranda rights, including his right to remain silent, while his mother was assisted by an interpreter over the phone.
Ibrahim, who is now 14 years old, was 12 at the time of his taped confession.
According to court records, Dolley learned the Miranda warning was incorrectly translated after he had a language expert listen to the audio recording of the police interview.
During that interview, after initially denying he was involved, Ibrahim confessed to setting a fire at the back of a three-bay garage behind an apartment building at 149 Bartlett St. by lighting a cigarette and paper with a lighter, using gasoline as an accelerant.
The teen was initially found not competent to stand trial and the case was suspended while he received emotional and behavioral counseling in residential care at Sweetser Children Services in Saco. In August, the court found him competent to stand trial, and he was transferred to Long Creek Youth Development Center.
At the same time and in preparation for trial, the court ordered the state’s Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a risk assessment of Ibrahim’s behavior, including his likelihood to start fires.
Read it all. The state believes he needs 24-hour supervision and the residential care facility in which he was initially placed, and which did the evaluation, is incapable of doing that. His parents think he is fine without that supervision.
The assessment said he was only at a “moderate risk” for setting fires if released in the community, but you need to go read the almost unbelievable description of the charming family he would return to.
Think about it, this kid could walk free over a technicality!
We have page after page of posts on troubled Lewiston, the Somali capital of New England, click here for more.
And, one more thought. Are those “Welcoming America” agitators including the cost to a community of immigrant crimes when they promote those “studies” about immigrants bringing economic boom-times to American cities? I bet not!
