Immigrant children atop freight train in Mexico. (PBS Photo)

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LOST OPPORTUNITY: Vassar Protests Greet Possible Placement of Refugees

Rep. Miller Sets Tone, Would Not Welcome Children From Border

July 11, 2014
By: Dave Rogers

It seems like Michigan missed a good opportunity to demonstrate a humanitarian attitude to the world.

Last night the national television news was about some good folks from Vassar who apparently honestly just don't want refugee kids from Central America anywhere near their hometown.

Wolverine Human Services reportedly is negotiating a contract to give immigrants temporary housing, medical treatment and education while working to locate family members in the U.S.

On Monday night, more than 100 people who are against it protested in front of the Vassar city hall.

At a meeting of about 200 residents Tuesday at the Vassar High School, emotions ran high and reason hit a new low.

"The housing of illegal aliens is violating U.S. laws," Tom Wassa of Fairgrove, a Republican candidate for the Michigan House of Representatives 84th District, was quoted as saying. "President Obama is failing to uphold the Constitution and laws enacted by Congress. President Obama would be classified as a domestic terrorist. He is creating an atmosphere of fear and terror."

Meanwhile, the national news reports continually bashed Michigan folks for being what must appear to many viewers to be just what one Vassar resident at the meeting said he was not, "racist, redneck rube from a small town."

Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity and most egregious example of leadership failure was by Rep. Candice Miller, vice chair of the House Homeland Security Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security.

Her suggestion, made in a news release, was to just send the refugees back. That ignores the fact that these young people have been victimized by so-called "coyotes" who used false promises they would be allowed to enter the U.S.

Some of the women have been sexually abused, or were threatened by the coyotes with virtual "sex slavery." One girl reported her sister was killed for resisting.

Wolverine Human Services was rumored to have been negotiating with the U.S. government to house a small number --maybe 60-- of Central American refugees at an underused facility in Vassar.

The facility has historically been filled with young adults in "placement," a term for semi-incarceration of offenders during an educational process.

Wolverine has an admirable record in providing youth services and is widely supported by many organizations and celebrities. It would seem to be an ideal place for refugees if the government was in need of temporary emergency housing.

But it doesn't look like children in crisis from Central America will get the same treatment as children from the great state of Michigan.

Rep. Miller issued the following statement on the President's request to Congress for $3.7 billion for the unprecedented flood of unaccompanied immigrant children being smuggled into the U.S.:

"Today, President Obama requested that Congress immediately appropriate $3.7 billion in new funding, adding to the national debt, to address the surge of immigrant children being illegally smuggled across our southern border as a direct result of his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy of 2012 and subsequent tone deaf messaging, which fueled the misconception that these illegally-smuggled children will be allowed to stay.

"Now, weeks after I and several of my colleagues have called for immediate action, the President is asking Congress authorize $3.7 billion for his belated response to this ongoing crisis.

"The Administration claims that these funds will expedite deportation procedures, but the reality is, absent a new policy to allow for immediate deportation, this package does little to nothing to ensure deportation. Instead of focusing on deportation, the vast majority of these funds will be used to transport, house and provide a legal defense to those illegally smuggled into the U.S.

"Over the last decade, the U.S. has sent $5.8 billion in aid to Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to help them achieve stability and prosperity for their own citizens. Despite this generosity, these countries have done nothing to help the U.S. stop tens of thousands of children from being put in great danger as they are illegally smuggled across our southern border.

"Instead of throwing out the welcome mat, as the President seems insistent on doing, we need to focus on facilitating immediate deportation. Therefore, any supplemental to be considered by Congress should include language that would change the law to allow for immediate deportation. "It should also include additional measures that would secure our borders and protect the homeland. Finally, all funds spent to stop this humanitarian crisis should be taken from the U.S. aid provided to the countries instigating the problem until they agree to help."

It seems that a more sympathetic response from an elected representative of our government with leadership in international relations would have made Michigan proud.

What are the words on the Statue of Liberty?

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Surely our leaders remember that?

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