A North Dakota county commission is set to vote on Monday on whether it will accept more refugee resettlements. Burleigh County, which contains Bismarck, the state capital, has a population of about 95,000 people. If the vote goes in favor of barring the acceptance of more refugees, Burleigh could become the first county in the United States to effectively ban refugee resettlement in its community. How is this possible? Thanks to Donald Trump, of course.
In September, Trump issued an executive order that makes it possible for state and local governments to reject refugee resettlement. When the United States accepts refugees, the federal government works with local governments and nonprofits to resettle people. Trump’s order creates another requirement: that local governments need to give written consent before refugee resettlement takes place within their jurisdictions. Communities have until Dec. 25 to notify the White House that they will accept more refugees.
“If they do nothing, from our understanding of the executive order, refugee resettlement to those localities could stop on Dec. 25,” Elizabeth Foydel, deputy policy director of the International Refugee Assistance Project in New York, told PRI’s The World.
Rejection of refugee resettlement is an ethical issue rife with xenophobia and discrimination, and it’s one that has real-world consequences. If enough counties or states refused to work with the federal government on refugee resettlement, countless vulnerable people may be trapped in already overcrowded refugee camps for even longer. As reports confirm, refugee camps have been the sites of child abuse, sexual abuse, and overall abysmal living conditions.
Trump’s executive order has already been challenged in court. Along with lawsuits from resettlement agencies, numerous cities and states have come forward and promised to welcome refugees. Both Democratic and Republican governors, including those of Arizona, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington state, Utah, Kansas, and New Hampshire, have confirmed their willingness to accept refugees.
In November, Republican Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota confirmed that the state would continue accepting refugees, provided local governments agreed. So, thanks to Trump’s order, Burleigh County now has a whole lot of power.
“I’m trying to understand the basis for believing how 25 people will dramatically change the fabric of a community,” Shirley Dykshoorn, a vice president for Lutheran Social Services, which handles the state’s refugee resettlement cases, told the AP. “What does it say to the rest of the country when a county where your capital city is located would choose not to participate?" Hopefully, someone will ask this exact question at the meeting.