Western Wisconsin Braces for 3,000 Somali Refugees, Courtesy of Joe Biden
Is Eau Claire becoming the next Minneapolis?
Restoration News was the first to break the news on the Biden administration’s plan to relocate dozens of Somali refugees to Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, in late October. Since then, things have only deteriorated for beleaguered residents—while the flood of Somalis has grown dramatically.
According to local sources who attended a December meeting by World Relief, the resettlement organization, the Biden administration now plans to fly more than 3,000 Somali refugees into Eau Claire and Chippewa Counties over the next three years.
Some 80 frustrated residents filled two meeting rooms to oppose World Relief’s plan. Twelve were allowed to speak before the board of supervisors; all opposed the resettlement scheme.
Concerned residents asked about background checks on the refugees and which countries they would come from. The World Relief representative’s response: “I don’t know.”
Chippewa County supervisor Jason Bergeron was aghast at World Relief’s haste. “This is a major onboarding effort,” he said during the meeting. “Shame on the city of Eau Claire for not talking to their neighbors,” referring to the city council’s decision to reportedly not inform local police, county council, or school officials before finalizing the October resettlement plan—all of whom will be affected by the massive influx of migrants to follow after the first 75 arrive.
That’s allegedly a violation of federal law requiring resettlement officials “consult regularly . . . with state and local governments” before placing refugees in localities, something World Relief and its Biden administration allies failed to do.
And locals will get stuck holding the bag. After 90 days, World Relief—which uses $2,425 per person in federal “bounties” to pay for initial relocation costs—hands all financial responsibility for housing, feeding, and managing these refugees to local governments. One attendee called the mess a clear case of “taxation without representation.”
“Chippewa County has never been contacted about this,” said supervisor Glen Sikorski.
I believe we are being forced to expose ourselves to a possible future liability. There are no guarantees on how we can provide for these individuals when there is no more funding from the organization.
We’ve documented World Relief’s funding from the Gates Foundation and support for far-left immigration policies here.
Wisconsiners must halt this refugee flood now or face an unending stream of new migrants from dangerous, crime-ridden countries. They cannot afford not to.
