Refugees flocking to Cd'A? No way, sources say

COEUR d’ALENE — A national blog that tracks refugee resettlement efforts warns that Coeur d’Alene could be the next resettlement site for Syrian refugees. But those in charge of the program say that is simply not true.

On her blog, called “Refugee Resettlement Watch,” Ann Corcoran posted a story on Oct. 2 saying the signs of a new settlement are starting to show up in Coeur d’Alene and St. Maries, and the post is getting a lot of attention online.

Corcoran updated the blog a day later: “Readers I am traveling so not much time to post, however, wanted to mention that this post has gone through the roof in the last 24 hours!” she wrote. “Who knows why, but hopefully the citizens of St. Maries and Coeur d’Alene are passing it around!”

Corcoran said in an interview on Wednesday that she has been contacted by a woman, whom she will only identify as 'Barbara,' who pointed out a local church bulletin passage that said: “World Relief has been helping refugees settle in Spokane and would like to involve Coeur d’Alene as well. If you are interested in learning more about how you could be involved in such a ministry, please see Paul. Thanks!”

The bulletin was published by Grace Bible Church after World Relief met with a group of pastors in Coeur d’Alene recently, seeking support for its refugee resettlement program.

Pastor Paul Peabody could not be reached for comment, but did return a phone message saying he put that in his newsletter after meeting with World Relief to see if parishioners were interested in helping the refugees.

“That’s how it starts,” Corcoran said, explaining the process that nine private companies use nationwide to open up resettlement sites in the United States.

She pointed to Spartanburg, N.C., where the World Relief Organization worked quietly to establish that town as a “seed community” for refugees.

“They lined up the churches in advance and worked behind the scenes to get everything in place,” Corcoran said, but the local media broke the story and now some members of the community are pushing back.

Corcoran started her blog eight years ago after her rural Maryland town became a refugee resettlement community without anybody hearing anything about it before it happened. She said her issue isn’t about the refugees themselves, but the process that is used to create resettlement communities.

“I just wanted to understand why the community didn’t get a say in this,” she said. “I wanted to know: Who is paying for this and where are all of these refugees going to get jobs? Every community should have the opportunity to have all the cards laid on the table, so they know what to expect,” she said. “And every community should have one question answered: At what point can we say 'stop?'”

Mark Kadel, director of World Relief Spokane, said he is aware of the blog post, but said it is “a fabrication of information.”

Kadel said his organization would place refugees in a community only if that community supported the program. He said he is the one who met with the group of pastors recently, and said he did not ask them to host refugees.

“I asked them if the would consider supporting our efforts in Spokane by donating welcome kits for the refugees,” Kadel said. “There are no plans right now to resettle refugees in North Idaho right now.”

He said there are no secret plans underway, and added there is no truth to the rumor that they are planning to resettle refugees in St. Maries either.

“I can completely dispel those rumors,” he said.

Kadel said it is true that the Obama administration is planning to take an additional 10,000 Syrian refugees this fiscal year, which started on Oct. 1. Spokane is likely to see some of those refugees, so Kadel is seeking support for them.

Kadel said if his organization was going to resettle any of the refugees in Idaho, he would have to coordinate that with the Idaho State Office of Refugees, and that has not happened. His organization did place two Middle-Eastern refugees in North Idaho about five years ago but only because those refugees had sponsors willing to provide them support.

He said those refugees went to Kamiah and Post Falls. They were translators who worked for the U.S. troops in Iraq and two soldiers whose lives had been saved by the refugees offered to sponsor them.

“But they are not in Idaho anymore,” he said. “They have moved out of state.”

Jan Reeves, director of the Idaho State Office of Refugees, confirmed what Kadel said.

“I talked with Mark about this a couple of days ago,” Reeves said. “The last thing I would recommend is settling refugees in a community that doesn’t support them. Considering the (political) climate in North Idaho, we would not resettle refugees there.”

Reeves said the very notion that his office or the World Relief organization would clandestinely try to create a resettlement community is absurd.

“It isn’t done secretly by the dark forces of government,” he said. “In fact, it is a fairly long process.”

Reeves said North Idaho doesn’t have the service necessary to support a large number of refugees. He said the only two Idaho cities that will receive the Syrian refugees are Boise and Twin Falls.

He said Boise took 35 Syrian refugees this year, which amounted to seven or eight families.

“I do expect we will see more Syrians in Boise this year,” Reeves said, adding he is not sure how many they will take because those decisions are still being made in Washington, D.C.

“In about a month we should know much more,” he said, adding they are deciding how to distribute a total of 85,000 refugees among nine resettlement agencies and 200 resettlement communities.

“It may be we won’t see any additional refugees in Boise this year,” he said.

Corcoran said she will update her blog today if Reeves and Kadel say they are not going to resettle refugees in North Idaho.

“If (Reeves) is telling you they are not going to be placing refugees in North Idaho, then that is your story,” she said. “And if that’s the case, I will update my blog.”