WHEREAS: Refugees are placed in Michigan through the Federal Refugee Resettlement Program, a federal taxpayer funded program that contracts with vendor agencies to coordinate placements and welfare benefits for refugee families coming into our country, and
WHEREAS: State records show that federal vendors operating in Michigan have requested a total of at least 4060 refugees be settled into Michigan in FY 2016, and
WHEREAS: President Barack Obama has called for the resettling of at least 10,000 Syrian refugees in the United States this fiscal year, and
WHEREAS: Federal vendors have, thus far this fiscal year, resettled more Syrian refugees in Michigan than any other state; Oakland County is a focus area for resettlement; and the arrival numbers are expected to surge dramatically given the federal vendors’ preparations, and
WHEREAS: The FBI and other homeland security agencies have testified before Congress that refugees from failed states such as Syria cannot be adequately vetted to ensure that they do not have terrorist ties because the necessary records do not exist, and
WHEREAS: Intelligence officials have testified before Congress that terrorists are seeking to use the program to enter the United States, and
WHEREAS: Federal immigration law requires that local governments be consulted prior to placement of refugees in their communities and that they be involved in defining their local capacity for refugee placements, and
WHEREAS: Federal reports indicate that there continue to be major gaps in communication between federal vendors and local governments and schools prior to the placement of refugees, and
WHEREAS: The Refugee Resettlement process creates significant unfunded financial burdens for receiving states, counties and local communities to provide public assistance to meet refugee needs for schools, law enforcement, housing and health care, etc., and
WHEREAS: There is pending federal and state legislation to reform the Refugee Resettlement Program requiring federal vendors to operate with more transparency, to more fully involve local governments in placement decisions, and to report to the state police all situations which could be related to security risks or human trafficking events,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Charter Township of Waterford will not actively participate in the Refugee Resettlement Program until the Program has been significantly reformed, and until it has been demonstrated that the Townships of Oakland County have the capacity to absorb refugees without diverting funds from needy residents or exposing their residents to unwarranted security risks.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be provided to all elected county, state and federal officials representing the Charter Township of Waterford.
If only the RINOs in congress had their resolve the last nearly eight years.