The Fix: Is Vermont the solution to the border crisis?

[cali]

kind of silly headline, but I gather the point is the way Vermont handles undocumented immigrants as well as legal immigrants and refugees fleeing violence and oppression.

<snip>

It's perhaps unsurprising that the state would be willing to help. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) has been a vocal proponent of immigration reform -- as has fellow Vermonter Sen. Bernie Sanders (I.).

The fact that their constituency back in Vermont is a big part of that support is less well known; about 1,500 undocumented immigrants live in Vermont, many working on dairy farms. About 80 percent of Vermont's farm production is just milk. There used to be more cows in Vermont than people. Most of these migrant workers spend their day milking or shoveling manure.

<snip>

Vermont has welcomed many legal immigrants recently, too. In the past 25 years, more than 6,300 refugees have moved to Vermont as part of a federal refugee resettlement program, according to the local alternative newspaper Seven Days. That total includes "1,705 Bosnians, mostly Muslims; 1,437 Bhutanese, many of whom had been living in exile in Nepal; and about 1,000 Africans fleeing violence in Burundi, Congo, Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan."

<snip>

Seven Days' report from this January says that the program seemed largely successful, although there have been incidents of racial insensitivity, and worries about reaching a "tipping" point. One worker at the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program told Seven Days, “We’ve been going through a long recession and everybody has been trying to look out for themselves.” There are several immigration advocacy groups in Vermont --Vermont Immigration and Asylum Advocates and Migrant Justice are also among the more prominent organizations. Advocacy groups are currently in the middle of a big push on improving housing for immigrant dairy workers.

Vermont has offered other legislative help to immigrants in the state. In 2013, the state legislature made it legal for undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers' licenses.

<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/07/17/vermont-is-already-home-to-more-undocumented-immigrants-than-youd-think/

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Nah. Vermont is too humanitarian and not xenophic enough for consideration.

[cali]

2. I hope it does work out. I'd like to personally be involved in welcoming those

kids here. They're traumatized and they need some place welcoming.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. Con los pobres de la tierra Quiero yo mi suerte echar

Con los pobres de la tierra
Quiero yo mi suerte echar
El arroyo de la sierra
Me complace más que el mar
Guantanamera, guajira Guantanamera


With the poor people of the earth
I want to cast my lot
The brook of the mountains
Gives me more pleasure than the sea

[former9thward]

4. The numbers are not even in the same universe.

1500 undocumented immigrants out of 626,000 is .0024. 6300 legal immigrants in 25 years is 252 a year. If states on the southern border had those numbers it would be a non-issue to everyone.

[cali]

7. but there is a very active pro-immigrant community here

and both our Senators, our rep and our guv are receptive to the idea of helping these kids out, so maybe that will work out. And sorry, haters hate however small the numbers. Many of the haters aren't from states with large numbers of undocumented immigrants.

[alp227]

5. In fact, Vermont is a border state...but you can walk straight into Canada from Vermont, right? nt

[cali]

6. Not anymore, alas. Not even close. The border is now not so friendly- at least the

U.S. side.