Lewiston Somalis bewildered
Mayor's letter says no more immigrants
Copyright © 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
LEWISTON — Some Somalis are offended, others are confused, by a letter this week from Mayor Laurier Raymond asking them to stop coming to the city.
About 1,060 Somalis have moved to Lewiston from other parts of the United States since February 2001, according to one city official's estimate. About 280 Somalis, many of them former refugees, arrived this summer between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Raymond's letter comes as Lewiston officials deal increasingly with culture clashes between Somalis and other residents. At the same time, officials in this former mill town of 36,000 people are seeking extra state and federal funding to help Somalis assimilate.
The letter also comes days after city officials in Holyoke, Mass., decided to ask the federal government to rescind a $1 million grant to resettle Somali refugees in their community.
Lewiston's Somali leaders plan to meet over the weekend to draft a response to Raymond's letter. They plan to hold a press conference on Monday.
While Raymond figures his letter is pretty clear, Somalis hope to meet with the mayor early next week to discuss his intentions in writing the letter.
"Some people think the letter is negative," said Said Tani, 41, co-owner of the Lewiston Variety Store on Lincoln Street. "They say, 'He told us to get out of town.' I don't think it's negative. He's saying he needs some help. But we would like to have him clarify the letter."
Tani, who came to the United States 18 years ago and moved his family from Atlanta, Ga., to Lewiston five months ago, said he wished Raymond had conferred privately with Somali leaders rather than air his concerns publicly.
Raymond sent a three-page letter to Somali leaders Tuesday and released it to the media on Thursday.
In the letter, Raymond said, "This large number of new arrivals cannot continue without negative results for all. The Somali community must exercise some discipline and reduce the stress on our limited finances and our generosity ... We will continue to accommodate the present residents as best we can."
The letter concluded, "We have been overwhelmed and have responded valiantly. Now we need breathing room. Our city is maxed-out financially, physically and emotionally."
Raymond said Friday that he is willing to meet with Somali leaders, but he insisted that his letter speaks for itself.
"I don't know that I can be any clearer," said Raymond, 71, who is a lawyer and a former county probate judge for 33 years. "We're looking for people to give us a break here. We've done a great job trying to deal with the people that have come. There are thousands of other cities and towns where they could go. We can't take any more."
Raymond said he decided to write the letter because many Lewiston residents told him they are concerned about the city's growing Somali population. The concern intensified in recent months as the issue was covered by a variety of state and national media.
"It has not been one cymbal crash. It's been constant comments all along," Raymond said of residents' concern. "But everybody is so politically correct, nobody wants to say anything."
Since Raymond sent his letter, he said, he has received dozens of calls and e-mails of support.
City officials estimate that about half of the 412 Somali adults living in Lewiston have found work in the Lewiston-Auburn area and as far away as Freeport and Portland. As a result, many of them are receiving welfare through the city. Lewiston's general assistance budget, which is partially funded by the state, has more than doubled to $528,000 over the last year. More than half of that is expected to go to Somalis.
Police Chief William Welch said conflicts between Somalis and other residents seem to be based on culture clashes rather than racial unrest. Somali students have been involved in recent fights at Lewiston High School. Three Somalis were charged with aggravated assault Thursday following an attack on another Lewiston man.
"Each time, the people involved say it's not racial. Witnesses say it's not racial," Welch said. "If you move a thousand people into anywhere, you're going to have some issues. There are some tensions among people who are competing for the same services and the same housing."
In his letter, Raymond noted that fewer Somalis arrived over the summer than city officials had expected. He also noted that the flow of Somalis seemed to slow in September. And he acknowledged that Somalis, as legal U.S. residents, have the right to move wherever they want.
The secondary migration of Somalis to Lewiston has led local, state and federal officials to look for new ways to help the city's mostly white, French-Catholic population welcome its new black, Muslim residents. The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement has responded by reallocating some funding to help Lewiston's Somalis with job training, language programs and social services.
"It's been very exciting," said Phil Nadeau, Lewiston's assistant city administrator. "We're seeing the (federal government) respond to something that hasn't happened in many other states. We have been able to do what needs to be done and we're breaking new ground."
Other communities are wrestling with the issue of helping new arrivals. The Holyoke City Council voted 12-2 on Tuesday to ask the federal government to rescind a $320,577 annual grant over the next three years to help resettle 300 Bantu refugees from Somalia in the western Massachusetts city of 40,000.
Bantus are an oppressed minority in Somalia. Holyoke officials said their city, which has the lowest per capita income in the state, doesn't have the resources to house and educate refugees.
While Raymond's letter isn't as drastic as Holyoke's vote, it has sparked conversations across the state about Maine's growing Somali community. Some disagree with Raymond's approach.
"I can appreciate the frustration expressed in the letter, but I'm not sure it's the right tool," said Gerald Cayer, director of health and human services in Portland, which has about 2,200 Somali residents. "It appears to single out a group of people as the one source of a problem."
Raymond is unflinching when he talks about his letter.
"We've had a constant stream every month for over a year now," Raymond said. "Give us a break."