Township May Pull Back Welcome Mat to Refugees

WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI – West Bloomfield Township may not be so welcoming after all.

The township designated itself a “welcoming city” for immigrants a year ago, but could vote to drop the title at a Board of Trustees meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the West Bloomfield Civic Center, 4550 Walnut Lake Road.

Township trustees voted unanimously to reconsider the designation in response to some residents’ security concerns after ISIS terror attacks in Paris and an influx of Syrian refugees into Michigan, WWJ reports.

Ten local Michigan jurisdictions joined the Welcoming Michigan program, which is designed to help immigrants assimilate. Others included Macomb and Kalamazoo counties; the cities of Detroit, Sterling Heights, Hamtramck, East Lansing and Grand Rapids; and Clinton and Meridian townships.

After the Paris attacks in November, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said the state would pause already divisive efforts to bring Syrian refugees to Michigan. Snyder said at the time that he wanted assurance from the federal government that refugees are properly screened and vetted before they come to the United States.

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• Should West Bloomfield withdraw from the Welcoming Michigan program?