Meeting Set to Detail Refugee Resettlement in Hudson Valley

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — A plan to bring more than a dozen refugee families, most of whom have fled from Afghanistan and Iraq, will be announced at a meeting Sunday at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie.

Maria Hohn, professor of history at Vassar and one of the founds of the Mid-Hudson Refugee Solidarity Alliance, has been working with a group of student leaders to engage students on campus and to reach out to local congregations.

“Initially, I wanted to get my students involved in thinking about our responsibilities to act in light of the crisis,” she said.

Since last April, the alliance has been working with the refugee resettlement agency Church World Services.

The meeting will be from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6 on the second floor of the Students’ Building at Vassar College.

The alliance, according to information provided by organizers, is comprised of Vassar College, SUNY New Paltz, Dutchess Community College, Mount Saint Mary College and Bard College.

Also involved are Vassar Temple and Christ Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie, Masjid al-Noor Mosque in Wappingers Falls, the Dutchess County Interfaith Council and the Greater Newburgh Interfaith Council.

At the meeting, the alliance will introduce the resettlement project and explain the process by which refugees have been chosen and how the resettlement will work.

Volunteers will be able to sign up to be involved and can find out what they might be able to contribute in terms of household goods and furniture.

The alliance notes that by the time refugees are cleared for the U.S. resettlement program, they will have been thoroughly vetted by the State Department and Homeland Security for about two years.

Vassar Temple’s Rabbi Leah Berkowitz said she was happy to be part of the endeavor.

“We are committed to continuing the proud tradition of welcoming refugees and giving those who flee persecution the opportunity to build better lives here in the United States,” she said.

Reverend Susan Fortunato of Christ Episcopal Church said her church believes it’s their responsibility to help the most vulnerable.

“It is hard to escape the necessity of responding to the humanitarian crisis that has emerged as people flee civil war and persecution,” she said. “We believe that our faith requires us to reach out to these people with hospitality, generosity and faith that God will help us to provide for their needs.”

Not everyone agrees that bringing refugees into the area is a good thing.

Colin Schmitt, the Republican candidate for the 99th Assembly District and former director of operations for the state Senate Homeland Security Committee, said the proposal is unacceptable.

“Mayor de Blasio, Governor Cuomo and Assemblyman James Skoufis, along with the radical New York City Assembly leadership, have laid out the welcome mat for people who we don’t know, from countries that are breeding grounds for terrorism,” he said in a prepared statement.

Schmitt, who is challenging Skoufis in Tuesday’s election, called for immediate halt to Syrian resettlement in the Hudson Valley.

“Furthermore, I will introduce legislation once elected to block this threat to our national security from continuing or happening again in the future,” he said.

Photo credit: Michael Woyton/Patch staff.