LEWISTON (USA)— Much has been made about Somali reliance on public assistance over the years. Since 2001, the larger community has struggled with questions concerning the city’s ability and desire to support recently arrived immigrants. Discussion at the first major public meeting held to discuss the swelling Somali population, in the Lewiston Armory on May 14, 2002, focused on housing and social programs. And, in a widely scrutinized letter published Oct. 4, 2002, former Lewiston Mayor Larry Raymond wrote, “The Somali community must exercise some discipline and reduce the stress on our limited finances … Our city is maxed out financially, physically, and emotionally.”
Last month, Mayor-elect Robert Macdonald gave his own sentiments on the subject at a public debate: “I have no problem with people from any country coming over, as long as they come here to work... This is a poor community. We’re not as well-heeled as the people down south yet we have been chosen to support, for a portion of our taxes, to go to these people.”
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