North Dakota county votes 3-2 to keep accepting refugees

Burleigh County citizens, many of them refugees themselves, waited in line to speak at the county commission meeting on Monday about whether the county should allow more refugees to settle there. (Bismarck Tribune photo by Will Kincaid)

In September, President Trump signed an executive order requiring state and county governments to give written consent before refugees can be placed in their jurisdictions. Last week, Burleigh County, North Dakota (pop. 81,000 and home of the state capital of Bismarck, pop. 73,000), was poised to become the first county in the nation to reject them, Andy Field reports for the Bismarck Tribune.

Many expected the five county commissioners to bar further refugees, but then people started showing up at the commission chambers. A lot of people. The commissioners had to reschedule the meeting for Dec. 9 in a larger venue, but even that meeting turned out to be standing-room only, Antonia Farzan reports for The Washington Post.

Locals saw the vote as a referendum on their community's values, Farzan reports, and some speakers said they worried that Bismarck would be seen as bigoted if they voted against accepting refugees, Farzan reports. Others who spoke in favor of the ban noted that the recent oil boom has already strained local resources and caused an increase in crime and homelessness.

Bismarck's mayor, Steve Bakken, supported banning further refugees because of financial considerations. But Republican Gov. Doug Burnum agreed in November to accept more, saying the state's severe workforce shortage and would be helped by well-vetted refugees, Farzan reports.

After nearly four hours of debate from dozens of citizens, the commissioners voted 3-2 to continue allowing refugees to settle in the county. "Had the vote gone the other way, Burleigh County would have been the first county in the United States to block refugee resettlement," Field reports.

"The decision largely carried symbolic resonance. The Trump administration has slashed the number of refugee arrivals nationwide, and Burleigh County, which has roughly 95,000 residents, took in just 24 refugees during fiscal year 2019, according to the North Dakota governor’s office," Farzan reports. "The community . . . is slated to receive a similar number of refugees in fiscal year 2020, and the measure that passed on Monday caps the number of new arrivals at 25."