After generating headlines like Anti-refugee meeting scheduled at tribal college in Cloquet and Tension brews at tribal college over refugee resettlement talk, anti-refugee, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim self-described immigration authority and used car salesman Ron Branstner is bringing his schtick to Redwood Falls.
Unlike the event in Cloquet, which was scheduled with support from Carlton County GOP, the Redwood Falls event appears to have no party support, although the organizers of the event listed on the invite above were county delegates to the party's congressional and state conventions in 2016 (Baumann and Knott) and 2018 (Baumann, Knott and Tubbs).
Curiously enough, Redwood County has already held two public meetings during which the issue was considered.
The Redwood County Board of Commissioners voted to allow refugees to be relocated in the county, KLGR radio reported in Redwood County commissioners vote to officially allow refugees to settle. What does it mean?:
At its Jan. 7 meeting, the Redwood County Commissioners voted for the county to officially continue accepting refugees from other nations to settle into Redwood County. Since then, there’s been much confusion among the public about what the vote actually means, or how it might affect them.
It all began with an executive order signed by President Trump in September requiring all counties in the nation to officially agree or disagree to accept refugees assigned to them by the federal government. The reasoning is that people closer to home are more familiar with a county’s finances and culture than federal bureaucrats are, and should have some say in the matter.
Kandiyohi County became the first in Minnesota last month to vote to accept more refugees. Just 10 refugees were settled in Kandiyohi in the last fiscal year, including six ethnic Korean and four East African refugees. All were joining family already in the area.
On Jan. 7, Beltrami County made national news by becoming the first in Minnesota to forbid refugee resettlement within its borders. The same day, the Redwood County Board voted unanimously to consent to continue accepting refugees. .. .
Listen to sound clips and read the rest at the station's website.
The issue was next considered at The Montevideo American-News reported last month in Redwood County board hears from public about refugee resettlement opt-in vote:
During its Jan. 7 meeting, the Redwood County Board of Commissioners voted to opt in to a program known as refugee resettlement based on a request it was presented.
According to Marie Meyers of Southwest Health and Human Services, who further explained the refugee resettlement program to the board that day, a vote to opt in to the program essentially qualified the county to receive federal funding for primary refugees who would resettle here.
For those primary refugees to resettle in an area, they must meet certain eligibility requirements, including having an existing family member in the area where they plan to live.
The funding that is allocated does not come to the county but to non-profit entities who then assist those refugees in finding a place to live and a job as a way to help them be successful.
In Redwood County, that work is conducted by United Community Action Partnership (UCAP).
Following the vote, concerns regarding the decision began to arise among residents who then shared those issues with the county board at its meeting held Jan. 21. More than 50 attended.
The refugee resettlement issue came to the forefront last fall when Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing decisions to be made at the county level about opting in or out of the program.
Since then a judge has handed down an injunction related to that order.
Many of those in attendance posed questions about the county board’s decision. . . .
Marie Meyers, who was in attendance at the meeting, said there have not been any recent primary refugees who have moved to Redwood County.
Many raised concerns that it is not families who are moving but men who have a propensity to violence, sharing stories they have heard about issues which have arisen in other communities in the state.
Paul Sobocinski of Wabasso spoke in favor of the refugee resettlement program, adding for him it is a moral issue.
Sobocinski said his Christian faith compels him to help others, adding in the case of refugees there is a reason they have to leave their homes.
Roger Baumann of Wabasso addressed the issue of assimilation, adding for some who come as refugees what they believe contradicts the Constitution of the United States under which they live. He also raised concerns about whether or not they would actually become citizens.
Meyers said those who come as refugees are required to apply for a green card, adding the process toward citizenship is a hard one hat takes five years to accomplish.
Following the open forum discussion at the start of its meeting, Lon Walling, county board chair, expressed his thanks to those who attended.
The majority of attendees requested the board rescind its vote.
The county commissioners took no action regarding the refugee resettlement program vote during the meeting.
The fear that refugees who might come to Redwood County are "men who have a propensity to violence" is showing up on organizers' Facebook pages. Here's Roger Baumann's post about the meeting:
The single comment on the post, from a Walnut Grove resident:
Lisa Jane Dallenbach People don’t seem to understand what is at stake here!! Someone asked me last night how many are coming...well, a minimum of 50/100 depending on circumstances! Do you want an section 8 apartment building filled with 100 known gang members? Or a bunch of 19/20 year olds with a mind-frame (from their upbringing) that women can be beaten or raped into submission? Or a large group of bearded elders who insist that you wear a hijab in your community or that you never wear a swimsuit again? Bars must close because “no alcohol”. Dogs will be poisoned and killed because they are dirty! Pork will become a thing of the past because it is not allowed in schools lunch menus...oh, I’m just getting started! THINK ABOUT WHAT COULD POTENTIALLY HAPPEN!! Not, oh, it will never happen here!!
Okay then. Throwing Branstner in this mix will calm Ms. Dallenbach's fears, surely.
Baumann and Trott have expressed their anti-refugee in nearby counties. At the Marshall Independent, Deb Gau reported at the end of January in Sharing their stories Lyon County commissioners let refugees, supporters speak; some share concerns:
Area residents had a second chance to speak out about refugee resettlement in Lyon County on Tuesday night. A public hearing drew an even bigger crowd this time around, with over 200 people filling up seats and standing along the walls of a basement classroom at the Lyon County Law Enforcement Center.
But unlike the comments at a Lyon County Board meeting earlier this month, the majority of the people speaking up Tuesday were in support of refugees. . . .
County commissioners called for the hearing earlier this month when they were considering a request by UCAP for consent for refugee resettlement. At that time, an executive order from President Donald Trump had said states and counties would need to give written consent for refugees to be resettled within their jurisdictions. But since then, a preliminary injunction from a federal judge has halted enforcement of the order.. . ..
Not all comments at the hearing were positive.
“I do have some deep concerns,” said Redwood County resident Tiffany Knott. Resettlement may not be funded locally, she said, but “It’s all taxpayer money.”
“What is the cost to the county?” Knott asked.
“I’m not going to say I’m against or for” refugee resettlement, said audience member Roger Baumann. However, he said, “I don’t believe the government should be sponsoring it.” Refugee resettlement wasn’t in the U.S. Constitution, he said. “There’s no authorization in there for benevolence.”
Lovely. The organizer of the Cloquet meeting at the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College also insisted that the event "adamant the meeting wasn’t anti-refugee."
We're waiting for permission to embed a livestream of the event so readers can determine that.
Next week's meeting isn't the only event on Branstner's calendar. Our Meeting Tree Place friends--covered in early January's Things to do in Rochester MN: Meeting Tree Place repeats anti-Muslim crackpots in 2020-- will be hosting Ron Branstner: Keith Ellison's (Hakim Muhammad) Anti-Islamic Blasphemy Laws... at a Rochester location TO BE ANNOUNCED TO TICKET HOLDERS / EXCLUSIVE AND PRIVATE VENUE.
Invite: From Tiffany Lesmeister-Knott's most recent Facebook post about the February 13 meeting. She simply can't understand why anyone would suggest that people not attend. Here's the embed:
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