Mid Hudson Times , Wednesday , February 8 , 2017 3
Refugee resettlement program on hold
By SHANTAL RILEY sriley @ tcnewspapers . com
A plan to resettle 80 refugees in the Hudson Valley is in limbo following a White House ban on immigration of Muslim refugees .
An executive order , signed by President Donald Trump on Jan . 27 , banned citizens and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries including Syria and Iraq . The ban covers a period of 120 days .
The order immediately triggered protests and lawsuits , and put the U . S . Syrian refugee program on hold , indefinitely . And , it left local religious groups , in the process of resettling families through a resettlement program headed by the Church World Service , at a loss .
“ Yesterday , President Trump took a wrecking ball to the Statue of Liberty and dashed the hopes of the huddled masses yearning to breathe free across the globe ,” Rock Tavern Unitarian Universalist Congregation Rev . Chris Antal said in a press release a day after the order was signed .
“ As Jews , we take this very personally . We know how this feels and we won ’ t stand by and watch it happen to someone else ,” Temple Beth Jacob Rabbi Larry Freedman said in the joint statement .
Antal and Freedman are part of the Greater Newburgh Interfaith Council , which organized a support network in Orange County to welcome new refugees expected to arrive through the CWS resettlement program later this year .
Many travelers were turned away , detained and stalled at U . S . airports following the ban last week . However , one family managed to arrive safely through the program last week .
Mid-Hudson Refugee Solidarity Alliance founder Maria Höhn met a family from the Democratic Republic
By SHANTAL RILEY sriley @ tcnewspapers . com
Though dozens of private wells surrounding Beaver Dam Lake have been found to contain perfluorinated chemicals ( PFCs ), all except one were found to contain levels above the EPA ’ s lifetime health advisory limit , according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation .
The state provided an update on an investigation of PFCs in the Beaver Dam Lake area at Washingtonville
Members of the Greater Newburgh Interfaith Council stand in solidarity with area Muslims at the Masjid Al-Ikhlas Mosque in Newburgh , a day after President Trump ’ s executive order banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries .
of Congo at JFK International Airport last Tuesday . The family later settled in Dutchess County . “ We ’ re on standby right now ,” said Höhn on Monday .
CWS set up an office in Poughkeepsie last year to assist in the local settlement of refugees from Syria and other countries , with plans to begin welcoming refugees in January . Höhn , a history professor at Vassar College , is at the forefront of resettlement efforts in the Hudson Valley .
“ America has always been a shining light in terms of resettlement ,” said Höhn . “ It was borne out of the realization we did not help Jews escape from Europe in WWII .”
The professor highlighted the country ’ s history of welcoming refugees to its shores . “ When people fled from Ireland in the 19th Century , it wasn ’ t because the weather was better here , it was because they were starving to death ,” Höhn asserted . “ This was always a safe country to come to .”
America ’ s acceptance of refugees - many fleeing war atrocities , religious and political persecution – was largely a “ bipartisan effort ,” she said . “ It is only since the last election that this discourse has come about , this whole language of associating refugees with terrorism and excluding them from humanity ,” said Höhn . “ This is something new .”
Washington , New York , Massachusetts and Minnesota were among the states to file lawsuits challenging the immigration ban , claiming it violates the U . S . Constitution . A federal judge
Middle School on Monday night . Investigators explained that a total of 82 samples were collected from wells surrounding the lake .
Fifty-seven of these samples were non-detect for PFCs . In the 25 found with detectable levels , test results show none exceeded the EPA ’ s advisory limit of 70 parts per trillion .
The DEC has begun to focus on a northwest area of the lake . “ We ’ ve been finding detection up in this northwestern area ,” said state Department of Health Public Health Engineer Wendy Kuehner , pointing to a in a lower court in Seattle temporarily blocked the ban last week and the Trump administration appealed .
Over the weekend , the U . S . Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld the lower court ’ s decision , temporarily suspending the ban . The appeals court is expected to issue a new ruling on the ban sometime this week .
The case may ultimately be decided in the U . S . Supreme Court . “ Everybody is waiting to see what the judge decides ,” said Höhn . “ We have to wait and see .”
Approximately 85,000 refugees came to the U . S . from 79 different countries in 2015 , according to CWS . The majority of these refugees came from war-torn countries including Syria , Iraq and Somalia .
State provides update on PFCs at Beaver Dam Lake
northwest area of the lake on a map .
Wells in this northwest area are testing with PFCs at 23 parts per trillion or lower , she said . “ We will not be sampling all wells , necessarily , based on the data ,” Kuehner said , adding properties in Cornwall were found free of the chemicals .
Beaver Dam Lake is located in the towns of Blooming Grove , Cornwall and New Windsor . The state began testing private wells in the lake area on Nov . 7 , giving
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