The governor of Texas recently requested that no more evacuees displaced by Hurricane Katrina be sent there from New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana. Houston, in particular, was running out of room and could not effectively accommodate many more. This request seemed reasonable.

A few years ago, Lewiston Mayor Larry Raymond made a similar plea in letter form to local Somali leaders, asking them to temporarily curtail the move of more Somali families to Lewiston. The drain on the housing and general assistance programs was more than the city could bear at that time. The Somalis and liberals practically called for Raymond’s crucifixion, although his request was no less a reasonable one.

The difference between these two situations is that in the Gulf region the people are displaced victims of what is unarguably the worst natural disaster in our nation’s history. Whereas in Lewiston’s case, the Somalis were moving here because of the community’s well-known and far-reaching reputation for quick, easy access to generous and long-term general assistance benefits.

Recently, the Sun Journal trumpeted the fact that a Somali family from Concord, N.H., was contemplating a move to Lewiston hoping to find available Section 8 housing and “better benefits.”

My point? When do we start taking care of the really poor people who already live here?

Paul St. Jean, Lewiston

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