FARMINGTON — The head of the only refugee resettlement program in Maine said Tuesday there is no plan to bring refugees to Franklin County to live.

Speaking to county commissioners, at their request, Steve Leourneau, CEO of Catholic Charities Maine, said, “‘There is absolutely no plan today or in the foreseeable future to expand the refugee program to Franklin County.”

His visit was in response to Commissioners Terry Brann of Wilton and Clyde Barker of Strong voting Feb. 4 not to accept refugees in the county.

The vote was in response to an executive order by President Donald Trump in September 2019 that would allow state and local government officials to decide if they want to allow refugees to settle in their jurisdictions.

A  U.S. District Court judge in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction against the order Jan. 15 after refugee resettlement organizations challenged Trump’s order, according to news reports.

After the executive order, Brann asked Fenwick Fowler of Farmington to set up a meeting with Refugee and Immigration Services run by Catholic Charities Maine.

According to Catholic Charities Maine, the “U.S. government works with the United Nations to provide resettlement opportunities in the United States. Catholic Charities Maine Refugee and Immigration Services has held the federal contract in Maine to be the primary provider of resettlement services to refugees since 1975.”

It is a very competitive process, Letourneau said.

A refugee is any person who is outside their country of origin and unable or unwilling to return there or to avail themselves of its protection, on account of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular group, or political opinion, as defined by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, according to Catholic Charities Maine.

In the past five years, Catholic Charities Maine has resettled refugees in Cumberland, Kennebec and Androscoggin counties, Letourneau said.

Asylum-seekers, like the hundreds of people who came to Portland last year, are not refugees, Letourneau said. They have not received federal refugee status, he said.

“They are not allowed to work,” he said.

Asylum-seekers and refugees are both fleeing persecution and violence because of race, religion, ethnicity, national origin or membership to a social or political group. The refugee process happens outside of the United States while the asylum-seekers process happens inside the United States, Hannah DeAngelis, director of Refugee and Immigration Services, told commissioners.

“The State Department oversees the admission of each refugee to the U.S. after they have been granted refugee status following interviews by Department of Homeland Security officials, have passed extensive inter-agency security background checks with multiple national security and intelligence agencies, and have passed health screening,” according to Catholic Charities Maine.

Those given refugee by the federal government are allowed and want to work, Letourneau said.

About 18,000 people will be admitted to the U.S. this year through the refugee resettlement program,  DeAngelis said. About 100 of them will resettle in Maine, she said.

Every refugee is given $975 by the federal government to support their resettlement in the first 90 days. The money covers initial rent, food, clothing, furniture, and other immediate needs, according to Catholic Charities Maine. Representatives of the agency help them get everything they need to succeed in the 90 days, DeAngelis said. The funds are supplemented with in-kind clothing and furniture donations from Maine communities.

The resettlement agency receives $1,000 per refugee for intensive case management for 90 days. The money comes through the U.S. State Department, according to the information provided.

Since Oct. 1, 2019, nine refugees have been resettled by Catholic Charities Maine.

Refugee and Immigration Services also has several grants to help support refugees for up to five years after arrival, including services for employment, older refugees and health literacy. It uses no state money to administer these programs, according to information provided.

Barker thanked Letourneau and DeAngelis for explaining the program, and said he changed his mind on not having a refugee settlement in the county.

Brann said he will wait until Commissioner Charles Webster of Farmington returns for the March 17 meeting before calling for a vote.

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