The Bangor refugee resettlement office run by Catholic Charities Maine is planning to move 150 migrants into cities and towns within a 100-mile radius of Bangor over the next year.
Catholic Charities Maine is one of three nonprofit organizations in the state that has been designated by the federal government to be a refugee resettlement agency, alongside the Lewiston-based Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services (MEIRS) and the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, based in Portland.
[RELATED: Catholic Charities Maine Touts Taxpayer-Funded Migrant Resettlement Plans…]
Under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), the president sets a ceiling for the number of migrants the U.S. will accept annually as refugees, who are defined under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) as foreign nationals who are facing humanitarian concerns or persecution in their home country.
Refugees are a separate population from asylum-seeking migrants, who may cross the border into the U.S. illegally before being apprehended and making an asylum claim, and then live in the country for several years awaiting the adjudication of their asylum application.
Refugees are vetted by the federal government prior to their admission, and, unlike asylum seekers, refugees are allowed to work immediately upon arrival in the U.S., and can usually apply for citizenship within five years of their arrival.
In fiscal year 2024 (FY24), President Joe Biden set a target for a total of 125,000 refugees to be resettled in the U.S., a number which the Biden administration reportedly plans to maintain for FY25.
“The refugee program is different from this influx of asylum seekers, even though people sometimes erroneously equate refugees and asylum seekers,” said Jessica Vaughan, Director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).
“The refugees are identified through a process and in partnership with the United Nations refugee program,” Vaughan said. “And so these are people who are displaced from their home country and are deemed to be in need of resettlement – as opposed to asylum seekers, who, under current policies, is pretty much just anyone who comes across the border illegally and claims to have a fear of returning to their home country.”
Vaughan said that while there is a more thorough process for vetting refugees than for the migrants who are apprehended at the southern border, the background check process is not foolproof, as refugees are often coming from countries with dysfunctional governments that do not keep adequate records.
The federal government works with state partners, often either municipal or county offices, or non-governmental organizations such as Catholic Charities, to disperse the admitted refugees and resettle them in communities across the U.S.
Those state partners are given federal grants to provide various taxpayer-funded services to the refugees, including housing, English language classes, medical treatment, employment services, and cash assistance.
“Theoretically, there is supposed to be some kind of coordination with receiving communities, but that is not exactly what happens. They do not always notify receiving communities that they’re planning on bringing refugees in to be resettled,” Vaughan told the Maine Wire.
[RELATED: Migrant Resettlement Agency Chronically Over-billed MaineCare, Has Not Repaid Taxpayers: Audit…]
A total of 419 refugees were resettled in Maine during FY23— a number which the state’s resettlement agencies said increased to 840 in FY24.
At a meeting of the Bangor City Council’s Government Operations Committee last week, representatives from Catholic Charities Maine’s Bangor office told city officials that over the next fiscal year they are expecting to resettle 150 refugees in the greater Bangor area, up from 100 refugees in FY23.
Presenting to the committee on the nonprofit’s resettlement plan was Stephen Letourneau, CEO of Catholic Charities Maine, and Melissa Bucholz, the assistant director of their Bangor Refugee and Immigration Services (RIS) program .
Bucholz began the presentation with a detailed demographic overview of the populations who receive services through the organization’s resettlement office.
The Bangor resettlement office serves both refugees and migrants admitted under Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), as well as asylees, trafficking victims, secondary migrants, Cuban and Haitian parolees, and humanitarian parolees from Ukraine.
Bucholz said that as of June 10, Catholic Charities Maine had resettled 84 out of the expected 100 refugees for FY24 in the greater Bangor area, as well as two Ukrainian parolees, 11 Cuban or Haitian entrants, and one asylee.
Of those refugees resettled by the nonprofit in the Bangor area in FY24, the majority were of either Syrian (36%) or Venezuelan (29%) origin, and 75 percent reported Spanish or Arabic as their preferred language.
About 26 of the refugees resettled in and around Bangor in FY24 arrived as individual migrants, while 21 were admitted as a family unit, with an average size of nearly four members, according to Bucholz.
According to data from the U.S. State Department, a total of 530 refugees from 18 different countries were resettled in Maine statewide in FY24.
That figure includes 135 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 155 from Syria, 52 from Venezuela, 48 from Iraq and 38 from Somalia.
Out of a total of 64 employable adult refugees (aged 18-64) resettled in the Bangor area this year, Catholic Charities Maine reported that 56 had found jobs across 22 different employers.
[RELATED: Mills Admin, Nonprofits, and Big Biz Back New Migrant Resettlement Agency for Maine…]
“A refugee, the day they arrive — which they’re arriving at the invitation of the federal government, which is why we don’t have control over when they do it — they can work day one, if they’re an employable adult,” said Catholic Charities Maine CEO Stephen Letourneau.
“It’s up to the agencies that are resettling them like Catholic Charities to prepare them, set them up for success and make the arrangements with particular employers,” Letourneau said.
Bucholz then went on to describe the Bangor resettlement office’s plans for FY25, which begins on Oct. 1, 2024, and ends in September 2025.
“With our resettlement office, we work within the 100-mile radius [of Bangor], usually that’s focused on Bangor and surrounding communities, but we can work within that 100 mile radius, and we are hoping to resettle 150 individual refugees in [FY25],” Bucholz said.
Bucholz described the resettlement plan as a “moderate increase” over the 100 refugees resettled by the Bangor office in FY24.
After the presentation concluded, Bangor City Councilor Carolyn Fish asked Bucholz to elaborate on where Catholic Charities Maine plans to resettle the refugees within the 100-mile radius around the city.
Bucholz said that the data presented regarding the office’s FY24 resettlement was specific to Bangor, but that Catholic Charities Maine frequently looks outside of the city to Old Town, Orono and Brewer to find affordable housing for the refugees.
“You have the capacity to resettle within a 100-mile radius, it’s just the closer to proximity of our staff, the more successful they generally are,” Letourneau told Fish. “The Multicultural Center has been really fantastic for the success of this program, and so generally it’s around the Bangor area.”
The Bangor-based Maine Multicultural Center is a nonprofit organization founded in 2016 that coordinates with several area partners to provide “integrative services” to migrants, such as English language classes, health care, and workforce development programs.
Bangor City Councilor Dina Yacoubagha, who immigrated to the U.S. from Syria over 25 years ago, works as the program manager as the Maine Multicultural Center and sits on the State of Maine Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Tribal Populations (PCRITP).
The Maine Wire reached out to officials in Old Town, Brewer and Orono to ask if Catholic Charities Maine had told them about their plan to resettle refugees in their towns, and if they had concerns related to the area’s housing shortage and stress the resettlement could place on their social services programs.
Old Town City Manager Bill Mayo said on Friday that the city “has no services or facilities to deal with 150 refugees.”
“I can’t comment for Bangor, but even a community of that size is likely going to struggle with trying to absorb that many people without some type of state/federal assistance,” Mayo wrote in an email to the Maine Wire.
Mayo added that while he knew about the refugee program, Catholic Charities Maine had not contacted him to coordinate the resettlement in Old Town.
Maine’s housing shortage is likely to complicate any plans to re-settlement refugees in the state.
According to data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve, Maine’s rental vacancy rate is lower than at anytime since 1986.
The number of homes actively listed for sale also remains near generational lows.
Jessica Vaughan of CIS said that the plan to resettle the refugees within a 100-mile radius is likely an acknowledgement that the housing supply in Bangor alone cannot accommodate the number of refugees.
“They clearly understand the challenges of this and recognize that they’re going to have to be spreading all these people out,” Vaughan said, adding that this can sometimes be advantageous as “the communities receiving them can actually handle it, will give them meaningful assistance, and that they’re more likely to assimilate into the community and be able to find work and support themselves.”
Although refugee resettlement is often couched as a moral prerogative, there’s also a profit motive for both the resettlement agencies and the potential employers.
Describing the relationship between NGOs, employers and the federal government, Vaughan said that refugees “are low wage workers that [employers] know are going to be subsidized by taxpayers.”
“The contractors, like the NGOs, make money off of it because they’re paid to do this resettlement,” said Vaughan. “The employers know that they will be able to keep their labor costs very low, so that’s good for them and their bottom line. And taxpayers are left covering the gap between what the refugees are going to earn from these low wage jobs and what they’re going to need to survive.”
City Councilor Susan Deane expressed concern that the housing shortage in the Bangor area could be exacerbated by the refugee resettlement, and asked the Catholic Charities Maine representatives if they have a relationship with area hotels or motels where they place the migrants.
“Usually we work with landlords prior to [the refugees’] arrival,” Bucholz responded. “There’s some landlords we’ve been working with in the area to get folks placed in permanent housing as soon as possible when they arrive.”
Letourneau said that Catholic Charities Maine “tried really hard not to utilize hotels at all” in their resettlement efforts.
Councilor Fish then asked if the landlords have any financial incentive to work with Catholic Charities Maine and rent to refugees.
“There are no exceptional financial benefits,” Letourneau said. “They will get a market rent usually, but it’s nothing above and beyond.”
The Catholic Charities Maine CEO claimed that “the more people learn about [immigrants] the more people want to help them.”
“I think there are many people that own units and have capacity within their system, or they might be immigrants themselves, and so they want to help,” he added. “We’ve had people reaching out to us to say ‘hey, do need apartments or homes to rent?'”
Fish reiterated concerns about the housing crisis in the Bangor area, saying “we have Bangor residents, we represent Bangor residents, and 100 or 150 a year, 150 apartments is a pretty significant impact within our community.”
“While we’re very compassionate, and you know, want to help people that are definitely struggling and in worse situations than we are here in America and Bangor, at the same time, a hundred apartments, or a hundred fifty, is pretty significant,” Fish said.
Letourneau, while admitting that there is a housing shortage, said that due to many of the refugees arriving as families, the number of apartments they would be taking off the market would be closer to 25 or 30 units.
“There are challenges, significant challenges, especially around housing — actually, it’s a lot worse than Portland,” Letourneau said. “But I think we’re overcoming that, because it’s been a good community approach.”
Letourneau then drew a comparison between the “planned approach” of refugee resettlement versus the waves of asylum-seeking migrants that have arrived in Maine in recent years.
“Something like refugee resettlement, which is a much more planned approach to immigration, versus, you could get 500 people within a week from the southern border that are asylum seekers,” he said. “I mean, that’s happened, big migration into Portland at different times — there’s absolutely no control over that.”
“At least with refugee resettlement, it’s a planned approach that’s proactive,” he added.
Catholic Charities Maine is a major recipient of government grants, and in recent years received millions of taxpayer dollars from federal agencies to provide cash and medical assistance to refugees.
In 2024 so far, Catholic Charities Maine has been awarded $4.9 million under the federal Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance (CMA) Program, under which refugees receive taxpayer-funded cash and medical assistance for up to 12 months after their arrival in the U.S.
From 2020 through 2023, Catholic Charities Maine has a received a total of about $21 million in federal grants related to various refugee assistance programs.
How many “migrants” are destined for Martha’s Vineyard?
Just saying… @beachmom
Over the past 3-4 years a single apartment in Bangor will have 15-20 applicants within a day or two. There is NOT enough housing available for people who already live here. Catholic Charities raises money to “support” Catholic schools, nursing homes, and programs, and then surreptitiously uses the $$ to bring in people who are not Catholic and do not give any indication of wanting to be Catholic.
Refugee or Migrant, assimilation is the same in determining the flavor of a neighborhood. Not everybody is a good fit for a community. Existing residents should be consulted about the direction they want their lives affected
After destroying Portland, Maine and many other jurisdictions around the globe, the Marxist Left just had to destroy Bangor, Maine too. A people make a nation.
Mom’s, all I said is Calvary Chapel is not involved in this scam. In fact you should call them in Bangor/ Orrington and ask.
Catholic Charities and Jewish Community Svcs are different organizations.
I finding interesting that the Bangor City Council was told they are coming at the invitation of the federal govt.
All while Harris is out there claiming they’ve stopped much of the illegal traffic.
And will they, like down in the Ptld area be given priority for housing so citizens are literally left out in the cold?
Of course.
How about looking at all the voters in the state and assessing every registered democrat money to pay for these illegal refugees. That border would be closed ASAP!
How about Catholic Charities picking up the complete tab on this scam.
I work for a Property Management company in the Lewiston area. I can tell you this is a new form of socialism that syndicates, and rejects the free market competition system. This means the government directly pays the owners.
The apartment owners will always pick a refugee NGO, backed by Jewish or “Catholic” agencies over the natives because they are backed by the FEDs cash. The owners do not need to compete over lower priced units. instead the price remains high because uncle sam pays for all of it, with money that is laundered threw NGOs
If the idiots of Maine had elected Paul LePage we wouldn’t be having these problems .
You got what you voted for !
Don’t forget that in November because if you vote for Kamala we will truly be fucked .
Agreed Mr. Newpoint, one of the main reasons that motel rooms are $400 and rents are $3000 is they are funded government programs, not market conditions. Pricing should be dictated by the local wages that a local consumer has the ability to pay
From the article, it appears that most of these new aliens, be they illegal or “something else” will be “famlies”. Who is going to pay for the huge costs to the local school systems to hire special teachers who speak the children’s language at various town’s schools? OH, that will just be a hundred grand a child per year on the backs of the local tax payers.
Just another reason not to give money to this charity!
According to the 2023 Form 990, CC’s CEO Letourneau’s compensation package was $189K. The CFO, Reed Westgate, was at $126K and the CCO, Jeff Tiner, pulled in a similar $125K. They also have a dentist, Meredith Davis-Pound, whose package was $144K and an Orthodontist, Burton Rankie was at $207K!
Changing the culture by changing the people is a good gig if you can get it. They’re like politicians who enrich themselves while in office while f’ing the rest of us. Altruism, my ass!
Discussing CC’s involvement in the racial replacement of White people in Maine is a good thing, but why doesn’t the Maine Wire also expose the Jewish involvement in the project?
“As a HIAS affiliate network partner, the JCA welcomes refugees from countries all over the world. We help meet them at the airport, ensure they have housing, and help them find work and the services they need to flourish in their new home in Maine”
As a HIAS affiliate network partner, the JCA welcomes refugees from countries all over the world (mainejewish.org)
“taxpayers are left covering the gap between what the refugees are going to earn from these low wage jobs and what they’re going to need to survive.”
While the employer gets a low wage worker. Does Joe really support the Unions?
Katherine
Then do not give money at church or support your local church.
mark violette
They never give the number who move out of town on their own.
Maybe some group should gather more info.
Gardiner Schneider
And do not forget they can now bring in the relatives from back home.
Obama did change America and he was supported and pushed by a
Sen. Kennedy A DEMOCRATE.
Before you know it, we will have the same chaos as Ohio currently has.
Catholic Charities needs to be investigated. They are not only trafficking people, they are helping these people break our immigration laws.
Catholic charities should lose its 501c-3 status.
The more this continues the angrier it makes me. Everyday there are news articles describing the amount of money being spent on this, and with this article, how many different ways their spending it. Then there are the articles about how American’s are struggling. I’m sorry their countries are in the shape they’re in. I wonder if they’ll ever want to go back to their country if it were governed better? At some point the dam’s going to break and it’s going to be very ugly.
Amerika is not for Americans anymore.
An article last week stated that some of the illegals will be Haitians.
Notice they left them off this list?
In a related story the local government (with a democrat majority) has voted to address springfield as its sister city and from now on banger will be referred to as springfield’s effluent receptacle. The governor was reported as ecstatic as she was boxing her belongings in anticipation of moving to the free state of NH after her final term.
Refugee is code for Haitians. Lock up your pets and live stock.
Probably jewish ukes with anti Russia sentiments.
“ In FY 2023, there were also 111 Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolees who arrived in Maine”
“There are three Office of Maine Refugee Services resettlement agencies for the state: Catholic Charities Maine’s Refugee & Immigration Services; the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine and; Maine Immigrant & Refugee Services“
https://www.wmtw.com/article/maine-refugee-asylum-seeker-population-growing-rapidly/45583459
P.S
WTF is a humanitarian parolee!!??
jewish southern alliance of southern Maine gets no mention, weird.
“Siobhan Whalen is the resettlement program director at the jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine.
She said her group has also started looking beyond the traditional resettlement hubs of Portland and Lewiston, placing some families in smaller cities such as Waterville.
“I feel hopeful about these less traditional areas for resettlement being a space where “our families” can feel safe and welcome,” she said.
She said the jewish community alliance is preparing to welcome 28 refugees this month, including families from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Afghanistan, and Colombia.”
https://www.mainepublic.org/news/2023-10-05/maines-refugee-resettlement-numbers-set-to-double-in-new-fiscal-year
Catholic Charities is neither Catholic, or a charity.
The Catholic Church / Vatican is one of the richest organizations ( if not THE reichest )
WTF don’t they pay the bills for these trespassers ?
Goody two shoes grandmas and the virtue signalers club of America ….
You want um …..YOU pay for um
And not just for 90 days …..YOU PAY FOR LIFE .
I believe if one has refugee status they also are given priority for public housing, ahead of native Americans.
Let’s get rid of these drug dealing white men around here and replace them with ANY OTHER PEOPLE who understand being a good American means IF YOU SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING. Stony ridge rd and many other roads in eddington are completely INFESTED with these people. Time to go door-to-door with drug scanners and K-9. Anyone found with fentanyl, meth, heroin, etc REMOVED from society and REPLACED with new Americans.
I’m gonna put it up all you poopchutes soon as I get free house a hahahahahahahaha ah hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha ahhh hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
Has VP Harris found the 30,000 illegal kids she lost at the border.
Maybe some are working in Maine in a rubbing place?
Did not one of the owners of the Patriots go to Chines hand rubbing place.
xsnake
Maybe the missing kids are at Obama place on the Island.
Why doesn’t Catholic Charities help the Mainers who are US citizens instead of ILLEGAL ALIENS? Follow the money as usual.
It’s interesting and telling that this one most repondedt to artciles in a long time
Food is the natural culture bridge, who among has not tried Chinese or Mexican dishes that are not staples in our lives now. Food is probably the best way to shatter cultural walls and to build unity
A program promoting ethnic restaurants would help faster than any other program
let Catholic Charities Maine support them 100% not my tax $ in any way shape or form.
All you people bitching about Catholic Charities not getting any of your money … Wake Up … They are Gov’t Funded , so is HIAS (Jew community Svc. ) and 100+ other NGO’s… This is turning Maine into a MUD PUDDLE ! In case it missed everyone’s attention -In the DRC at this very moment Pygmies are being hunted Down and Eaten by other Black Africans , Who happen to believe they (The Pygmies) possess some magical power in their flesh…. This all according to a Reuters article …, More Stone Age Muzzies , Venezuelan Gang Members , Tell me where is the down side of this ? All this crew is Lacking is some Home Grown Pavement Apes from L.A. (as in Lower Alabama) or East St. Louis ., IL..
We can fight back. It’s not the refugees at the head of this. Catholic Charities and the other two have to be defunded and pushed back against. No one protests or anything because Bangor Daily will pull out the “white supremacist” card. People are scared into silence. We have to do what Appomattox, VA did. All towns need to pass a resolution for no refugee dumping. Appomattox Co. passes resolution refusing to become refugee sanctuary (wset.com) Could the Maine Wire do an updated story on this and compare it to the Bangor Maine situation?
Our next door neighbors in Bangor used to be a crackhead and a guy that liked to beat up his girlfriend. The girlfriend used to attack the cops if we called. They were all white. Now we have a legal Venezuelan couple and their kids. They are all learning English and both the parents work. It’s quiet and there is not a bunch of prostitutes hanging around so I’m cool with them.
So glad to see that most of the comments reflect reality and sanity as opposed to this insanely misdirected scheme. Coming from the Lutheran tradition, I know that the LIRS (Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Services) is a similar scam. They’re a pass-through supported by +/-90% federal funding; not the virtuous religious charity it imagines itself to be. There are so many native people of Maine who need help. This obviously makes no sense, at all.
Kill all the European heritage White Americans already! Just like your Jewish masters demand of you. You must help usher in the year 6000 prophecy!
https://www.gtvflyers.com/