LETTER: Montana can't afford refugees

Well, another out-of-state liberal is again at the forefront of trying to bring refugees into Montana. Just thinking of the logistics involved in bringing people from a Third World country to Missoula is mind-boggling.

No skills, can’t speak English and from a culture totally alien from ours — where do we think these people will fit in? Who will pay for the interpreters? Or provide housing, medical care, food and clothing and daily living expenses?

Sure, the International Rescue Committee will support and provide for these refugees for a while; then the burden will fall on the city and the state. Statistically, 85 percent of refugees will remain on the public dole; not my figures, these come from the State Department. Further, they will collect $4 for every dollar they contribute.

I have been in communities that have reached out to refugees in the past. Lewiston, Maine, was one such town that opened its arms to Somali refugees. All was well at first — that is until the refugees population began to increase; now there is nothing but trouble. Refugees making demands of the hosts, attacking people and causing trouble.

I understand people wanting to help those who live in abject poverty, but financially and culturally it makes no sense to bring them here. Our economy is in the tank; welfare and food stamp recipients are at an all time high; millions of Americans are out of work; and our liberal brothers and sisters want to exacerbate the problem by adding more government-dependent people to the rolls.

Frankly, I support enough people on welfare by paying state and federal taxes; I am tired of providing for those who won’t provide for themselves. A great woman once said, “the problem with liberalism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” We don’t need a woman from Albany, new to Montana, pushing refugees into our communities.

—John Mello, Kila