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Beltrami County Votes No on Refugee Resettlement: St. Louis County Tables Until May

MN Dept. of Health
Refugee arrivals to Minnesota, 1979-2018

Last week Beltrami and St. Louis County discussed at their meetings the executive orderby President Trump Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement. 

Sec. 2. Consent of States and Localities to the Placement of Refugees. (a) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall develop and implement a process to determine whether the State and locality both consent, in writing, to the resettlement of refugees within the State and locality, before refugees are resettled within that State and locality under the Program. The Secretary of State shall publicly release any written consents of States and localities to resettlement of refugees.

Beltrami County was the first in Minnesota to vote - and they voted 3-2 to deny consent to refugee resettlement.  St. Louis County tabled the issue until May.  Tune in to All Things Considered on Friday January 10th at 5:50pm for a conversation with MinnPost Data Reporter Greta Kaul.  Her latest article is "As Minnesota counties vote on accepting refugees, here are the counties where refugees have actually moved in the last decade".

Heidi Holtan is KAXE's Director of Content and Public Affairs where she manages producers and is the local host of Morning Edition from NPR. Heidi is a regional correspondent for WDSE/WRPT's Duluth Public Television’s Almanac North.