N.J. Mayor: No Afghan Refugees, Until We Recover From Ida

The mayor of Elizabeth, N.J., which has long been one of the primary destinations for new refugees who arrive in the New York area, doesn't want new refugees from Afghanistan to move to town until the city recovers from Tropical Storm Ida. 

"Elizabeth has always been a welcoming community," Mayor Chris Bollwage, a Democrat, said. "We've always accepted not only immigrants but refugees in our city." Yet right now, he said, "this is a bad time for settlement or resettlement in the city."

That's because Elizabeth was battered by Tropical Storm Ida nearly three weeks ago. At one apartment complex, four people died and all 600 residents were displaced to shelters and hotels. Among them were 150 refugees from six countries, including Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. Those refugees were both saved by their neighbors and were involved in their own rescue efforts. 

Now, many of the families by flooding are looking for temporary housing in Elizabeth, and there simply isn't enough housing for everyone, Bollwage said. Last week he urged both representatives from the White House and International Rescue Committee, a refugee resettlement agency that has its state headquarters in Elizabeth, to find other towns to settle the hundreds of Afghan refugees who fled during the fall of Kabul and who are expected to move to the state. 

"We do not have available housing units currently in the city when we can’t find room for the people who live here," he said.

Bollwage also said Union County resources are strained by the assistance provided to those affected by the storm, so he has requested that county officials refuse welfare assistance to Afghan refugees who may end up in town. 

In a statement, the International Rescue Committee said: "For decades, the International Rescue Committee in Elizabeth has collaborated with our city and county partners to successfully welcome hundreds of refugee and [Special Immigrant Visa] families to New Jersey...We were concerned by Mayor Bollwage's statements regarding Elizabeth's reception of Afghan refugees -- many of whom supported the US mission in Afghanistan. We share a common concern with the Mayor about the families displaced by Hurricane Ida, including the 150 whom the IRC partnered with the city and county to secure temporary housing for in the wake of the storm, and wholeheartedly support the Mayor's efforts to assist these families."