Asylum Seekers and Catholic Charities

A complicated process for a tiny city
I speak with  Inza Ouattara (pronounced Enza Wattara) who works for Catholic Charities, Refugee Services, how Catholic Charities is helping  asylum seekers in Portland ME, a city of 67,000.  Approximately 250 asylum seekers from the Congo and Angola arrived from the Texas/Mexican border in June.  Dr. Ouattara holds a ED.D (Univ of New England)  and MPPM (University of Southern Maine).

  

Area town and city managers have met to determine how they might help.  Donations have been collected by area charities.  These "asylum seekers" have not gone through the process of being determined eligible for asylum seeker status.  Once that is complete, then they apply for asylum seeker status. Federal law does not allow refugees to apply for services for 150 days after gaining "parole status."  The state has relaxed its laws to allow these seekers to apply for general assistance  and food stamps.  General assistance is provided by towns with partial funding by the state.  The state as of July 2019 is still determining what, if any, funding it will provide to Portland for general assistance for these new refugees.