DAPHNE — One of the hot-button issues Baldwin County residents have had to deal with in recent years is the possible resettlement of refugees at two abandoned U.S. Navy airfields in southeastern Baldwin County, one at Navy Outlying Field Wolf north of Orange Beach and the other at Navy Outlying Field Silverhill.
The issue is back as the Trump administration has put the ball in the state of Alabama’s court by allowing states to determine whether or not refugee resettlement should be permitted within the state. Although a U.S. District judge in Maryland has placed a temporary halt on the administration’s policy, Gov. Kay Ivey has been noncommittal as to whether or not she believed Alabama should be open to refugee settlements.
During a debate between the five declared Republican U.S. congressional hopefuls for Alabama’s first congressional district hosted by the Baldwin County Republican Party on Saturday, each of the candidates gave their views on whether or not Ivey should open the state to allow for refugee settlement.
Former State Sen. Bill Hightower
“We had this issue before with Obama,” Hightower said. “He forced it on us to take the children of illegal immigrants into our area. It created a tremendous burden. The governor has a right to say whatever she wants to on that. What I appreciate about this issue is it is a state’s right issue, and we need to decide what we want. I’ve talked to ministers about whether they want to see this, and they have total confidence in the Gospel of telling these people about a changed life, and they become normalized citizens.”
U.S. Army veteran John Castorani
“We can’t afford it,” Castorani replied. “Look at our education system, dead last [nationally]. We’re a joke. If you go anywhere in the country, we’re the laughing stock of America. If I had a dollar for every time I was in D.C. while working for the agency and someone laughed at me from being from Alabama, I wouldn’t have to fundraise. They google our education system and laugh. So no, the answer is simple. But I am for refugee resettlement into the United States. That’s what we were founded on.”
Mobile County Commissioner Jerry Carl
“On my desk right now is a letter from an organization who wants permission to move refugees into Mobile County,” Carl said. “It is a county issue. We on the commission get the last vote on it. The local people get a last vote on it. That’s what happened here when your senators, and your legislators and your county commissioners and all your folks stood up and stopped the refugees. I am not in favor of the refugees being moved here. Let’s deal with it at the border. Let’s deal with it at the border – not here in Mobile, not here in Baldwin County.”
State Rep. Chris Pringle
“I agree it is an issue that is a local issue,” Pringle said. “If the local people want it – that is their decision. But I’m deeply concerned about these children that are coming into our country, being dumped in our education system, and the burden it puts on our teachers, and our faculty and administrators, not speaking their foreign language. They’re not immunized. They’re bringing different diseases in this country we’ve not seen in years. It creates problems. If the local community is willing to address it and pay for, that should be a local decision.”
Restauranteur Wes Lambert
“The cost is going to be outrageous for us to support refugees coming here,” Lambert said. “It’s going to take a toll on Alabama kids and education and our health care system as well because we’re going to be paying for their health care as well. I’m against refugee resettlement as well as illegal immigration, which is what it is.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.
