Ketchum, Sun Valley, Hailey, Bellevue, Blaine County and a number of non-governmental actors will meet Wednesday, Oct. 26, at the Old Blaine County Courthouse to discuss potential action regarding the unprecedented immigration surge the area has seen since last summer.
Ketchum has already pledged $250,000 to the effort. Some of that money will be used to construct temporary housing on a city owned lot. At question now is how much other parties are willing to contribute.
According to The Hunger Coalition, 586 new families have started utilizing its food pantry since January, which is 47% of the total number of families it serves. Of the new families, 322 are from Peru and are seeking asylum; 156 of the families include children. About 40 to 60 of these families are living outside, while the rest are couch-surfing or have similar temporary arrangements.
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Proof that our community "leaders" don't want to hear from the taxpayers on how they spend our money and would rather operate in an elitist bubble "Update: this meeting has been moved to online only". Shame on you, cowards.
Uggghhh! These politicians sure are free and easy with our money. Just STOP yourselves. Let people who want to house immigrants raise money and figure it out themselves. Instead, these politicians are putting taxpayers on the hook for this. How dare they!
We all have causes we love to donate too. That's our choice. Why is it that Peruvians are now arbitrarily forced to the top of our list and we no power to STOP it, other than voting in the next election, whenever that is? And speaking of those elections, why are our city and county elections held separately from our State and Fed elections? That's subversive.
WINTER is coming. Do nothing and this "problem" will disappear, as in the immigrants will emigrate from the WRV out of necessity. Don't worry your pretty little heads, snowflakes. They will be back come spring. That is what migration is all about.
Your dem policies are failing us miserably. Drugs and Cartels have invaded our community, creating crime and danger for our children. Supporting illegal immigration is undermining the jobs of our locals and hurting our workforce housing crisis. Just STOP it!
If you had the nuts to share your real name, I'd be half-inclined to engage you in rational, civil dialogue about a local community issue it is readily apparent you have no clue about other than what you regurgitate from Fox News, Newsmax and OAN. You might then choose your words with a little more compassionate wisdom, and not embarrass those who raised you to be a better human being.
100% agree. Arbitrarily spending our taxpayer money on illegal activity (illegal immigration is illegal - not hard to understand) is outrageous. How far we have sunk that our taxpayer money used to go to solving crime and now goes to supporting it ... even funding it. How heartless this all is to the current community already struggling to balance workforce and housing. Our border is open, this is the consequence of a full scale invasion allowed the democratic party for one reason only, to shift the balance of our entire population guaranteeing them perpetual power ... and liberal supporters think it is because they are somehow the more "compassionate" party. How compassionate is it that our own workforce suffers, dollars are stretched beyond truly helping anyone, and people are bussed here to live outside freezing to death. Everything they touch turns to $@*#
Wow! The misinformation here is really flagrant....so here it goes:
1. Legal immigration is LEGAL - not hard to understand. Asylum seeking is legal. Look it up.
2. You are insinuating that immigrants are criminals, which is such an ignorant claim to make. And false.
3. Our community here is experiencing a worker SHORTAGE. And yes, yes, certainly a housing shortage too. But have you looked at the "help wanted" section of the paper lately? Our workforce is not suffering because of the increase in immigrants here. Is it so horrible that community leaders are having a conversation about how to help low income families who are new community members?!
4. The southern border of the US is not open. Not even close. Read up on it.
5. I cannot believe I am having to point out that the Democrats are certainly not in the process of "guaranteeing them perpetual power".... I will only point to two years ago, the last President who was a Republican. I would argue that one's party affiliation should not be, and is not, indicative of a compassion for others.
6. Although immigrants have been transported via bus and plane (by Republican Governors) to various communities, the WRV has not been a destination of any of these buses. Flat out false.
What is most disappointing about your comment is your lack of empathy for others. You seem to be passionate about this community and its vibrancy, so I would like to suggest you try and have a change in mindset; ask yourself "how can I help?" "are my words and comments productive to the situation?" Kindness can go a long way.
It’s not surprising that the meeting has been moved to online only. SMH.
Does anybody know if this meeting is open to the public? The article does not explicitly state if it is or if only open to those mentioned in the article.
Welcome to the discussion.
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