New Orleans refugees heading to Arizona

[brooklynite]

2:09 P.M. - PHOENIX (AP): One thousand or more refugees of Hurricane Katrina could begin arriving in Arizona as early as Sunday morning, said a spokeswoman for Gov. Janet Napolitano.

Some of the evacuees would likely be brought to Phoenix's Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where they would remain for a few weeks until other housing arrangements could be made, said Napolitano spokeswoman Jeanine L'Ecuyer.

"We will be working with people to transition them to other shelters," L'Ecuyer said.
Another possible location for temporarily housing refugees is the Tucson Convention Center, said Michael Carson, a spokesman for the city of Tucson.

Officials were unable to say how many refugees would be sent Phoenix and Tucson and how long the displaced people would remain in shelters.

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html

[noahmijo]

1. oh hell yea bring em over!

I'm in Tucson we could totally take care of them over here! Our city is about an inch away from being third world but you can always count on the people to lend helping hands and they will to these refugees.

[OneBlueSky]

2. this vast dispersion of evacuees is beginning to bother me . . .

I understand there are tens of thousands needing shelter, and God bless the cities that are receiving them . . . but part of me thinks that tent cities anywhere it's dry around NO would have been preferable, if not as comfortable . . . there's no way most of these people will ever be able to return to their city, and its entire African-American community and culture -- the very foundation of NO -- will be lost forever . . .

[Miss Chybil]

5. Yep, they planned it that way.

/sarcasm

[Warren Stupidity]

3. The Congressional People's Caucus

(Otherwise known as the Congressional Black Caucus) is demanding that military bases in the LA region be immediately opened for evacuees. The dispersion of the population of New Orleans is yet another outrage in the Atrocity that has been perpetrated on these people.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

4. The CBC also requests that "refugees" not be used

but rather "Americans."

[iamjoy]

9. Sorry, They Are Refugees

When I hear the word refugee, I picture a person who has been rejected by his/her country. Who has been driven out of his/her home and is now displaced. This peson also has limited financial resources, whether because they were born in poverty or because disaster took away their wealth.

Got a more fitting term for them? One that reflects their situation?

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

14. CBC sees them as American taxpayers who are expecting their govt.

to come to their assistance in an expedited fashion. They're not Vietnamese boatpeople, to be cast away from one country, or in this case, city, to the next. They are Americans who are not being treated as most Americans would expect their government to treat them.

Ultimately, that will be Bush's undoing with the American public, voters who realize that, hey, "this could be me."

[Groggy]

19. THEY ARE NOT REFUGEES

Last I checked, they are still in America and are American citizens. They are hurricane victims.

[0rganism]

10. How about "American refugees"?

Let's call it like it is.

[Igel]

12. I didn't realize there was an inherent "non-American"

in the standard usage of the word 'refugee.'

Of course they're American refugees--well, most of them, anyway.

Let's just call them IDPs, pronounced "I dips", to truly restore their dignity as human beings.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

16. You're kidding, right?

The US has taken in any number of refugees, people fleeing their country for one reason or another, whether Cubans, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Hmong, ad infinitum.

Are you suggesting that the sons and daughters of African slaves are not yet American citizens?

[Igel]

26. No.

Are you implying that the 33% of NOLA that are white and fled NOLA are the sons and daughters of African slaves?

I use the word for all of those, of any skin color or nationality, who have fled Katrina and have no permanent abode elsewhere. That includes non-Americans and Americans; it excludes the people that were evacuated and had been visiting the city.

We've only been able to take in international refugees; it's very difficult for the US to take in refugees from other countries (apart from the occasional expat) that doesn't involve crossing a border. And we haven't had many disasters of such a nature that people need to leave the area they live in for any length of time. Even with Andrew and Allison, people went and stayed in hotels, or found emergency accommodations nearby.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

15. Have you ever had to evacuate?

If you're white, were you called a "refugee?"

I've evacuated twice, the last time by the US Navy. I was not referred to in the media as a "refugee." I was an American citizen having to evacuate from a US Naval Base.

[Igel]

11. Does the CBC demand that the Americans be kept

together and housed at army bases?

Seems like a silly bit of prescriptivism that'll just lead to confusion.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

17. They are suggesting that living in fecal matter is inhumane.

Isn't that how the slaves lived, though, crammed together in the bilge of ships when brought over from Africa?

The CBC has requested that America's hotels across the country open their doors to America's citizens, and they have also requested cruise ships be brought in, which is what is now happening. I believe Princess Cruiselines has cancelled trips to accomodate Americans who have lost their homes.

[Dervill Crow]

20. Doesn't "refugee" just mean someone seeking refuge?? n/t

[NYC]

27. Yes, that includes refuge from a storm.

[iamjoy]

7. Families Are Being Separated

Well, there are so many rumors, so take this with a grain of salt.

I was at a little picnic today, one of the women there had spoken to her sister in Dallas who had gone to the local shelter to see if she could help with housing. So, she took home with her this woman and her son from NOLA who had been evacuated from the Superdome. Well, apparently, the family had gotten separated during the evacuation. Her mother, husband and daughter were on the bus that went to the Superdome, but then it was full so she and her son got on another bus. By the time her bus got to the Astrodome, it was full and she ended up in Dallas.

Now, this is all fourth hand by now, but I sure hope reporters check into whether or not families are really being separated. These people have lost so much already, we shouldn't destroy their family.

[Speak_Up]

18. Come on...

There are what??? About 1.5 million residents of NO and most of them have been displaced. There is no 1 place in the US that can handle that many homeless / refugees at one time. The people that find themselves in this horrible situation are going to have to go someplace - and to think that just opening a couple of military bases is going to solve the problem is ridiculous. These folks are going to have to go to dozens of different locations for the short term just so we don't have another SuperDome situation on our hands. The latest report that I have heard is that it will be several weeks before they get the levees fixed, the city pumped dry, and can even get a good look at things to make an assessment of what can be done. This whole thing is going to take time - and lots of it.

[NoQuarter]

23. One of the underlying factors in the present day

condition of some segments of the Black family structure is this legacy of splitting up families that stems from the slave auction. Splitting up families with no regard for their humanity. Whether or not there is any 'intent' in the actions of...well, there really are no "officials" here, the perception is there. Some of these people are no doubt old enough to have heard these stories from someone who lived it, first-hand.

I've seen people distraught over this in the coverage of the last few days. It is happening. And no one who is supposed to be in charge has any idea of where people are going and how people are supposed to find their loved ones.

Attention must be paid.

[bahrbearian]

6. Got Cake ?

[MADem]

8. I wonder if that McCain cake was yellow cake? nt

[PurityOfEssence]

13. Rehnquist rolls in his grave: all them darkies comin' to the neighborhood

What a mess. Everything's in flux.

Thanks to the enlightened Arizonians for helping out.

May Sandra Day O'Connor rot in public mortal hell for years. She's a user and a liar against her profession, and she's a protege of her ex-boyfriend.

[anitar1]

21. Just read in the Sunday paper that Oregon will start

receiving 1000 evacuees from NO tonight.Maybe we will be able to take more. going to try and place them with families around the state. I have faith that Oregonians will open their homes.

[kestrel91316]

22. We have a dozen or so in Los Angeles today, and up to 300 may be

coming. There is a large new shelter operated by some Christian group that is taking them in for AS LONG AS NECESSARY, no time limit. They don't care what religion they are either.

[sam sarrha]

24. the homeless DIE there in the summer..

[AZBlue]

25. Anyone else in AZ? Know how we can help?

I'm in Phoenix and want to help but have given all the $$ I can - isn't there someplace I can help with my time or donate clothes or food or anything? If anyone knows of a place, please let me know. Thank you!!

[Olney Blue]

28. Hi AZBlue!

Welcome to DU

:hi:

[KLF44]

29. They are VICTIMS not refugees