BOSTON — Refugees will continue to be placed in Springfield, where the mayor is strongly opposed to the newcomers, after a federal judge ruled Wednesday that local governments can’t be granted “veto power” over the resettlement process, a refugee resettlement agency said Wednesday.
Maxine Stein, president of Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts, one of the state’s largest refugee service providers, said her agency will also continue to seek an audience with Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.
The Democrat, a longtime critic of refugee resettlement, publicly declared that his city would no longer accept refugees as part of President Donald Trump’s executive order giving state and local governments a say in whether refugees could be resettled in their communities.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte in Maryland temporarily blocked the order, which required resettlement agencies get written consent from officials in any jurisdiction where they want to resettle refugees beyond June 2020.
“We’re looking at this as an opportunity to re-establish relations and find a way to work better together,” Stein said.
Sarno’s office didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.
His rejection of refugees sparked outcry from local faith leaders and other city officials in recent weeks.
Sarno argued in a letter to the editor last month that Springfield has done its “fair share” supporting refugees over the years, and suggested the newcomers are straining the city’s resources.
“It’s time for other much more affluent communities to take on their fair share,” the letter reads.
Springfield has a long history of immigration and is now majority Latino and black. More than 20 refugees have been placed there in the current federal fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.