Barren Fiscal Court will not draft or sign letter of support for 30 refugees

By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1

Barren County Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd announced during the hour-long meeting of the Barren County Fiscal Court that the county would not draft or sign a letter of support in favor of the relocation of the 30 refugees.

“When I write a letter it’s not just me speaking but also the whole Barren County and I just feel I cannot write the letter at this point,” Byrd said.

Byrd said she originally thought the city and county had no say in this process but due to the tumultuous meeting of the Glasgow Common Council on June 24 where the topic of the refugee settlements was first publicly discussed, the state asked for a letter of support from the county.

Out of an abundance of questions, Byrd then requested a one-on-one meeting with members of Refuge Bowling Green, the nonprofit that, in collaboration with local organizations and churches, is looking at Barren County for the 30 individuals. Byrd also held a special-called fiscal court meeting on July 9 that featured an open public discussion on the situation wherein the nonprofit’s representatives explained the process to both the magistrates and those in attendance, and to answer their questions.

After the meeting, Byrd said she spoke with each magistrate individually about the letter and it was determined that all seven magistrates, to some degree or another, were against it. They cited the unknowns associated with the refugees — specifically, Byrd said, their demographics and their skill sets were unknown, as was any concrete commitment from local churches.

“A majority of the [fiscal] court was adamant that we don’t [sign the letter] and the others preferred we don’t endorse it,” Byrd said. “No one feels comfortable doing that. There’s too many unanswered questions.”

Byrd said this was not a negative response to the nonprofit or the refugees, but the unknowns made the court hesitant to make any kind of shows of support.

“This is not anything negative against any refugee or anything like that,” Byrd said.  “Barren County is a very welcoming and diverse community. This is more towards the situation with this group.”

“I don’t want this to [seem] like we’re not a welcoming community, it’s just these people are coming [and] I don’t feel like with the resources and planning that’s needed for them to be able to live in our community and be successful [is there],” Byrd added.

In the end, however, Alice Tarnagda, co-founder and administrator for the nonprofit, said the decision either to stop or continue with the process will be made by the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration in the State Department.