Chippewa Valley Refugee Resettlement is Already Underway

The resettlement of refugees to the Chippewa Valley is already underway according to an update from World Relief Wisconsin.

According to Gail Cornelius, newly-appointed Regional Director for World Relief, the organization has already settled 21 people from four different families into the Chippewa Valley. Those refugees are from the Congo, Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The organization still expects to resettle another 54 refugees in the area to reach their goal of 75 total by October. At this time, officials do not know exactly where the remainder of the refugees will be coming from as the federal government is still going through the vetting process.

The news comes as Wisconsin Congressmen Tom Tiffany and Derrick Van Orden propose legislation to allow local governments to disapprove resettlement in their jurisdictions. Called the Community Assent for Refugee Entry Act, or CARE Act, the bill would essentially give local governments the final say in whether refugees can be relocated to their area.

The legislation comes amid local opposition to the Chippewa Valley refugee resettlement project.

In addition to the announcement of the refugees that have already been welcomed into the Chippewa Valley, Cornelius and State Representative Karen Hurd acknowledged that communication with local governments regarding the resettlement should have been better.

Cornelius says going forward, World Relief will hold monthly meetings with representatives of Eau Claire and Chippewa Counties to iron out details like schooling and housing. The organization will also prepare written summaries of those meetings for county supervisors to keep them up to date on the resettlement.