Notice that they are now officially called refugees? I wonder if that was the latest Journolist decision.
Marble Falls takes preemptive stance against housing refugees


By Claire Osborn
American-Statesman Staff
MARBLE FALLS —

No one has floated a proposal to bring Central American refugees to Marble Falls. But this Hill Country town of 6,000 has put its objections on the record just the same.

The Marble Falls City Council unanimously passed a resolution last week telling the feds they didn’t want any facility established in their town to process, house or detain any of the immigrants crossing into Texas.

The measure also urges state and federal agencies to beef up security at the border; eliminate “magnets” such as in-state tuition subsidies and free non-emergency health care “that exacerbate the problem of rampant illegal immigration”; and “perform a cost/benefit analysis of the illegal alien presence” that would be released to the public.

Built on the banks of Lake Marble Falls about 50 miles northwest of Austin, the scenic town near Lake LBJ is a tourist destination. But the city “already has a lot of debt” and can’t afford to care for refugees, Council Member Reed Norman said Monday.

Norman, who put the resolution on the council’s agenda, acknowledged that no detention facility had been proposed in Marble Falls, but “we’re just afraid it will come our direction.” Reed said Marble Falls also didn’t want the refugees because it didn’t want “the diseases they are bringing.” He declined to elaborate.

Another City Council member, Ryan Nash, said Monday that he voted in favor of the resolution because detention facilities were “not appropriate” for Marble Falls. “We’re not on the border,” he said.

More than 200,000 Central Americans, including about 57,000 unaccompanied children, have entered the United States illegally since October. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing violence in their home countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and the Honduras, where children are often forced to become members of gangs or murdered if they resist.

The city of San Pedro Sula in Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world, according to United Nations figures.
Many of the unaccompanied children who have entered the United States are being held in detention centers awaiting court hearings.

The Marble Falls City Council Chambers were packed with residents at last week’s meeting, many of them speaking in favor of the resolution, Reed said.

But reaction to the resolution was mixed Monday on Marble Falls’ Main Street, where posh stores selling clothes, art and antiques line the street.

“As a business owner I understand the logic of it, but in my heart it hurts; I feel bad for those kids,” said Michele Hart, who sells rugs, art, antiques and gifts at her two stores. “I wish compassion trumped business,” she said.

Lorelei Simons, who works at an art gallery on Main Street, said she supported the resolution because she didn’t want the refugees to be in the United States. “The open border has got to be stopped…we are turning into a third world country,” she said.

But Mason Domel, a Marble Falls native, said he didn’t agree with the council’s resolution. “It’s very small-minded of them,” he said. “It’s very conservative out here. They want to live in a little bubble.”

Another Marble Falls resident, Debbie Carter, said the resolution made her “really embarrassed and ashamed that the city I live in would be so hateful especially toward children.”

“This is especially about children who are fleeing such horrible conditions; they are fleeing the murder capital of the world,” she said.

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/marble-falls-takes-preemptive-stance-against-housi/ngkNF/

Another Marble Falls resident, Debbie Carter, said the resolution made her “really embarrassed and ashamed that the city I live in would be so hateful especially toward children.”

“This is especially about children who are fleeing such horrible conditions; they are fleeing the murder capital of the world,” she said.
She obviously hasn't been to Chicago lately.....