09/23/2024

In Rural Wisconsin, a Tangle of Facts and Fears over Faraway Refugees

A county board and its constituents wrestle with who belongs in America

The refugees were headed to a city 150 miles away, but the public uproar over their imminent arrival quickly migrated across county lines, down the lush rural roads of south-central Wisconsin and here into the quiet town of Baraboo where Dr. Eleanor Vita had recently retired. She set out to research the matter herself, which was how, within the dull depths of government reports about resettlement, she found what she believed was proof of dishonesty about the cost of the program.

She had underlined the documents in red pen; she had shared her concerns with confidants and neighbors; and now she was standing at a lectern before the Sauk County Board of Supervisors to present what she had found.

“When you really think about it, who really costs us money? The children,” Vita told her local representatives.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.