Boise mayor lays out welcome mat: ‘Diversity isn’t a buzz word. It’s our birthright’

The multicultural transformation of Idaho will continue with a planned infusion of hundreds of refugees from Muslim countries over the next one to three years.

A local newspaper in Twin Falls reported that city will receive 300 mostly Syrian refugees over the next fiscal year starting Oct. 1.

But WND has learned the numbers will be much larger statewide and include refugees from Syria, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo and possibly Somalia.

Sources tell WND that community leaders learned of the plans for up to 2,000 refugees at a recent conference at Boise State University attended by church groups, social services providers and other “stakeholders.”

“That’s the number they put out that they’re planning for, a total of about 2,000 over the next one to three years, with 70 percent going to Boise and 30 percent in the Twin Falls area,” said Shahram Hadian, a former Muslim turned Christian pastor in eastern Washington who said he spoke with a conference attendee.

WND reported two weeks ago that Spartanburg, South Carolina, has also been selected for the seeding of a Syrian refugee community.

Unlike Boise, residents in Spartanburg have mustered an organized opposition to the infusion of 65 Syrian refugees over the next year, saying the town already has high crime and poverty and isn’t prepared to absorb hundreds of poor [and violent] Syrians.

http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/hundreds-of-muslim-refugees-headed-to-idaho/