Chehalis City Hall as seen on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016
Chehalis Mayor Dennis Dawes read a proclamation at the Monday night Chehalis City Council meeting that declared Chehalis’ support of refugees.
“I, Dennis L. Dawes, mayor of the city of Chehalis on behalf of the city council hereby declare the city’s support for resettlement of refugees meeting the current refugees process no matter their religion, race, nationality, or country of origin,” said Dawes when reading the proclamation.
At the Nov. 12 city council meeting Sarah Brown, an area coordinator with Amnesty International, requested that the city of Chehalis adopt a non-binding refugee resolution that would show support for future refugees settlements in Chehalis. When addressing the council Brown spoke about the hardships that lead refugees, many of whom are children, to leave their countries. She said that refugees must go through a rigorous six-step process in order to come to the U.S. and they have 90 days to find a job.
“I have the proclamation that you asked for and we were about to put some wording together thanks to the city clerk,” Dawes said to Brown on Dec. 9.
He then proceeded to read the proclamation which outlined the reasons individuals are forced to flee their countries including race, religion, nationality and political opinion.
“Whereas there are more refugees in the world today, half of which are children, that are fleeing armed conflict and persecution,” he read.
The proclamation stated that Chehalis applauds the long-standing bipartisan tradition of the U.S. in welcoming refugees. The refugees must be found permissible by U.S. immigration laws before they are able to settle in the U.S.
The city of Chehalis also called upon other communities to join in the support of helping vulnerable refugees.
