Refugees in New Destinations and Small Cities Resettlement in Vermont Pablo S. Bose Refugees in New Destinations and Small Cities Pablo S. Bose Refugees in New Destinations and Small Cities Resettlement in Vermont Pablo S. Bose Department of Geography University ofVermont Burlington,VT, USA ISBN 978-981-15-6385-0 ISBN 978-981-15-6386-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6386-7 ©The Editor(s) (if applicable) andThe Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whetherthewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way,andtransmissionorinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnot imply,evenintheabsenceof aspecific statement,thatsuch namesareexempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthis book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover credit: Rutland,Vermont, photo by Chris Booth/vibecommercialimaging.com This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Acknowledgments Thisbookismadepossiblebythesupport,critiques,feedback,andlabor of many. It is about a place that I scarcely knew when I moved here and that I have grown to love in the years since. And perhaps even more, it is about the people who have been so generous in sharing their experi- ences as newcomers in Vermont and elsewhere with me. It has been my very great privilege to work with, learn from, and learn about individ- uals, families, and communities that have been through unimaginable upheaval, loss, trauma, and change and yet remain so strong, resilient, and unbroken. The refugee communities and diverse individuals that I have had the honor to work with and meet during the course of my research have always been a profound inspiration to me and give me hope and guidance in my own times of personal or professional doubts and questions. I am thus especially grateful to leaders within the refugee and reset- tlement communities in Vermont whom I have come to know over the years, especially Jacob Bogre, Thato Ratsebe, and Rita Neopaney along with many other wonderful staff at AALV.The VT State Refugee v vi Acknowledgments Coordinator Denise Lamoreux has been a constant source of informa- tion and encouragement. The Refugee and Immigrant Service Provider Network (RISPNET) meetings she organizes and leads each month are an amazing resource not only for academics like myself but for the broader community as a whole. Amila Merdzanovic, Judy Scott, and numerous staff with VRRP/USCRI-VT have also lent considerable assistance to me. Jenelle Eli and Katy Jones were of exceptional assis- tance in making contacts in Washington and with resettlement agen- cies nationally. Vermont’s congressional delegation and staff—especially Susan Sussman and Diane Derby with Senator Patrick Leahy’s office— have also been strong supporters for this work in Washington and in Vermont. The research on which the book is based has been funded at various timesbytheNationalScienceFoundation,theUSDepartmentofTrans- portation, and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, as well as by the University of Vermont (more specifically by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Geography, Food Systems and the office of the Vice President for Research). I am especially appreciative of the guidance and assistance that Antoinette Winklerprins at the NSF and Lisa Aultman-Hall with the Transportation Research Center at UVM provided as I completed grants focused on resettlement and mobility respectively,whileDeanWilliamFallsoftheCollegeofArtsandSciences atUVMhasbeentremendouslyencouragingformanyyears.TheOffice of Undergraduate Research at UVM has provided material support for many of my students to undertake theses, internships, and independent research with my community partners. OthercolleaguesatUVM,pastandpresent,havelikewisebeencentral to this work. Glen Elder brought me to Vermont for what I thought wouldbeashorttwo-yearstint,nowgoingonwelloveradecade.Reecia Orzeck, Matt Himley, Carlos Vargas-Silva, Susannah McCandless, and Clayton Rosati made my first few bewildering years in a new discipline and a new home much more manageable. Meghan Cope and Beverley Wemple have been simply the best mentors one could ever hope for. RashadShabazz’sworkonblacknessandurbanenvironmentsandTeresa Mares’ fantastic research with migrant farmworkers have helped me to rethinkrelationshipsbetweenraceandspaceinparticular.Ihavelearned Acknowledgments vii more from Cherie Morse’s research on rural communities and global migration and Vermont in general than from almost anyone else. Karen Fondacaro and Andrea Green’s (many) community-based interventions have been inspiring and thought-provoking. Harlan Morehouse, Shelly Rayback, Ingrid Nelson, Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux, Jenny Baldwin, and Vibeke Burley have reminded me daily how lucky I am to be in the GeographyDepartment.OthercolleaguesatUVMIwouldliketothank include Randall Harp, Alex Zakaras, David Massell, Paul Martin, Jinny Huh, Joel Goldberg, Alec Ewald, Richard Watts, Susan Munkres, Alan Rubin, Vicki Brennan, and Cynthia Reyes. Beyond UVM, I am appre- ciative of collaborations and feedback from Elizabeth Lunstrum, Denver Nixon, Margaret Walton-Roberts, Alison Mountz, Jennifer Hyndman, Elizabeth Chacko, Karin Jacobsen, and Peter Penz. Jonah Steinberg’s work on transnationalism, diaspora, and migration hascomplicatedandbroadenedmyunderstandingofallofthesecomplex formations and processes. He has been a particularly helpful sounding board and critic for many of my ideas and the direction of my research. I am deeply grateful for his friendship and help over the years, as I am also for that of Emily Manetta and of Zaki, Amittai, and Ananya. My students have been absolutely instrumental in the research that has gone into producing this book. Of particular note has been my main assistant and collaborator for the past several years, Lucas Grigri. Others I have worked with and learned from include Brenna Foley, SammieIbrahim,TildenRemerleitch,MerazMostafa,GillianTiley,Kim Furtado,ElizabethWolfe,ErikaShepard,EmmaGianoplus,AnnieRyan, Emily Klofft, Alex Rosenberg, Sarah Barrett, Tony Hollop, Emma Tait, TylerWilkinson-Ray,RachelOcher,andIsabelDunkley.Iamveryappre- ciative of the efficiency and efforts of Josh Pitt and Rachel Daniel at Palgrave Macmillan in getting this project to publication. Perhaps no one has helped me understand Vermont more than the extendedLarameeclan,especiallytheinsightsaboutplaceslikeWinooski given to me by Armand and Bernice Laramee. Monica and Bill Laramee have offered much support and many opportunities to learn about Vermont (especially outside of Burlington), while I gain so much each year from Collin, Sophie, Elliot, Jane, Wren, and Quinn. Billy and Wendy, Michael and Kathleen, and Jamie and Allison have introduced viii Acknowledgments me to new and productive ways of thinking about what building a good life in a new place means. I am as ever thankful to my sister Sarika Bose for her eternal love and support.MymotherMandakrantaBosecontinuestoamazemewithher capacity to take on so many different projects and stay busy no matter whattheworlddoesaroundher.Myfather,TirthankarBose,asheseems to have been since I was in high school, provides the indispensable final word on so much that I write, offering critical commentary, sage advice, and careful editing suggestions. And finally, this book would not be possible without the myriad contributions of my daughter Lily—from helping retake higher- resolution photographs, to paginating the index, to choosing a cover and so much more. Her boundless curiosity, intelligence, and patience impress me each day. And I thank my wife, Alisha Laramee, my partner in life and in my community-based research, who has taught me more about these topics, about thoughtful interventions, and how to criti- callyinterrogatemyownassumptionsandbiasesmorethanIcouldhave imagined and thus made my work all the better for it. Contents 1 Introduction 1 Refugees in an Age of Rising Xenophobia 5 Refugees inVermont 8 Methodology 11 Methods and Sources 15 Plan of the Book 17 References 20 2 The US and Refugee Resettlement 25 AWorld on the Move? 26 History of the USRAP 29 Structure of the USRAP 38 Resettlement in the US 2012–2016 43 References 49 3 Immigration, Refugees, andVermont 53 Migration andVermont 54 Refugees Resettled inVermont 60 ix x Contents Diverse Backgrounds 66 Vermonter AttitudesToward Newcomers 72 References 77 4 Burlington 83 Refugees and Smaller Cities 85 Burlington the City 91 Refugees in Burlington 93 Photovoice: Refugee Images of Burlington 103 References 111 5 Winooski 115 Refugees, Ethnic Enclaves, and Suburbs 118 Winooski the City 121 Refugees inWinooski 125 Photovoice: Refugee Images ofWinooski 133 References 138 6 Rutland 143 Refugees and Rustbelt Cities 145 Rutland the City 149 Refugees in Rutland 152 Backlash 156 Postscript: Rutland Now 159 References 161 7 Mobility 165 Migrants and Mobility 168 Vermont and Refugee Mobility 173 Gendered Dimensions of Mobility 182 Newcomers and Cultures ofTravel 187 References 190 8 Food 195 Migrants and Food 197 Vermont and Food Cultures 203