[FrugalYankee]

It's pretty common knowledge that a lot of the trash from CT, NJ and MA IS flocking to VT for the generous welfare benefits, free housing, non-existent oversight and easy prey for drug deals. It's certainly not just Burlington. Anyone who pays attention to what is going on in VT at all is aware of thise. Obviously refugees are in a different category than the wannabe gang members and petty crooks that are enjoying the free ride they are getting courtesy of the taxpayers. The question is, are the Somalis assimilating into what is left of the decent part of VT or are they getting sucked into the lowlife crowd?

[VTisforMe]

Originally Posted by FrugalYankee

It's pretty common knowledge that a lot of the trash from CT, NJ and MA IS flocking to VT for the generous welfare benefits, free housing, non-existent oversight and easy prey for drug deals. It's certainly not just Burlington. Anyone who pays attention to what is going on in VT at all is aware of thise. Obviously refugees are in a different category than the wannabe gang members and petty crooks that are enjoying the free ride they are getting courtesy of the taxpayers. The question is, are the Somalis assimilating into what is left of the decent part of VT or are they getting sucked into the lowlife crowd?

There are an awful lot of French Canadian surnames that show up in crime reports. Did those people also come here from CT, NJ and MA?

It is certainly not just Burlington, I agree with you there. There have been drug-related crimes in our other cities and in our towns and villages. It's also not just Vermont. Opiates in particular are a nasty addiction that has left no part of this country unaffected.

[BickleTravis]

Originally Posted by VTisforMe

There are an awful lot of French Canadian surnames that show up in crime reports. Did those people also come here from CT, NJ and MA?

It is certainly not just Burlington, I agree with you there. There have been drug-related crimes in our other cities and in our towns and villages. It's also not just Vermont. Opiates in particular are a nasty addiction that has left no part of this country unaffected.

Read the recent news reports of drive by shootings and arrested crack dealers and find one with a French Canadian surname.

The street level dealers may be local, but the ones pushing weight and pulling the triggers are from Springfield, MA, and NYC.

BTW, where in NJ are you from?

[pauldorell]

Originally Posted by VTisforMe

There are an awful lot of French Canadian surnames that show up in crime reports. Did those people also come here from CT, NJ and MA?

It is certainly not just Burlington, I agree with you there. There have been drug-related crimes in our other cities and in our towns and villages. It's also not just Vermont. Opiates in particular are a nasty addiction that has left no part of this country unaffected.

Drugs have been a problem in rural states for a long time. Vermont looks pretty good in terms of meth labs: DEA, Maps of Methamphetamine Lab Incidents.

[BickleTravis]

Originally Posted by pauldorell

Drugs have been a problem in rural states for a long time. Vermont looks pretty good in terms of meth labs: DEA, Maps of Methamphetamine Lab Incidents.

Why are people so unwilling to see that large amounts of heroin and crack are coming to Burlington from NYC? Is it the implications?

[pauldorell]

Originally Posted by BickleTravis

Why are people so unwilling to see that large amounts of heroin and crack are coming to Burlington from NYC? Is it the implications?

Drugs have been moving into most rural areas all across the country for many years. Having lived in the Chicago area for 13 years, the scale of drug use in Vermont seems tiny to me. Sure, drugs are a problem here, but the people driving past my house are far more likely to be farmers or carpenters than drug dealers, pimps or prostitutes. The idea that Vermont is a dangerous crime zone seems completely ridiculous if you've ever seen a real crime zone.

[FrugalYankee]

True, however the general population and more importantly law enforcement in VT are no match for the big city crime that urban dwellers are used to. Time was we only had crimes of passion and loose nuts. Now we have drug related armed robberies, street shootings etc and the cops up here are no match for it.

[pauldorell]

Originally Posted by FrugalYankee

True, however the general population and more importantly law enforcement in VT are no match for the big city crime that urban dwellers are used to. Time was we only had crimes of passion and loose nuts. Now we have drug related armed robberies, street shootings etc and the cops up here are no match for it.

Sounds like taxes will have to be raised to hire more cops.

[MRVphotog]

First, this country was made great from immigrants, whether your family came to Vermont in the 1700's, thru Ellis Island in the early 20th century or a month ago. Unless your Native American your lineage starts with immigrants.

As I mentioned in a post I worked with several Somalis in Maine at LL Bean. These people were persecuted and killed so coming to the U.S was a matter of survival. Just like my family did from Austria in the early 1900's thru Ellis Island escaping from the Nazi's. Just my grandparents made it, the rest of my family(my grandmother had five sisters all with familes all died in Auschwitz.

Ethan Allen was a farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, and American Revolutionary War patriot, hero, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of the U.S. state of Vermont, and for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga early in the American Revolutionary War. He and his brother Ira were from CT.

I fail to see how the drug problem in Vermont, discussed in CD ad naseum, has any connection with the Somalians. In Maine, yes they got new cars but what I saw is how they filled the car, they lived in Lewiston, and commuted over dicey roads every night to work at LL Bean in Freeport.

Since we all started from immigrant stock, I say welcome all law abiding immigrants as they will help keep Vermont a great place to live.

[FrugalYankee]

The drug issue came up in connection with VT being a mecca for people - whether political refugee or deadbeat - to come to VT because of the generous government freebies, paid for by the likes of us who are propping up this welfare state.

And MRV, your grandparents must have been ahead of their time if they escaped from the Nazis in Austria in the 1900s. My mother and her family made it out of Czechoslovakia in the 1930s to escape the Nazis. They did not get any free cars or other handouts when they got to Ellis Island, nor were there ESL classes in the schools.

Sure we could use law abiding immigrants and transplants who want to come to Vermont and work as hard as Ethan Allen. Unfortunately that is no longer the type of person that the state is attracting.