, Columnist
Maine's Somalis Could Be Its Saviors
Refugees boost the population and change the demographics of the nation's whitest state.
Yesterday's refugees, today's champions.
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As goes Lewiston, so goes the country?
A tightly fought mayoral contest in Maine’s second-largest city (pop. 36,299) tapped into anxieties shared by many Americans in communities hosting refugees and asylum seekers: the threat of rising poverty and welfare dependence, more crime and ugly culture clashes. But if the once-declining mill town’s upward trajectory is any indication, perhaps the biggest thing they have to fear is fear itself. For the state with the country’s oldest, whitest and slowest-growing population, attracting new residents of various stripes isn't just a godsend but an economic imperative.