LEWISTON, Maine — Fatuma Hussein moved to Lewiston in her 20s in 2001. She said she was the fourth family to move to the city, which is now home to thousands of Somali families.
"I think the two communities blending together has created a sense of community but also shows the rest of Maine what migration is about," Hussein said. "I believe we saved Lewiston."
Hussein said this because she said Lewiston had a low population and needed a workforce. The blending of Maine's largely white population and the influx of refugees from other countries helped build a larger, diverse community.
But previous reporting by NEWS CENTER Maine shows the journey to a more diverse Lewiston didn't come easily, and the harsh lessons learned by the city mirror the reputation Lewiston has today when it comes to welcoming a new age of families seeking asylum.
General assistance funds were clogged in Maine, as applications slowed due to language barriers. The school districts had to redistribute funds to pay for more English language emersion programs.
Hussein said all these things created tension in the city, despite local government efforts to host cultural fairs and events.
"That friction poured into schools, into stores, and into the streets," Hussein said. "If you were here ins 2001 and saw what the Somalis were going through... it was absurd."
Hussein said posters were put on Somali businesses and homes that inferred Somali families take money from the government and don't contribute to society.
"To say Somalis paved the way so immigrants can be here is an understatement," Hussein said.
But it was ultimately a letter written by the former Lewiston Mayor, that Hussein called the "icing on the cake."
Laurier T. Raymond Jr.'s letter was addressed to the Somali community and asked them to stop coming and to stop bringing their families. Previous NEWS CENTER Maine reporting shows people in the Somali community said they were unfairly targeted and called it racist.
National media flooded Lewiston surrounding the accusations of racism. In 2003 a white supremacist group hosted a rally in support of Raymond Jr.'s request.
"I was one of the people that met with the mayor and held him accountable and asked him, 'Why would you sound racist and why are you acting like this?'" Hussein said. "Was he right? absolutely not but at the same time he is the best mayor to have happened to us Somalis."
Hussein said Raymond Jr. was also the leader who fought to bring more Somali people in the first place.
Twenty years on and Hussein is now the executive director for the Immigrant Resource Center of Maine and said the years of hard lessons learned in tensions that can come with increased migration, play a pivotal role in welcoming asylum seekers today.
"There is vibrancy around partnership," Hussein said.
And her organization is planning to meet with the new asylum seekers that were moved by Portland to the Ramada Inn in Lewiston this week. She said her staff plans to meet Wednesday about how to best help the 20-30 people that are now living there.