DAVID ERICKSON
Safi Wakusolela s voice took on a preacher s cadence as she recounted the long, fraught journey away from her home country, the violence-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo.
She first lived in a destitute refugee camp in Tanzania before eventually making it to the United States.
Both a gospel preacher and singer, Wakusolela compared the difference in her life between the camp and Missoula as a transition from death to a miracle resurrection. I have become human again, she said. I feel like I m now free, open. I live with my family.
Her transformation may become more common as the United States changes its policy toward immigrants. President Joe Biden has proposed allowing more than 10 times as many refugees fleeing violence to resettle here as former President Donald Trump did last year.Â
A legislative hearing Tuesday on a bill to ban local governments from enacting sanctuary city laws veered off course when the committee chair shut down opponents to the bill for suggesting the legislation is rooted in racism.
The 19-member House Judiciary Committee was considering House Bill 200, which would stop state agencies or local governments from enacting laws to disengage from federal law enforcement on immigration matters. Montana has no sanctuary cities, said the bill s sponsor, Rep. Kenneth Holmlund, R-Miles City, but the legislation would be proactive. The same committee will hear another bill, House Bill 223, on Wednesday. It would authorize local law enforcement to take up federal immigration enforcement duties.
GOP chair shuts down testimony opposing sanctuary city ban sfgate.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sfgate.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.