Pastor Carl Brooks de-escalates the situation after tempers flare between a resident and Lima Councilman Derry Glenn on Thursday night.
Jacob Espinosa | The Lima News
LIMA — A forum meant for residents to share concerns about issues regarding recent immigration to Lima on Thursday night devolved into shouting matches, paranoia and few answers for the questions brought up.
Councilman Derry Glenn tried his hardest to quell the crowd of residents who showed up to the Wingate by Wyndham, but the contention became too much.
“Everyone gets three minutes to talk,” Glenn said prior to the start. “We don’t want this to be a pissing match. We know you have feelings, and we want you to be heard.”
It became too hard to hear reason over the multiple instances of crosstalk that featured accusations of racism, calls for deportations and frustration in a lack of answers.
“We can’t be as judgmental as we are, thinking that everybody is here as illegals,” said Pastor Carl Brooks, of the Lima Seventh-Day Adventist Church. “We need to be judicious with our discussion. We’ve got to listen to each other.”
It was exactly that confusion that stirred the uproar.
The forum invited residents to share their suggestions and input on notecards, but the most Glenn could offer was to call the police or himself for help in solving complaints with noise violations and possible criminal actions.
He attempted to push back on claims that the migrants were taking advantage of welfare at the cost of taxpayers and citizens in need, something impossible for immigrants without proper documentation, pointing out numerous times that the immigrants are working at jobs around the area and are paying for their housing.
“Tax dollars pay for a lot of folks (who are not immigrants),” Glenn said. “They pay for war and our roads and a lot of other things.”
Lynne Alger, a resident who attended the meeting, said she was curious about what people thought.
“I think there are a lot of misunderstandings that they’re just getting a free break,” she said. “Maybe if there was a way to show people in Lima that they are working and they’re not just taking your money, that would solve that.”
Dave Smith, another resident, did not think the forum went well.
“People were just not willing to engage in open dialogue without it just breaking down into a mess,” he said. “It’s great that Derry set this thing up, but it didn’t flow very well.”
Estimates put the number of recent arrivals from Haiti to Lima at up to 5,000.
The city responded to resident concerns with several meetings recently.
No recent immigrants from the Haitian community spoke at the forum.
The country of Haiti has been called a failed state and, following the assassination of President Jovenal Moise and subsequent resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, has seen gangs assume power, rendering 15,000 homeless.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
