LEWISTON — Some of the asylum seekers who have been staying at the Portland Expo shelter will be housed at the Ramada by Wyndham Lewiston Hotel and Conference Center, possibly as early as Wednesday, according to city officials.
Twenty-three rooms have been set aside for asylum seekers, said Angelynne Amores, Lewiston’s director of marketing and communication.
Sixty families will be placed at hotels in Lewiston and Freeport, according to Portland Director of Communications Jessica Grondin.
The state and the city of Portland will pay for the housing. Portland’s share is expected to be about $500,000, according to the Portland Press Herald.
It is unclear when they will arrive in Lewiston but it has been reported that the temporary shelter at the Portland Expo would close Wednesday. The goal is to have them resettled to permanent housing by Nov. 1.
Portland’s plan is to house the asylum seekers in Lewiston for a few months, while the asylum seekers in the Freeport hotel may stay there for up to a year, according to Grondin. The city will transition people out of the hotels as housing placements become available in the city’s family shelter units. Eventually, the hotels will no longer be used. “We’re only using these two hotels as a stopgap for the families that were at the expo,” she said.
Portland has accepted more than 1,600 asylum seekers since the beginning of the year, according to the Portland Press Herald. The city housed as many as 300 at the Portland Expo this past spring. Some have been relocated to permanent housing, but the city has struggled to find housing for 192 of them.
Families coming to Lewiston will primarily be those with children under age 5, Grondin said. At this time, it is unclear exactly where children will attend school but the city of Portland will give them the choice to attend Portland schools or Freeport schools, she said.
Lewiston Schools Superintendent Jake Langlais said he is unaware of any plans to send asylum seeker children from the Portland Expo to Lewiston city schools, but could accept them if needed.
The Ramada is being eyed by Lewiston Housing Authority leaders for possible use for transitional housing. Under the plan, Lewiston Housing would buy the hotel and create 118 studio units with services focusing on workforce development, mental health and more. Lewiston Housing officials said it would be intended for “Lewiston residents who are homeless, priced out of the market, and/or victims of no-fault evictions.”
The City Council has so far been generally positive about the plan, although challenges must still be worked out. If approved, Lewiston Housing officials hope to close the deal on or before Oct. 31.
Asylum seekers can legally remain in the U.S. while pursuing permanent status as asylees, but they are not allowed to work and support themselves for at least six months after applying for asylum.
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