In Rutland, sadness at Trump's ban

RUTLAND, Vt. — After two long days of travel and little sleep, two Syrian families landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City at the eleventh hour for immigrants hoping to find a new life in the United States.

Vermont-bound, the first family arrived two days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration; the second, less than 24 hours before he took office.

The remaining 25 to 30 families supposed to arrive in Rutland this year may never get there. Their plans stalled when the president penned an executive order on Friday that banned Syrian refugees from resettling in the U.S.

“They were the last out,” said Rutland Mayor Christopher Louras about the two families who resettled in his city of just under 16,000 less than two weeks ago.

“I feel desperate disappointment and sadness, and while I feel sadness for our community, the disappointment pales in comparison to the scale of the tragedy,” Louras said Tuesday in an interview at Rutland City Hall. “Unless there are substantive changes to the president’s order, they were the last to come to us. This is a national tragedy and people will die.”

More: http://poststar.com/news/in-rutland-sadness-at-trump-s-ban/article_4393e41f-77de-5b88-9d30-02ae564a58a5.html