TWIN FALLS • A group has formed calling for the College of Southern Idaho to shut down its Refugee Center program.
The Committee to End the CSI Refugee Center — which has 101 members in a closed Facebook group — is led by Buhl resident Rick Martin, a conservative activist.
“Our main goal is to bring about an informed electorate through programs of education and action,” he told the Times-News Monday.
It follows months of controversy since an April announcement that 300 refugees — possibly, from Syria — could be resettled here over the next year. Some community members have speculated about an influx of radical Muslims.
The Refugee Center has resettled about 5,000 people since the early 1980s.
During May and June CSI board meetings, Martin asked for a future agenda item to consider phasing out the Refugee Center program within six months, saying it’s a burden for taxpayers and a public affairs issue for CSI.
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“This program is giving the college a bad rap,” he said. “Let someone else take it over.”
CSI’s board of trustees have been gracious in allowing for public comments, but haven’t answered many questions, Martin said.
Martin’s group submitted a public information request earlier this month to obtain a document about the Refugee Center program. It’s called the R&P Abstract, which is prepared for the federal government each year.
College officials issued a response Friday saying the document is exempt from disclosure, CSI spokesman Doug Maughan said.
The document constitutes trade secrets, according to the written response, which cites Idaho Code 9-340D(1).
That section covers information that “derives independent economic value” not readily accessible by other people and information that’s “subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.”
The “trade secret” exemption is ludicrous, Martin said.
His group is planning four meetings for July. And they plan to go door-to-door in neighborhoods.
The committee isn’t opposed to refugees, Martin said. “They’re human beings and we need to treat them with respect and dignity.”
He said he encourages everyone to get to know refugees, such as inviting them over to a barbecue. But with CSI’s Refugee Center, “things are going on that the public needs to know about,” Martin said.
The CSI board is proud and fully supportive of the Refugee Center, trustee Bob Keegan told a crowd during a June meeting.
Board chairman Karl Kleinkopf told the Times-News on Monday he doesn’t anticipate pursuing a future agenda item about the Refugee Center, but won’t rule it out.
The board spent about 30 minutes hearing a presentation about the center in April, he said, and there weren’t any public comments.
Board members have done their due diligence by putting an item on the April agenda, Kleinkopf said. “I think that’s where we’re going to leave it for a while.”
The board has other important topics to consider, he added.
But it’s important to allow community members to continue to voice opinions, Kleinkopf said. “We get a lot of comments both ways.”
Martin has been in the political spotlight before and was linked with several cases of fictitious sample ballots. In 2012, Martin distributed altered sample ballots. His name was listed, but not his opponent — incumbent Terry Kramer for Republican Castleford Precinct Committeeman.
In March, he distributed a flier — which was labeled as a sample ballot — saying that voting “yes” for a Buhl school bond would harm the poor and elderly. And in May, he passed out a similar flier shortly before an election urging voters to oppose a proposed Buhl recreation district.
In recent months, other community groups have cropped up related to CSI’s Refugee Center.
Twin Falls accountant Deborah Silver formed a group to support CSI’s Refugee Center. Members plan to volunteer for the center, and educate the community about refugees and the resettlement process.
