MISSOULA — The first family of Congolese refugees has arrived in Missoula, with a total of 25 people expected to arrive by the end of September.
The Missoulian reports the family of six arrived Thursday. Three of the four children had spent their entire lives in a refugee camp in Tanzania.
International Rescue Committee Missoula director Molly Short Carr says the family is in culture shock and they are exhausted from the journey.
Missoula County commissioners previously invited up to 100 refugees a year to resettle in the county, and the IRC re-opened its Missoula office earlier this year.
The same week the family arrived in Missoula, Republican candidate for governor Greg Gianforte mailed out fliers urging a halt to refugee resettlement in Montana.
Campaign spokesman Aaron Flint says the timing is a coincidence.