The flaring tension over the resettlement of refugees in Eau Claire has been repeated in many other midsize communities across the U.S.

Tensions flared last fall in western Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley with news that several dozen refugees would be resettled in and around the city of Eau Claire, one of several midsize cities across the U.

Stephanie Hirsch remembers growing up in the western Wisconsin city of Eau Claire when the community welcomed newly arriving Hmong refugees from Southeast Asia.