Lewiston, Maine — once a quiet New England mill city — has logged 35 gun-related incidents this year, 22 involving juveniles, after decades of federal refugee resettlement transformed the city's demographics, and the people living there are paying the price.

This is the open-border legacy in microcosm: Washington funnels foreign nationals into small American communities, the community absorbs the strain, and local officials scramble to manage the fallout.

Police Chief Carly Conley calls the violence "one of the most serious public safety challenges" facing Lewiston. Teenager Mohamed Muhumed told Fox News Digital: "I don't feel safe. I fear for my life. I saw someone get punched in the middle of the sidewalk over there. It's crazy."

The city has become home to a large population of refugees from Somalia and other African nations through federal resettlement programs no local resident ever voted to approve. Now the bill is coming due.

Jon Fetherston, a reporter for The Maine Wire, told Fox News Digital that "the gun violence in Lewiston is very concerning. The majority... has been committed by teenagers... Multiple times teenagers have been arrested and immediately released by the courts back out on the streets."

"The court systems are being tapped. The DA is frustrated that the courts aren't putting these kids away in jail," Fetherston continued. "Residents are scared. Residents are very, very frustrated, and you've got kids shooting kids, and it's almost become commonplace here in Lewiston."

Republican Rick LaChapelle, a former city council president now running for mayor, pointed the finger at one-party Democratic rule. "Our biggest problem is the system itself," he said. "We have one young man that's been arrested 5 times, I believe, for the same thing. He gets arrested, gets brought down to the youth center... gets released."

"It's been a one-party rule forever that has instilled the rules that there's no accountability," LaChapelle argued. "We need to change the rules of the system."

Mayor Carl Sheline — who didn't respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment — issued a statement calling the $200,000 in new police overtime a "strong message" to shooters, then pivoted: "Parental involvement and accountability are key to reducing youth gun violence in our city."

No official data ties the violence specifically to Somali residents. LaChapelle conceded only that "that seems to be who's being arrested right now." Some locals pushed back: teenager Mohamed Adbei said, "I wouldn't just say it's the Somali kids. It's youth in general." Ifraax Saciid, a Somali native, pointed to poverty: "Lewiston is very poor and is economically not in a good state."

The New York Post headline promised "fraud scandals" the article never delivered. Fox teased a Maine nonprofit with Somali ties losing state funding — then provided zero details. Both outlets handled the ethnic dimension cautiously, noting the absence of official data while arrests on the ground tell a different story.

What neither outlet asks: Who approved the resettlement? Which federal programs funded it? Which politicians championed it? The people of Lewiston never got a vote. They just got the bill — and now, the gunfire.