I’m tempted to say that Chris Farrell is nuts! But, we’ve made it a policy here to not make personal attacks, rather to point out that what our opposition says or does is wrong-headed (or misguided, or self-serving, or well, nutty).
It should be no surprise that a writer at Bloomberg Businessweek would be recommending bringing in more low-skilled workers to supply cheap labor to big businesses. Legal “refugee” labor comes with a benefit—those doing the hiring can feel good about themselves (while going off to their summer place in The Hamptons) as taxpayers supplement the low wages with welfare goodies to the legal “new Americans”.
The Somali example!
Where Farrell really went off track here is when he says that the Somalis in Minnesota have brought economic benefits to Minnesota! So how does that jive with the recent statistics from Minnesota that 63% of the Somalis in the state live below the poverty level (compared to 12% of all Minnesotans)?
Farrell at Bloomberg Businessweek (emphasis is mine):
The world is a mess, isn’t it? [So since it’s a mess, let’s mess up America too!—ed] Everywhere you look, it seems another crisis is brewing. Violence in the Middle East is rampant, most appallingly in Syria but also in Iraq as the militant Sunni group ISIS is bent on conquering the whole country.
[….]
Why not admit many more of the millions displaced from their homes by war and violence?
[….]
American foreign policy should put a greater emphasis on welcoming more refugees. The American experience is that the policy is a win-win investment for the U.S. and the newcomers, an approach that allows for doing good and doing well during a particularly trying geopolitical moment. [Doing good while doing well—translation, we make money off these poor people!—ed]
[….]
Why not welcome many more refugees, at least in the thousands?
What the heck, “at least in the thousands!” We take about 143,000 refugees and asylees every year and that number will soon be doubling when you count the illegal alien kids the open borders agitators are now calling refugees.
Farrell: The Somali migration to Minnesota has “contributed to the dynamism of the local economy!”
What? By spreading welfare bucks around the state? And, what about the Somali “refugee” kids going off to fight in Somalia with al-Shabaab and in Syria with the rebels, how does that fit into the economic benefit for America?
And, by bringing in Syrians, does Farrell want to import the Sunni-Shiite civil war right here to American towns and cities, not to mention importing the general anti-Jew/anti-Christian views that drive Islam today, all for some cheap laborers?
Farrell continues:
The Somali migration to Minnesota began in the late 1990s, with about a third coming directly from refugee camps. Most of these newcomers weren’t the kind of highly educated, English-fluent immigrants that populate Silicon Valley and other high-tech hot spots. Yet since arriving in Minnesota, these newcomers have contributed to the dynamism of the local economy (PDF). The effect has been cumulative, growing over time.
See ‘State Department importing poverty to America‘ for a clearer view of the graphic.
So, I won’t call Farrell a nut, but in my opinion, his column is self-serving, deceptive and flat-out wrong!
Addendum: I apologize in advance if the graphic showing 63% of Minnesota Somalis living below the poverty level disappears, because it just did so briefly as I was writing. It is a pretty damning graph, so I expect it to disappear!
