Update July 30th: Here is another account of Richard’s trip to Portland.
….but, haven’t seen any mention yet of her visiting Manchester, NH, have any of you?
Here she is in Portland, OR yesterday:
Refugee contractor Catholic Charities: Wahhhhhh! We want more taxpayer money!
The Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration [PRM] is in Portland today — to see how well refugees settle into their new lives in the city.
Anne Richard visited two families and met with local charities and government organizations.
Anne Holloway of Catholic Charities says Secretary Richard asked a lot of questions.
“She has already visited two other cities, trying to get a handle on the success of the U.S. Refugee program,” Holloway says. “What the local agencies are being able to do to help resettle them. How they’re faring in our school systems, with employers,all of those kinds of things.”
Holloway says the federal government could help local resettlement efforts by providing more money. She says families get eight months of financial help, but it often takes longer to assimilate into the community.
When she says they need more time to “assimilate” what that really means is that they aren’t finding jobs and need more welfare.
Here is more information for new readers on Anne Richard who came in through the revolving door from the International Rescue Committee (a major federal refugee contractor).
Awhile back I directed readers to ‘fun with numbers’, here, where you could find your state/city and see which nationalities were resettled in your town.
Below are the numbers for Oregon for FY2007-2012. You can check it out yourself by following links in that fun with numbers post, but MOST of those resettled in Oregon went to Portland. Most came after the recession began. No wonder they can’t find work! And, get out your world map! Isn’t diversity grand!
Afghanistan…..93
Albania………….1
Belarus…………27
Bhutan………..591
Burma………..979
Burundi………101
Cent. African Rep….16
China………….1
Congo………….7
Cuba…………..52
Dem. Rep. Congo…..159
Eritrea…………51
Ethiopia……….50
Georgia…………4
Iran…………….90
Iraq…………….554
Kazakhstan…….16
Kyrgyzstan…….21
Liberia…………..9
Moldova……….122
Palestine…………4
Russia……………134
Rwanda…………9
Somalia……….709
Sudan……………11
Syria…………….1
Thailand………..1
Turkmenistan….4
Uganda………….2
Ukraine…………428
Uzbekistan………62
Vietnam………….31
total……………4340 (compared to some other states and cities that is a small number, Texas had over 5000 last year alone, here)
That was fun….will do it again real soon!