Category: Who is going where

“We scratched our heads about this”

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Minnesota demographers scratched their heads trying to figure out where all the Ethiopians were coming from.  This was from an article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune over a year ago, but I thought it was worth mentioning.   (The July 16, 2006 article will not link).

“We scratched our heads about this,” Tom Gillaspy, the state demographer, said Friday. “It was a number that sort of stood out to us. There has been a steady, noticeable immigration from Ethiopia to Minnesota, but it’s larger this year.”

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Ethiopians began coming to the United States a few decades ago to escape famine and civil war in their Horn of Africa nation. But their population in Minnesota has remained relatively small compared with groups such as the Hmong and Somalis.

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The state says an estimated 7,500 Ethiopians were living in Minnesota in 2003 — the last year with complete figures — though immigrant leaders believe there are far more, perhaps as many as 20,000.

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……secondary migration — in which refugees move here after first living in other states — might explain the increase. Ethiopians are coming to Minnesota for low-skilled jobs and to join their families, he said.

It shouldn’t have come as that much of a surprise.   According to the 2005 ORR report to Congress (Appendix A),  Minnesota was the recipient of the 2nd highest number of Ethiopians resettled in the US (only California received more).

We’ve also previously mentioned that one of the ten major volags (voluntary agencies) resettling refugees is the Ethiopian Community Development Council, the mothership of the Los Angeles based African Community Resource Center whose director, a former refugee (refugees set up their own non-profits and bring in more refugees), was recently indicted for allegedly helping herself to federal grant money designated for refugee programs.    Not only do these volags resettle newly arrived refugees but they help facilitate family reunification and secondary migrations.  Here the African Community Center advertises for its services to help refugees bring over the family.

Emporia, Kansas asking questions

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I chuckled when I saw this piece in the Emporia Gazette today.  It sounded just like us in Hagerstown, MD  this past spring.   When no one could answer our questions about how Refugee Resettlement worked we set out to find the answers ourselves and this blog was born!

Although they have no name and only informal leadership, a group of more than 25 people came together Thursday night and vowed to work together to fight a move to make Emporia a refugee resettlement point.

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Their first step — gather answers to key questions.

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“We’ve got a data void,” said City Commissioner Bobbie Agler, “a serious data void.”

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It was a theme that ran through the 90-minute meeting as Agler and others attempted to answer as many questions as they could without documentation.

Citizens of Emporia are wondering why they did not know that plans were in the works to make Emporia a refugee center for Somalis coming to work at meat packing plants.  Read the whole story!   The Gazette has an on-line poll in which 89% of the citizens of Emporia say NO to the whole proposition.  Uh oh, is Hagerstown going to get a challenger for the title of most “unwelcome” city in America?   We will fight you for it!

I’ll try to get some stuff up soon on Kansas in “Your state” above.   Update (11/12):  See this post for information on refugees in Kansas.   Our contact information is at the right and we are happy to help you with your research if you need us.

Further update for readers not familiar with what is happening in Emporia.  There is an earlier Gazette article here that gives additional background information about the growing controversy.

Ft. Wayne update: Health Dept strapped, but bring on the Burmese

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

On Thursday, the Health Dept. of Allen County, Indiana, which includes Ft. Wayne held an important meeting to assess the challenge the Department is facing with a large influx of Burmese refugees.   The most pressing issue is where to find the funds to head off potential health risks to the entire community.    Here are some facts according to the News-Sentinal:

Nearly $190,000 in additional funds will be needed to meet the health care needs of refugees coming to Fort Wayne, Department of Health Administrator Mindy Waldron said Thursday at a special meeting of the Board of Health.

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Indiana law requires local health departments to evaluate and treat refugees within 30 days of their arrival.

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Adding staff hours for the Infectious Disease Clinic is the largest need next year. Waldron outlined needs for staff and work hours to the board, calculating 183 more hours per week for medical and administrative staff — at a cost of nearly $160,000 — will be needed.

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Forty percent of Burmese refugees in Fort Wayne have noncontagious latent TB, McMahan said. If not tracked and treated, 10 to 15 percent will develop active TB. Treatment is expensive, requiring daily medications for months by a trained individual at the person’s home or workplace.

But in spite of the challenges, Ft Wayne says they are ready for more refugees:

Steensma [Health Dept. Board Member] asked the public to welcome the refugees. “It’s a burden to this department,” he said, “but it’s not a burden to the community.”

The Journal-Gazette story echoes this same theme:

In an average year, 100 to 200 Burmese refugees settle in Allen County, she [Catholic Charities representative] said. But secondary migration from other settlement communities accounts for an even greater portion of the Burmese population in Fort Wayne. Overall, the city is home to 3,000 to 3,500 Burmese people, one of the largest Burmese populations in the U.S.

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In the meantime, board members said it was important that Burmese refugees are welcomed with open arms into the community.

Bottomline,  it is up to the community.   Some cities, counties and whole states have decided they cannot handle the burden of large numbers of refugees and that choice must be respected.   If Ft. Wayne and Allen County residents are all for resettling large numbers of refugees and attracting others through secondary migration, then that too is a choice we can’t argue with.

See our previous posts on Ft. Wayne here and here.    Check back later and I’ll put some information on Indiana in our “your state” page linked above.

Utah plans new state refugee office–Iraqis coming

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Governor and Salt Lake County Mayor laud the creation of a new state department to handle the increased needs of a growing refugee community in Utah.   They also need better coordination for dispensing federal funds.   The article today in the Salt Lake Tribune suggests this new office is coming at a critical time to handle the anticipated flow of Iraqi refugees.

Catholic Community Services just resettled its first Iraqi family, said Vladimir Klaich, refugee resettlement program manager.

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“This is just the beginning,” he said. “We expect to have many more, but we don’t know exactly when or how many will be coming.”

I’ve put some information about Utah in the “your state” page above to help you get started on research.  However, now that I have found the handy little database at the Office of Refugee Resettlement here are a few nuggets about Utah.    In 2006, Utah handled 766 cases and received $3,883,038 in federal grants.  Those figures indicate that each case cost the taxpayer $5069.    However keep in mind that this is only a portion of what it costs to resettle refugees.   The volags are paid by the head by the US State Department then the refugees are on some form of welfare.   82% of the cases in 2006 were receiving  medical benefits.   That is no surprise because the average hourly wage was $7.35 for those who were working.

Utah ranks pretty low on the Bobby Byrd Scale.  West Virginia had one case in 2006 and received $100,522 in federal grant money!

Atlas Shrugs posts on Somali refugee problem

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The well-known Atlas Shrugs blog, reporting yesterday on a piece by Jerry Gordon of the ACT [American Congress for Truth] blog on the Somali refugee problem brewing in Emporia, Kansas, asked the questions we have been asking (and trying to answer for you!): 

My question is how did we become centers for immigration without any input from the community or public notification? And how do we take political action on this?”

We are glad to see that others in the country are raising red flags about large numbers of refugees entering the US and not assimiliating, but expecting us to change how we live to accomodate their religion and culture.  And, adding insult to injury, the whole process is funded by you, the taxpayer.

See our Diversity page linked above for articles that further articulate this problem.

As for Atlas’ question, how do we take political action on this?   The first step is what Atlas has just done and what we are trying to do, educate the public about the problem and then bring out the facts on how refugee resettlement works.   My driving force from our early days in the Hagerstown controversy is to educate the public and to insist that citizens be given all the facts.  The democratic process cannot function, and communities cannot weigh in on this community-altering program unless the people know what this program is and who runs it.   Some cities will want more refugees, others won’t, but everyone is entitled to voice an opinion, which is impossible if the program is kept quiet.