Idaho boo-hooing: Not enough refugee
workers arriving
Lack of refugees has Idaho businesses scrambling for workers,
Lack of refugees has Idaho businesses scrambling for workers,
by Ann Corcoran, 9/11/18
This
story would not be worth posting except for the fact that it once again informs
us that the refugees are here to supply cheap labor for industries that want to
keep wages low. (Cheap for industry, but not for taxpayers who subsidize the
refugee families with welfare!)
And,
it is worth posting because the refugee agency head in Twin Falls is mistaken
when he thinks the citizens of Idaho have been sufficiently ‘educated’ and now
will be more welcoming of refugees.
Twin Falls has long been a city in
turmoil about the refugee flow there partly due to the labor needs of the
massive Chobani Yogurt plant there and the dairy industry that supplies it.
From
the Idaho State Business Journal:
(Be
sure to click on the link and see the story which features a photo of a Muslim
woman giving free Arabic lessons to Americans. Gee, so why is that
needed?)
TWIN
FALLS — Idaho has welcomed far fewer refugees this year, which means
resettlement agencies have more time to work with families, but South Idaho businesses are scrambling to
find workers.
The College of Southern Idaho’s Refugee Center*** is on track to
resettle 71 people this year, a fraction of the 300 people it typically serves
each fiscal year. It’s
received 64 refugees so far this year, with another family of seven expected
soon. The fiscal year ends at the end of September.
“I
think the decline in arrivals takes a toll, especially with our super low
unemployment right now,” said Tara Wolfson, director of the Idaho Office for
Refugees. “And I think there’s a loss to our ingenuity, to our workforce, to
our bringing new ideas and creations to our state, that refugees tend to
bring.” [This is such BS—refugees bring new ideas and
creations to the state.—ed]
“It’s
really a tough thing because we need workforce,” Roeser said. “We have so many
Baby Boomers retiring.We
have so many services that need warm bodies to work because of the aging
workforce.”
I
have said innumerable times that since the US Refugee Admissions Program is
primarily to supply cheap labor for big global businesses (like Chobani), let’s
have that debate, but shut
up about it being a ‘humanitarian’ program.
Refugee
resettlement across the state has declined dramatically since 2016 when 916
people resettled in Idaho. That number dropped to 611 the following year, and
the Idaho Office for Refugees has resettled 341 people so far in the 2018
fiscal year.
Zeze Rwasama thinks people are not
complaining about refugees now because they have been sufficiently
re-educated. Wolfson
said she expects that the low resettlement rate will continue into next year. But Rwasama [Director of the Refugee
Center at CSI] is hopeful that federal policies and practices “could change at
any time. ”He said these days
he less frequently hears certain anti-refugee sentiments that he used to hear
often, such as concerns about safety or complaints about refugees “taking jobs”
from other workers. “I
think people have actually received correct information and that’s why I don’t
hear it anymore,” Rwasama said. “And I hope those answers are
getting to the president as well, and soon he will allow more refugees to
come.” More here.
Things
are only quiet because Donald Trump has taken the pressure off for now.
So,
dear readers, the flood gates will open again if there is a new President
elected in 2020 (there isn’t another Republican who would do what Trump is
doing). I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to reform the whole
program while we have him in office. So get out and get involved in election
year politics where you live!
Go here for my huge archive on Idaho.
The Refugee Center at the College of
Southern Idaho is a
subcontractor of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (one of the big
nine federal resettlement contractors).
Comments
How about refugees
from Chicago migrating to Idaho to take middle class jobs at the meat packing
plant to escape the crime spree in Chicago.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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