Refugees Cause Worry About Mich. Economy
"The immigrants are willing to put in long, hard hours at jobs that Americans will not take..."
Michigan's unemployment rate climbed to 7.2 percent in June
- the highest in the nation.
The rate hit 7.7 percent in Detroit and the surrounding area last month.
DETROIT (AP) -- The area in southeast Michigan where 2,000 Iraqi refugees are expected to resettle already has 169,000 people out of work. Some fear the influx will push the state's unemployment rate even higher.
Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, is concerned that the area cannot support many more people without significant federal aid. He likened it to "bringing more passengers to a ship that is already sinking."
The mayor of Warren, which has a large Arab-American population, recently said the refugees will strain services and drag down an already struggling state economy.
But others, such as University of Michigan economist Donald Grimes, say the entrepreneurial attitude and advanced degrees of many Iraqis might help turn the ship of state around.
"It's one of the things that could help Michigan recover," he said.
Federal officials expect about 7,000 Iraqis fleeing the fighting in their homeland to move to the United States by September, with up to half of them eventually going to Michigan. The first few should arrive this month in the Detroit area, home to about 300,000 people who trace their roots to the Middle East.
Michigan's unemployment rate climbed to 7.2 percent in June - the highest in the nation. The rate hit 7.7 percent in Detroit and the surrounding area last month.
Kurt Metzger, a Detroit-area demographer, said there are reasons to be concerned about high unemployment and cutbacks in retail and service jobs, since many earlier Arab-American immigrants found jobs in small shops and stores or started their own ventures.
But he said local Arabs and Chaldeans - Iraqi Catholics - have a history of owning businesses and helping out newcomers.
"The immigrants are willing to put in long, hard hours at jobs that Americans will not take. ... (They) aren't coming over here to get on the public dole," said Metzger, research director of the United Way for Southeastern Michigan...
Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, is concerned that the area cannot support many more people without significant federal aid. He likened it to "bringing more passengers to a ship that is already sinking."
The mayor of Warren, which has a large Arab-American population, recently said the refugees will strain services and drag down an already struggling state economy.
But others, such as University of Michigan economist Donald Grimes, say the entrepreneurial attitude and advanced degrees of many Iraqis might help turn the ship of state around.
"It's one of the things that could help Michigan recover," he said.
Federal officials expect about 7,000 Iraqis fleeing the fighting in their homeland to move to the United States by September, with up to half of them eventually going to Michigan. The first few should arrive this month in the Detroit area, home to about 300,000 people who trace their roots to the Middle East.
Michigan's unemployment rate climbed to 7.2 percent in June - the highest in the nation. The rate hit 7.7 percent in Detroit and the surrounding area last month.
Kurt Metzger, a Detroit-area demographer, said there are reasons to be concerned about high unemployment and cutbacks in retail and service jobs, since many earlier Arab-American immigrants found jobs in small shops and stores or started their own ventures.
But he said local Arabs and Chaldeans - Iraqi Catholics - have a history of owning businesses and helping out newcomers.
"The immigrants are willing to put in long, hard hours at jobs that Americans will not take. ... (They) aren't coming over here to get on the public dole," said Metzger, research director of the United Way for Southeastern Michigan...
posted by jillosophy at 7/25/2007 10:24:00 AM
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