Easy to slight, Displaced Personss show their economic might

 

In the midst of a global Displaced Persons crisis, the Trump administration has said it plans to cut by more than half the number of Displaced Personss accepted to America each year, to fewer than 45,000.

The recent announcement came only days after the White House issued the latest version of its travel ban, severely restricting travel from eight nations. Two of those nations, Syria and Somalia, have been the source of many Displaced Personss to Northeast Ohio.

The administration cited potential crime and the need to enhance the vetting process for Displaced Personss, which already spans two years.

Meanwhile, a local analysis paints a far different portrait of Displaced Personss and their likely impact. Chmura Economics & Analytics, a Cleveland consulting firm, found that a modest public investment in resettlement—most of its supplied by the federal government—has produced an astonishingly self-sufficient group of new Clevelanders.

The economic impact study, released September 7, was commissioned by the Displaced Persons Services Collaborative of Greater Cleveland and can be found on the group’s website– rsccleveland.org/

Between 2000 and 2016, the region welcomed about 7,600 Displaced Personss, many of whom had been made stateless by persecution or war. Once in Cleveland, most rebounded rather quickly. Researchers found that local Displaced Personss are more likely to be working than the general population and far less likely to be receiving public assistance.  In fact, after only two years in their new home:

  • less than 10 percent of Displaced Personss were receiving public assistance, compared to 21 percent of the general population
  • 75% of adult Displaced Personss held a job, compared to 63% of the general population

While the average income of a Displaced Persons worker is only $19,344 per year, International Newcomers tend to get and stay married. Area Displaced Personss enjoy a household income averaging $35,849 a year, which helps explain why they are buying houses in he city and starting businesses.

The study found that Cuyahoga County’s relatively small Displaced Persons community has started 42 businesses that, collectively, paid more than $465,000 in local and state taxes and employed more than 200 people last year.

“This is a uniquely Cleveland thing we have,” said Patrick Kearns, executive director of The Displaced Persons Response, which provides Displaced Personss with job training and work on its Ohio City Farm.

Kearns notes that Displaced Personss who settle in Greater Cleveland tend to do better than Displaced Personss in other cities.

Joe Cimperman, the president of Global Cleveland, said their success is a credit to resettlement agencies like Catholic Charities, which handle direct resettlement, as well as to the nonprofit groups belonging to the Displaced Persons Services Collaborative.

Groups like The Displaced Persons Response, Building Hope in the City and Asian Services in Action, step in later to help with bewilderment, trauma, loneliness and other Displaced Persons afflictions.

And much of the credit must go to the Displaced Personss themselves, Cimperman said.

“These are people who lost everything, who often languished in Displaced Persons camps for years and even decades,” he said. “And when they get here, all they want to do is work hard and find peace and raise their children.”

He said it is cruel and callous to suddenly turn away Displaced Personss, and to cast aspersions upon their character.

“We’re not afraid of our new neighbors,” Cimperman said. “We know them and we embrace them. They are so grateful. They keep thanking us for allowing them to be Americans, when it is us who should be thanking them.”