March 1, 2017
"WE LIKE THIS PLACE":
Can refugees save a town? : Refugees have infused a new sense of energy into Akron, Ohio, as it battles population decline. President Trump's temporary refugee ban is a concern. (Simon Montlake, FEBRUARY 28, 2017, CS Monitor)
[N]aresh Subba is the new face of immigration in Akron. He opened his grocery store in 2011, catering to refugees from his native Bhutan and elsewhere whose recent influx has restocked a fading neighborhood. The store has expanded, adding a snack counter and more space for pulses, rice snacks, and the flower garlands that brighten Bhutanese festivities."We like this place. It's very, very welcoming," says Mr. Subba.Since 2007, Akron has welcomed about 3,500 refugees, mostly from Bhutan, along with thousands of other foreign-born migrants. That's a modest slice of total United States immigration, which exceeds 1 million a year. But the resettlement of working-age refugees has become a lifeline for cities like Akron that are struggling to hang onto their workforce and revive urban districts. That pits them against President Trump's controversial effort to cap refugee flows and suspend all resettlement from Syria.
Posted by Orrin Judd at March 1, 2017 7:03 AM