6 | SEPTEMBER 21 • 2023 

1942 - 2023

Covering and Connecting 
Jewish Detroit Every Week

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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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The Detroit Jewish 
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 Founding Publisher 
 Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory

 

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PURELY COMMENTARY

continued on page 7

guest column
The Economic Impact of 
Refugees in America 
N

ew research from the 
American Immigration 
Council on the impact 
of refugees on the U.S. economy 
suggests that opening America’s 
doors to those fleeing conflict 
and persecution is not only the 
right thing to do, 
it is good for the 
economy and our 
nation’s popula-
tion and talent 
crises. The June 
2023 report builds 
on a previous sur-
vey of 2.4 million 
refugees between 2015 and 2019. 
First and foremost, refugees 
help build the U.S. economy, 
providing important labor and 
spending in a country that is 
seeing fewer high school grad-
uates, due in part to declining 
birth rates. This is particularly 

critical for states like Michigan 
that are facing what one of 
the state’s most prominent 
online public policy journals, 
Bridge Michigan, refers to as 
“Michigan’s Population Crisis.
” 
In fact, at the federal level, 
refugees earned over $93.6 
billion in household income in 
2019, contributed $25 billion in 
taxes, and provided over $68.6 
billion in spending that provided 
much-needed consumer spend-
ing for U.S. businesses. This has 
also brought substantial devel-
opment for local and state taxes, 
with refugees alone paying $8.7 
billion in taxes.
Some assume that refugee 
families are a drain on the U.S. 
economy, consuming more 
than their fair share of welfare 
and public services, but the 
research proves the opposite. 

When researching 
refugee households 
20 years after reset-
tlement, the research 
finds that refugees 
actually earned more 
than other households with 
a median refugee household 
income of $71,400 compared 
to $63,000 for typical American 
families. The data clearly shows 
that refugees are a great long-
term investment. However, we 
know that with only six months 
of resettlement support through 
the federal refugee resettlement 
program, refugees face serious 
challenges when they first arrive. 
The data on the success ref-
ugee families have had 20 years 
after resettlement shines a light 
on how hard many have worked 
to pursue the American Dream, 
once given the opportunity.

Refugees provide an import-
ant source of labor at a time 
when employers across the 
nation struggle to find enough 
workers to fill jobs. Refugees 
are more likely to be of work-
ing age: 78.2% of refugees are 
of working age, compared 
to 61.9% for U.S.-born citizens. 
Of the refugee workforce, 24% 
work in general services and 
13.9% in transportation and 
warehousing. 
The main industries that ref-
ugees work in are manufactur-
ing (18.9%) and health care and 
social assistance (15.2%), sectors 
also facing dire labor shortages. 

Tariq Fanek

