6 | SEPTEMBER 21 • 2023
1942 - 2023
Covering and Connecting
Jewish Detroit Every Week
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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