6 | SEPTEMBER 21 • 2023 1942 - 2023 Covering and Connecting Jewish Detroit Every Week To make a donation to the DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION go to the website www.thejewishnews.com The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520) is published every Thursday at 32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, Farmington Hills, Michigan. Periodical postage paid at Southfield, Michigan, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send changes to: Detroit Jewish News, 32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334 MISSION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will be of service to the Jewish community. The Detroit Jewish News will inform and educate the Jewish and general community to preserve, protect and sustain the Jewish people of greater Detroit and beyond, and the State of Israel. VISION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will operate to appeal to the broadest segments of the greater Detroit Jewish community, reflecting the diverse views and interests of the Jewish community while advancing the morale and spirit of the community and advocating Jewish unity, identity and continuity. DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205, Farmington Hills, MI 48334 248-354-6060 thejewishnews.com Publisher The Detroit Jewish News Foundation | Board of Directors: Chair: Gary Torgow Vice President: David Kramer Secretary: Robin Axelrod Treasurer: Max Berlin Board members: Michael J. Eizelman Larry Jackier, Jeffrey Schlussel, Mark Zausmer Executive Director: Marni Raitt Senior Advisor to the Board: Mark Davidoff Alene and Graham Landau Archivist Chair: Mike Smith Founding President & Publisher Emeritus: Arthur Horwitz Founding Publisher Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory Editorial Director of Editorial: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@thejewishnews.com Contributing Editors: David Sachs, Keri Guten Cohen Staff Reporter: Danny Schwartz dschwartz@thejewishnews.com Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello smanello@thejewishnews.com Digital Manager: Elizabeth King eking@thejewishnews.com Contributing Writers: Nate Bloom, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne Chessler, Shari S. Cohen, Louis Finkelman, Samantha Foon, Yevgeniya Gazman, Stacy Gittleman, Esther Allweiss Ingber, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, Karen Schwartz, Robin Schwartz, Steve Stein, Nathaniel Warshay, Julie Smith Yolles, Ashley Zlatopolsky Advertising Sales Director of Advertising: Keith Farber kfarber@thejewishnews.com Senior Account Executive: Kathy Harvey-Mitton kmitton@thejewishnews.com | Business Office Director of Operations: Amy Gill agill@thejewishnews.com Operations Manager: Andrea Gusho agusho@thejewishnews.com Operations Assistant: Ashlee Szabo Circulation: Danielle Smith Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner | Production By Farago & Associates Manager: Scott Drzewiecki Designers: Kaitlyn Iezzi, Kelly Kosek, Deborah Schultz, Michelle Sheridan 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