Hmong influx will be tough strain on valley

From Behind the Lens

By Ryan Smith

By the end of July, 3,000 uneducated, unemployed and uninsured people will call Fresno their new home—a home they say is dramatically improved from the one that many of them are leaving for the first time in their lives.

Over the next eight months, Hmong from an impoverished refugee camp in Thailand will flee the confines of barbed wire fences for the land of opportunity, settling in places like Fresno, Sacramento and Milwaukee—all typically known as Hmong-American strongholds.

Greeting with open arms the exodus of what is projected to add up to more than 14, 000 people sounds like the most obvious action the United States should take, but it needs to be careful how it attempts to right the wrongs inflicted on this helpless group, so as to protect the delicate stability of our socio-economic conditions.

While altruism seems to be a trait that Americans have latched onto tightly since the country became infatuated with terrorism three years ago, it tends to create an interesting mental debilitation that many Americans succumb to when faced with matters of foreign relations.

It’s commendable that America is so eager to act on its natural desires to assist countries in need of aid, but it also has a tendency to jump head-first into humanitarian projects without any plans of execution.

Moving 3,000 Hmong that are completely unprepared to live in a new environment is a perfect example.

Thirty years ago, the first large wave of Hmong immigrants moved to this country and has since become somewhat of an economic burden. The 2000 U.S. Census states that 30.3 percent of Hmong receive public assistance, 34.8 percent have incomes below the poverty line and 50.7 percent of Hmong 25 and older have less than a ninth grade education.

Add those numbers to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 15.8 percent unemployment rate for Fresno and of course the Valley obviously seems like the perfect resettlement location for 3,000 people—right.

To further perpetuate the existing problem, the government is confident that the transition from barbed wire refugee camp to American freedom will be smooth because unlike the first Hmong immigration movement, this group of Hmong will be able to rely on friends and relatives already living in the country.

Aside from the ridiculous idea that family and friends are going to help these newcomers when they can’t even support themselves, the federal government—and surprise—the taxpayers will help seal the deal by providing $800 dollars for each refugee, totaling almost $12 million in funds. The government will also spend an unspecified amount of millions of dollars to provide more long-term social programs to support the eventual 14,000 arriving Hmong immigrants The Fresno Bee reported on Sunday.

The United States has enough resources to take humanitarian relief to those who need it. Why then do we need to take them from their country and their cultures and dump them in a foreign place to feed off our government?

It would make more sense for us to go to them first, teach them the language, the culture and important job skills that would give them an opportunity to be productive, beneficial components of a successful American lifestyle.

— This columnist can be reached at collegian@csufresno.edu