Getting caught in Kansas, and Candy—you go girl!

Here is a story we wrote about back in April.  It seems that this Kansas city has one problem after another with immigrants.  First, Emporia had to deal with a roiled citizenry over Tyson’s Food hauling Somali refugees to the city and then closing the plant. (See our whole category on Emporia here).  And, now it turns out that imported Filipino workers were hired illegally for a construction project in the same city.

Although the Filipino ruckus did not involve refugees, it just demonstrates again points we have made recently about the public making no distinction between legal refugees and other immigrants (legal and illegal) when they see the connection to foreign worker hiring practices that allow companies to avoid paying for American workers.

Here is the gist of the story today from the Emporia Gazette:

The subcontractor that supplied unauthorized foreign workers for the construction of the Emporia Energy Center apologized to Sen. Jim Barnett and citizens of Emporia in a letter sent to Barnett late last week.

Integrated Service Company, a Tulsa, Okla.-based company also known as InServ, said “an unintentional error” was responsible for the employment of Filipino welders and pipefitters during the construction of the Westar Energy peaking plant. The Filipinos were in the United States on H-2B work visas, which allow them to fill jobs for which there are an insufficient number of American workers.

In order to properly certify the workers for the Westar project, InServ would have needed to notify the Kansas Department of Commerce, which is federally required to verify that not enough American workers are available to fill the jobs. That notification never took place. InServ was a subcontractor for Overland Contracting, a subsidiary of Black & Veatch, which contracted with Westar for the plant construction.

And, now here is the good part! 

Rep. Candy Ruff, D-Leavenworth, began an inquiry into the Westar worker situation in March and had been exploring whether federal action can be taken against InServ, Black & Veatch or Westar. Ruff, who is completing her last term in the Kansas Legislature, said that when companies like InServ are exposed for illegal hiring practices, they go to great lengths to cover their tracks.

“Now, do I trust those bastards? Not in a New York minute do I trust ’em,” Ruff said before being sent a copy of Donaldson’s letter. “Because I think that, although they’ve gotten kind of their (expletive) in a ringer right now with the kind of things that they have been exposed to having been done, same (expletive), different day — they just got caught in Kansas. …

“This is all about making money off cheap labor, and I don’t think that’s gonna stop anytime soon. I really don’t.”

Barnett said the immigration laws that require businesses to employ legal workers should have teeth.

“If laws have been broken, then, like everyone else, there should be appropriate consequences,” he said.

 

I love you Kansans!

Shelbyville, Emporia, Richmond (oops Roanoke), Helsinki, it’s the same story

Thanks to reader ‘Bill’ who has set me straight and it’s not Richmond, it’s Roanoke!

What a coincidence that this story should pop up the day after we reported the conflicts on-going in Richmond Roanoke between Somali refugees and local black American citizens.   This story is from Finland. 

A Finnish family complained that an immigrant family in the apartment below them was playing music too loud. The immigrants denied the accusation: they said that as devout Muslims they do not even listen to music.

The Finnish mother had tried to approach the immigrant family to discuss about the noise, but the approach was perceived as a racist attack. 

In Finland they think they have the problem solved with mediation.  

The conflict concerning noise, which was mediated by Mohamed, was resolved when it was noted that the sound insulation in the building was inadequate, and should be upgraded in connection with an upcoming refurbishment. It also came out that the sound that the upstairs neighbours had heard was from the reading of the Koran.

Blame the building owners and, oh, it was only the Koran reading that was making so much noise.  So, it looks like everyone is happy, make the landlord put money into the building and let the loud Koran reading proceeed. 

Finnish Refugee Council coordinator Terhi Joensuu says that the disputes have often been connected with the use of common facilities, such as saunas and laundry rooms, children in the playground, and annoyance caused by differing customs.

Yes, that is what we heard in Richmond  Roanoke too, common room problems and kids playing (I wonder if spitting is going on in Finland too as it did in Emporia and now Richmond Roanoke?) 

In the Helsinki region, in Turku, and the Tampere area, most of the dozens of disputes in which mediation has been applied, has led to a positive result. “We have had good experiences”, Joensuu emphasises.

Mohamed says that many of the conflicts result from the fact that immigrants do not know the rules of living in Finland. It might be unclear for some of them what the requirement of silence in the evening really means, and how waste should be sorted for recycling.

“Finns assume that once information has been posted about rules, they will be known, but for Somalis, for instance, an oral message is more valuable than a written one”, Mohamed observes.

Didn’t I see that in Shelbyville there was an attempt to discuss the problems in an apartment building verbally?   And, in this story the Finnish mother did try to talk to her neighbors but was called a racist. 

Immigrants often accuse Finns of racism. “It can be true, but can also come from a misunderstanding”, Mohamed points out.

Richmond   Roanoke  had nothing to do with racism. 

In many cases cultural differences have nothing to do with the problem. People are simply individuals, and those coming from the same background can have completely different interpretations of their own culture. Neighbourhood mediators have also arbitrated in a number of disputes between native-born Finns.

Cultural factors could be one reason why Somalis, for instance, are often eager to take part in a mediation effort. Mohamed says that similar methods of conflict resolution are the tradition in Somalia.

“Mediation is something that Finns should learn from immigrants.”

I guess mediation means the Finns have to change their culture to fit the immigrants.

If you are a regular reader of RRW, this is a quiz.   What is the common thread in these stories and who do you think needs to do the changing?

Emporia, KS has more immigrant issues cooking

Emporia, KS was embroiled in the Somali refugee issue for months (see our whole category here), now comes news that workers brought in to do welding and other work on the construction of an energy plant may have been here illegally.  One hundred Filipino workers have headed who knows where, to a town near you maybe, after the whistle was blown.  Hat tip:  Bluelitespecial. 

I guess some cities just can’t get a break!

This brings to mind a point I’ll make in the next post too.  I cringe now when I hear people say, I’m fine with legal immigration it’s the illegal that I have a problem with.   Bottomline, all immigration needs to be reformed in the United States.   Ostensibly these workers were here legally, until someone thought to check it out.   If we have a shortage of welders in the US, why aren’t we making a push to get more young people into welding and pay them well?

Check out the latest from Emporia here.

This story reminds me of the 100 Nepalese workers missing in Alabama last winter.  I wonder if they were ever found?

Kansas Somali refugee arrested in rape of students

Thanks to a tip from Us or Them, here is a story that our friends in Kansas will be surprised to hear (or maybe not).   A Somali refugee has been charged with intoxicating and raping two boys from a Catholic High School. I am not making that up!

 A Leavenworth substitute teacher accused of unlawful sexual relationships with high school students is a Somalian refugee in the United States under political asylum, officials said Thursday.

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Mohamed A. Dirshe, 26, has been charged in Leavenworth County District Court with three counts of unlawful sexual relations and three counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor for illicit purposes, which are all felonies.

The article goes on to tell us what a terrible story Mr. Dirshe has, as if somehow that might excuse the behavior.  I’m going to suggest that some of these tales of terror are fabricated to open the doors to the good life (complete with a college scholarship) in America.

At the age of 9, he witnessed the murder of his father, uncle and older brother outside his home in Somalia by militia men from a rival clan, according to an article in the winter 2005 edition of Aspire, the university’s alumni magazine.

Lest I am accused of shadenfreude, the situation is horrible.  However, the irony of this happening at a Catholic School, since it is Catholic Charities that is being paid to resettle refugees in Kansas will not be lost on folks in say Emporia, KS where the Somali refugee issue dominated the news for months.   Mums the word from Catholic officials.

Officials with the Leavenworth Regional Catholic Schools could not be reached for comment Thursday.

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Police are investigating whether there were more victims.

Mohammed is a very lucky fellow in one way.  If he were subject to Sharia law, it wouldn’t be long before he would be hoisted by one of those cranes with a noose around his neck as we saw in “Fitna.”

Emporia Somalis going to Shelbyville, Yikes!

Today comes news from Shelbyville, TN that Tyson’s Foods is moving some of its Emporia, KS Somali refugee workers to Shelbyville, TN.  For regular readers of Refugee Resettlement Watch, you will immediately see this is a case of Tyson’s Somalis going from the frying pan to the fire, so to speak.   

Emporia was roiled for months over the sudden influx of Somalis who were lured by employment to that city by a Tyson’s meat packing plant that was ultimately suddenly closed.   For ambitious readers we have a whole category on Emporia, KS here.     At the same time, Shelbyville, TN was experiencing similar public unrest over an influx of Somalis there who seemed unable or unwilling to assimilate.   The Times-Gazette has covered the controversy extensively.  

Now citizens in Shelbyville are learning that some Emporia refugees are headed their way.

Tyson Foods officials have been working with the imam of Shelbyville’s Islamic mosque to bridge the cultural gap that exists between the Somali community and the rest of the public.

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Representatives of the company also dismissed lingering charges of Tyson hiring illegal immigrants as “myths and misconceptions.”

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Susan Brockway, manager of community and external relations, and Gary Mickelson, director of media relations, sat down with the Times-Gazette to speak about the refugee issue, which have been a hot topic of discussion with readers.

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Lola Hithon, human resource manager for the Shelbyville facility, has been in regular contact with Imam Haji Yousuf, the spiritual leader of the Somali Muslim community here, helping with issues such as cultural differences, how to get things translated and how to get services to the refugees.

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Informed sources also told the Times-Gazette this week that 80 to 100 Somalis who lived in Emporia, Kan., where a Tyson meat packing facility was recently downsized leaving nearly 1,500 without work, would be coming to Shelbyville. Micholson confirmed this, but stated the number working at the Shelbyville poultry facility would be 24.

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Tyson officials were in town last week speaking to various landlords and hotel owners about housing for the refugees, as well as holding one-on-one conversations with business owners and representatives of the school system.

Read the whole article.    As for housing the Somalis, please go back to this post earlier in the week.  I think the apartment building issue is going to be problematic for Tyson’s Food.

Somalis to Sioux City, Iowa: here we come!

The Emporia Gazette reported Friday in a farewell article about Emporia, KS Ayan Cafe closing that a large number of the Somalis are moving on to Sioux City, Iowa.  Hat tip: create

Jama [Mohamed, owner of now closed cafe] said about 250 members of the local Somali community were moving to Sioux City. An estimated 750 Somalis lived in Emporia.

We wrote about the Somalis not showing up at a farewell dinner a few weeks ago here.

If you are interested in reading our entire category (28 posts!) on the controversy in Emporia, KS beginning when Tyson’s food initially enticed large numbers of Somali refugees to settle there and then subsequently pulled the plug on their employment go here.

Somalis disappoint some Emporians, others angered

The Somali era for Emporia, KS came to an end this past Saturday night when the last Somali refugees in that city didn’t show up for a farewell dinner planned in their honor.   Granted the whole Somali saga in Emporia was fraught with controversy from the very beginning when hundreds of refugees arrived in this prairie city to work for a Tyson’s meat packing plant, so the saga’s end is not unexpected.   We have an entire category that covers the conflict that evolved over months.

Tyson’s recently closed the plant with little notice putting hundreds of workers, not just the Somalis, out of a job.

What was apparently intended as a gesture of goodwill by Christians turned into another source of hard feelings when the Somalis became a no-show due to the sudden illness of the group’s leader.   Somalis are hardcore believers in the prohibition in Islam to not become too friendly with Christians, and the church setting itself might have caused them to stay away.  Who knows?

Tables full of hot food and desserts brought in by organizers and friends lined tables outside the church kitchen, while hosts waited for the guests to arrive. Eventually, the call came that the Somali organizer was too sick to come to Sacred Heart.

The article in the Emporia Gazette yesterday stirred up more hard feelings when commenters began to question why others fired from Tyson’s weren’t given a special dinner; nor was there a request made for citizens to volunteer to clean rental units vacated by those who lost their jobs as there was for the Somalis.

Here is a comment from someone named Tosie:

Are you serious? People are needed to help the Somalians pack up? They got here easy enough didn’t they? They can pack up and leave just the same. I don’t see anyone saying, “Hey, Emporias, let’s pitch in and help EVERYONE that is going to have to leave Emporia to get another job pack up and clean.” Once again, poor Somalians, let’s give them special treatment. No thanks…..

Read the whole article here.

Bring in more foreign labor, are we nuts?

Yesterday the Washington Times top headline read “U.S. economy losing jobs” and these lines jumped out at me in light of all the other things we are reading and reporting on here lately.

Revisions by the department also showed that the economy created 376,000 fewer jobs during 2007 than originally reported. The total of 1.14 million new jobs was less than 100,000 a month — not enough to keep pace with the growth in population and job seekers. As a result, the unemployment rate rose from a low of 4.6 percent to 4.9 percent last month.

“–not enough to keep pace with the growth in population and job seekers.”    The Center for Immigration Studies has reported the increase in US population is completely a function of immigration.   Then why on earth are we bringing more foreign labor?

A few days ago we reported that 100 Nepalese workers are missing from Huntsville, Alabama where they had been brought to the US by a large company and had just literally disappeared into the woodwork of America.  But note in this article they were working 12 hours shifts and taking home $88 and recently the number of shifts had declined for them.   Cinram Corp. thinks they just packed up and went back to Nepal.  You would have to have worked an awful many weeks to afford a return ticket to Nepal.

Then there is Emporia, KS the city that is now in a state of mourning because 1500 Tyson’s Food workers have been sent packing too.   

It was a grim picture at Emporia Presbyterian Church on Friday morning as more than 200 people — Tyson workers and their families — packed the church for a meeting to address some of their concerns and learn about what help is available for them.

Most of those attending were foreign workers who will need translation help to apply for unemployment, if they are here legally.    No documents and you are out in the cold.

Some audience members were concerned about what to do if they don’t have legal documentation. Workers without documentation are not eligible for unemployment.

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“You need to ask Tyson to help out,” Rios said

The list goes on!   Recently I wrote about the poor job prospects in Michigan for refugees.   But, look at this article on REAL ID from the Detroit News.     Apparently Michigan has so many foreign workers its economy will suffer further if those workers cannot get driver licenses easily.

Archer, an attorney whose law firm represents the Japanese Consulate, said those harmed include 10,000 Japanese citizens, working up to seven years apiece at more than 400 in-state Japanese firms.

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“It will disrupt business and cause problems at a time when we want to bring more business to Michigan,” Archer said.

[ ]

Officials of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. said foreign investment in Michigan is at risk if the fix-it bills aren’t enacted.

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The agency is working with firms in nine countries representing $300 million in investment and 3,100 jobs, they said.

Testifying at the hearings the director of a refugee agency in Lansing says that finding jobs for refuguees would be difficult if REAL ID is implemented.  But, as we pointed out it’s already a problem for refugees in Michigan to find work.

Shirin Timms, director of the nonprofit Refugee Center in Lansing, said Michigan is a top “resettlement state” for those escaping strife in other lands, who are here legally but now can’t get licenses and IDs that will help them land jobs.

So, back to my original question, are we nuts?   We will bring 70,000 additional low skilled workers to the US in the Refugee Resettlement Program this fiscal year!  And, that is just one of many immigration programs; it’s no wonder we can never defeat poverty. 

Somalis definitely leaving Emporia, KS

According to the Emporia-Gazette, news was received today that the Somali refugees who have been the center of much controversy are leaving Emporia.  They are among the 1500 workers who will be unemployed shortly.

City Manager Matt Zimmerman told city commissioners at today’s work session that the Somali community had decided to leave Emporia following Tyson Foods’ decision to shut down its Emporia slaughter operation, according to a refugee coordinator from the state.

You need to go and read the citizen comments at this article to know how much this Kansas city was disrupted first by the secretive arrival of hundreds of Somalis presumably lured by Tyson’s to Emporia, and now their abrupt departure with the plant closure.    The Tyson’s Food company and its quest to keep wages low  is primarily to blame for all the hard feelings and upheaval among the long time residents. 

And, a share of the blame goes to resettlement agencies like Catholic Charities who seem to latch onto any employer no matter how unscrupulous their business practices.   The bottomline is that if they don’t get these refugees employed quickly someone might just suggest we are bringing too many low skilled workers to the US and their gravy train and ‘good’ works would be halted.

Although we have sympathy for unemployed people whoever they are, the Somalis compounded their problems in Emporia by making no apparent effort to assimilate.  And, I will bet they were never seriously told they must assimilate by whatever agency resettled them in the first place. 

Residents asking questions from the get-go are now subject to comments like this one from Joe_Strummer:

Just wonder what all these poor Klansmen are gonna do on their Saturday nights now that there’s no one to whine about.

But, then JayJazz has a comeback:

Damn! I just washed my hood again with my red underwear… I hate it when that happens.

That’s right Jay, keep your sense of humor and laugh at those claiming this is all about racism in a so-called “unwelcoming” city.   They will throw the blame for bad government policies, mismanagement by volags and ruthless business practices by a large corporation back on citizens.  Resist! 

If you are new to this controversy and have the stamina, visit our category called  Emporia, Ks controversy and start at the beginning.  We have written 25 posts on this topic.

My dream to be a meat packer

Just happened to come across this website called “Colorado Confidential” with an article about African refugees who dream of jobs in meat packing.   And, for those who want to get a broader view of what goes on behind the scenes in refugee resettlement its a good overall article.   But, in light of what happened yesterday at Tyson’s Food in Emporia, KS, I wonder if there needs to be a reassessment of the job prospects in that industry.

Omar, 23, also from Somalia, spent nearly five years as a refugee in Nepal* before finally being resettled in Colorado. He arrived in mid-December. Once he gets a Social Security number, Omar plans to move to Greeley for a job at the Swift meat-processing plant, where wages start at about $10 an hour.

* A side issue:   What was Omar doing in Nepal?  It’s not exactly next door to Somalia and in fact it’s on another continent!

This was interesting in the article too.

Krassin Gueorguiev is program coordinator and lead teacher at the Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning, which has offered WorkStyles, an intensive course on American employment culture for refugees and asylees, for 25 years. Gueorguiev says many refugees arrive with a utopian image of life in the United States, and the reality - that most of them barely scrape by - is a hard slap.

The Spring Institute is the same outfit that was involved in settling the Somalis in Emporia, KS, so will they go back there now and help them find new employment?    On the Spring Institute’s Form 990 it states that “Grants are received from the federal as well as local governments to assist foreign students to work with US companies.”     At least $900,000 was received as a government contract in FY 2006.  You are paying for this.

As for the last line in the quote above:  “utopian image of life in the United States.”   I discussed that increasing problem in yesterday’s post on Bhutan.  Guess they got a hard slap in Emporia yesterday.