Somali refugees are leaving Arizona for Minnesota in huge numbers. Why?

Bilad Yusuf and her seven kids are on their way to Minnesota, less than two months after they arrived in Phoenix from Somalia:

"We didn't know how to get jobs in Phoenix, and even if we did, we didn't know how we'd get to them," she explained through an interpreter who translated from Somali to English. Does this sound like a well-planned out Federal resettlement immigration program to you?

In Phoenix, without a car, they found themselves lost: Where were they supposed to get groceries? How did they go about setting up long-overdue doctor's appointments under free Medicaid? How would they find work if they had no skills and didn't speak English or Spanish? How would they get around without a car? How would they pay rent after their initial stipend from the U.S. government ran out?

The Somali Association of Arizona stepped in, providing groceries and setting up doctor's appointments for the family. But they couldn't do anything about the fact that the fact that with limited English and no training, they weren't qualified for any jobs. Worried that her rent would be cut off soon, Yusuf decided they should move to Minnesota, where the benefits are excellent and where she, like virtually all Somalis, have family. Mukhtar Sheikh, the program coordinator for the Somali Association of Arizona, says that Yusuf's story is a common one. As many as half the Somali refugees resettled in Arizona end up leaving for Minnesota.

The biggest challenge for Somalis is finding a job. Even jobs cleaning hotel rooms or washing dishes in a restaurant come with a requirement that applicants speak English — or, unofficially, Spanish. They speak neither.

So how did Minnesota become a hub for Somali refugees?

Most credit the strength of Minnesota's "voluntary agencies" - called VOLAGS - groups like Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities who are paid big money with our tax dollars to resettle refugees. These quasi-governmental agencies welcomed the first wave of Somali refugees to Minnesota in the early 1990s, and others soon followed. It should be noted that none of the VOLAGS are actually associated with the church, they just hijack the name for political expediency. The U.S. State Department decides where new refugees should end up and it often depends on how many voluntary agencies are in the area to expedite the process.

Posted by: Dana Mathewson at February 19, 2020 12:46 PM (rIYC+)

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