Migrants, Manufacturing and Loyalty

June 5, 2018. In this op-ed by John Sprovieri, he tells the story of his four grandparents that came to the U.S. from Europe, who were poor and lacked education and skills. He goes on to highlight that nine of their 12 grandchildren have went to college, own their own homes, working to put their own kids through college and one is even a multimillionaire. He argues that his grandparents didn’t come to the U.S. looking for handouts, rather to work whatever job they could get and that immigrants today are looking for the same opportunities, work, freedom and peace as his grandparents. He notes FPI and Tent’s co-released report that found refugees have high retention rates, especially in the manufacturing sector.

This is the promise of America. So when I hear the overheated rhetoric regarding immigrants today, I feel sad and angry. My grandparents didn’t come to this country looking for handouts. They came to escape fascism and poverty. They wanted better lives—lives they couldn’t achieve in their home countries. They just wanted to work, even if it meant kneading dough before dawn, climbing down a manhole, or having fingers permanently stained from shoe polish.

Today’s immigrants are no different. They just want work and are grateful for whatever they can get.

A new study by the Fiscal Policy Institute confirms just that. Refugees in the United States, some 15 percent of whom work in manufacturing jobs, stay in those jobs longer than do other employees.

Today’s migrants only want what my grandparents wanted a century ago: work, opportunity, freedom, peace. Only their countries of origin have changed. Therein lies the reason for the rhetoric.

 

Here is the link to the Assembly.

Published On: July 6th, 2018|Categories: FPI in the News|

Share on Social Media!

June 5, 2018. In this op-ed by John Sprovieri, he tells the story of his four grandparents that came to the U.S. from Europe, who were poor and lacked education and skills. He goes on to highlight that nine of their 12 grandchildren have went to college, own their own homes, working to put their own kids through college and one is even a multimillionaire. He argues that his grandparents didn’t come to the U.S. looking for handouts, rather to work whatever job they could get and that immigrants today are looking for the same opportunities, work, freedom and peace as his grandparents. He notes FPI and Tent’s co-released report that found refugees have high retention rates, especially in the manufacturing sector.

This is the promise of America. So when I hear the overheated rhetoric regarding immigrants today, I feel sad and angry. My grandparents didn’t come to this country looking for handouts. They came to escape fascism and poverty. They wanted better lives—lives they couldn’t achieve in their home countries. They just wanted to work, even if it meant kneading dough before dawn, climbing down a manhole, or having fingers permanently stained from shoe polish.

Today’s immigrants are no different. They just want work and are grateful for whatever they can get.

A new study by the Fiscal Policy Institute confirms just that. Refugees in the United States, some 15 percent of whom work in manufacturing jobs, stay in those jobs longer than do other employees.

Today’s migrants only want what my grandparents wanted a century ago: work, opportunity, freedom, peace. Only their countries of origin have changed. Therein lies the reason for the rhetoric.

 

Here is the link to the Assembly.

Published On: July 6th, 2018|Categories: FPI in the News|

Share on Social Media!