How the Trump Administration’s Refugee Cuts Are Harming Utica, New York
What’s so special about Utica? As a small Rust Belt city in Upstate New York, it may not seem like it has a lot to offer - but the locals have pride. Just to name a few things they brag about – the Boilermaker 5k and 15k race that floods the city every July; to-die-for Utican foods like chicken riggies, half-moons, and Utica greens; and Utica’s nickname as “the town that loves refugees.”
I grew up in New Hartford, a well-off, predominantly white suburb just outside of Utica. I’m thankful that I got to grow up next to such a culturally rich city. Thanks to the environment cultivated by Utica, my family befriended four monks from Burma. I still have fond memories of playing basketball and hiking the winter trails behind Hamilton College with them. And although I didn’t know it growing up, refugee workers contributed more to the economy than they were credited for.
But the Trump administration is threatening to undo all of this. Already, it has made the most drastic refugee cuts of any administration, and it’s having dire consequences on the Utica area. It’s not just about the workforce shortages that struggling businesses are facing – it’s about the wellbeing of the refugees already in Utica, and the realities of people in life-threatening situations around the world.
The Founding of a Multicultural City
Since Utica’s founding in the late 18th century, textiles and manufacturing have made up the bulk of its economy, and the city has long been a home for migrant populations. In the early 1800s, Italian, German, Polish, and Irish migrants constructed the Erie Canal which connects Buffalo to Albany. The industrialization and improved transportation tripled Utica's population between 1880 and 1930 - from 33,914 residents to 101,740.
By World War I, Utica’s textile industry employed 20,000 residents, and the manufacturing industry continued to expand. Starting around 1960, however, Utica’s economy declined as jobs were outsourced and major employers closed their Utica locations. Additionally, the Pentagon closed the nearby Griffiss Airforce Base in 1995, eliminating 30 percent of Utica’s economic base. Satisfaction and pride in the city decreased, and Utica’s population declined by 40% between 1960 and 2000 as affluent residents moved to the suburbs.
As my dad told me when I was young, Utica was just a shell of its former self.
Making Utica Home
In the midst of Utica’s economic decline, millions of people from South Vietnam were displaced as their capital city fell. Vietnameseresidents who had ties with the United States – such as helping the American forces or having family members in the United States – feared that they would be targeted first by the new government, and they fled their country.
President Jimmy Carter felt compelled to help these people that the United States had displaced, and the 1980 Refugee Act was passed. Out of this movement came The Center, the Utica area’s non-profit organization that assists in refugee resettlement and integration.
The Center has branched out since, resettling over 16,400 refugees from 36 countries since its founding. Political turmoil throughout the late 20th and early 21st century in the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Burma led to a massive influx of people to the U.S.; these comprise 78% of refugees that The Center has resettled.
Data from The Center. Graph created by Ayla Schnier.
The Impact of Refugees on the Utica Area
Utica’s refugee population has enriched the community in many ways. For one, the city’s population has begun to stabilize, actually increasing to 62,206 between 2000 and 2010, which would not have been possible without refugees.
Utica’s economy, as well as that of surrounding regions, have done better as well. While some argue that immigrants, including refugees, are either “lazy freeloaders” or “stealing our jobs,” this could not be further from the truth.
Refugees are required to begin paying back their airfare loans after six months of living in the U.S., meaning that they are incentivized to start working soon after their arrival. Many of Utica’s refugees are able to begin working within three months of arriving thanks to The Center’s services.
Because refugees have become so prominent in the region’s workforce, many smaller businesses in upstate New York that previously faced work shortages – e.g. the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Vernon, International Wire in Camden, and Keymark in Fonda – have been able to stay in business. Refugees make up 40% of Keymark’s workforce, and 30% of Chobani's employees.
But Utica’s refugees aren’t just working for businesses – they’re starting them, too. Local refugee entrepreneurs have opened dozens of restaurants and food markets, boutiques, auto shops, construction companies and other retail services and businesses.
Refugees have also contributed to enriching the cultural atmosphere of the Utica area. The area’s ten registered cultural organizations and nineteen religious organizations have provided refugees with a place to come together, and a place for other residents to learn about the different cultures and traditions in their city. Community celebrations, such as The Center’s celebration of World Refugee Day, bring the region together around food, crafts, music, and education.
Trump’s Attack on Refugees
Despite these economic and cultural benefits, the Trump administration is rolling back refugee admissions substantially – from 110,000 in 2016 to an expected 18,000 in 2020, even though the U.S. expects to receive 368,000 asylum applications in 2020.
In Utica, refugee resettlement has been effectively halved since the start of the Trump administration. While The Center resettled 412 refugees in 2016 (roughly the same that it has settled every year since 2005), it has only resettled 196 from January to September 2019. This is the lowest that Utica’s annual resettlement rates have been since 1994.
Even before the Trump administration, the path to obtaining refugee status in the United States was already exceedingly difficult. Every year, 20 million potential refugees are in a situation where the country they have fled to cannot give them the assistance they need. Unfortunately, less than one percent of these people are granted refugee status in a third country, and this is only possible after years of thorough screening and processing.
By slashing refugee admissions further, the Trump administration is making it even more difficult for millions of people to escape life-threatening situations.
These cuts by the Trump administration are already negatively impacting Utica’s economy. Shelly Callahan, the director of The Center, told CNYhomepage that there is more demand for labor among employers in the region than The Center can provide. If these cuts continue, Utica’s economy and population will decline further.
Callahan also told the Utica OD that The Center has already had to lay off staff and may have to lay off more if the cuts continue. While many of The Center’s employees are former refugees themselves, these cuts will also affect The Center’s ability to provide crucial resources for its community members.
It Didn’t Start With Trump
The Trump administration’s refugee cuts fit into a larger global pattern of outsourcing, demographic changes, and emergent authoritarianism.
Fluctuations in demographics and human rights advances meant that there were more people of color in the United States, and that more of them were in positions of power. The election of Barack Obama, the country's first African-American president, was symbolic of the increasing status of people of color in the United States; however, symbolism is much different than reality.
These demographic changes, combined with the decline of manufacturing in America and the effects of the 2008 financial recession, caused many white, middle-class people to fear that they were being left behind. Although minority groups suffered the worst consequences of the recession, 77% of white voters whose financial situation was “worse today” than it was four years ago voted for Trump.
Trump spoke directly to that fear, blaming immigrants for stealing jobs and making the country less safe, despite evidence to the contrary. The mobilizing effects of this rhetoric were seen not only at the ballot box, but in hate crimes. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, hate crimes against Muslims nearly tripled during 2016, and more than a thousand instances of hate crimes against people of color were reported in the months after Trump’s election.
Although the majority of Uticans have positive perceptions of immigration, the rise of nativist feelings among Trump’s base – which is plentiful in surrounding suburbs and rural areas in upstate New York – could contribute to making the Utica area a less safe place for refugees to live.
Utica: Moving Forward
Despite these setbacks, Utica is keeping its arms wide open for future refugees. Sixty-nine percent of Utica residents – 3% higher than the national average – believe that immigration is good for their community. When asked, Utica’s Mayor Robert Palmieri said he is “absolutely” willing to keep resettling refugees “because Utica starts with you. It’s as simple as that.”
The Center has continued to receive grant funding from New York State. In September 2019, The Center secured $83,098 in funding that will go towards helping youth and young adults develop necessary skills for their academic and professional lives.
With the Trump administration using bigotry and division to its advantage in the wake of globalization, the future of Utica, New York’s economic and cultural development is uncertain. However, two things do remain certain -- that overall, refugees have had a positive impact in rebuilding the Utica community, and that New York, home to Lady Liberty, will continue to provide a safe haven and an opportunity to prosper for those escaping persecution and economic hardships in their home countries.
Banner image: Andrey Volk [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]