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{"id":1959,"date":"2015-05-15T22:07:52","date_gmt":"2015-05-16T04:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=1959"},"modified":"2015-05-15T22:07:52","modified_gmt":"2015-05-16T04:07:52","slug":"quick-detroit-post-for-the-day-the-magical-syrians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/05\/quick-detroit-post-for-the-day-the-magical-syrians.html","title":{"rendered":"Quick Detroit post for the day: the magical Syrians?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Now two academics writing in the New York Times<\/a> make the specific policy proposal to add 50,000 visas to import Syrian refugees to resettle in Detroit, again with notions that immigrants, especially Arab immigrants, and especially those who have experienced traumatic events, are particularly entrepreneurial. \u00a0The authors further propose, to make this venture work, sufficient funds to help them resettle and buy and rehab homes.<\/p>\n

Now, the \u201cSyrian refugee\u201d bit is a new twist, but apparently the \u201c50,000 immigrants\u201d idea comes from Michgan\u2019s Governor Rick Snyder himeslf, who proposed these visas<\/a> for immigrants who would commit to living and working in Detroit, though in his case, he wants these visas specifically for skilled, STEM immigrants.<\/p>\n

In any case, it really rankles me\u00a0to say that there\u2019s something magical about immigrants, as entrepreneurs, as hard workers, and the like. \u00a0Why are they disproportionately likely to start small businesses? \u00a0Because, to the extent that these businesses don\u2019t require great amounts of capital, it\u2019s a more viable option when you can\u2019t find an ordinary wage-earning job as easily as your native-born neighbors \u2014 and, in the end, many of these small businesses are exceedingly small, and function as much as anything as a way of supporting your family by working very long hours; and these businesses are typically stores, like the traditionally-Chaldean party store, or restaurants, aren\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

Anyway, I know I\u2019ve griped about this before, but I couldn\u2019t help but re-gripe after this NYT piece.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"