Local Integration Key to Refugee Resettlement

Local Integration Key to Refugee Resettlement: "Ahead of Monday’s celebration of World Refugee Day, the Center for American Progress released a new report and found that once refugees are rooted in the U.S. they see a “substantial” wage gain, help expand the local economy, and learn to speak English “well” or “very well.”

For the past five years the study looked at census data and identified four groups consisting primarily of refugees — Somali, Burmese, Hmong, and Bosnians— and found they quickly became self-sufficient.

Thirty-one out of 1,000 Bosnian refugees are business owners, while 26 of every 1,000 Burmese in the labor force are business owners.

After living in the U.S. for more than 10 years, 86 percent of Somalis speak English “well” and 61 percent speak “very well.” Among Hmong refugees, 43 percent speak only English or speak it“very well.”"



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