The City of Findlay recently created an Immigration Task Force to address the increasing immigration population in Findlay.
The first point of the task force’s guiding philosophy is to “treat people as humans.” The group will work to enhance the existing social service networks offered to immigrant populations in the Findlay area.
The task force highlighted translation services as the top priority in their strategic plan. Education services regarding the immigration process and cultural differences are also highlighted as a top priority for the task force.
“We probably have about 1,000 in our community at this point. The added challenge is the language barrier, and so, we’re really figuring out how do we help them learn English quickly as well as then help direct them to community resources to find more stable housing to make sure that they’re getting jobs, and so, that’s really been our goals. And then, helping, especially kids, to integrate into our school systems, so it’s really just how do we make sure that we adjust our existing systems to accommodate non-English speakers and newcomers to our community,” Mayor Christina Muryn told Hometown Stations.
________________________________________________________
RELATED: Hancock Park District Hosts Recycled Container Garden Workshop
________________________________________________________
The task force’s next step is to recruit immigrants to serve on the task force. The task force has identified a short-term goal of change in awareness and knowledge about the city’s immigrant population.
Another essential action of the task force is to set up accessible healthcare services for immigrant populations.
The task force, which was organized by Mayor Muryn, is composed of volunteers, including 60 individuals or agencies. There are about 300 immigrant workers living in Findlay and around 2,000 immigrant workers employed in the Findlay area, according to Mayor Muryn. She estimates in the next two years the number of immigrant workers living in Findlay will grow to 600 to 1,000.
The strategic plan included other strategies on immigration in Ohio, including:
- About 5% of Ohio’s residents, 588,840 people, are foreign-born.
- About 18% of the immigrant population in Ohio, 106,151 people, are undocumented.
- About 6.2% of Ohio’s labor force, 371,038 people, are immigrants.
- About 1.1% of the employed immigrant population in Ohio, 4,081 people, are undocumented.
- About 63,741 refugees live in Ohio.
- About 93.4% of the refugees, 59,534 people, are employed.
“So I certainly understand residents having concerns with a new population, especially given the federal climate. You know, it is really frustrating that we don’t have good border security and good immigration policies, but the majority of folks that we’re seeing come to our community are here legally. They are here on work visas or are asylum seekers or refugees. We have some people that have been in the United States for years and have been living in just different parts of the country—again, legally. But the city of Findlay is not a sanctuary city. We are not inviting people in; we are not bussing them here; we are upholding the law,” Mayor Muryn told Hometown Stations.
For more information on the Immigration Task Force, visit the City of Findlay’s city council website, findlayohio.gov/government/elected-officials/city-council.
