Posted on 03/02/2009 3:55:25 PM PST by BGHater
A Bhutanese refugee died recently in his Vickery Meadow apartment in Dallas, within walking distance of Lal Subba's home. The family had no money for a burial, so Subba and the other Bhutanese families in the complex took up a collection to ensure the elderly man received appropriate honor for the life he led.
"If we live, too much difficult. If we die, too much difficult," said the 21-year-old who grew up in a Nepal refugee camp and came to Dallas in October, only to find a flailing national economy instead of the idealized American dream.
That reality is now hitting Texas, where laid-off workers and legal – and illegal – immigrants are vying for a declining number of jobs in blue-collar industries.
This leaves even fewer opportunities for Dallas' expanding refugee population – people from Myanmar (formerly Burma), Bhutan and Iraq who already struggle to find employment and housing with limited language skills, no support network and only a basic understanding of American culture.
The release of President Barack Obama's federal budget on Thursday outlined a nearly 10 percent increase, to $51.7 billion, in funding for international development and diplomacy. That has further ignited debate over the nation's ethical and political responsibilities to those who can no longer claim a homeland – and whether the refugee stream should be trimmed.
Refugees, unlike immigrants, leave their home country not by choice but out of fear of persecution. The Iraqis – the most educated of the three major groups currently coming into the U.S. – are a prime example. They have left their lives as lawyers, doctors and professors for political reasons and have been designated refugees by the United Nations.
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
I think I'll send all my personal wealth to the Illegal Immigrant Support Center tomorrow so they can spend it wisely. Thanks for setting me straight!
One of the grim scenes I remember from "The Killing Fields" is how the Kymer Rouge sent the kids into the slave labor camps to pull up tomatos and other plants the inmates were growing to supplement their meager food allowance provided by their jailers. They didn't want the inmates to think that sustainence came from anybody but the jailers.
Texas better get prepared for millions of refugees pouring over the southern border.
“That barely covers the $555 in rent and utilities each month for himself and his mother. Food stamps leave enough for rice and vegetables. They choose sweaters over heat.”
Oh, please!!! They get about $135 each for food stamps...more than I spend a month on groceries. And I have to wear sweaters to keep the heat down too!
Welcome to America! It’s rough all over, not just for refugees.
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