The changing face of Lex

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

LEXINGTON - Each year 70,000 new faces come into the United States through the federal program that accepts and processes refugee applications. The president and Congress decide upon that figure in partnership with the United Nations. The 70,000 also represent less than one percent of the world's population that needs a safe place to live. The process is long and vigorous and involves repeated interviews with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security.

These refugees have one directive ingrained into them from the moment they are accepted into the program. "The primary focus," said Christine Kutschkau, "is that you need to get a job as fast as you can."
Kutschkau is the State Refugee Resettlement Coor-dinator for the state of Nebraska's department of Health and Human Services. A one-person operation at the state level, Kutschkau is in charge of post-arrival services for the newcomers. When the refugees arrive in Nebraska, her first order of business is making sure someone is at the airport to meet them. As Kutschkau puts it, "What makes you feel more safe than seeing someone who looks like you, someone from the same tribe, meeting you?"

Kutschkau is, of course, referring to the influx of Somalians Lexington has experienced over the past few years. Upon their arrival, they get medical screenings, enroll in health and human services, register for school if they have children and seek employment. Although it sounds simple enough, the problem lies in making assumptions about a person's background.

"They have to be taught how to store food, clean their house, wash their hands." As she gives her speech, Kutschkau wants to make sure that it's understood these people are not stupid. "Somalia is a very small country and they are not used to our urban cities."

Many times Kutschkau has found that little things, like how to use a stove, are the things the refugees need to be taught. She has seen, firsthand, flames on the stove being used to heat the home, simply because the immigrants aren't aware of any other way.

"These people have never seen a doorknob, a key or a lock," states Kutschkau.
The employment issue is the hurdle the refugees are most concerned about. Finding a job, and keeping it, is of utmost importance.

Victor Diaz, one of the two Chaplains for Tyson, agrees on the aspect of keeping a job. "If a Hispanic loses their job, they can easily get another. Who else hires a Somali?"
Having spent three decades or more in refugee camps and then coming into the U.S. to work, the immigrants don't have an employment history to fall back on. Entry-level meatpacking is something that lends itself to their skill level, pays quite well and is easy to obtain and Tyson is the reason a lot of refugees migrate to Lexington.
"They have wonderful time and attendance records," Diaz said. "They like where they work and want to stay there."

There are currently 500 shifts that need filling at Tyson. Diaz anticipates that even with the Kansas plant closing, only a 100 of those positions will be filled. These positions mean more immigrants arriving in Lexington for work.

Those workers migrating to Lexington might not necessarily be the faces we have grown accustomed to seeing over the past few years.In the last federal fiscal quarter, Kutschkau has observed the admittance of Somalis has been declining and that Nebraska is seeing an influx of Southeast Asians from Burma. Already a hundred Burmese have been placed in Omaha and between 40 and 50 in Lincoln. Along with these incoming refugees will be a new set of challenges, both for Kutschkau as well as the communities in which they arrive.
The face of Lexington will change just a little bit more.

Source: Lexington Clipper- Herald, Feb 06, 2008