Millions of dollars in state and federal funding have been earmarked to help resettle the 3,000 Hmong refugees who will make their home in Wisconsin during the next year.
Some taxpayers agree that tax dollars should fund programs to help resettle refugees, in part because many of the refugees and their relatives assisted American soldiers during the Vietnam War. But others say the government should help American citizens who are in need first.
“I don’t think it’s prejudice against the Hmong, but I think there’s resentment that’s building up in people who are already here,” said 38-year-old Julie Christian of De Pere. “You see single parents who are struggling but can’t get help. I don’t care who comes here, the more the better. But when you are giving money to one group over the other, it just doesn’t seem fair.”
Gov. Jim Doyle announced on July 2 that $1 million in state and federal funding and $300,000 in federal money would be made available to help resettle Hmong refugees in Wisconsin.
Hmong refugees receive assistance from Catholic Charities for the first 90 days they are here and also are eligible for Wisconsin Works services, food stamps and Medicaid. Wisconsin Works, known as W-2, is the state’s employment-based assistance program for low-income families with dependent children. W-2 benefits include cash assistance and employment and job-training services.
“We have many people in the state of Wisconsin that are displaced and downsized with all of their benefits gone,” said 50-year-old Mike Fermanich of Marinette. “How is it that noncitizens get more attention than our own state residents? With the state of our economy, the politicians are telling us that we don’t have the funding and programs need to be cut, but now there’s money available for the Hmong?”
Such sentiments are common whenever the economy declines, said Jason Pierceson, assistant professor of political science at St. Norbert College in De Pere.
“There are strong sentiments among taxpayers that social programs should only go to those who are somehow more deserving,” Pierceson said. “That deserving status is usually related to some kind of sacrifice or some type of way that someone has paid into the system such as with Social Security or veterans benefits. When you get to programs for new immigrants who haven’t had residence or paid taxes in the past, some people feel those groups aren’t as deserving.”
The state also has received other funding, including more than $5.8 million from the federal Department of Health and Human Services for resettlement, said Rose Lynch, spokeswoman for the Department of Workforce Development.
Another $1.7 million in refugee cash assistance provided by the federal government will likely be available for those who do not have children and don’t qualify for W-2, she said.
An additional $3.3 million has been allocated for Hmong refugees who arrive later in the year, but it is unknown how much Wisconsin will receive, Lynch said.
These funds were the result of efforts by U.S. Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold, both D-Wisconsin, to secure more funding for resettlement, she said. Brown County officials said they are waiting to learn how much funding will be available for county programs.
“The Hmong take jobs that a lot of Americans don’t want to take and jobs that even Americans who are out of work won’t take,” said Diana Mora of Green Bay. “People say, ‘We should take care of Americans first.’ But we’re all Americans. We need to remember that our grandparents and great-grandparents came from someplace else.”
Those sentiments were shared by Jeanne Ramsden of Bellevue, whose late husband, Bill Krouth, served in the Vietnam War.
“Some people feel that this is going to have a (negative) impact on their lifestyle,” Ramsden said. “They (the Hmong) are of a different culture. Sometimes people have difficulty accepting different cultures, and they aren’t exposed to other cultures. I think they need to learn more about the Hmong people and the sacrifices they’ve made for this country.”
Linda Vander Kinter, 57, from Bellevue, has a 9-year-old grandson who is disabled and doesn’t qualify for Social Security Income — federal benefits for low-income people who are elderly or disabled.
“There was a picture (in the newspaper) of the Hmong woman who is mad because her seven years of assistance is gone,” Vander Kinter said, referring to Sia Xiong, a 79-year-old Hmong refugee who came to the United States in 1997. Xiong is one of thousands of Hmong refugees who came to the United States after Aug. 26, 1996, who must obtain U.S. citizenship within seven years or lose their benefits.
“We’re doling out all this money to people who haven’t paid a dime in taxes,” Vander Kinter said. “There needs to be a cutoff at some point.”
Lynch said fewer than 1 percent of the current Hmong population is on the W-2 program or receiving any form of public assistance. Refugees who own property in the state pay property taxes, she said. They pay sales taxes for purchases, and once they start working, they pay income taxes.
Ninety-one percent of Hmong in Wisconsin are employed, and half own their own homes, Lynch said. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median state household income of Hmong here in 1999 was $36,000, compared to whites, which is about $45,000 Lynch said.
