Outstate Minnesota Newspaper Stresses Need for Immigrants

Mankato is a regional center of nearly 41,000 people in south central Minnesota. Its newspaper,The Mankato Free Press. has endorsed the importance of immigrants in the rural parts of the state. It said in an editorial, “Here, in the south-central area of the state, we have seen . . . reliance on a diverse workforce both in small cities and in the regional center of Mankato. Meat plants in St. James, Madelia, Butterfield and Windom [smaller cities in southwestern Minnesota] depend heavily on minority workers. Mankato manufacturing plants also hire immigrant workers and a number of immigrants have become small-business owners.”[1]

Moreover, they are “the only population group still growing in Minnesota, according to the Center for Rural Policy and Development, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit policy research organization based in Mankato. The Minnesota State Demographic Center says the percent of Minnesota’s population represented by people of color (those self-identifying as one or more races other than white, and/or Latino) is projected to grow from 14 percent in 2005 to 25 percent by 2035.”

“So no matter what people’s level of acceptance of diversity is on a personal level, the reality is that the economy needs immigrants — and always has. Hoping young people will return to their rural hometowns after college to work is not happening, at least not in numbers needed to keep communities viable.”

“Population projections predict that as baby boomers retire, enough workers won’t be available to fill the vacant jobs in Minnesota. Our newest segments of population are going to be key to keeping our businesses going. And a continuing tradition of strong public education in Minnesota, with the financial support it deserves, should help train those workers of today and tomorrow.

This editorial was prompted by recent remarks by Neel Kashkari, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and by Greg Raymo, a Worthington, Minnesota banker. Kashkari said, “immigrants are helping [Worthington] grow, something many communities in rural parts of the state can only hope for’ while Raymo had “estimated immigrants own more than a quarter of the businesses operating in that community. ‘If we embrace it, it’s what’s going to help rural Minnesota grow again,’ said . . . Raymo.”

This editorial reiterates points made in previous posts to this blog.[2]

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[1] Editorial, Our view: Immigrants needed for healthy economy, Mankato Free Press (July 14, 2018).

[2] E.g., More Immigrants Needed in U.S., dwkcommentaries.com (June 23, 2018).