DETROIT- HAMTRAMCK, SHOULD WELCOME UKRAINE’S REFUGEES

 DETROIT- HAMTRAMCK, SHOULD WELCOME UKRAINE’S REFUGEES

U.S. and Ukraine flags aloft in SE Michigan

President Joe Biden has pledged to admit 100,000 Ukrainian refugees in Poland and other NATO countries. It seems to be a very small number in comparison. Over 5 million have fled the barbaric Russian war in Ukraine. Poland alone has taken in over 3 million.

Rafal Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw, appeared on MSNBC  for an interview by Mika Brezinski.  Mayor Trzaskowski is appealing to step up and “share the burden” like Poland to meet the needs of refugees and resettlement.  

There is a common-sense solution to the refugee crisis. As the United States comes to take in one hundred thousand refugees we stand to take in much more in Michigan. The number pales to that of Poland  which is taking on the largest relocation in Europe since the second World War. The city of Warsaw has grown thirty percent with 300,000 new residents. Poland is not only taking in, but welcoming Ukrainian refugees. The US can do the same.

The Economic and Humanitarian Benefit for Ukraine, Detroit and Hamtramck

·       Resettlement of Ukrainian refugees will add to the population base in qualifying for federal programs and assistance. The United Nations has studied the refugee crisis of the Syrian war. The UN concluded that seventy percent (70%) of refugees remain in the countries that accepted them.

·       Both cities will benefit from a resurgence of both income tax to support their budgets.

·       As refugee families gain employment they will add to rehab and improve property values.

·       The Ukrainian population are motivated to better their lives and readily work in a labor shortage crisis

·       There will be a range of skilled trades and engineers. This will aid GM in recruiting workers for the “Factory Zero” location once named the “Pole Town” plant.

·       On the near eastside of Detroit including areas proximate to the GM factory, there exists wide swaths of empty land that begs redevelopment. A long-term goal is for new housing developed to serve refugee and the local community.

·       The State, Wayne County and the City of Detroit can lobby for favorable zoning, tax breaks to developers

·       As well as for broad economic federal assistance as part of a larger project. Detroit has seen prior designations of defined geographic areas as “Enterprise Zones” of the 1990s that fell short of the intended economic impact. Recently, a local court ruled that the “Old Packard Plant” be razed. Here lies an opportunity for business and manufacturing…

·       Where the first refugees comprised of women and children may be employed in a “war effort” to defend their homeland through the production of military assets such as supplies for medics, helmets, body armor, flak jackets, munitions or any humanitarian items critical to the cause. Detroit will return to the designation of Arsenal of Democracy to the ire of Vladimir Putin.  

There is no doubt that the United States has committed a long-term range of military and humanitarian support in the Russia-Ukraine invasion. Hundreds of billions of dollars in assistance has already been provided with much more in the future as this conflict lasts and a rebuilding of a democratic Ukraine commences. A plan to offer tangible assistance to the refugees in this country will be transparent to both Ukrainians and Americans.

 

 Background and History

The United States has always delivered humanitarian aid throughout our history. One of the largest emigrations came after WWII when refugees across Europe sought to escape the carnage in the post war. Many Poles and Ukrainians resettled in the United States permanently as their homelands would take decades to rebuild. The same humanitarian refugee tragedy is happening now and will for an extended time or more likely seek permanent relocation status.

Hamtramck, Michigan and parts of Detroit became home to the largest Polish populated city. This included thousands of Ukrainians as well. Hamtramck became a dynamic community with new residents, then naturalized citizens. Most of these refugees arrived with little money and in need of housing and jobs. They settled into two-family flats on side streets of the main arteries from the Detroit River and North just below Eight Mile Road.

The post-war boom for Hamtramck is not the only time of crisis for resettling refugees. In the late 90’s President Bill Clinton welcomed refugees of the terrible Bosnian War. Thousands settled as well in Hamtramck. There were both Bosnians and Croatians who then assumed the place of Poles and Ukrainians of the post war era.

The population of Hamtramck, a city within a city (Detroit) exploded. In the Detroit neighborhoods south of what is now I-94 the area became known as Pole Town. Here on this border of Detroit and Hamtramck, Chrysler and General Motors plants transitioned to munitions that served the war effort. These included the famous Dodge Main and the old Packard Building. In this area just north of I-94 GM built the sprawling Cadillac plant came to be known as Pole Town factory. Today the plant is undergoing a transformation to the 21^st century in the production of electric vehicles.

The history of Detroit would see a revitalization exceeding the Enterprise Zones of the 1990s. This is an opportunity to resettle a new wave of emigration where an end game is in place rather than the illegal border crossings elsewhere. The funding of such a plan may be drawn from the billions of dollars of aid in support of Ukraine. Another potential source of funding could come from in part from the trillions approved for infrastructure.

The resettlement of Ukrainian refugees in Detroit and Hamtramck would serve as an example of a commitment to diversity and democracy to the nation and the world.