REFUGEES ARE PEOPLE ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY OF REFUGEES IN NASHVILLE, TN
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF REFUGEES
ZAHRAA YOUSIF
ZAHRAA DAGHER V A N D E R B I LT U N I V E R S I T Y 1
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CONTENT
03 Executive Summary 04 Research Methodology 05 Who is a refugee 08 Problem Landscape 14 Solutions Landscape 17 Impact Gaps & Levers of Change 25 Key Insights & Lessons Learned 27 Appendices 40 Bibliography
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The refugee crisis is one of the most pressing concerns of the 21st century. A twist of fate binds refugees lives as they flee their countries to escape war, persecution, or natural disasters. Refugees challenge mortality and navigate a way away from terminal conditions which can make it easy to believe that their fortune greatly improves once they are in a safer and more economically stable place like the United States. Analyzing more deeply, however, reveals that there are forces that affect their economic viability and self-sufficient. Once they disembark in the US, refugees are on a limited financial assistance and must find alternative means to be self-sufficient in a short time. This paper examines the economic factors that affect refugees’ self-sufficiency in Nashville, TN. Nashville has seen a growing number of immigration and refugee resettlement. Outlining the Problem Landscape uncovers a system that reinforces the underemployment of refugees and misconceptions about their economic impact. Policymakers that argue against refugee support lack exposure to refugees and thus understanding of their situations. Bias and fear towards refugees is also instigated by a negative narrative on the media that dehumanizes refugees and represents them as “the other”. The solutions in place are driven by governmental providers and therefore subject to the volatile political changes and hierarchical lawmaking processes. This research presents a number of gaps: • Resettlement programs focus on speed in finding employment opportunities • Decision-making power on policies, funding and programming for refugee support are governed by those on the top of the hierarchy who also have no first-hand relationships with refugees • The solutions are directed towards refugees only and not the community • Addressing the media and divide in public opinion are missed opportunities in the solution landscape
A number of leverage points can are proposed to produce system changes, such as creating a: • PARADIGM SHIFT ABOUT REFUGEES IN SOCIETY’S & DECISION MAKERS MINDS from fear and otherness to inclusion and humanization by: - Changing the narrative about refugees on the media - Creating opportunities for engagement and dialogue with refugees
• ENABLING SELF-ORGANIZING SUPPORT STRUCTURES OTHER THAN THE FEDERAL ONE
• CHANGES WITHIN THE FEDERAL PRACTICES - Facilitating multi-stakeholder collaboration on refugee support - Changing the speed of employment as a KPI
WORD COUNT: 2984 (excluding appendices and graphs)
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY MIXED RESEARCH METHODS WERE USED ACADEMIC LITERATURE
INTERVIEWS
NEWS & OPINION ARTICLES
GOVERNMENT & NGO REPORTS
MULTIPLE SYSTEM THINKING TOOLS WERE APPLIED
EVENTS PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR
SYSTEMIC STRUCTURE
MENTAL MODELS
SYSTEM MAPPING
CAUSE DIAGRAM
ICEBERG MODEL
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS
STAKEHOLDER MAPPING
VARIOUS SYSTEMS BOOKS, ARTICLES AND TRAININGS WERE TAKEN INCLUDING
SYSTEMS PRACTICE COURSE +ACUMEN & OMIDYAR
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“ Refugees are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, with the same hopes and ambitions as us — except that a twist of fate has bound their lives to a global refugee crisis on an unprecedented scale. — Khaled Hosseini
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WHO IS A REFUGEE?
”
Refugees are defined as people who were forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. Refugees escape persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. They are either unable to return home or have a well-founded fear of doing so. War and ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries. In the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees, the legal definition of the term “refugee” came to live as world leaders wanted to ensure the protection of this population.
31 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DISPLACED SINCE YOU STARTED READING THIS REPORT*
* According to the UNHCR Global Trends Report, 31 people are displaced every minute.
Zuleika Abdi, a Somalian who spent 20 years in a Ugandan refugee camp before she finally has roof on head in Nashville. Just like Abdi, there are over 11,000 refugees in Nashville over the past decade. Many of these refugees feel trapped whether to accepting a job that pays less than welfare and strips them of benefits or not.
7 Zuleika Abdi and her children PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
>11K REFUGEES IN NASHVILLE
71M PEOPLE ARE DISPLACED
26M REFUGEES WORLDWIDE
PROBLEM LANDSCAPE
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P A G E 10
A SYSTEM THAT REINFORCES UNDEREMPLOYMENT AND MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT REFUGEES In the US, resettlement agencies that support refugees in finding a job are restricted to finding a placement within 120 - 180 days. This is very restricting since finding a job is challenging even in regular circumstances. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it takes over 500 days on average to secure a job which is 4 times lengthier than the 120 days cap. This limits opportunities to low-paying jobs that requires few qualifications and language skills and leads to underemployment of refugees. Services do not cater for a refugee interior designer or lawyer, those who aim to be entrepreneurs - instead, everyone is led into the same low-paying jobs. Mandatory appointments and English learning leaves refugees no time to look for jobs. Not to mention, supporting a five or seven-person family is not possible on minimumwage jobs that do not offer benefits. Having a standardized resettlement processes applicable to everyone dismisses the fact that every refugee in unique and every refugee journey requires different approaches. Additionally, further training and job opportunities are necessary to enable refugees to progress over time and that is only limited to a handful of years. Policies of refugee support programs are imposed by State Departments on the federal level. Those policy makers have no direct interaction with refugees (i.e. they do not interact with refugees nor provide services to them in person) thus those who make policies have misconceptions about refugees which affects
policy-making and decisions around funding and programming which in turn leads to ineffective support program policies that do not account for refugee skill and background nuances as mentioned in the previous paragraph. Because support programs are not based on an understanding of refugees specific circumstances this leads to designing programs that offer refugees with limited career options. For example, the focus on speed of securing a job instead of quality of career stems from deeming any job better that extended periods of being unemployed where refugees would not have government stipends or job salaries to support them financially. At the same time, focusing on lower—tier jobs as a service provider streamlines the process of securing jobs. Instead of considering refugees multitude of skills, career backgrounds, and academic acumen, putting them all in one pool of jobs is a more efficient process from an organizational management perspective. In some cases, refugees are under-skilled where they need further education. The only educational support that is provided is English language training. In many more cases, refugees are highly qualified candidates. However, barriers to merit or skill-based employment include the stereotypes that employers have about refugees. This discrimination and false notions about refugees foster labor markets that privilege insiders at the expense of outsiders.
P A G E 11
The underemployment of refugees (having them employed at jobs inadequate with respect to their training or economic needs) reinforces stereotypes about their abilities and conditions leading to more misconceptions about refugees and imprinting mental models of fear and otherness towards this group. These mental models are not only imprinted in the minds of policy makers, but the public as a whole. Negative media prints a dark image about refugees and causes more misconceptions about this population. Additionally, the lack of exposure to refugees by the public (i.e. integration opportunities between both the public and refugees) also contributes to the fear and wrong ideas towards them. An example of the power of media on decisions towards refugees is this: after the Paris attacks, many lawmakers in Tennessee signed letter to the governor requesting to stop welcoming Syrian refugees. Some requested a bill that looks at how much money refugees cost the state. This bill prompted a study in 2013 that estimated refugees and their descendants provided $1.4 billion in revenue for Tennessee between 1990 and 2012, compared to requiring $753 million in state support. Despite the results of that report, lawmakers continue to request punitive proposals aimed at refugees which is indicative of a larger bias. Lawmakers’ misconception about refugees not only affects decisions of resettlement programming but also funding. There are arguments that question using taxpayers’ money on resettlement. On one of the interviews for this paper, we asked a state official how our research can be helpful to them as they work on supporting refugees and their answer was to find evidence for the economic impact of refugees. Even though there is a lack of scholarly research about refugees in Nashville, we found multiple resources with evidence to the contribution of refugees in relation to taxpayer money just like the one mentioned earlier. In one report, refugees were found to have contributed almost twice as much in tax revenues as they consumed in state-funded services. The evidence that confirms the positive impact of refugees on their state’s economy also insinuates that fiscal arguments about refugees stem from misconceptions around them.
EXAMPLES OF FAKE NEWS, ANTI-REFUGEE RHETORIC AND ISLAMOPHOBIA IN THE MEDIA
These misconceptions that lawmakers have about refugees are an extension of what the public opinion about this population. There is a
DIVIDE IN PUBLIC OPINION between those who welcome refugees’ stay and others who believe that refugees are dangerous. What adds fuel to the fire is negative and fake media about refugees. The media has a power of shaping perceptions towards refugees. Stories about refugees’ contributions to their society almost never make it to the news, whereas stories that are marked with hate speech and rhetoric against refugees make headlines.
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P A G E 13
All these systemic factors lead to reinforcing feedback loops that obstruct refugees from economic self-sufficiency. Applying the iceberg model (bellow) shows us that there are mental models of fear and assumptions towards refugees. Those are instigated and reinforced because of misunderstanding of refugees as well as fake and negative media that depicts horrific images about refugees and reinforces stereotypes about them. This brings a salient issue of discrimination, which is exacerbated by politicians who demonize refugees in general and Muslim ones in particular – we highlight Muslims here because the 5 top countries where Muslims come from are majority Muslim countries and because there is extra vetting, bottlenecks and even travel bans for those citizens. This discrimination and false notions about refugees foster labor markets that privilege insiders at the expense of outsiders. Field experiments in many countries show that people with foreign-sounding names are less likely to get a job interview than identical candidates with local names.
• • •
Changing politics about refugees Reducing refugee resettlement spots Fiscal debates about refugees
EVENTS PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR
SYSTEMIC STRUCTURE
MENTAL MODELS
Adapted from Goodman, M. The Iceberg Model. Hopkinton, MA: Innovation Associates Organizational Learning, 2002; and Sweeny, L. and Meadows, D. The Systems Thinking Playbook. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2010
• • •
Reduced funding & support for refugees Divide in public opinion about supporting refugees Fake news and negative media about refugees
•
Hierarchical decision-making about refugee resettlement No direct involvement with refugees from top hierarchies
•
• •
Fear and misconceptions about refugees Assumptions about refugees’ economic cost
Detailed Description of the iceberg model in Appendix B
CAUSES DIAGRAM
Resettlement Service Providers have a policy of finding employment for refugees within 120 - 180 days Program policies are made by federal lawmakers who are not aware of refugees’ circumstances
Underemployment of refugees State & federal decisions on funding and programming of refugee support services
Policymaker have misconceptions about refugees and assume that refugees are an economic burden
P A G E 14
FACT SHEET Despite the lack of scholarly research on refugees, we were able to find a plethora of data around their economic impact from multiple sources. Here are some data we found:
OPTING OUT OF REFUGEE SUPPORT IS AN ECONOMIC RISK An analysis by the New American Economy Research Fund looked at the economic costs for states that opt out of the refugee resettlement program in 2020. The research found that a state may be risking millions of dollars in income and additional economic stimulus just by opting out for one year. Economic Cost of Opting Out of Accepting Refugees
Source: New American Economy Research Fund
REFUGEES AS ENTREPRENEURS WHO DRIVE THE ECONOMY According to NAE, there are almost 8,000 immigrant entrepreneurs in Nashville; across Tennessee, immigrant-owned businesses employ more than 57,000 people, and generate $472.5 million in business income. Source: New American Economy
REFUGEES ARE CONTRIBUTORS TO THE ECONOMY In 2015
> 181,000
US refugees aged 18 – 45 pay an estimated
refugee entrepreneurs generated
$21,000
$4.6B
more in taxes
in business income in the US
than they receive in benefits over 20 years
Source: National Immigration Forum
SOLUTIONS LANDSCAPE
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P A G E 16
Provides advice and guidance on resettlement policies, procedures, and programs
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES STATE DEPARTMENT Bureau of Population, Refugees & Migration
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STATE PROGRAMS & REPLACEMENT DESIGN PROGRAMS
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Con wit nects hv olu NGOs nte ers
In adv tegra tio oca cy s n & erv ice
Case Management
LOCAL
LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS & REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT AGENCY
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REFUGEES
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THIS PROJECT FOCUSED ON THE LOCAL AND STATE LEVELS
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Medical & Cash Assistance
FEDERAL
GLOBAL
STAKEHOLDER MAPPING
P A G E 17
Within the solutions landscape
Support in finding Housing English Language Training Advocacy
LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS & REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT AGENCY
Cultural Integration training
Job Placement Services • • • • • •
Resume Assistance Skills Bank & Interest Inventory Job Application Assistance Referral Services Employer Partner Relations Job Placement Services
STATE ORGANIZATIONS
Grant Writing Implementing Programs Monitoring Reporting & Data
Funding FEDERAL ORGANIZATIONS
Policymaking Monitoring
Reporting & Data
Missing from the solutions landscape Integration training for the community
Entrepreneurship support
Positive media about refugees Education or long-term strategies to get better jobs
P A G E 18
Federal entities with highest power do not have direct relationships with refugees
High Decision Power
Federal & State Administrators
Power in policies and funding decisions
High power in shaping the public opinion
MEDIA * Direct Relationship
Indirect Relationship Resettlement Agencies
Directly work with refugees through resettlement case management
Support organizations
Low Decision Power
* Direct Relationships with refugees = talk to and work with refugees first hand.
IMPACT GAPS & LEVERS OF CHANGE
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P A G E 20
FROM A SYSTEM THAT REINFORCES UNDEREMPLOYMENT AND MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT REFUGEES TO A SYSTEM THAT EMPOWERS REFUGEES TO BE SELF-SUFFICIENT AND BRINGS THEIR STORIES TO PUBLIC
LEVERS OF CHANGE CREATE A PARADIGM SHIFT FROM fear towards refugees TO inclusion of refugees by 4 changing the narrative about refugees on the media * 3 creating opportunities for engagement and dialogue with refugees
2 ENABLE SUPPORT STRUCTURES BEYOND THE FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION by self-organize refugee support networks such as refugee entrepreneur networks
LEAD CHANGES WITHIN THE GOVERNMENT by 2 facilitating multistakeholder collaboration on refugee support and 1 changing KPIs
THE SYSTEM
* The numbers inside the triangles refer to the levers of change that will be explained in the coming pages
Adapted from Meadows, Donella. Thinking in Systems: A Primer. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2008.
P A G E 21
FROM Speed Over Quality
TO Holistic Performance Measures
Impact Gap
1
“BOILING FROG” KPIs Focus on Speed in Finding Employment Opportunities
In The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge mentioned the boiling frog experiment as it relates to thinking systemically. When a frog is placed in a pot of boiled water, it jumps out immediately. However, when the temperature is gradually turned up, the frog does not climb out even when the the pot reaches an unbearable boiling temperature. The frog is a victim of Drifting Goals (also known as Eroding Goals) - the higher temperature of the pot leads to poorer and poorer performance/ expectations by the frog. The Drifting Goals Archetype applies to situations where short-term solutions lead to the deterioration of long-term goals. Sticking to KPIs based on speed of securing a job placement leads to lower and irrelevant quality standards from refugees employment. Underemployment of refugees (employing them in jobs that are inadequate with respect to their training or economic needs) becomes the accepted goal. The programs provided through resettlement agencies and governed by state polices focus on early allocation of refugees into jobs instead of considering long-term, sustainable job options. There is a set number of days (120 – 180 days) in which case providers are expected to match refugees with job placements and in many situations this means neglecting the refugee’s specific background and directing job search effort on lower hanging fruits that do not require specific technical or academic skills. Gradually accepting these KPIs and standards poses a threat similar to the frog that swims in deadly boiling water. Drifting Goals arise from slowly being comfortable with our situation and thereby changing our perception of what is acceptation. This makes Drifting Goals problematic because they happen slowly and without our conscious decision. Sticking to a goal of employment within 120 - 180 days purely for its own sake is a misdirection from the grounding goal of supporting refugees’ long-term self-sufficiency.
Lever of Change
1
RETHINK RESETTLEMENT EFFORTS & MEASURMENT
To overcome the Drifting Goals scenario, there is a need for resettlement services providers to slow down and pay attention to changes. In one of the interviews with resettlement officers, I was told that there is no record of the types of jobs that refugees are places into, their average salaries, or the career level of their positions nor where such indicators a part of the KPIs for jobs that refugees are placed in. Service providers would benefit from looking critically at their own practices and core assumptions about refugee employment. Futurology researcher Sohail Inayatullah says in his TED Talk about Causal Layered Analysis “if you want a different future, change how you measure the world”. Those at the front line (service providers who work in-person with refugees and know their stations best) need to hold policy makers accountable and reminded of the selfsufficiency goals. The assumption that a job that is secured in a speedy manner will lead to self-sufficiency is an assumption that should be challenged. Changing the KPIs and redesigning resettlement policies can be a bureaucratic convoluted effort. A simple starting point can be extending deadlines from 120 days to 500 days which is the average it takes to secure a job according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
P A G E 22
FROM Hierarchical decision-making
TO Multi-stakeholder collaboration
Impact Gap
2
THOSE WITH THE HIGHEST IMPACT HOLD THE LEAST POWER
Both program funding and policy of resettlement programs are contingent upon the political administration on the state and federal levels. The includes the approved number of refugee entrants, grant budget for programs, and policies that govern programs such as limitations on the timeframe of supporting refugees. This gives caseworkers and local resettlement providers hardly any room to provide refugees with flexibility. With such, programs are standardized and imposed in a top-bottom fashion which inhibits agencies from fully working on a case-by-case fashion to address every refugees’ specific needs.
Lever of Change
2
MULTI-STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATIVE EFFORT
The Solutions Landscape shows that Resettlement Agencies are the most involved in contributing to refugees self-sufficiency. Nonetheless, those agencies have the least decision-making power in regards to policies, programming and funding. Our interviews showed that the only ideas-exchange event between Resettlement Agencies and state or federal officials is through a small session within an annual meeting. By having more opportunities for collaborating and brainstorming across the local, federal, and state levels, solutions will have more holistic perspectives. Even better, if refugees were included it will give a chance to hear from the perspective of the population that the products are designed for. Mapping reality from the viewpoint of multiple stakeholders enables them to develop more-robust solutions to empower refugees.
AND SELF-ORGANIZING REFUGEE SUPPORT NETWORKS Beyond political administration, self-organizing support structures can be a powerful multistakeholder approach. One of those support structures can be entrepreneur networks. In Nashville, the main entrepreneurs support organization is the Nashville Entrepreneurship Center commonly known as “The EC". There are thousands of refugee entrepreneurs in Nashville. Still, a quick search of the “Nashville Entrepreneurship Centre” and “Refugee” shows zero results. The EC has the potential to integrate refugees with the bigger Nashville entrepreneurs community and highlight refugee entrepreneur stories thereby influencing the public opinion about refugees.
P A G E 23
FROM Communities that fear and alienate refugees
TO Communities that engage with and embrace refugees
Impact Gap
3
PROGRAMS ARE DIRECTED ONLY AT REFUGEES, NOT THE COMMUNITY
Understandably, solutions landscape is driven towards refugees by attending to refugees language needs, delivering integration training, and so on. However, such integration trainings and endeavors are not provided towards communities. Looking at the solution landscape, the provided services -including integration orientations- are delivered to refugees. Knowing that Nashville is an upcoming majority-minority city highlights the importance of paving the way towards better integration through fashioning initiatives that not only prepare refugees but also the communities they are expected to integrate into.
Lever of Change
3
SPARK ENGAGEMENT AND DIALOGUE WITH REFUGEES
There is an opportunity of integrating refugees and changing perceptions about them through sparking moments of engagement and dialogue with refugees. As “the music city” with a rich arts and culture scene, leveraging cultural and arts programming can reshape perceptions around refugees. Tolerance can be built through interfaith and intercultural dialogue. Meeting and learning about refugees can build long-term, sustained political support for refugee resettlement.
CASE STUDY | Project FINE Project FINE is a diversity training program based in Winona, Minnesota which bridges cultural gaps by providing opportunities for local businesses to learn about refugees and build cultural competency. Project FINE’s staff go out in the community and conduct diversity trainings for businesses, government, and educational institutions. Most of the staff who conduct presentations are themselves refugees or immigrants.
CASE STUDY | Community Co-sponsorship Program Community Co-Sponsorship Program in New Haven, Connecticut offers a unique model by enabling community groups across Connecticut to resettle refugees. This encourages interaction between volunteers and refugees. By design, it has an impact on the social integration of refugees, because the community groups conduct all aspects of resettlement and personally make sure that refugees learn to navigate the community.
P A G E 24
FROM A narrative of refugees as “the other”
TO A narrative where refugees are people
Impact Gap
4
EXISTING SOLUTIONS ARE NOT TARGETING NEGATIVE MEDIA & PUBLIC OPINION DEVIDE
The Solution Landscape provides resettlement services and advocacy. There is a major missed opportunity in leveraging the media. The media and public opinion assert commanding effects on refugees integration in communities and workplaces as well as refugees’ mental and physical wellbeing. Media has an influence on citizens which may in turn influence decisions taken by policy makers. In spite of the power of media, there is limited focus on shifting how the media depicts refugees and bridging the divide in public opinion.
Lever of Change
4
TAKE CONTROL OF THE NARRATIVE THROUGH POSITIVE MEDIA
The narrative about refugees on the media is one where this group is presented as “nasty criminals” who are the “enemies at the gate”. Doing that, the media promotes the dehumanization of refugees leading to public fear and anxiety about the newcomers, which then leads to political implications towards refugees. We have all heard the phrase “put yourself in someone else’s shoes” but it is not easy to empathize with what we do not know. However, media is one of the most effective methods to create that sense of compassion and understanding whether through films depicting refugee journeys, profile stories about refugees struggles and successes, or podcasts where their voices can be heard. Initiatives that promote empathy and pluralism such as “Humans of New York” can be adopted to take control of the narrative around refugees. FacesOfNashville.org is a website that presents a portrait series featuring immigrants and refugees who call Nashville home. However, this initiative only lives as a website with less than 10 stories. With the thousands of refugees in Nashville, a revived version of this project that takes place on multiple online platforms (e.g. instagram, magazine columns, etc) has the potential to reshape the narrative about refugees. CASE STUDY | “TAKE ON HATE” Campaign Based in Michigan, TAKE ON HATE is is a multi-year, grassroots campaign that challenges the growing discrimination and persistent misconception of Arab and Muslim Americans, including refugees of Arab and Muslim descent, in the U.S. It also inspires a positive perception of Arab and Muslim Americans (including Arab and Muslim refugees), creates systematic policy changes at the national and local levels and builds greater capacity for this community as a whole.
P A G E 25
THE SYSTEM BEHIND THE GAPS
Changing Politics is the most prominent problem that affects other problems and solutions
Negative Media plays a significant role in the problem but not of the solutions addresses it
Lack in addressing Public Opinion
Those who inform the policies are the least in contact with refugees
After spending 20 years in a Ugandan refugee camp, Zuleika Abdi, a single mother of five children, finally has a solid roof over her head in Nashville. Zuleika Abdi and her children PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
KEY INSIGHTS & LESSONS LEARNED
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P A G E 27
KEY INSIGHTS & LESSONS LEARNED In the beginning of this paper, I assumed that refugees were unable to secure job opportunities. Digging deeper into the problem landscape revealed a number of challenges leading to an underemployment of refugees such as policymakers’ assumptions about the economic costs of supporting refugees. Those assumptions are a reflection of a larger societal misunderstanding about refugees which is further evoked by negative media. Modeling these system problems through an iceberg tool reveals a mental model of fear towards refugees. With that, a question we are bound to ask in identifying leverage points is:
HOW CAN THE COLLECTIVE PATTERNS OF THINKING ABOUT REFUGEES BE TRANSFORMED? ”I believe in Nashville” as the locals say. The recent storm that hit the city earlier this year showed how the community is “Nashville strong” in coming together to support those who were affected. In similar communal spirit, UN Member States pledged to ensure “no one will be left behind”, in the end, when those in need knock our doors –as legislators, governors, funders, caseworkers, employers, and neighbors- it is our human obligation to answer. There is no single solution to solve this question. However, this paper brought forth 4 lever points to consider in tackling this complex system’s dynamics.
APPENDICES
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Appendix A REFUGEE CRISIS
P A G E 30
REFUGEES GLOBALLY Highest number of refugees in history
71M
26M
PEOPLE ARE DISPLACED
REFUGEES WORLDWIDE
Starting from the wake of WWII, the challenge of displacement has been recognized as an increasingly global phenomenon. The international community successfully, nonetheless, completed a massive resettlement program where many countries opened their doors to tens of thousands of refugees. Amongst those countries was the United States where the United States Congress passed the Displaced Persons Act of 19481 authorizing U.S. participation in that effort. Unfortunately, however, worldly events produced a new and continuing stream of refugees. More than any other time in
recorded history, the number of people forced to flee their homes today reached an unprecedented climax. According to UNHCR, nearly 71 million have been forcibly displaced including asylum seekers and immigrants. 26 million of those displaced millions are refugees. This displacement is a complex, puzzling topic that is easily exploited for political purposes and often interwoven with socioeconomic and cultural dynamics.
P A G E 31
REFUGEES IN THE US The United States has historically shown leadership in refugee resettlement. On July 30th, 1981, the United States President Ronald Reagan emphasized that receiving refugees is in the essence of American values when he said: “Our nation is a nation of immigrants. More than any other country, our strength comes from our own immigrant heritage and our capacity to welcome those from other lands”. Moreover, the US has resettled more refugees each year than the rest of world combined, until 2017. In 2018, the US rate of resettlement was the 14th in the world with 70 refugees for every million US residents. On the same year, 38% of the UNHCR’s budget came from the US alone.
However, the US refugee intake collapsed in recent years. The number of refugee entrants to the US witnessed a sharp 60% drop in 2018. The United States plans to admit a maximum of 18,000 refugees n fiscal year 2020, down from 110,000 set by the former administration. This marks the lowest number of refugees resettled by the US in a single year since 1980, when Congress created the nation’s refugee resettlement program. Officials’ reasoning behind the drop is based on threat to “US national security and foreign policy priorities”. Officials who spoke to the news declared that they were not authorized to discuss the issue by name. Advocacy and human rights activists refuted the decision because they see it as an attempt to further hate, division and prejudice in the US. Opponents of the decision also dismissed arguments that the US lacks the capacity to vet and resettle refugees adequately.
US TAILED REST OF THE WORLD IN REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT IN 2017 & 2018 AFTER LEADING FOR DECADES
P A G E 32
REFUGEES IN NASHVILLE CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS The geography of immigration is changing across the southern communities, but it is more complex in Nashville. The Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area (Nashville MSA: NashvilleMurfreesboro-Franklin, TN) has grown to a globally-linked metropolis over the past thirty years because of the national and international flow of people, capital, and cultures. The number of MSA’s foreign-born residents doubled between 2000 and 2010 from 58,539 to 118,126. This emerging narrative of rapid community change is expected to increase in diversity of age, race, and ethnicity. According to Nashville Metropolitan Planning Organization’s demographics trend report, Nashville MSA’s Davidson County is expecting to become a majority-minority city; which means that the majority of population (68%) will come from minority groups by 2040.
Each year, refugees from about two dozen nations arrive in Nashville. The 2019 Tennessee Arrivals report shows that the most refugees have come from Congo, Burma, Afghanistan, Burundi and Sudan. The newcomers added visible vibrancy to the MSA scene – just going down the Nolensville Pike street exhibits a cuisines celebration from across the world. In spite of the wide diversity, scholarly attention has been mainly limited to the surge in Latino immigration in the late 1980s. Nashville witnessed a 454% increase in its Hispanic population from 1990 to 2000. As a result of obscuring other refugee communities, distinguishing dimensions and nuances of each ethnic group remain unexplored. Instead, those groups are categorized as one, “the other”, in spite of the striking difference in their ethnicities, races, cultures and religions.
DILUTED UNDERSTANDING OF DIVERSITY Historically, diversity in Nashville was viewed as a simplistic dichotomy of black or white. However, small ethnic groups resettled in Nashville since the late 1970s, starting with a small number of Laotian and Kurdish refugees. As of 2012, there were about 57,869 refugees in Tennessee. The number of refugees has more than doubled since 1990, although the flow slowed dramatically in 2001 and again in recent years.
NASHVILLE CONTINUALLY AND INCREASINGLY WELCOMED REFUGEES. THE NUMBERS ONLY DROPPED IN 2017 WHICH COINCIDES WITH THE WHITE HOUSE’S REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF REFUGEE ENTRANTS
P A G E 33
STORIES THAT BEGAN ACROSS THE WORLD “I came to the United States after living 18 years in a refugee camp in Nepal. I was born in Bhutan, but in 1991 when I was one-year-old, the government forced 100,000 Bhutanese people—including my family—to leave. Many people— including my father and my eldest brother—died from diarrhea and malnutrition. The first night that we came to the apartment in the United States, I felt the bed and it was so soft. I had never experienced anything like it. We didn’t have beds like this back home in the refugee camp.” - Hannah
CONTINUE IN NASHVILLE
“My parents lived in a refugee camp in Turkey for three years, which is where my older brother was born. I was born one year after they arrived in the United States.” - Media
NASHVILLE’S FOOD SCENE NOW SPANS EVERYTHING FROM MEXICAN TO KURDISH TO SOMALI
NASHVILLE REFUGEES’ COME FROM ACROSS THE WORLD Source: Refugee Processing Center (http://ireports.wrapsnet.org/) Photos: Faces of Nashville
Appendix B ICEBERG
P A G E 35
EVENTS PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR
SYSTEMIC STRUCTURE
MENTAL MODELS
Adapted from Goodman, M. The Iceberg Model. Hopkinton, MA: Innovation Associates Organizational Learning, 2002; and Sweeny, L. and Meadows, D. The Systems Thinking Playbook. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2010
• • •
Changing politics about refugees Reducing refugee resettlement spots Fiscal debates about refugees The United States role as a world leader on refugees ended. With a ceiling of 18,000 refugee admissions for the fiscal year 2020, the number of refugees allowed in the United States was dramatically slashed down. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, refugee resettlement had dropped to historic lows with the lowest number of refugee admissions since Congress created the refugee program in 1980. Previously, the US led the world in this measure for decades and resettled more refugees than all other countries combined. The White House also slowed down every step of the process and created bottlenecks that can last for years. The refugee admission process is being delayed through heightened vetting and lack of political will to speed up processing. Since resettlement is a lengthy process that spans years, the implications could be long lasting. The US has been significantly involved in displacements especially in the Middle East and neighboring countries. Since the beginning of the “War on Terror” in 2001, the US left large sums of populations in vulnerable and life-threatening circumstances. The US has military operations in the top 5 refugee-producing countries (Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, and Somalia). Additionally, states now have the accountability of choosing to accept refugees after it has been a federal decision. In the case of Nashville, Governor Bill Lee asserted that Tennessee will continue to welcome refugees, however that is not the case in many states. Moreover, Governor Bill Lee alongside with a handful of states filed a lawsuit to assert as the federal government is forcing states to pay for resettlement costs while violating the U.S. Constitution's 10th Amendment. Some state lawmakers who question how state and federal dollars are being spent criticize expenditure on refugee resettlement. There is a limited volume of labor economic papers specific to refugees, however, the available research alludes to refugees’ benefits significantly outweighing invested costs. Undoubtedly, refugees contribute billions of dollars each year to the US economy through consumer spending, employment and business startups, resulting in a net positive fiscal impact. Many, nonetheless, debate the economic impact of refugees on the labor market.
P A G E 36 EVENTS
PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR
SYSTEMIC STRUCTURE
MENTAL MODELS
EVENTS
• • •
Reduced funding & support for refugees Divide in public opinion about supporting refugees Fake news and negative media about refugees
Due to volatile politics in the US and debates around the economic impact of refugees, services and financial support to this population is unstable. For example, with the decision to welcome and support refugees in the hands of states not the federal government, this adds an extra layer of volatility to refugees support – this subject is no longer under the uncertainty of federal laws but also state laws. Tennessee’s tradition of accepting refugees is threatened by negative and fake news which are often targeted towards Muslim populations. The toxic narrative created by the hate speech and incitement of violence turns refugees to objects of fear and loathing. Refugees are portrayed as “threat” and a fear of the “other” is instilled. Even more, fake news about refugees is being circulated online with highlights a distorted image of refugees and creates an alienating narrative.
PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR
SYSTEMIC STRUCTURE
• •
MENTAL MODELS
EVENTS
PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR
Hierarchical decision-making about refugee resettlement No direct involvement with refugees from top hierarchies
Nashville International Center for Empowerment and Catholic Charities are the two refugee resettlement agencies that have direct encounters with refugees throughout their journey in Nashville. Caseworkers from both organizations support refugees in finding jobs and provide them with other services such as English language training, finding housing, locating nearby supermarkets, etc. Neither the state or federal officials have interactions with refugees, hear their stories, or have an exposure to their concerns and circumstances. Despite that lack of access to refugees, federal and state representatives have the power to make, break and change policies about policies. Having no involvement from those who are the most aware of refugees’ circumstances limits the effectiveness of the programs that are funded, designed and structured by the federal administration.
SYSTEMIC STRUCTURE
MENTAL MODELS
• •
Fear and misconceptions about refugees Assumptions about refugees’ economic cost
The fiscal debates about refugees revolve around the alleged economic cost of hosting them. Opponents of refugee support claim that refugee Refugee resettlement is arguably an unnecessary expense even though many analyses indicate that opting out of aiding refugees is an economic risk for the US. The anti-refugee argument that questions refugees economic contribution was debunked by data. Continuing to use that argument despite the fact that it is defeated indicates bias towards refugees. Additionally, the narrative used by the media and the fake news that are centered around hate and bigotry towards refugees suggest prejudice.
Appendix C Supporting Details
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REFUGEES’ JOURNEY TO NASHVILLE REFUGEE FLEES Due to a well-founded fear of persecution, a refugee flees his or her country of origin. After this, one of three things will happen: 1. Refugee stays in the country to which they fled 2. Refugee is sent back to home country 3. Refugee is sent to a third country (only 1% get this option)
RESETTLEMENT PROCESS
Refugee is interviewed by US Department of Homeland Security officials to determine if he or she is eligible for resettlement. Once approved, refugees are allocated to a one of 9 voluntary agencies (VOLAGs) for resettlement
PREPARATION & ARRIVAL
Resettlement Agency Caseworker and volunteers assigned to the case; arrangements made for housing, furniture, and food. Caseworkers and/or sponsor family meet the refugee or family at the airport and take them to their new home.
REFUGEES ECONOMIC SUFFICIENCY SERVICES JOB READINESS Staffing agencies then prepare clients for the workforce by providing workshops to work on interview skills and professional etiquette.
JOB PLACEMENT Refugees are then sent to a multitude of potential jobs, many of which are typically lower paying or minimum wage. This part of the process typically disregards a refugees skill set and talents and focuses on readily available opportunities.
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Near Star A system or process by which all refugees obtain equitable resources, empowerment and opportunity to succeed financially and socially Guiding Star Equity and equal opportunity for all refugees professionally and socially in Nashville Framing Question What factors account for the economic success/opportunities experienced (job, corporate success, ability to provide for the family and self) of refugees in Nashville?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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ACADEMIC LITERATURE Chaney, J., Mohamed, A., & Williams, S. (2018). Somali refugee resettlement and residential patterns in Nashville, Tennessee. southeastern geographer, 58(1), 80-103. Hull, G. S. (2010). Immigrant Entrepreneurs: The face of the new Nashville Kalipeni, E., & Oppong, J. (1998). The refugee crisis in Africa and implications for health and disease: a political ecology approach. Social Science & Medicine, 46(12), 1637-1653 Legrain, P. (2014). Immigrants: Your country needs them. Princeton University Press Mott, T. E. (2010). African refugee resettlement in the US: the role and significance of voluntary agencies. Journal of Cultural Geography, 27(1), 1-31 New American Economy. (2017). From Struggle to Resilience: The Economic Impact of Refugees in America O'Neill, W. R., & Spohn, W. C. (1998). Rights of passage: The ethics of immigration and refugee policy. Theological Studies, 59(1), 84-106 Refugee economic self-sufficiency: An exploratory study of approaches used in office of refugee resettlement programs. (2017, February 21). ASPE. https://aspe.hhs.gov/basic-report/refugeeeconomic-self-sufficiency-exploratory-study-approaches-used-office-refugee-resettlementprograms Singer, A., & Wilson, J. H. (2006). From'there'to'here': Refugee resettlement in Metropolitan America. Washington, DC: Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institution Stein, B. N. (1986). The experience of being a refugee: Insights from the research literature. Refugee mental health in resettlement countries, 5-23 Winders, J. (2006). ‘New Americans’ in a ‘New-South’city? Immigrant and refugee politics in the Music City. Social & Cultural Geography, 7(3), 421-435
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NEWS & OPINION ARTICLES Allison, N. & Ebert, J. (2019, December 18). Tennessee will continue accepting refugees, Gov. Bill Lee says, as legislative leaders signal disapproval. The Tennessean. Retrieved from https:// www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2019/12/18/tennessee-refugee-resettlement-gov-billlee-announces-state-accept/2686574001/ Ebert, J. (2020, January 7). Gov. Bill Lee gives impassioned defense of his decision to accept refugees in Tennessee. The Tennessean. Retrieved from https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/ politics/2020/01/07/tennessee-refugee-resettlement-gov-bill-lee-impassioned-defense/ 2834550001/ Gonzalez, T. (2014, April 5). Where are Nashville’s international refugees from?. The Tennessean. Retrieved from https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2014/04/06/nashvilles-internationalrefugees/7339881/ Justus, J. (2017, February 23). ‘Refugees Are People’: Six Stories of Refugees in Nashville. Arriving with almost nothing, these new Nashvillians spent years trying to get here. Nashville Scene. Retrieved from https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/cover-story/article/20852845/refugeesare-people-six-stories-of-refugees-in-nashville Kanno-Youngs, Z. (2020, February 1). Trump Threw Weighty Refugee Decisions to Local Government, With Painful Results. President Trump’s executive order granting local officials veto power over refugee resettlement has divided communities and left immigrants feeling unwanted. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/01/world/ africa/trump-refugees-local-governments.html Kunzelman, M. (2020, January 8). Judge weighs bid to stop Trump’s refugee resettlement limit. Associate Press News. Retrieved from https://apnews.com/ 45636cbe936965d75052512ecd336733 Mena, K. & Shoichet, C. (2020, January 15). Judge blocks Trump’s executive order on refugee resettlement. CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/15/politics/court-issuesinjunction-on-trump-refugee-resettlement/index.html
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EXPERT & STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS Ali M. (2020, May). Email Interview. Anas S. (2019, February). Personal Interview 1. Anas S. (2019, February). Personal Interview 2. J.J. (2019, April). Seminar Lili T. (Systems Analyst). (2020, March). Phone Interview Molly R. (Innovation Ecosystem Manager). (2020, March). Phone Interview Ryan G. (Nashville International Center for Empowerment). (2020, February). Phone interview Sam. E (Tennessee Office for Refugees). (2020, February). Personal interview Zaid A. (Refugee). (2020, February). Personal interview
GOVERNMENT & NGO REPORTS FY 2019 Tennessee Arrivals - By City & VOLAG. (n.d.). Catholic Charities of Tennessee. https:// www.tnrefugees.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/FY2019-Arrival-Data.pdf New American Economy. (n.d.). Immigrants and the economy in: Nashville Metro Area. Retrieved from https://www.newamericaneconomy.org/city/nashville/
Refugees. (n.d.). Tennessee Office for Refugees – "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.". https://www.tnrefugees.org/index.php/refugees/ Refugee Admissions - United States Department of State. (n.d.). Retrieved from https:// www.state.gov/refugee-admissions/ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (n.d.). UNHCR global trends 2018. UNHCR. https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/statistics/unhcrstats/5d08d7ee7/unhcr-globaltrends-2018.html United Nations. (n.d.). UNHCR Global Trends 2018. Retrieved from https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/ statistics/unhcrstats/5d08d7ee7/unhcr-global-trends-2018.html
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SYSTEMS THINKING RESOURCES SYSTEM THINING BOOKS Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Broadway Business.
SYSTEM THINKING ONLINE COURSES Acumen Academy. (n.d.). Systems Practice: Learn to use a systems thinking approach to move from “impossible” to impact [Online Course]. https://acumenacademy.org/course/systems-practice
SYSTEM THINKING VIDEOS Academy for Systems Change. (2019, March 7). Peter Senge, The Fifth Descipline [video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fln7GnBNWmo TEDx Talks. (2013, May 12). Causal Layered Analysis: Sohail Inayatullah at TEDxNoosa [video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImWDmFPfifI TEDx Talks. (2015, February 2). Tom Wujec: Got a wicker problem? First, tell me how you make toast [video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vS_b7cJn2A TEDx Talks. (2017, July 6). Reclaiming Social Entrepreneurship | Daniela Papi Thornton | TEDxBend [video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdrfMqBRfEQ TEDx Talks. (2017, July 6). Reclaiming Social Entrepreneurship | Daniela Papi Thornton [video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdrfMqBRfEQ TEDx Talks. (2017, March 8). Mapping society for a more meaningful world | Steve Whitla | TEDxOxford [video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAFclNJ--Gs
SYSTEM THINKING ARTICLES Acaroglu, L. (2017). Tools for Systems Thinkers: Systems Mapping [blog post]. Retrieved from https://medium.com/disruptive-design/tools-for-systems-thinkers-systemsmapping-2db5cf30ab3a Acaroglu, L. (2017). Tools for Systems Thinkers: The 12 Recurring Systems Archtypes [blog post]. Retrieved from https://medium.com/disruptive-design/tools-for-systems-thinkers-the-12recurring-systems-archetypes-2e2c8ae8fc99
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Acaroglu, L. (2017). Tools for Systems Thinkers: The 6 Fundamental Concepts of Systems Thinking [blog post]. Retrieved from https://medium.com/disruptive-design/tools-for-systems-thinkersthe-6-fundamental-concepts-of-systems-thinking-379cdac3dc6a Acaroglu, L. (2019). Unlocking the Power of Systems Thinking [blog post]. Retrieved from https:// medium.com/disruptive-design/unlocking-the-power-of-systems-thinking-b3809eaab519 Meadows, D. (1999). Leverage points. Places to Intervene in a System. Mohr, R. (2017). Making Systems More Approachable [blog post]. Retrieved from https:// blog.kumu.io/making-systems-more-approachable-37896c5cd482