Fox News: Small Iowa city sees economic boom amid immigration surge

July 4 in Storm Lake (from Storm Lake website)

Its news that Fox News has a positive immigration story.  Griff Jenkins for Fox News writes that there is a demographic “shift shift happening in one of the most unlikely places: the small, quiet, snow-covered city of Storm Lake in Northwest Iowa.“

Twenty years ago, Storm Lake was predominantly white but today, over 50 percent of its population of some 10,000 are immigrants, mostly Hispanic. The opportunity for jobs — especially in one of its two meatpacking plants — has drawn people recently from as far as Micronesia.

Mayor Mike Porsch recalled his high school graduating class at Storm Lake High School as close to 100 percent white.  This year’s graduating class will be somewhere near 75 percent non-white.  The Mayor is “fully embracing the cultural balance of his town because he sees it as the key to survival and growth.”

“If you want to grow in a rural area, you’re going to need immigration to support your businesses and the economics in your community,” Mayor Porsch said.

He added that it’s vital not just to employ immigrants, but also to incorporate and include immigration in communities to avoid the “us vs. them” mentality.

A decade ago, Storm Lake’s unemployment hovered near 5 percent, and has since dropped just below 2 percent.

KJ