I stumbled on this article this morning from the Washington Post. I was astonished by what is going on only 50 minutes away from Sioux Falls, our current mayor’s hometown;
Those children, some of whom crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone, have fueled a bitter debate about immigration in Worthington, a community of 13,000 that has received more unaccompanied minors per capita than almost anywhere in the country, according to data from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
So how does this happen? In the article it says that 2/3rds of Worthington is minorities.
Since the fall of 2013, more than 270,000 unaccompanied minors have been released to relatives around the country as they wait for immigration hearings. Many have ended up in large cities: 16,000 in Los Angeles; 18,000 in Houston; 20,000 in the Washington, D.C., area.
Thousands more, however, have ended up in small towns like Worthington, where their impact is dramatic.
In those six years, more than 400 unaccompanied minors have been placed in Nobles County — the second most per capita in the country, according to ORR data.
I have often argued that many undocumented workers wouldn’t come to the United States if there weren’t job opportunities for them, most likely from employers who are probably not following employment laws. The employers are really the root of the problem and why there is this massive population growth in one town;
“I wish they would have another ICE raid,†he said. “They need to get rid of the illegals.â€
“Half the town is illegal,†added her 80-year-old husband, an oxygen tube in his nose.
While these statements are obviously prejudice and likely not accurate, you wonder what would happen if there was an ICE raid in Worthington? You wonder with so much anger and frustration from the white community in the town their hasn’t been a major ICE bust? I don’t have an issue with immigrants coming here for opportunities, my distant relatives came here from all over, Ireland, France, Germany (Switzerland/Austria) and Czechoslavakia. I have close relatives that are of African American, Hispanic and Native American descent on both sides of my family. Our country is a melting pot. But with that big of an influx in one small community in the Midwest, you have to ask yourself if our immigration system is completely broken. There is no reason why these people couldn’t be properly channeled all over the US. But this would take a president who actually wanted to accept immigrants and give them an opportunity to become legal thru the proper channels and give them the freedom to find a home in the US that suits them. I have been to Worthington several times, I had two art exhibits at the community college there. The student body is extremely diverse, coming from all over the US and some immigrating from other countries. We truly are a land of opportunity, but we must afford people these opportunities, so we don’t see a melt down like we are seeing in Worthington.
l3wis 
