Tagged: NH's Immigration Story

Healthcare delivery is complicated enough without language barriers, financial difficulties and cultural misunderstandings. Being a newcomer in a strange country presents many new challenges but healthcare is one of the most difficult to overcome. We take a look at the myriad obstacles the foreign born population face, and what some local healthcare providers are doing to help overcome them.

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Manchester Community College has received a grant of nearly 5 million dollars for a worker training program.

As NHPR’s Sam Evans-Brown reports the funds come from an unexpected source.

When American companies can’t find the American workers with the skills they need, they can bring in guest workers on a temporary visa.

Applying for that visa costs the employer a lot of money, and the Department of Labor gives that money back in the form of grants to train Americans.

Although we are a nation of immigrants, the first laws to enforce who could be an  American citizen  and who couldn't didn’t appear until the late 1880s.  Since then, new legislation like the Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1965, as well as the Refugee Act of 1980s have both strengthen and loosened these rules.  As part of our year long series "New Hampshire's Immigration Story", we'll talk today about the law, how it’s evolved and ask if it once again needs to be modified?

Guests

It takes a lot of effort, determination, and bravery to come to a new country as a refugee and learn not only a new language but a new culture.

One could compare it to climbing a mountain.

A Manchester resident is going to climb a few mountains himself to raise money for the city’s refugees.

Starting tomorrow, Dan Szczesny aims to climb New Hampshire’s 4000 foot peaks… all 48 of them… in a month.

But first he joins us in the studio to talk about the project.

In 2009, we spoke with new York Times reporter Warren St. John about his book Outcasts United– which tells the story of the Fugees soccer team and the growth of community around them.  The book is currently being featured in the Concord Reads program at the Concord Public Library.  Concord is a city that has experienced its own influx of refugees from war torn countries in recent years.  Here is what Warren had to say about the Fugees' inspiring story.

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From Burundi to Burma, from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan, refugees from around the globe have been placed in New Hampshire to start their lives anew.  Here they find new freedoms and far less dangers but new challenges as well.  Many have to learn English, the American laws, become educated and find work.  Federal programs help a lot but so do the cities and towns in which they are placed.  Now Manchester wants to put a moratorium on any new refugees resettling here.  City officials worry that they currently don't have enough resources to assist its current residents and with tight budgets get