Don’t Relocate Hmongs to Minnesota--Durenberger

Republican Sen. Dave Durenberger has asked the State Department that Hmong refugees not be settled in Minnesota unless they have family ties here, according to a published report.

The letter, written to the department by Durenberger last month, was obtained by the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, which quoted it in a copyright story today. It said Hmong refugees “have proved economically difficult to assimilate. The prognosis for employability among the adult population is very poor.”

The Hmong, originally tribesmen from Laos, aided U.S. forces during the Vietnam War and fled when communists took over the country.

Minnesota has about 10,000 Hmong refugees, one of the highest concentrations in the United States. Virtually all are in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and about 60% receive public assistance, the newspaper reported.

Durenberger aide Jon Schroeder said the letter’s purpose was to inquire on behalf of local officials about a rumored large influx of refugees. The Republican senator has since learned that only about 600 Hmongs, all related to Minnesotans, will come to the state and that much of his concern has been alleviated, Schroeder told the newspaper.

Minneapolis Mayor Donald Fraser said his city did not share the opinions expressed in Durenberger’s letter, and an aide to Gov. Rudy Perpich said Perpich would oppose attempts to discourage Hmong resettlement in the state.