Abstract
Columbus, Ohio is home to the second largest Somali immigrant population in the United States. The influx of refugees started in the 1990s, and has continued to increase at a significant rate. Much of the scholarship on Somali communities in the United States focuses on Minneapolis, MN (Ali 2011; Chambers 2017; Roble and Rutledge 2008) and Lewiston, ME (Ellison 2009; Rector 2008; Voyer 2013). This chapter examines the role of the local and state government policies to determine the impact they have on Somalis’ migration to Columbus and incorporation into the city. In addition, this chapter builds upon the bureaucratic incorporation literature (Jones-Correa 2006; Marrow 2009; Ramakrishnan and Lewis 2005) by shedding light on the city of Columbus’ efforts to incorporate Somalis in the community. Interviews with local policymakers, Somali leaders, and Somali parents provide a lens to view how government policies have affected the Somali community. It concludes with a series of recommendations aimed at increasing Somali incorporation in Columbus, Ohio.
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Notes
- 1.
This article is based on Stefanie Chambers’ recently published book Somalis in the Twin Cities and Columbus: Immigrant Incorporation in New Destinations (Temple University Press, 2017).
- 2.
- 3.
In the interest of full disclosure, none of the parents interviewed for this study had children who dropped out of school.
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Chambers, S. (2019). Somalis in America’s Heartland: Columbus, Ohio. In: Armila, P., Kananen, M., Kontkanen, Y. (eds) The Contexts of Diaspora Citizenship. International Perspectives on Migration, vol 17. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94490-6_6
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