The 2025 West Michigan Welcome Plan report reveals immigrants’ economic impact on the regional economy.
“Millions of dollars of taxes that all immigrants pay into our local ecosystem. The small businesses that are contributing to our county’s GDP.”
That’s Welcome Plan Coordinator Hollin De La Cruz.
“I think knowledge of how diverse our region really is, and especially there’s a lot of miscommunication and misinformation about the impact of our global communities.”
According to the report, Kent County is home to nearly 55,000 immigrants and refugees, or 8% of the county’s population. Most are from Mexico and speak Spanish, with most language service requests being Spanish.
“I think seeing the overall diversity of our local populations is surprising to some. We have pockets that, if you don’t leave your local neighborhood, you don’t even know that there are folks that maybe don’t look like you, don’t talk like you, come from a different culture.”
The report also details how Welcome Plan workgroups continue connecting immigrants and refugees to food, health, and employment opportunities.
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