Charleston Gazette-Mail. May 17, 2024.
Editorial: West Virginia has an immigration problem
The past few days have been a bad stretch in the national media for West Virginia. Earlier this week, the New York Times ran a summary of Gov. (and now U.S. Senate nominee) Jim Justice’s massive financial problems. A few days prior, the Wall Street Journal ran a piece on the paradox of the state’s rock bottom work participation rate and lawmakers’ anti-immigration stance.
Reporter Paul Kiernan touched on Justice’s political stunt in which he dispatched National Guard troops to Texas, the bill he signed banning “sanctuary cities” and proposed legislation that would allow for the removal of some legal immigrants who have the requirements to work here. Kiernan also mentioned West Virginia legislative proposals to allot funding to Texas so the state can put more razor wire in the Rio Grande.
Meanwhile, people running small businesses in West Virginia told Kiernan they can’t find help. One business owner in Franklin who relies on migrant workers said “they are like family.” And yet, for all of the polarization around the issue, West Virginia doesn’t have a lot of immigrants, illegal or otherwise. This exacerbates West Virginia’s ongoing population loss. While other states have turned to immigrants to help fill gaps in the workforce, the population in West Virginia just gets older and more insular.
Some argue West Virginians like it that way.
“West Virginians don’t want immigration — of any kind,” Pendleton Times editor Stephen Smoot told the Journal. Smoot went on to say people who move to West Virginia from other states are viewed with suspicion and treated as outsiders.
Smoot certainly doesn’t speak for every West Virginian. In this week’s GOP gubernatorial primary, a candidate still dubbed by many as a New Jersey transplant beat out three political legacy cases to grab the nomination. The “carpetbagger” label was never heavy enough to remove Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., who came here from Maryland, from winning reelection time after time. Mooney was only displaced after flying too close to the sun by thinking he could beat Justice in the Senate primary.
However, Smoot isn’t entirely wrong, either, whether talking about immigrants from another country or those who come from the D.C. suburbs.
West Virginia’s people are always put forward as the example of what is best about the state. People who are welcoming. People who’d do anything to help a friend or a stranger. There’s some truth to that, but, just like Smoot’s generalization, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Not only is the state losing a lot of those people, but insularity exists and there are gatekeepers to just about anything one could name. A Legislature that continues to pass hostile policies often compared to putting “Keep out!” signs along the Mountain State’s borders certainly doesn’t help.
No question, there are legitimate concerns about immigration, illegal immigration and the southern border. However, the way the issue has taken shape in West Virginia is another troubling example of bringing national flashpoint issues to the state level for no good reason other than political convenience.
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The Intelligencer. May 21, 2024.
Editorial: W.Va. National Guard Can Get the Job Done
For many Mountain State residents, their knowledge of the work of the West Virginia National Guard begins and ends at disaster response and recovery. Maybe we know a little about the work that was done during the COVID-19 pandemic, or when other states ask for our help.
Far less familiar are the international relationships the West Virginia National Guard builds through the State Partnership Program.
Last month, Maj. Gen. William Crane, adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard, joined a delegation that met in Peru.
Officials discussed everything from upcoming humanitarian projects to leader professional development. Crane says the relationship continues to “deepen and strengthen.”
The WVNG also partners with Qatar on matters such as increased intelligence cooperation, NATO interoperability with Qatari forces, and even potential academic partnerships with West Virginia colleges and universities.
The U.S. State Department has seen fit to expand West Virginia’s role, developing a third partnership for the WVNG with Gabon. Those visits will begin this summer.
“Our SPP partnerships form a core strength of our organization, and our team’s efforts are a testament to our Guard’s influence and ability to contribute to global security,” Crane said.
“Every West Virginian can be proud of the work we do both here and abroad supporting defense and security cooperation objectives around the world.”
West Virginia has had a strong connection to our nation’s military for several generations. There have been periods in our history during which military leaders understood if they wanted a job done right, they would send in troops from West Virginia. It seems as though military leaders in other countries are starting to figure that out, too. That’s shows the respect our National Guard has earned for how it does its job.
Crane’s right. We already know we can depend on the WVNG here at home.
We should be proud that knowledge is spreading across the globe to help others.
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The Intelligencer. May 21, 2024.
Editorial: W.Va. National Guard Can Get the Job Done
For many Mountain State residents, their knowledge of the work of the West Virginia National Guard begins and ends at disaster response and recovery. Maybe we know a little about the work that was done during the COVID-19 pandemic, or when other states ask for our help.
Far less familiar are the international relationships the West Virginia National Guard builds through the State Partnership Program.
Last month, Maj. Gen. William Crane, adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard, joined a delegation that met in Peru.
Officials discussed everything from upcoming humanitarian projects to leader professional development. Crane says the relationship continues to “deepen and strengthen.”
The WVNG also partners with Qatar on matters such as increased intelligence cooperation, NATO interoperability with Qatari forces, and even potential academic partnerships with West Virginia colleges and universities.
The U.S. State Department has seen fit to expand West Virginia’s role, developing a third partnership for the WVNG with Gabon. Those visits will begin this summer.
“Our SPP partnerships form a core strength of our organization, and our team’s efforts are a testament to our Guard’s influence and ability to contribute to global security,” Crane said.
“Every West Virginian can be proud of the work we do both here and abroad supporting defense and security cooperation objectives around the world.”
West Virginia has had a strong connection to our nation’s military for several generations. There have been periods in our history during which military leaders understood if they wanted a job done right, they would send in troops from West Virginia. It seems as though military leaders in other countries are starting to figure that out, too. That’s shows the respect our National Guard has earned for how it does its job.
Crane’s right. We already know we can depend on the WVNG here at home.
We should be proud that knowledge is spreading across the globe to help others.
END