Should Wyoming swap all federal lands in the state for 640 acres in Kelly?

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3 years ago

May 14, 2022

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Should Wyoming swap all federal lands in the state for 640 acres in Kelly?

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Experts say immigrants are important in state, Jackson Hole economy

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6 hours ago

January 2, 2025

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Experts say immigrants are important in state, Jackson Hole economy

The Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce isn’t reacting yet to a second election of President-elect Donald Trump.

Rick Howe runs the chamber and told Jackson Hole Community Radio in December that three chamber businesses had reached out to him with immigration-related concerns. Howe does not soon anticipate the chamber taking a stance on immigration policies. But he said his policy teams are preparing to discuss changes as they come, such as mass deportations.

“We want to make sure that we have access to the workers that we need as a community to help us continue to do what we do on a daily basis,” Howe said. “Economic viability is key for us.”

He said he doesn’t have up-to-date data on the community’s number of working immigrants — documented or otherwise. But he said immigrants mostly work in the tourism and service industries, Teton County’s economic engine.

For Teton County and surrounding communities, how many immigrants would be targeted in a second Trump administration is still unknown.

But as Trump prepares to return to the White House, the question of how many will be impacted by his policies has become increasingly relevant for immigrants from many walks of life.

Trump’s administration promises the largest mass deportation in the country’s history, after the Biden administration’s deportations already hit a 10-year high. As summarized by the Niskanen Center, a potential policy playbook for the second Trump term, Project 2025, proposes cutting protections for holders of Temporary Protected Status, young adults known as Dreamers, more than 175,000 Ukrainians, in addition to restrictions for H-2A and H-2B temporary worker visas.

For unauthorized immigrants and migrants, part of what makes the population hard to track is obvious: They aren’t documented in the U.S. census. The census doesn’t separate documented and undocumented residents — it just totals.

University of Wyoming Professor Roger Coupal researches the economics of community developments across the state, with a focus on the agricultural sector. He has some rough estimates, putting the state’s number of undocumented migrants at 5,000.

Teton County, according to the U.S. census, is home to 2,900 residents born outside the U.S., or 12.5% of the county’s population. Just under a third have become naturalized citizens, according to the state’s Chief Economist Wenlin Liu.

Coupal noted that many who come to the U.S. are fleeing “extreme situations” when they come to Jackson in search of work or safer living conditions. As more immigrants settle and become part of the community and economy, many ski towns in the West, including Jackson Hole,could be devastated by mass deportations, he added.

Until new policies or deportation practices exist, though, Howe said his organization would be proactive. It’s a lot of “wait and see” until January, he said.

Howe envisions the chamber’s role as a source of information and connection.

He mentioned other nonprofits like Voices JH and One22, with whom the chamber could facilitate conversations, correct misinformation and be a source to which individuals and businesses alike can turn.

To start, the chamber is planning a Feb. 6 “Business Over Breakfast,” a monthly networking event for members, to address questions businesses may have a few weeks into Trump’s second administration.

Coupal said a loss of migrant workers and Trump’s impending tariffs could thrust the country into a recession.

“You could see a reduction in output on the industry side because we don’t have workers,” Coupal said.

There’s no research, he said, that supports Trump’s previous claims that immigrants hurt the economy.

A recent report by the American Immigration Council said mass deportation would cost the U.S. $315 billion initially, with long-term costs potentially tripling.

Jeremy Robbins, executive director of the American Immigration Council, said in a recent press release that mass deportation would come at an “extraordinary cost” to the government while hindering the economy. He warned of “tens of billions of tax-payer dollars lost, already-strained industries devastated, millions of people locked up in detention, and thousands of families torn apart.”

The study also indicates that national GDP could shrink 4.2% to 6.8%. For comparison, the economy decreased by 4.3% during the 2007 to 2009 recession, according to the study.

“We’re making the assumption that somehow Americans are going to replace all these people,” Coupal said, “and they won’t.”

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Wyoming

Former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney among those to receive Presidential Citizens Medal tonight

Published

14 hours ago

January 2, 2025

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Former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney among those to receive Presidential Citizens Medal tonight

CASPER, Wyo. — Former Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney and 19 other people will receive the second highest civilian medal from President Joe Biden in a ceremony Thursday afternoon.

According to the Associated Press, President Biden is also giving a medal to Bennie Thompson, who alongside Cheney oversaw the congressional investigation into the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

“President Biden believes these Americans are bonded by their common decency and commitment to serving others,” the White House said in a statement, according to the AP. “The country is better because of their dedication and sacrifice.”

Last year, Biden honored the people who helped defend the Capitol from the mob of angry supporters of Donald Trump, who had refused to accept the presidential election results of 2020 and repeatedly tried to overturn them.

Once a staunch conservative and Trump supporter, Cheney became an outspoken critic of the former and now president elect. She supported his second impeachment, and eventually had a prominent role in the riot investigation. In retaliation, Republicans ousted her from her high-ranking House Republican Conference, and she later lost to Trump-endorsed challenger Harriet Hageman in Wyoming’s 2022 primary elections.

Even after winning the 2024 presidential elections, Trump has refused to walk away from lies about the 2020 election and has specifically spoken out against Cheney and Thompson. In an Interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he said, “Honestly, they should go to jail.”

According to the AP, other honorees include Frank Butler, who set new standards for using tourniquets on war injuries; Diane Carlson Evans, an Army nurse during the Vietnam War who founded the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation; and Eleanor Smeal, an activist who led women’s rights protests in the 1970s and fought for equal pay.

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