COLUMBUS — Ohio Gov. John Kasich has announced the creation of an office and advisory committee aimed at helping legal immigrants successfully integrate in the state.
The Republican governor says the Office of Opportunities for New Americans and the 12-person New Americans Advisory Committee will help break down state government barriers to finding jobs.
“Ohio was built by immigrants and to continue building we need new people from wherever we can find them. As we have become one of the nation’s top job creators, our businesses increasingly need a robust pipeline of hard-working people. The Buckeye State is a great, welcoming place to work and raise a family, and whether you are from Indiana or India, New England or Old England, we want you in Ohio.” –Gov. John Kasich
Kasich said Tuesday that immigrants bring vitality and energy to Ohio and the state needs to help however it can.
The governor’s initiative includes a website to help connect new immigrants with state programs.
The executive order Kasich signed Tuesday calls for the Office of Opportunities for New Americans to be housed within the Ohio Development Services Agency and to help improve workforce development opportunities for
Ohio’s approximately 500,000 legal immigrants.
The advisory panel will bring groups who work with the immigrant population together with leadets of state agencies that provide programs education and training, employment and entrepreneurship programs.
Kasich has taken a conciliatory approach to immigrant issues, joining a bipartisan group of governors calling for the preservation of a program that protects immigrants brought to the U.S. as young children from deportation.