Governor Tom Vilsack is looking for a couple of willing Iowa communities. Vilsack wants to find two communities, which are willing to encourage immigrants to live and work in their town. Vilsack says the work starts this week as he meets with state agency chiefs.Vilsack wants to establish a “prototype” of a system, which would help communities deal with things like language barriers and a heightened demand for welfare services. Vilsack says the state will look for an immigrant group that wants to come to America.A Des Moines Register “Iowa Poll” released this past weekend found 58 percent of Iowans do NOT want their state government to actively encourage immigrants to settle here. Vilsack says immigrants are needed to fill jobs. Vilsack concedes public perception won’t change over night, but he says state government should do what it can to attract immigrants to the state and quote — “do it right.”
