Could immigration boost Youngstown?

YOUNGSTOWN — YOUNGSTOWN

When Youngstown’s economy was booming, immigrants flooded the area.

The town was built on steel, but much of that steel was created by immigrants who shoveled coke into blast furnaces along the Mahoning River.

Immigration attorney Richard Herman believes immigrants could again fuel growth in Youngstown and other Rust Belt communities.

Look at Toronto, Canada, Herman said. It’s a cold, northern city in the Great Lakes region. The similarities don’t end there. Like Youngstown, Toronto also has a housing problem.

“Their housing problem is the housing values keep going up,” Herman said. “And you can attribute that to one main reason: immigration.”

Read the full story in Monday's Vindicator.