All four of my grandparents were European immigrants. Two came from southern Italy; one from Poland; another from Ire-land. They were poor with no skills and little or no education. They became a shoemaker, a baker, a sewer worker, and a full-time mom.

NEW YORK—Refugees in the United States, some 15 percent of whom work in manufacturing jobs, stay in those jobs longer than do other employees, according to a new study by the Fiscal Policy Institute.