IMMIGRANT

INTRODUCTIONLocal communities experience the impact of immigrants, the economic activity they generate, and the diverse culturethey bring. Washington, D.C. is mired in gridlock with regards to modernizing immigration policy. Meanwhile, localcommunities are generating very different and much more proactive responses about the growth in immigration thatthey experience every day.Over the last half-decade, a movement of local immigrant-welcoming initiatives have been created and arebeginning to define the national character around immigration at the local level. Welcoming America and itslocal members, cities and counties that declare themselves welcoming, and a number of other institutional orprogrammatic endeavors that specifically embrace new immigrants are testament to this movement.Historically, the fields of immigrant integration and economic development have been two very distinct areas ofwork with not much of a sense of shared interests. The last half-decade has seen an exciting watershed momentconnecting traditional integration service providers, immigrant rightsadvocates, refugee services, economic development practitioners,chambers of commerce, and a wide array of others in mutual effortsto integrate immigrants and refugees into the economy in ways thatsignificantly benefit regional growth, as well as the opportunities forincumbent communities. Regardless of one’s background, it is ourhope that readers of this guide will develop a new understandingof what is possible in developing robust approaches that bridgeeconomic development and immigrant integration.Over the last half-decade, amovement of local immigrantwelcominginitiatives have beencreated and are beginning to definethe national character aroundimmigration at the local level.Evidence of this new movement can be found in well over adozen local immigrant economic development initiatives that alsodeveloped organically and independently at the same time. New YorkCity’s former Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a clear leader in the movement, having created a Mayor’s Office ofImmigrant Affairs within city government, as well as the Partnership for a New American Economy, a nationalcollaboration of mayors and corporate CEOs advocating for common-sense, pro-business immigration reform. 5More recently, the immigrant gateways of Houston, Los Angeles, and Chicago launched their own programs. 6Possibly even more noteworthy is the development of pro-immigration economic development initiatives inunlikely places—both in new immigrant gateways like Nashville, as well as relatively low-immigration centers likeDayton, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis. These regional immigrant economic and communitydevelopment initiatives couple local sensibility and pragmatism with the need to address each region’s unique problemsto create an unlikely approach to the controversial issue of immigration—one that differs significantly from thenational discourse on immigration that focuses on conflict and controversy. All these local initiatives recognize thatthe U.S. is a rapidly aging nation with stagnant population growth, but incredible historical assets. The nation’sagriculture, manufacturing, technology, and other economic sectors are all benefitted by robust immigration. 7Specifically, research over the last half decade documents the important contributions American immigrants maketo the growth of the economy and the United States’ leadership in the new economy. Immigrants are responsible5See City of New York, http://www.nyc.gov/html/imm/html/home/home.shtml and Partnership for a New American Economy, http://www.renewoureconomy.org, respectively.6See City of Houston, http://www.houstontx.gov/oic/; Kate Linthicum, “Garcetti aide is face of city’s outreach to foreign-bornresidents,” latimes.com. Los Angeles Times, September 21, 2014, http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-ff-garcetti-immigrants-20140922-story.html, and; City of Chicago, http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/mayor/provdrs/office_of_new_americans.html, respectively.7John Austin and Brittany Affolter-Caine, “The Vital Center: A Federal-State Compact to Renew the Great Lakes Region,” brookings.edu.The Brookings Institution: Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, 2006, http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/reports/2006/10/metropolitanpolicy%20austin/20061020_renewgreatlakes.pdf.WELCOMING AMERICA | GUIDE TO IMMIGRANT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | CHAPTER 16