Credit: Chien-Chi Chang/Magnum Photos
By Samuel Tsoi
The immigration debate, like virtually all political debates nowadays, is filled with toxic rhetoric and misinformation. Those who cover the issue, also tend to focus on the negative and tragic, not enough on the uplifting and optimistic.
For 2012, and the year of the dragon, I offer these eight (the Chinese number for fortune) resolutions that tap into the tremendous richness and tenacity of immigrant communities for a positive and prosperous new year:
1. Immigrants should be treated as people, not corporations.
2. Speaking of capitalism, as noted by the recent study by the American Enterprise Institute, immigration complements and boosts native employment. Businesses, policymakers, and planners should pay attention, invest in immigrant entrepreneurs, and welcome foreign talent.
3. While we look at the global economy, immigrants not only bring a persistent work ethic, but also transnational networks, cultural know-how and trusted relationships that can expand markets, transmit ideas, and create products.
4. Immigrant students (unlike visiting foreign students), are most likely to stay in the local economy, so investing in public higher education, for all regardless of immigration status, not only extends the logic of our K-12 system, but also cultivate tremendous competitiveness for our stake in the innovation economy.
5. It is often said, almost to a cliché, that children are our future. To be more precise, immigrant children are our future. As recent Census data has again revealed, foreign-born and children born of immigrant parents are the fastest growing segment of the nation’s child population. At the same time, the second generation often outperforms their parents in educational achievement. How we educate these young minds, engage their parents, and enhance their bilingualism is critical.
6. For immigrant adults, ongoing investment in education, re-credentialing and workforce development, which many community organizations and public institutions are already doing, need to be celebrated, increased and included in broader debates about education reform and economic development.
7. Another overlooked area where immigrants are critical is the housing market. Immigrants, with higher-than-average savings rate, large households, and in their pursuit of what many see as the centerpiece of financial security, are among the fastest growing group of homeowners. Many banks have already noticed this trend, policies that can encourage more immigrants to purchase homes (with prime loans of course), will not only revive the real estate sector, but keep the American Dream alive.
8. Finally, instead of the tenth of one percent spent by Homeland Security on immigrant integration, far more effective spending can be allocated in collaboration with other government agencies and public-private initiatives, to leverage the global, dynamic, and indispensable community that is immigrants.
Samuel Tsoi is the Policy Associate at the Mass. Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition
February 3, 2012
