"The Voice of the New Due Process Army" ————– Musings on Events in U.S. Immigration Court, Immigration Law, Sports, and Other Random Topics by Retired United States Immigration Judge (Arlington, Virginia) and former Chairman of the Board of Immigration Appeals Paul Wickham Schmidt. To see my complete professional bio, just click on the link below.
“A caste system is an artificial construction, a fixed and embedded ranking of human value that sets the presumed supremacy of one group against the presumed inferiority of other groups.”
― Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
Last year, a dangerous and despotic Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law SB 4, heralding the legislation as a form of defense in his war against President Biden’s immigration policies that have apparently left Texas unsafe and vulnerable. Obviously, nothing could be further from the truth; in fact, Texas is privileged to be the second state in the union with the largest immigrant population that has contributed over $40 billion in federal and state taxes, with a spending power of more than $110 billion. According to a report by the Immigration Research Initiative and Every Texan:
Once provided a work permit, new immigrants earn an average of $20,000 in their first year, which increases to $29,000 by their fifth year living in Texas. […] For every 1,000 workers, immigrants and asylum seekers contribute $2.6 million to state and local taxes within their first year of eligibility. Far from a burden on Texas communities, newly arrived immigrants and asylum seekers are as essential to our state’s economy as they are to our families and communities.”
Abbott and the state have reaped from the contributions of immigrant families, regardless of immigration status, only to waste millions in taxpayer dollars to cruelly militarize the border against their own border communities and the children and families seeking refuge and safety. With SB 4, Abbott and Texas would make it a felony for any undocumented immigrant to enter the state and empower local law enforcement and state judges to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants.
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Read Beatriz’s complete article at the link.
The proposition, uncritically reported by many in media and mindlessly repeated by politicos of both parties, that effectively eliminating asylum at the border, thereby turning the ability to seek protection in the U.S. over to smugglers, cartels, and thugs, will “enhance security” is beyond preposterous! Obviously, it will do the exact opposite by improperly treating desperate individuals seeking legal protection from the U.S. the same as the small number of actual security threats who might seek to cross the border (at least some of whom are actually caught).
Just ask yourself the question that the media never presses on Abbott, DeSantis, Trump, GOP nativists, or their spineless Dem enablers: Why would a “real terrorist” spend weeks or months trying to get a “CBP One” appointment to be screened by CBP? Alternatively, why would such an individual risk the irregular border crossing and then turn themselves in to CBP for processing or wait weeks in filthy conditions to be processed by CBP? Answer: Obviously, they wouldn’t.
There are many easier ways for those smuggling or seeking to engage in criminal behavior to enter (think thousands of miles of lightly guarded Northern Border, false visas, entering legally at an airport under false pretenses, or concealing contraband in legitimate commerce — the way most fentanyl enters the U.S.). And, they are all “facilitated” by the USG’s insanely bad policy decision to concentrate “law enforcement” resources overwhelmingly on those who present no realistic threat and want only fair consideration of their legal claims! Sure it generates (largely misleading) “numbers,” but does little to actually enhance security.
Indeed, one might well suspect that the inordinate hoopla and intentionally exaggerated fears focused on asylum seekers is largely a “cover-up” and diversion from the Government’s poor record on dealing with the fentanyl crisis.
As I have repeatedly said, what if the Feds and states stopped disingenuously wasting unconscionable amounts resources on bogus enforcement and deterrence and instead invested in building a fair and timely asylum reception, screening, adjudication, and resettlement system that encouraged and rewarded those presenting themselves at ports of entry? That would make it easier for law enforcement to concentrate on those actually seeking to avoid our legal system (rather than inanely concentrating on those who merely want our legal system to fairly consider their claims)!
What would happen if the “mainstream media” actually fulfilled their professional, ethical, journalistic responsibilities to research, understand, and report honestly about the right to asylum, those seeking it, and those assisting them in presenting their claims to an intentionally hostile and dysfunctional system! What if the media stopped uncritically and irresponsibly reporting nativist propaganda, such as Abbott’s babbling, as “news,” and began concentrating on informing the public of the truth about asylum seekers, the legitimacy of many of their claims, and their great potential benefits to America!
Catherine Rampell Opinion Columnist Washington Post PHOTO: Linkedin
Catherine writes:
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Perhaps most distressing for Democrats, when survey respondents are asked to rate Biden against the likely GOP presidential nominee, Biden fares poorly.
They remember the economy under Trump as being much better than the economy is today, CBS polling found. The last year of Trump’s presidency, when unemployment reached its highest level since the Great Depression, apparently doesn’t count, or has been forgotten.
Voters are also more than twice as likely to say that Trump’s policies helped them personally as they are about Biden’s work, the New York Times-Siena poll found.
And when asked whether a second term from either candidate would lead prices to go up or down, voters are more than twice as likely to believe Trump would push prices down as they are for Biden, per the CBS poll.
This is astounding. Leaving aside the faulty premise of that question — the overall price level almost never goes down; it merely rises more slowly — Trump’s policy agenda would likely worsen inflation. Why? Consider his main economic proposals:
• An additional 10 percent tax on all global imports, plus 60 percent on Chinese goods. As I’ve cited before, four separate studies found that the costs of Trump’s prior tariffs were borne mostly or entirely by Americans via higher prices.
• A reduction in the labor supply by slashing levels of both illegal and legal immigration. For instance, Trump would not only deport much of the agricultural workforce that’s undocumented; he also plans to dismantle the visa program that allows seasonal agricultural workers to come here legally. Wait until you see what that does to produce prices.
• Expansions of the federal deficit through more unfunded cuts to corporate and capital gains taxes (both of which disproportionately affect higher earners). Federal spending would likely rise, too, based on Trump’s (pre-pandemic) record.
• Kneecapping the Federal Reserve, the politically independent agency tasked with maintaining price stability.
Whatever you think of Biden’s record on inflation — and I have some grumbles, mostly related to Biden’s refusal to reverse his predecessor’s policies — each of Trump’s proposed measures would make inflation worse on the margin.
Don’t take my word for it. Analysts at Evercore ISI, an investment banking firm, recently analyzed the first three items above and forecast that another Trump term (relative to another Biden term) would likely require higher interest rates to counteract inflationary pressures. Likewise, Goldman Sachs Economic Research recently wrote a note to clients warning that the potential politicization of the Fed under another Trump administration would raise inflation risks.
Trump has claimed that economic and financial improvements thus far (including record-high stock markets under Biden) are because of his influence, or at least anticipation of his return. This is ludicrous, yet a large portion of the public seems receptive to this message — amnesiac about how he ended his presidency and blissfully unaware of what he’d do if granted another term.
This should be a wake-up call for journalists, who must do a better job of explaining the policy choices Americans face. It’s also a warning for voters, who must think through those choices more critically.
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Read Catherine’s full column at the link.
It appears that many of those polled don’t WANT to understand the realities of the economy. They prefer to regurgitate fictional “sound bites” fed to them by MAGA and the media!☹️
That Biden is head and shoulders above Trump on the economy should be little surprise despite “popular myths” and “false narratives” of GOP economic success. Historically, “By virtually every objective measure, Democrats do better. It’s not even close. So why doesn’t America know it?”https://newrepublic.com/article/166274/economy-record-republicans-vs-democrats.
This month, in case you missed it, there were several news headlines that once again proved that immigration is not just good for the U.S. economy, but freaking amazing. I’m not exaggerating – just take a look at the glorious reports revealed in February:
A Congressional Budget Office report found that, “The labor force in 2033 is larger by 5.2 million people, mostly because of higher net immigration. As a result of those changes in the labor force, we estimate that, from 2023 to 2034, GDP will be greater by about $7 trillion and revenues will be greater by about $1 trillion than they would have been otherwise.”
The most powerful economic rebound post-pandemic in the world is thanks to immigration in the U.S. The Washington Post reported, “About 50 percent of the labor market’s extraordinary recent growth came from foreign-born workers between January 2023 and January 2024, according to an Economic Policy Institute analysis of federal data.” Impressively, the surge in hires of immigrant workers filled “unprecedented gaps in the economy that threatened the country’s ability to recover from prolonged shutdowns.”
Even The New York Times piled on: “A resumption in visa processing in 2021 and 2022 jump-started employment, allowing foreign-born workers to fill some holes in the labor force that persisted across industries and locations after the pandemic shutdowns. Immigrants also address a longer-term need: replenishing the work force, a key to meeting labor demands as birthrates decline and older people retire.” The report also features a City Council president and member of the Plumbers and Steamfitters union in Indiana who says he would welcome migrants with open arms as his union is in desperate need of members.
Despite so many economists, industry and business leaders, and fellow Americans clamoring for immigrants to come to America and live and work in a small town in the middle of nowhere or somewhere, our politicians are stuck in the quicksand of deterrence, slowly sinking into policy and politics that muddle speeches and don’t make anyone want to save them.
Don’t get me wrong– I do want to save President Biden but, buddy, we need to work on those talking points. While I agree border communities and immigration officials are in dire need of resources and should be provided the proper funding and manpower, President Biden’s continual push for the Senate bipartisan bill was half futile. I get the political jab; use it, in fact, as it works against Republicans. But for the love of God stop trying to push the bill forward. It’s dead. Start planting the messaging seeds for better, more galvanizing solutions that address the border, resource welcoming communities, and deliver legal pathways. And above all center the economic and cultural contributions of Dreamers and immigrant families that Trump is eager to deport.
Humanizing the narrative is always a winning strategy. Recognizing the rewards of immigration and the hard work of immigrants, both in policies and messaging, speaks to those persuadable voters that Biden and Democrats must win over.
Where have you gone, John Fetterman? I roll my lonely eyes at you.
Now here’s someone who’s actually sinking. Yesterday, Senator John Fetterman (PA), on an apparent quest to prove he’s a tough border security hawk, said he would support H.R. 2 except for its aim to terminate DACA. He claims to have analyzed the bill, and if he did, then I am stupid for having ever thought he was a decent guy who understood the importance of immigration in America.
As a reminder, H.R. 2 is basically a Stephen Miller wet dream (I apologize for the imagery): it would (1) end legal representation for unaccompanied children and deport them faster, (2) shut down the asylum system, (3) give any DHS secretary the authority to deny every single migrant the right to seek asylum (in other words, permanent Title 42), (4) jail and detain immigrant families, (5) eliminate humanitarian parole, (6) punish and defund faith-based organizations and NGOs for supporting newly-arrived migrants, and (7) jail and penalize immigrants who overstay their visa. (Imagine if that last one were in place when Fetterman’s wife and mother-in-law had arrived in the U.S.)
Neither H.R. 2 nor the Senate bipartisan bill are “grand bargains” unless it’s a deal scored by a used car salesman hiding the 20% annual interest rate. When immigration is decidedly incredible for the economy, when immigrants are proudly working and thriving alongside their fellow American, when those seeking freedom and opportunity are willing to risk their lives for a leg up to work – work! – when businesses and communities are desperate for immigrants to fuel their future, our leaders should be grand-standing with a 21st century plan that embraces immigration and immigrants for all that they can do for America.
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Thanks for speaking truth to power, Beatriz!
While Trump and Biden trade barbs and disgracefully try to ”one up” each other as to who can be the most cruel, cowardly, and dumb on “bogus border security,” the real humanitarian and asylum processing crises go unaddressed; the most vulnerable continue to suffer at the hands of a country they want to help while saving their own lives. This is a potential “win-win” that our politicians refuse to embrace!
Texas will appeal to the too-often-lawless Fifth Circuit, so this saga is only beginning. But, at least this time the “good guys” struck first and won the opening round.
This is the “reward” that both parties have in mind for migrants who have helped our economy thrive through difficult times. Doesn’t seem right, smart, or rational! PHOTO: Public Realm
Immigration has propelled the U.S. job market further than just about anyone expected, helping cement the country’s economicrebound from the pandemic as the most robust in the world.
That momentum picked up aggressively over the past year. About 50 percent of the labor market’s extraordinary recent growth came from foreign-born workers between January 2023 and January 2024, according to an Economic Policy Institute analysis of federal data. And even before that, by the middle of 2022, the foreign-born labor force had grown so fast that it closed the labor force gap created by the pandemic, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
Immigrant workers also recovered much faster than native-born workers from the pandemic’s disruptions, and many saw some of the largest wage gains in industries eager to hire. Economists and labor experts say the surge in employment was ultimately key to solving unprecedented gaps in the economy that threatened the country’s ability to recover from prolonged shutdowns.
“Immigration has not slowed. It has just been absolutely astronomical,” said Pia Orrenius, vice president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. “And that’s been instrumental. You can’t grow like this with just the native workforce. It’s not possible.”
Yet immigration remains an intensely polarizing issue in American politics. Fresh survey data from Gallup showed Americans now cite immigration as the country’s top problem, surpassing inflation, the economy and issues with government. A record number of migrants have crossed the southern border since President Biden took office, with apprehensions topping 2 million for the second straight year in fiscal 2023, among the highest in U.S. history. Cities like New York, Chicago and Denver have struggled to keep up with busloads of immigrants sent from Texas who are overwhelming local shelters.
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Read the rest of the article at the link.
There are also lots of practical ideas out here for fixing the asylum processing system and other helpful, humane border initiatives that don’t invest exclusively in expensive, cruel, and proven to ultimately fail “uber-enforcement only!” See, e.g.,https://immigrantjustice.org/staff/blog/solutions-humane-border-policy.
Still, politicos of both parties and most media are on a completely different page, unhappily!
Stuart Anderson Executive Director National Foundation for American Policy PHOTO:Linkedin
Parole programs and other legal pathways reduce illegal entry and are more humane. “Latin American experts say it is wrong to assume immigration enforcement policies can override the human instinct to leave untenable circumstances and seek a better life.” #immigration #asylum #asylumseekers
New York City business leaders have asked the Biden administration to provide more federal aid and expedite work permits for asylum seekers. If asylum seekers could work, they would likely find their own housing, which would ease the burden on New York and other city governments. Businesses around the country seek more workers to fill positions. Advocates recommend policies that would provide a more comprehensive solution amid an historic refugee crisis that analysts consider unlikely to be addressed through enforcement-only policies.
A Plea From Businesses
“The New York business community is deeply concerned about the humanitarian crisis that has resulted from the continued flow of asylum seekers into our country,” according to an August 28, 2023, letter from the Partnership for New York City to President Biden and Congressional leaders. “We write to support the request made by New York Governor Hochul for federal funding for educational, housing, security and health care services to offset the costs that local and state governments are incurring with limited federal aid.
“In addition, there is a compelling need for expedited processing of asylum applications and work permits for those who meet federal eligibility standards. Immigration policies and control of our country’s border are clearly a federal responsibility; state and local governments have no standing in this matter. There are labor shortages in many U.S. industries, where employers are prepared to offer training and jobs to individuals who are authorized to work in the United States.”
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Read the complete article at the link.
For each of my classes in Immigration Law & Policy @ Georgetown Law, the students were required to find and report on an item relating or illustrating the topic for the class. Stuart Anderson was one of the “most reported on” sources! I think it’s because his writing is so clear, understandable, and sensible to all audiences!
Immigration affects everything and is a key to a better future for all. That’s why it’s a shame Dems aren’t willing to tout it, instead basically ceding the issue to GOP restrictionists. Big mistake, in my view!
As severe weather patterns intensify, climate change will continue to displace communities across the globe. The World Bank estimates that there could be more than 143 million people internally displaced by slow-onset disasters in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia by 2050. Populations with the least capacity to respond and adapt to a changing climate are more likely to suffer from the worst impacts.
States have a responsibility to ensure that individuals displaced because of climate change impacts are treated with respect and dignity. Yet international law does not recognize climate displacement as a subject warranting special protection or status. The 1951 Refugee Convention only recognizes persecution on account of five protected grounds (nationality, race and ethnicity, political opinion, religion, or particular social group), leaving those fleeing environmental disasters under circumstances not attributable to those specified reasons without protection.
Despite the urgent need for action, governments have been slow in creating pathways to protect climate-displaced people. If anything, increasing militarized approaches to migration flows and national security rhetoric has permeated mainstream discourse on climate migration. Discussions about “economic migrants” and which groups are deserving of international protection distract from real solutions that can provide relief and uplift the dignity of individuals displaced by climate. Also concerning is the fact that authoritarian governments have leveraged the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) to either greenwash their image or exclude environmental advocates from accessing the climate talks.
Although climate migration is not on its official agenda, COP27 offers an opportunity for international climate negotiators and advocates to tackle the issue in three ways: (1) promote changes in domestic legal frameworks that will protect internally displaced populations; (2) raise awareness of how existing legal protections under asylum frameworks intersect with climate change; and (3) guarantee climate finance pledges are met by mobilizing funds dedicated to adaptation and mitigation.
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Read Jeffrey’s and Camila’s article “at the link.” Another classic example of timely “practical scholarship” written in plain English and accessible to a wide range of readers.
It’s discouraging, but not surprisingly, that nations, including ours, wasting billions on gimmicks to AVOID their obligations under the existing, inadequate Geneva Refugee Convention and Protocol are not anxious to engage on the real effects of climate migration. But individuals facing death under sand or under water as our climate changes are NOT going to go quietly and submissively into the night.
Nations, like ours, whose politicians think that power, cruelty, denial, and misinformation — the “head in the sand” approach — will win the future eventually must confront the realities of climate change and human migration whether they find it convenient and politically advantageous or not. On the other hand, those nations that are able to recognize both the power and inevitability of migration, and are smart enough to “go with the flow,” rather than futilely attempt to “dam it up” or divert it will eventually gain the upper hand.
“Can’t anyone here play this game?” The GOP lacks honesty and decency. The Dems lack vision and guts. The public is misinformed about the realities of immigration. Migrants and their supporters are caught in the crossfire of political failure! PHOTO: Rudi Reit Creative Commons
Lack of immigration reform hurts businesses and farmers, puts nation’s food supply at risk
Note the comments from immigration lawyer George Pappas in North Carolina.
The hostility is reflected in the immigration courts in Atlanta and in Charlotte, where the highest denial rates for asylum prevail,” he told USA TODAY. “They will not be talking about outsourcing workers or about education. The right wing base of the Republican party has used immigration as a political wedge issue to deflect attention and to deflect media, airwaves, and media space from real issues.
While undoubtedly the Immigration Courts in Atlanta and Charlotte do reflect the type of biased, anti-immigrant approach pushed by GOP politicos, today they are run by Dem AG Merrick Garland. He has failed to make needed reforms and changes at the top, starting with inept leadership from EOIR Headquarters and a precedent setting appellate board (BIA) that does not reflect the best-qualified expert judicial talent available who would implement due process, fundamental fairness, consistency, and best judicial practices nationwide.
Ironically, these values WERE once part of the “EOIR Vision,” abandoned and trashed by Administrations of both parties over the past two decades. For Dems who believe in the power of immigrants and immigrants’ tights, it’s now basically “Pogoland:” “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
A number of the public comments in the articles also show gross misconceptions about the nature of migration, the goals of the GOP, the reasons why migrants can’t apply for asylum in a safe, orderly manner at ports of entry, the immense benefits to both the workforce and society brought by family-based immigrants and those seeking to enter as refugees and asylees, and the relationship between an improved economy and a sensible, robust, realistic approach to immigration (eschewed by the GOP; bobbled by the Dems).
Both parties have squandered opportunities to acknowledge truth, make the current system work better, and create order at the border. Neither has a serious plan for reform on its agenda.
Unlike the Trump “shut the border/build the wall” racist fiasco, Biden’s initial USCitizenship Act of 2021 had some good ideas. But, after quickly “throwing it out there,” apparently as a sop to those who helped elect them, the Administration shoved it in a drawer and forgot about it. Instead, they pursued a mishmash of “built to fail gimmicks,” bureaucratic bungling, broken courts, poor legal positions, lack of vision, inept PR, and weak leadership.
The failure of the world’s leading “nation of immigrants” to discard and disavow the racist nonsense on immigration and come together on realistic, forward looking, generous, welcoming immigration policies makes our nation look bad and robs us of opportunities to improve the economy and build for the future.
The essence of life, food has been a unifying force throughout history. Téa Ivanovic and Immigrant Food are using it to welcome and unify America for social justice! PHOTO: IF website
From the September Edition of Immigrant Food:
Editor’s Note – September
Dear Reader,
With November’s midterm elections just around the corner, immigration will (again) become a hot national topic. Is immigration really as controversial as America’s politicians want us to believe? In this month’s issue, we explore the question: “Do Americans Support Immigrants?”.
Official immigrants account for 14 percent (40 million people) of the US population, making them an integral part of American society. Immigrants have always been part of the American identity, contributing to the economy, creating employment, and molding America’s unique culture. After all, unless you’re native American, you or your family came from somewhere.
This month, we speak to Nazanin Ash, CEO of Welcome.US, an incredible new national initiative built to inspire, mobilize, and empower Americans from all corners to welcome and support those seeking refuge. We also spoke with people on the street to understand how real Americans think and feel about welcoming immigrants.
Hope you gain new insights,
Téa
Here’s the link to Téa’s latest great video, “Téa’s Coffee presents:Are Americans Welcoming Immigrants?”
An immigrant herself, social justice dynamo Téa Ivanovic came roaring out of Virginia Tech only eight years ago and hasn’t looked back! No time for anything but moving forward and taking on new challenges!
The former Hokie D-1 tennis player is busy leading, innovating, and using her amazingly broad liberal arts skill set to serve our DMV area and make America better!
She’s a successful businesswoman, media presence, organizer, advocate, historian, ethicist, humanitarian, innovator, journalist, educator, practical scholar, foodie, sportswoman, financial manager, and all around cheerleader for the immigrant community of which she is a part! As you might expect, her omnipresent passion for life and community is tempered by a sense of humor, perspective, and self-awareness.
Tellingly, the themes for the Immigrant Food website and for their logo run heavily to “burnt orange and maroon” undoubtedly a product of her “Hokie heritage.”
“Hokie Nation” might get a certain nostalgic feeling when they visit the Immigrant Food website!
Téa’s a promotional icon for another one of my “crusades” — recognizing and nurturing the enduring value of liberal arts education in America.
That’s NOT the BS, “whitewashed” (in more ways than one) version of education promoted and foisted upon us by the far right and its highly motivated yet badly misguided acolytes, but rather the “real deal.” Honesty about our past, knowledge, applied scholarship, versatility, flexibility, communication, reasoning, debating, critical dialogue, problem solving, business acumen, financial skills, multiculturalism, language skills, agriculture (Tech is Virginia’s “land grant” college), moral courage, sports, scientific and environmental truth, leadership, compassion, creativity, artistry, humane values in action — Téa’s got all of this going on!Folks, she’s the “complete package” – a one-woman “Liberal Artists’ Dream Team.”
Let’s start with first impressions. Clearly a powerful intellect — summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, ACC All-Academic— Téa radiates energy, competence, creativity, personality, kindness, infectious enthusiasm, good humor. Some of it undoubtedly stems from her Hokie varsity tennis days where she also honed her competitiveness, sportsmanship, and performance skills. But, as I’m sure she did on the tennis court, Téa plays hard, to win, but respects the rules of the game.
A formidable presence on and off the court, Téa never achieved the athletic recognition of her Serbian almost namesake, Ana Inanovic, a former World #1. But, Téa is “World Class” in her own right. Somewhere, a whole bunch of Ivanovics must be really proud of their social justice prodigy! PHOTO: coretennis.net
How dynamic, talented, and committed is Téa? Here’s the “lede” on her “official Immigrant Foods bio:”
Téa started as the hyper-talented head of communications for Immigrant Food, but as the pandemic took its toll, it became clear that she had to become Jack of all Trades. So she took on management. And then took on operations. And then took on financial responsibility. So, she became the COO.
In other words, Téa awoke one day and decided “the best way I can help my organization and my team is by taking on the additional responsibility of Chief Operating Officer.” So she did it! No waffling or second thoughts about whether someone less than a decade out of college could pull off this stressful, yet rewarding, “high wire act!”
Walking a tightrope requires skill and courage. Téa’s never afraid of new challenges! PHOTO: Creative Commons
Somewhere along the trip from Blacksburg to DC, Téa picked up a M.A. at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Born in Belgium, the daughter of former Yugoslavians, she’s fluent in English, Flemish, and Serbian. Téa describes herself as “an immigrant squared” (quite different from a “square immigrant,” which she certainly isn’t).
The first Washington correspondent for Bosnia and Herzogevina’s leading newspaper, Téa has worked at think tanks, written for various online publications, and been a researcher and fellow. She’s lived a lifetime, accomplished great things, undertaken new challenges, and helped lead the charge to blow away the myths and achieve social and legal justice for migrants and everyone else in America. Hers is a life already laser focused on her larger community, making the world better, and helping others!
Folks, Téa’s 30th birthday is still on the horizon! Her “full due process potential” is breathtaking, inspiring, encouraging, and reassuring (particularly for those of us “on the bell lap” of life’s journey, concerned for American’s future)!
Téa is confident, not arrogant or imperious. She’s just as comfortable interviewing some of the “movers and shakers” of the DC area about profound national issues as she is connecting with a recent immigrant working in a bistro about their American experience. And, despite her obvious love of the kitchen, I’m sure the immigrant Food books aren’t “cooked” with Téa as COO!
You can keep up with Téa and her talented band of social justice/good food brothers and sisters by subscribing to Immigrant Food (“IF”) here:https://immigrantfood.com/.
Like “Courtside,” it’s free — making it one of the best bargains in a town not necessarily known for them!
In addition to connecting you with some great local immigrant cuisine, IF also highlights local events and ways to connect with immigrants in the community.
Getting down to business, the food is tasty and tastefully presented! PHOTOS: IF website
For example, each week, the “IF Team” shows you five ways to engage with the immigrant community. It might be through a donation, volunteering, or educating yourself about immigrant issues (Téa’s above video is a terrific example).
There are so many ways you can make a difference! This week’s “Engagement Menu,”features volunteering, donating, and educational opportunities, like supporting the Afghan Adjustment Act! Something good is always “cooking in the kitchen” at IF! Téa Calls it “gastroadvocacy!” What a great concept!
Additionally, IF has partnered with five amazing immigrant justice NGOs in the DMV area: AsylumWorks, AYUDA, CAIR Coalition, APALRC, and CARECEN. Imagine having the expertise, kinetic energy, and social justice firepower of giants like Paula Fitzgerald (AYUDA), Joan Hodges Wu (AsylumWorks), Adina Appelbaum (CAIR Coalition, one of my “best ever” Georgetown Law “Refugee Law & Policy” alums), Laura Trask (AYUDA), Téa, and other immigrants’ rights advocates from these venerable organizations on your side. Truly, a “Social Justice Dream Team.”
As my Georgetown Law students know, I’m always “preaching”about the “big five life values” — fairness, scholarship, timeliness, respect, and teamwork. Téa, and her equally spectacular colleagues at IF embody all of those. They inspire, energize, and show us how the “new generation” of the NDPA can make an immediate impact in the never-ending battle for social justice in America and help forge a better world.
Maybe it’s time to take “gastroadvocacy” to the next level: a nationwide network — call it the “Social Justice Food Network” (“SJFN”).
Get a YouTube channel! Create an app! Folks can hook up their mobile phones and “eat their way from coast to coast” while promoting unity and equal justice for all!
As somebody who still loves the “American road trip,” the idea of hitting the next roadside eatery where we can get good food (some vegan entrees, please), meet great immigrants, and chat with local folks about social justice is hyper-appealing! Outdoor seating and/or carryout for those of us traveling with our dogs would also be a huge plus!
Duncan, pictured here on the outdoor patio are the Whale’s Tales Pub in Boothbay Harbor, loves road trips and outdoor seating!
Téa, thanks again from all your NDPA colleagues and friends for all you do! I hope that this “mini-profile” will inspire others to get to know you, either online or in person, and join your fight for a better America — one where the unfulfilled promise of “equal justice for all” will finally become a reality!
One thing’s for certain. Téa’s time on the front lines of the fight for social justice is just getting started. I can’t wait to find out what she has up her sleeve next! Whatever it is, I know that it will be creative, energetic, and dedicated to helping others.
There is no mountain that Téa and her team can’t climb. I’m just grateful that she and others like her have chosen to “throw in their lot” with the NDPA! Hats off to you, Téa, and other immigrants, past, present, and future, who “make” our nation!
The Team @ Immigrant Food serves up social justice and good grub! PHOTO: IF website
If, indeed, “we are what we eat,” I encourage everyone to order up an extra big helping of social justice at Immigrant Food!
To close this circle, I started out to write a profile of my friend and NDPA colleague, Téa. By the time I finished, I had connected all kinds of dots from my own life (e.g., my dad was a physician at the student health center at Tech before Téa was born, and remained an avid Hokie fan till the end), my relationships with other NDPA colleagues, former students, NGOs that played a role in my life on and off the bench, public service, “gonzo journalism,” vegan eating, road trips, dogs, the future fight for social justice, and “the heart and soul of America.” That’s what makes the enlightened leadership of folks like Téa so special and generates optimism for a better, more just and unified, America for the future.
United We Eat Chef Haroon EshaniUnited We Eat Program Manager Beth BakerUnited We Eat Kitchen Assistant Rozan ShbibEshani and Shbib hard at work in United We Eat. KitchenSbib Shows NBC News Reporter Steve Patterson around United We Eat KitchenUnited We Eat Kitchen Manager Casey Chapman has a tough job, but keeps smiling!
Check out this inspiring video on great people working together, helping each other, and integrating the skills, enthusiasm, and energy of new Americans into the community:
Great story! Congrats to the people of Missoula!😎 A nation of immigrants needs new immigrants and their human potential! Everybody wins when we welcome immigrants to our communities!
Far right activist 5th Circuit Judges reacting to colleagues who followed law and ruled in favor of immigrants. PHOTO: Creative Commons.
The issue is whether an in absentia removal order can be based on a statutorily defective notice. The panel followed the Supreme’s decision in Niz-Chavez and rejected the BIA’s conflicting decision in Matter of Laparra. In other words, the panel required the Government to follow the statute, a process known as “complying with the law.” This sent some of this most conservative circuit’s most far-right judges over the edge. Here’s the en banc decision:
Credit Dan Kowalski over at LexisNexis for the “food fight” characterization.
The scofflaw GOP dissenters cited “deference” to the Executive, something they have pointedly refused to apply to Biden Administration precedents and policies favoring migrants.
The majority says: “[The BIA] flies in the face of the Supreme Court’s Pereira decision, which Laparra ignored.”
Incredibly, Garland is on the “wrong side” of this controversy, defending the legally incorrect misinterpretation of his “Trump holdover” BIA!
The statutory requirement at issue: That a “Notice to Appear” before the Immigration Court inform the individual of the time and place of the hearing. How difficult does that sound? Not very, unless you are bumbling bureaucrat at DHS and EOIR who chose, even after the Supremes’ initial decision, toviolate that decision and the statute in almost 100% of the cases instituted before the Immigration Courts!
Kudos to the 3 Trump appointees and one Bush II appointee who joined 3 Obama appointees and 2 Clinton appointees to uphold the rule of law and thwart their GOP scofflaw colleagues.
Interestingly, and perhaps mildly encouraging, the “Trump appointees” split 3-3 on this one.
Apparently nothing drives a wedge between conservative judges like the scary prospect of following the law when it gives immigrants a win!
Future ambitious academic study: How much of the current out of control backlog can be traced to the Government’s, and particularly the BIA’s, inept handling of straightforward notice requirements set forth in the statute?
There’s a reason why I keep referring to Garland’s out of control EOIR backlogs as “largely self-created,” albeit in fairness not exclusively by him. The Trump Administration, and to a lesser extent the Obama Administration, also “excelled” at “Aimless Docket Reshuffling” driven by “prioritizing” improper political goals over due process, fundamental fairness, quality, and practical scholarship in the Immigration Courts.
“Thomas Malthus was wrong about economics, but he would be delighted with the GOP’s dishonest “beggar thy neighbor” policies!” Creative Commons 4.0
If you’ve taken Econ 101, you were probably taught that the economy is a zero-sum game. If I win, another economic actor has to lose. One group’s gains mean another’s losses. The issue with that theory? It’s not only wrong, it’s dangerous: Nationalist leaders around the world have played on voters’ fears by threatening that the economic progress of immigrants and minorities will result in losses for everyone else.
The truth is, life isn’t a zero-sum game. A growing body of evidence actually shows that inclusion isn’t just compatible with economic growth – it’s absolutely necessary.
On this week’s episode of Nick Hanauer’s podcast Pitchfork Economics, JP Julien discusses a report that he co-wrote as a leader of global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company’s Institute for Black Economic Mobility. This think tank isn’t in the business of getting accolades from progressive circles – or conservative ones – it’s focused on the cold, hard data. Here’s what Julien told us about economic inclusion:
When more people can fully participate in the economy, we all win
Julien says that when people from all races and backgrounds are able to participate as workers, entrepreneurs, and consumers, the economy is stronger and more resilient. There’s already plenty of evidence for this theory: Between 1960 and 2010, 40% of GDP growth can be directly tied to women and people of color joining the labor force. “The data speaks quite clearly that the more we get people to participate, the better outcomes we produce,” Julien says.
Economic discrimination hurts all of us
There’s a staggering price tag on economic discrimination against people of color and women in America. In his paper, Julien found that eliminating wealth disparities between Black and white households and Hispanic and white households could add $2 to $3 trillion of incremental annual GDP to the U.S. economy. And if more women join the workforce over the coming years, we could add $2.1 trillion in GDP by 2025.
These gains aren’t zero-sum numbers; they don’t come at the expense of the economic value of white men – those numbers are in addition to that growth. That means America’s missing out on at least $5 trillion of economic activity because whole demographics have been shut out of the economy.
Corporations that focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion outperform their peers
From the end of last year to this May, we’ve seen Fortune 1000 companies spend $66 billion in racial equity commitments. That’s because of a growing consensus among Fortune 1000 companies that being good corporate citizens actually creates economic opportunities. In his research, Julien found that corporations with more diverse boards and diverse leadership teams actually outperform their peers. It’s becoming impossible to ignore: DEI policies lead to a better and more profitable workplace.
For centuries, our economy has been constructed around exclusionary policies that shut out women and people of color – and this is discrimination is taking a toll on everyday Americans and our country’s economic growth. We can all win by increasing inclusion in the economic playing field – but we’re going to need all hands on deck to tear down this unfair economic system, and that means we need your help right now.
We’ve created an urgent poll to show support for win-win policies that allow everyone to participate in our economic system. We need 5,000 people to answer this one question before 11:59 p.m. tonight, and we’re counting on you to cast your vote tonight. Tell us now:
Does economic inclusion lead to greater economic growth?
“For centuries, our economy has been constructed around exclusionary policies that shut out women and people of color – and this discrimination is taking a toll on everyday Americans and our country’s economic growth.”
Couldn’t help thinking of these words as I listened to insurrectionist/traitor “Cancun Ted” Cruz pontificate about why it’s OK to exploit farmworker labor and mischaracterize a long-overdue and well-earned legal status as “amnesty” in responding to Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) during a hearing yesterday on helping farm workers.
Despite the noxious, racist, White Nationalist bogus rhetoric of Cruz, Gov. Gregg Abbott, and other GOP political hacks from the Lone Star State, Texas and its economy would indeed be in dire straits without the economic and cultural contributions of migrants, both documented and undocumented. So would the rest of us without the essential services, productivity, and societal contributions of immigrants of all types. Indeed, without immigrants of all types, Native Americans would be the only inhabitants of America.
We need immigration laws and policies built on truth and optimism about the future, not the “beggar thy neighbor” White Nationalist myths of the nativist restrictionists!
Let’s Hope That A New Day Is Dawning , Fueled by Immigrants, For Maine & America After 4 Years of Unrelenting Darkness. The Biden Administration Must Help By Re-establishing Our Legal Asylum Program!
Maine Voices: New U.S. intelligence report suggests how Maine can address global trends
We’re in a good position to improve the lives of people without college degrees, to welcome foreigners to a democratic society and to diversify our workforce.
. . . .
The Global Trends report provides analysis but not policy solutions. Maine could assist by demonstrating that democracy can work here by taking steps to bridge the ideological divide and reduce political polarization. Maine can become a welcoming state for immigrants by easing their entry into the workforce to replace our retiring baby boomers.
Maine can also develop public-private partnerships to teach workforce skills that raise incomes and improve the quality of life for those without a college degree. Finally, Maine can exercise soft power by welcoming foreigners as tourists and recruiting students from China to our high schools and universities, offering an opportunity to experience a democratic society with both its flaws and freedoms, and to forge friendships between the two contested countries.
Joseph W. McDonnell is a professor of public policy and management at the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine
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You can read Professor McDonnell’s article (along with a couple of comments that show exactly why our hope for the future has to be in immigrants — not that the commenters probably weren’t immigrants of some sort at some point in our history).
B/T/W Congresswoman Omar (D-MN) is a naturalized U.S. citizen — an example of someone who not only immigrated, survived racial and religious bigotry and bullying in school, graduated from college, established a successful career as an educator and civic advocate, and further had the courage and commitment (which most native-born Americans, including me, do not) to successfully seek elective office and work through the system to make America a better place for all, regardless of whether or not one agrees with all of her views.
The vast majority of immigrants of any status “learn the language” (many better than some native-born U.S. citizens) and become at least bi-lingual if not tri-lingual, a skill set that few native-born Americans achieve.
Of course, in an intentionally diverse society, important Government documents should be printed in languages that individuals are most comfortable with. You might have become proficient in French in college, but if involved in a legal dispute in France, most of us would need and expect an English translation to be sure we understood and, in turn, were understood.
I knew enough German to study in Germany during college. I was comfortable going down to the local watering spot and ordering “bauernbrat mit kraut und bier.” But, if I had been involved in a legal proceeding, I wouldn’t have dared to proceed in German.
Also, although undoubtedly some students and foreign workers are exploited by the American system, overall they make huge contributions to both education and our workforce. As an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law, my classes are continually enriched by the presence of foreign students and scholars, many of whom are willing to share their own immigration stories and to enlighten us on the culture and legal system they experienced.
Also, if we have learned anything during the pandemic, it is how very dependent we are on our immigrant and ethnic communities, regardless of “status,” for essential workers. The “exploitation” is an “American home grown problem,” not one caused by immigrants! As a society, we need to stop “shooting the messenger!”
Where we spend much of our summers, Boothbay Harbor in the “Mid-Coast Region of Maine,” the tourism, hospitality, recreational, and resort industries that power this town are highly dependent on talented foreign workers. Their upbeat attitudes, eagerness to learn and contribute, and fascinating multiculturalism is one of the primary factors that comes bursting out in town and throughout this area, making this one of the best summer tourist locations in America. (Obviously, it’s “world famous,” since these folks seek to come here from literally around the world.)
Our “next-door neighbors,” here on beautiful Linekin Bay, Larry and Janey Anderson, were long time year around residents of Maine before retiring to “warmer climes” near their family (and us) in Northern Virginia. They were very involved with the African refugee community in Southern Maine, calling me several times for advice on how to get legal help on asylum cases. I well remember on occasions hearing the rhythm of a “drum circle” in which Larry participated with his refugee friends coming from the Anderson cabin.
It actually made me feel good about the lives I had been able to save and the positive progressive legal changes, precedents, and attitudes that I was able to help, at least in some modest way, forge over a 40+ year career in immigration and human rights, most of it with the U.S. Government.
Of course, I was fortunate enough to have retired in 2016, before the institutionalized White Nationalist, racist, misogynistic, xenophobia of the Trump regime arrived. Unfortunately, they undid some of the hard work that many of us had done to improve the system, further due process, and insure fairness and humane treatment for foreign nationals under U.S. laws.
The folks we welcomed under the law, their families, and their descendants continue to make America great despite all the destructive actions and false, misleading hate rhetoric promoted by Tump and his party.
Now, it’s up to the “new generation” of the NDPA to seize the baton and lead the fight to assist migrants of all types in creating a new and better day for Maine, America, and the world! I actually just had inspiring conversations this week with “two of the best out there” in the private/NGO sectors who are competing for positions at EOIR to help return due process, efficiency, practicality, and humanity to a disgracefully dysfunctional and unfair system. These are the folks who are “inspiring a new day for America.” They have already got Professor McDonnell’s message and are working to make it a reality!
Before the inauguration, President Biden pledged a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. Then, hours after he entered the Oval Office, he introduced an immigration bill, The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which aims to put millions of undocumented immigrants on a pathway to citizenship. At first glance, these initiatives seem unrelated; in fact, they are deeply connected. Combining them is the best way to help us battle the COVID-19 pandemic and recover from the recession. Here’s why.
In the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States and the world over learned a lesson about who was truly essential to the economy: the home health aides and nurses who care for the sick, the grocery and delivery workers who keep our stores and kitchens stocked, and the workers at our farms and food processing plants who keep our food supply chain from collapsing. These and so many other overlooked jobs — classified as “essential and critical” by the Department of Homeland Security — hold our society together, protect us, and make our economy work.
Large numbers of these essential workers are also undocumented immigrants. Over 78 percent of immigrants without legal status work in these fields, according to a report by UCLA’s Latino Policy and Politics Initiative. They’re not just risking their lives to keep American citizens safe and help rebuild our economy, but they do so without legal protections and under the constant fear of deportation. That’s inhumane. But it’s also dangerous for Americans. With hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients surpassing 52,000, Congress must follow the lead of countries like France and give these essential workers a fast track to the citizenship they deserve.
It’s no secret that immigrants are helping to keep us all afloat. Despite being just 13 percent of the population, immigrants make up 37 percent of all home health aides and almost one third of all physicians and psychiatrists. With a very real threat of meat and poultry shortages at the beginning of the pandemic, immigrants filled more than a third of the tough food processing jobs and nearly half of all farm jobs picking our fruits and vegetables. And as parents across the country are placed in the impossible situation of balancing full-time work and parenting during a pandemic, once again immigrants help shoulder the burden, making up more than 20 percent of all childcare workers in day care centers.
And yet, despite all of this, our federal government acted as though we didn’t need these workers. As the pandemic raged, millions of immigrants were explicitly left out of the CARES Act relief efforts, as were millions of their U.S. born children and spouses who were penalized for having an unauthorized immigrant in the family. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration sought to shut the border to immigrant workers and students, all but stopped processing citizenship applications and ended asylum for people fleeing horrific violence. It also fought unsuccessfully all the way to the Supreme Court for the right to end protections for Dreamers, tens of thousands of whom are essential health care workers.
So what would an effective federal response look like?
. . . .
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Read the rest of Jeremy’s article at the link for his ideas on how to join immigration reform with economic expansion.
Ms. McGhee is the author of “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together,” from which this essay is adapted.
Over a two-decade career in the white-collar think tank world, I’ve continually wondered: Why can’t we have nice things?
By “we,” I mean America at-large. As for “nice things,” I don’t picture self-driving cars, hovercraft backpacks or laundry that does itself. Instead, I mean the basic aspects of a high-functioning society: well-funded schools, reliable infrastructure, wages that keep workers out of poverty, or a comprehensive public health system equipped to handle pandemics — things that equally developed but less wealthy nations seem to have.
In 2010, eight years into my time as an economic policy wonk at Demos, a progressive policy research group, budget deficits were on the rise. The Great Recession had decimated tax revenue, requiring more public spending to restart the economy.
But both the Tea Party and many in President Barack Obama’s inner circle were calling for a “grand bargain” to shrink the size of government by capping future public outlays and slashing Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Despite the still-fragile recovery and evidence that corporations were already paring back retirement benefits and ratcheting down real wages, the idea gained steam.
On a call with a group of all-white economist colleagues, we discussed how to advise leaders in Washington against this disastrous retrenchment. I cleared my throat and asked: “So where should we make the point that all these programs were created without concern for their cost when the goal was to build a white middle class, and they paid for themselves in economic growth? Now these guys are trying to fundamentally renege on the deal for a future middle class that would be majority people of color?”
Nobody answered. I checked to see if I was muted.
Finally, one of the economists breached the awkward silence. “Well, sure, Heather. We know that — and you know that — but let’s not lead with our chin here,” he said. “We are trying to be persuasive.”
The sad truth is that he was probably right. Soon, the Tea Party movement, harnessing the language of fiscal responsibility and the subtext of white grievance, would shut down the federal government, win across-the-board cuts to public programs and essentially halt the legislative function of the federal government for the next six years. The result: A jobless recovery followed by a slow, unequal economic expansion that hurt Americans of all backgrounds.
The anti-government stinginess of traditional conservatism, along with the fear of losing social status held by many white people, now broadly associated with Trumpism, have long been connected. Both have sapped American society’s strength for generations, causing a majority of white Americans to rally behind the draining of public resources and investments. Those very investments would provide white Americans — the largest group of the impoverished and uninsured — greater security, too: A new Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco study calculated that in 2019, the country’s output would have been $2.6 trillion greater if the gap between white men and everyone else were closed. And a 2020 report from analysts at Citigroup calculated that if America had adopted policies to close the Black-white economic gap 20 years ago, U.S. G.D.P would be an estimated $16 trillion higher.
. . . .
I’ll never forget Bridget, a white woman I met in Kansas City who had worked in fast food for over a decade. When a co-worker at Wendy’s first approached her about joining a local Fight for $15 group pushing for a livable minimum wage, she was skeptical. “I didn’t think that things in my life would ever change,” she told me. “They weren’t going to give $15 to a fast food worker. That was just insane to me.”
But Bridget attended the first organizing meeting anyway. And when a Latina woman rose and described her life — three children in a two-bedroom apartment with bad plumbing, the feeling of being “trapped in a life where she didn’t have any opportunity to do anything better” — Bridget, also a mother of three, said she was struck by how “I was really able to see myself in her.”
“I had been fed this whole line of, ‘These immigrant workers are coming over here and stealing our jobs — not paying taxes, committing crimes and causing problems,’” Bridget admitted. “You know, us against them.”
Soon after she began organizing, the cross-racial movement had won a convert. “In order for all of us to come up, it’s not a matter of me coming up and them staying down,” she said. “It’s the matter of: In order for me to come up, they have to come up too. Because honestly, as long as we’re divided, we’re conquered.”
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Read the complete article at the link.
Inability to think beyond racist myths and false narratives is holding America back from realizing our full potential.
“Dividing and conquering” is the strategy of the modern GOP. If one could get behind the racist stereotypes and white resentment, rural America probably has far more in common with hard-working undocumented immigrants, African Americans, and Latinos than with elitist GOP politicos and corporate moguls — certainly more than with the notoriously lazy, dull, corrupt grifter Trump! But, the key seems to be to promote minority rule by sowing hate and distrust, thereby preventing the common good of the majority from prevailing.
While much of the “beggar thy neighbor” fear mongering comes right out of the current GOP playbook, Dems, including many in the Obama Administration, have also been guilty, as Heather points out. Just read some the alarmist stuff being put out by former Obama economic honcho Larry Summers.
And, contrary to White Nationalist myths about “job stealing,” much of American economic growth and innovation can be traced directly to immigrants, both documented and undocumented.
President-elect Joe Biden, who pledged to serve all Americans, can respond boldly to address the needs of large swaths of rural America where people feel left behind. In the first 100 days of his administration, he can prove that he wants to see real change and will act to secure broader prosperity.
Drawing on more than 20 years of working in communities across four rural states, we see actionable, specific opportunities for Biden to make federal policy work for rural places. Here’s what we recommend:
• Engage in genuine conversations in rural places about the role of the federal government. The pandemic aside, fundamental economic changes, limited career pathways and crumbling (or non-existent) infrastructure plague many rural places. These challenges require public-private partnerships, directed by local needs and leadership. Many of the federal programs designed to address the underlying issues in rural places fail because they were designed for the rural reality of 1960, not of today. Let’s get current, understand why programs aren’t working and make them better.
• Elevate rural to the level it deserves in the president’s Cabinet. Rural places are currently served through a web of programs spread across numerous federal agencies. One might think this approach would help address policy deficiencies, but in fact, when everyone is in charge, no one is. The Biden administration can send a strong message that it means business by putting someone clearly in charge of its rural agenda and creating a new Department of Rural Development dedicated to improving, centralizing, and deploying the support and services necessary for rural people and places to thrive.
• Invest in doing economic development differently in rural places. Federal employees work diligently on their mission, providing grants and other services to constituents as directed by statute. And yet, the available tools for solving complicated, systemic and immediate issues are limited. To do economic development differently – and better – we need to eliminate programs that have limited utility, expand others that focus on building capacity in rural places, increase the flexible application of federal dollars and move the measurement of economic development outcomes beyond one-dimensional (and fleeting) metrics like job creation.
• Focus on and communicate about rural-urban connections rather than the divide. Rural places don’t benefit from being talked about as a monolith, a backwater or fly-over country. Rather, we as a nation need to raise up narratives and policies that recognize differences in rural places across the country, and that celebrate and support the natural, community, and economic assets that define those communities and their relationship to nearby urban areas. The stereotype of the American dream is changing. We now have a tapestry of rural, suburban and urban, and an opportunity to focus on collective prosperity rather than competition, exclusion and negative trade-offs.
The first hundred days will show how the Biden presidency will serve all Americans. Yes, there is a pandemic raging, but the widening gulf between rural and urban, rich and poor, red and blue requires a new tone, a new path and new solutions. Let’s get to it.
Rob Riley is president of the Northern Forest Center, a regional innovation and investment partner that creates rural vibrancy across Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. The center co-founded the national Rural Development Innovation Group with the Aspen Institute and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry & Communities.
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Read Rob’s full article at the link.
These are great, and timely ideas. They also present an outstanding opportunity to use the power of immigration to make our country a better place for everyone.
Immigrant entrepreneurs, small businesspeople, and investors can pool their ideas, skills, and resources with rural communities. Innovative rural Americans can help redesign and tailor methods that have worked in other countries for the American situation.
Immigrants with experience in agriculture and product marketing can help alleviate some of the labor shortages in rural areas.
Immigrants with tech skills can partner with rural Americans to help insure that, rather than sometimes being left behind, rural areas are on the cutting edge of accessible, high speed, state of the art technology that will integrate many educational and commercial activities with those now centered in “urban hubs.” (For example, why couldn’t a high tech area in rural America where land and housing are cheaper and a skilled (or highly motivated and trainable) workforce is eager for work be just as effective as Crystal City, VA as the next big tech hub?)
Immigrants with health service backgrounds can assist even more rural communities in insuring that first-class healthcare (and the jobs and economic opportunities it creates) is available everywhere in America.
My experience is that immigrants of all types, like rural Americans, highly value education, particularly for future generations. Innovative educational programs can be developed to meet the common needs of immigrant and rural communities.
There are just a few of the opportunities that come to mind. Obviously, I’m not a labor economist. But, I’m sure that if immigrant advocates concentrate on ways to actively engage and integrate immigrants into solving problems and improving the quality of life in rural and small-town America there are many other great opportunities for success out there just waiting to be tapped.
Immigrants have always been “part of the solution” rather than “part of the problem” in America. After four years of counterproductive unrestrained bigotry, false narratives, and hate-driven lies, its time for “truth, justice, and the American way” to come to the forefront again.
