Immigration

Hello all, I know I've been away for a while and I have a good reason. First, life, as always, gets in the way and second, I've been doing some research. My research has taken me to the subject of immigration. Specifically, immigration in urban centers. This is not a new topic because foreign-born and native migrants have historically flocked to the major cities in search of opportunity. What is different is the immigration experience in Los Angeles, California. For most of the twentieth century, Los Angeles grew because of its appeal to U.S.-born migrants in search of an alternative to the crowded cities of the Northeast and Midwest. The city has gained popularity among highly-skilled immigrants, those with at least one college degree and entrepreneurial who could move right into the middle class. However, in the last twenty of so years this characterization has changed. Instead, there has been an acceleration of low-skilled and least educated immigrants, mostly from Mexico and Central America, coming to the city. These individuals flock to urban centers such as East Los Angeles, MacArthur Park/Pico Union, and Huntington Park. While these enclaves remain, newer immigrant communities are springing up in the San Fernando and San Gabriel Vallies. Who are these immigrants? For the most part, they are from Mexico. Mexican immigrants comprise about 36 percent of newcomers to Los Angeles. This is down from about 44 percent. They are generally younger, between twenty and fifty. Los Angeles is also home to the largest population of undocumented immigrant, an estimated 60 percent are of Mexican origin, thus giving rise to the popular misconception of immigrant equals Mexican. In the work place, immigrants comprise about 46 percent of the labor pool. What are the key issues facing immigrants to Los Angeles? First, is the need for increased opportunities for economic mobility. This is a three-pronged approach that combines English language acquisition, increasing opportunities for families and children of immigrants through improved K-12 education and specifically, by promoting parental involvement in the schools. Third, investing in African-American communities and organizations in increasingly immigrant communities in order to complete the economic and social integration of the native populations. Curious, why this community in particular? Why not the Asian-American or other established immigrant communities? Another issue is enhancing civic participation opportunities for immigrants. This is where involvement in historic preservation related activities could come in handy. The first way to go about this is by building leadership skills through proven models, experimentation with new models, active learning from leadership training experiences from other regions. Here, immigrant community members could be empowered to take an active interest in the places they live through a leadership training program that can be adapted to the specific place. Next, increasing political participation through support of naturalization, as well as encouraging immigrant residents to participate in the local planning process and assisting city authorities in developing outreach. Without going into the whole the issue of citizenship for undocumented immigrants, I can't think of any more powerful tool the people have than the right to vote. Civic participation is part of preservation process. Advocacy is a key component of historic preservation. Without it, we wouldn't have the local, state, and national landmarks we have today. Therefore, it is crucial for the voiceless to be heard at local planning meetings. The big hurdle here is the trust issue. Immigrants, in particular undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers have historically had a mistrust of civic authorities. Finally, supporting a multi-ethnic, multi-sector, multi-agency convening process that can help immigrants and non-immigrants, as well as leaders from the diverse immigrant communities build a basis for collaboration. Historic preservation activities can do this because once the communities are aware of the assets in their neighborhood, they can begin to develop a sense of pride and work with civic agency to broadcast it to the larger world. This dovetails into the third issue, fostering openness in the broader society towards immigrants and their families. There is this image of the immigrant as "the other." That "other" is something to feared. Conversely, in the immigrant communities there is the fear of the greater society as being intrusive. These fears and lack of trust can be mitigated three ways. First, support for organizations that try to reframe the debate and provide a balanced view of immigrant contributions to the local and regional economy and society. The challenge here is not come off as patronizing and condescending. Second, helping local governments understand that immigrant integration is a core responsibility and assisting officials who are finding ways to work across often complicated jurisdictional lines. This may be easier said than done especially in this era of fiscal belt tightening and the silo-like mentality of civic agencies. Last, supporting groups that organize around common issues that span diverse immigrant and non-immigrant populations and can help see their mutual interests. Again, here is where historic preservation can help. Sometimes, there are historic resources in the immigrant communities that no one is aware of. Sometimes, they are of interest only to that community; other times they are of interest to the greater society. Either way rallying an immigrant community around the preservation of a historic asset can be a great way to foster that openness through educational and cultural programming. So what about the future? the preservation of community assets is one way to integrate immigrant communities into the greater society. This can be accomplished through educational and cultural programming. However, high hurdles must be scaled if the task is to be successfully acomplished.