Minnesotans Seek Solutions to
Dysfunctional Immigration Policy
Minnesotans can't find solutions to confusing immigration policies unless they learn to listen to the voices of all concerned, according to members of a panel at the Minnesota Meeting on Monday, March 3.
The purpose of the gathering of 600 convened by the Minneapolis Foundation at the Minneapolis Convention Center and 75 community leaders attending satellite meetings in Rochester, St. Cloud and Worthington -- was to encourage community dialogue on what has become a difficult and divisive issue in Minnesota and nationally.
At the center of the discussion was what panelist Dr. Bruce Corrie, professor of economics at Concordia University in St. Paul called a dysfunctional immigration policy in the U.S.
Panelists from a variety of perspectives expressed concern about the highly-charged political debate about immigration policy. We're so polarized in this country [on the immigration issue] that we're not ready to come to that workable middle, said Gloria Contreras-Edin executive director of Centro Legal Inc., a non-profit immigration law firm. For example, she referred to raids of homes by federal immigration officials in cities such as Worthington and Willmar as inhumane, traumatizing and an injustice.
Offering the perspective of a rural Minnesota leader, Worthington mayor Alan Oberloh pointed out the very practical impact of the immigration controversy. We need that influx of new workers. We just need them, he said.
Oberloh said that rural jobs will go unfilled and rural schools will lose enrollment unless we, as a society, figure out solutions to the immigration laws so that workers from other countries can legally live here. He encouraged the audience to tell Congress the system is broke. They should forget partisanship and get something done.
Sandra Vargas, president and CEO of The Minneapolis Foundation, said the foundation she leads advanced the controversial dialogue at the Minnesota Meeting because of the raising volume of anti-immigrant rhetoric in society. We will never move to a creative solution if we don't listen to each other's opinions, as well as the facts, she said.
She said that it's up to Minnesota's citizens and political leaders to turn down the negative rhetoric and have balanced, respectful conversations that identify solutions consistent with our state's values.
Washington Sah-Flah Yonly, an immigrant from war-torn Liberia, told the audience, There's a need to put a human face on immigration issues. You're talking about human beings who love America.
Corrie, director of the Strategic Business Design Institute at Concordia, encouraged the audience to look at the practical economic issues, including jobs that need to be filled and the impact on Minnesota's economy by what he called the power of ethnic capital. For example, his studies found that ethnic-led firms are growing faster than the overall growth rate of Minnesota firms. Further, in a study released at the meeting, Corrie points out that because the economic contributions of Mexican-American immigrants are not taken into account in the national debate, there may be no contingency plans developed at the state or national level to address the impact to the local and national economy if large scale labor shortages occur should we implement proposed immigration policies such as mass deportations.
His study reported that Mexican-American consumer power in Minnesota, alone, is close to a billion dollars.
Panelists encouraged Minnesotans to discount the negative rhetoric, learn about the immigration issue on their own, and then encourage decision makers to find immigration policy solutions that respect all people concerned while recognizing our country's economic need for the labor and other contributions that immigrants provide.
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