Carnegie Reporter, Vol. 4, No. 3 | Easing the Transition from Immigrant to Citizen, page 4

New Jersey is another state with a rapidly growing foreign-born population, and on August 6, 2007, that state’s governor also signed an executive order that will have a direct impact on its immigrant population. The New Jersey executive order, signed by Governor Jon S. Corzine, establishes a 27-member Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Immigrant Policy. “For years New Jersey has been a gateway to America—a place of opportunity and new beginnings,” Corzine said at the signing. “And today, we take an important step in creating a comprehensive statewide strategy for weaving immigrants into the economic, social and civic fabric of our communities and state.” The panel is empowered to study and to make recommendations for a comprehensive statewide approach to better help immigrants become integrated in New Jersey. The focus of the panel’s work will be a wide range of issues, including education, citizenship status, fair housing, healthcare, language proficiency and employment and workforce training.

Commenting on Carnegie Corporation’s interest in supporting the Illinois efforts and helping disseminate information about the state’s model, Geri Mannion, Program Director of Carnegie Corporation’s U.S. Democracy Program says, “The executive order and the New Americans Citizenship Initiative offer an opportunity for the public to see immigrants in a positive way. Immigrants are here, they are taxpayers, they are contributors both socially and economically, and as they increasingly become citizens, politically. Despite their amazing contributions, they are often seen in a negative light. Executive orders give policymakers, especially at the local level, the ability to showcase the positive contributions and impact of immigrants on a wide variety of issue areas and especially to highlight how they are working to integrate into all aspects of U.S. life. Like the millions who have emigrated to the United States in the generations before them, today’s immigrants will continue to help make America the great nation it is.”

Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR; www.gcir.org) is partnering with ICIRR to assess where the opportunities are to create immigrant integration policies across the country at the local and state level. Using the executive order in Illinois as a source of inspiration to other states and localities, the group has been looking at how best to engage foundations in promoting immigrant integration in states as varied as California, Minnesota and New Hampshire. “Although the executive order is spurring interest in creating integration policies, we are finding that it is not a viable option for many states for a whole host of reasons,” says Daranee Petsod of GCIR. “In California, for instance, we are looking at creating an immigrant integration infrastructure at the county level, modeling the effort after the comprehensive immigrant integration program in Santa Clara County.”

GCIR has held a series of strategy meetings with public and private funders to develop a common vision for immigrant integration in California. The effort’s first undertaking is a statewide project to determine, county by county, the number of immigrants living in the state and what is needed to help them through the citizenship process, including learning English and preparing for the U.S. citizenship exam. The Zellerbach Family Foundation, the California Community Foundation, and the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund have invested in the mapping project. But the overall effort to build a statewide immigrant integration infrastructure currently involves more than a dozen local, regional, and statewide foundations.
Washington New Americans, a project being proposed for Washington State by Hate Free Zone (www.hatefreezone.org), is based on ideas gleaned from the Illinois effort, research on immigrant integration from various sources including the Migration Policy Institute, and Hate Free Zone’s extensive experience working with immigrant communities in Washington State and understanding of the challenges and opportunities these new Americans face. The program seeks to make Washington a state that welcomes immigrants and helps them feel part of their community, so that they can lead full and rewarding lives and contribute to society.

Hate Free Zone is working to showcase the contributions of immigrants in Washington State, where the Hispanic population grew by 28 percent from 2000 to 2006. That makes it the fastest-growing minority population in a state that borders not Mexico, but Canada.

The Illinois prototype and its documentation has helped inspire the Washington effort. “It is an enormous help to us to say that this has been done in Illinois,” says Pramila Jayapal, Executive Director of Hate Free Zone. “When you can point to something that has been done in other places, it doesn’t make your governor or another elected official feel like they are stepping out on the plank by themselves.”

The proposal includes a four-pronged effort, with an executive order, a citizenship initiative, a pilot program to test the establishment of welcome centers at already-existing family-based centers and a public education campaign aimed at shifting the tenor of the conversation about immigrants and immigration.

Recognizing that politicians weigh what decisions are politically beneficial, Jayapal says, “If we can change the nature of the conversation, we will have a much easier time both fighting anti-immigrant initiatives as well as helping elected officials understand the need for initiatives that effectively integrate our new Americans.” She says Hate Free Zone is working with Governor Christine Gregoire to discuss the possibility of announcing an executive order on immigration in the fall of 2007. Hate Free Zone also hopes to launch the citizenship initiative in 2008. Hate Free Zone plans to seek funding from public and private sectors, including state, county and city funding, as well as funding from foundations and businesses that draw their work force from immigrants. In this way, she says, “everybody will have a stake in what happens.”

Baldwin has written on a wide range of topics for many national publications and is author of two biographies for young adult readers.