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FROM THE PUBLISHER -- JOHN CAMPANELLI

On immigration, Cleveland has a lack of global perspective


Blog Entry: August 17, 2014 4:30 AM | Author: JOHN CAMPANELLI
Back in 2008, then-new Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter set a goal to increase his city's population by 75,000.

Like Cleveland, Philly saw its population peak in 1950 ... and then hemorrhage for decades afterward.

When he dug into the data, Nutter noticed that while his city was losing net population, it was gaining foreign-born residents, especially younger ones.

Nutter made it one of his goals to open the City of Brotherly Love to immigrants. He signed an order requiring all city departments to have a language access plan for
helping residents who spoke limited English. He formed a task force to come up with ways to help immigrants settle into the city. And he created an immigration and
multi-cultural affairs office within City Hall.

In general, the city whose fans gained infamy for booing and throwing snowballs at Santa Claus worked to warmly welcome new Americans.

The results? In 2011, Philly reported its first population growth in 60 years. In 2013, the city was up about 105,000 in total population, shattering Nutter's initial goal.

Philadelphia's efforts are hardly unique. Since 2010 alone, more than 30 cities and states have launched immigrant-welcoming initiatives. They include Detroit,
Cincinnati and Dayton.

Cleveland is not one of them.

We have groups, foundations and individuals in town working hard to attract, connect and welcome immigrants most notably Global Cleveland and its funders but
this immigrant-attraction thing requires widespread support.

That's because it isn't easy. First off, there aren't that many immigrants out there. Only about a million green cards for legal permanent residency are issued every
year.

Second, immigrants often choose a city because of family members, friends and the current immigrant community already there. In other words, immigrants bring
more immigrants. Less than 4% of Cleveland's population is foreign-born, compared with about 12% in Philly (and more than 30% in Cleveland in 1920).

We have all been celebrating New Cleveland this summer the RNC, LeBron, new development, downtown population growth, the Gay Games but on immigration
the Old Cleveland mindset seems to remain, insular and provincial.

It's not that we are anti-immigrant, it's just that luring foreign-born residents doesn't seem to be much of a priority for many of our leaders, even as our population and
tax base continue to bleed.

Every spring, we let hundreds of smart, tech-savvy and entrepreneurial-minded foreign-born graduates walk off the stages at local universities ... and into buses, cars
and planes bound for other cities.

These are tomorrow's employers, customers and business partners.

It's going to take a monumental full-court press to make Cleveland a popular destination for immigrants.

We'll need plans, people, policy, programs, cooperation, infrastructure and lots more.

But most important, we need the will. We need political leadership that recognizes the benefits economic and cultural that immigrants bring a city. They should be
leaders who can quickly and bravely shout down the myths that immigrants are job-stealers or one-party voters. Leaders with the vision of Mayor Nutter who can
imagine what 40,000 or 50,000 more immigrants might mean to our community and economy.

This summer has shown us all that Cleveland's secret is reaching the nation. Why not go global?

John Campanelli Mod 9 hours ago
Thanks for taking the time to comment, teapartimmigrationcoalition.
You make quite a few statements ... "the gangs come," "poverty rates soar," "criminal justice system bogs down," etc.
I'd be interested in seeing the studies that show this happens. Legal immigration -- and perhaps even illegal immigration -- is tremendously beneficial to our economy. Cleveland
would be fortunate to have an influx of foreign-born residents, like we did a century ago.
Thanks again for taking the time to comment. Have a great week.
John Campanelli
Publisher
Crain's Cleveland Business
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teapartyimmigrationcoalition 18 hours ago
And we say, "Thank God for Cleveland"
Because Cleveland is not a sanctuary city like Philly et al. When the illegal aliens come, the gangs come with them. Poverty rates soar. The increased burden on an already
overburdened educational system nears the breaking point. The criminal justice system bogs down. The malaise will soon hit these cities because of illegal aliens and the troubles
they bring with them.
The burden on taxpayers force businesses to flee to lower tax and better regulatory climates. Then, the deficits grow beyond the ability of cities to repay.
Reading PA is a perfect example since it has been a sanctuary for illegals for quite some time (for at least 30 years) as are many of Pennsylvania's small cities. A few years ago,
because of gang activity, it had the 5th highest murder rate in the nation. It has been listed as the poorest city in the country. It is in a special Pennsylvania program for cities near
bankruptcy( we think that it is bankrupt but accounting shenanigans stop it). The gangs control the streets in most parts of the city, not the cops.
That's what you get if you follow this writer's advice. Don't do it Cleveland. Tea Party Immigration Coalition www.facebook.com/tpimmigration...
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