Thread: Aid for immigrants proposed (good ol' Illlinois of course...

Funny enough I heard someone on a local radio show this morning say that this was one of the last straw -welcoming center for illegals. He was looking into moving to Arizona and getting the HECK out of Illinois. We need help up here....


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 8289.story

Aid for immigrants proposed
State panels suggest `welcome centers,' language programs

By Oscar Avila
Tribune staff reporter

December 13, 2006

A panel of state agencies wants to create "welcoming centers" for immigrants, allowing them to apply for job training, health care and other services at one location.

The proposed state-funded centers would be based in suburbs and in Downstate towns with recent spikes in immigrants, according to the panel's report being released Wednesday.

At the same time, another panel of researchers, activists and business leaders is recommending that the state provide more money for English classes for adults and dual-language programs that teach elementary school pupils, both immigrants and U.S.-born.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who commissioned the two panels, is endorsing the recommendations but has not yet committed any funding, a spokesman said.

Grace Hou, co-chair of the state agency panel and assistant secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services, acknowledged that dwindling money in the state budget might make it difficult to secure expanded funding for immigrant integration.

But Hou and Juan Salgado, co-chair of the other panel and president of the nonprofit Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said the spending is worth it if immigrants can secure higher-paying jobs and become full civic contributors.

"Like any asset, you can invest in the immigrant population and it has the potential of gaining more return. Or you don't invest and it deteriorates," said Salgado, also executive director of Instituto del Progreso Latino, a Chicago social-service agency.

For immigrants to become an asset, the panels reported, the state must help the newcomers obtain the English, government services and job skills they need to fully join society.

The language initiatives being proposed in Wednesday's report would help create a bilingual workforce to compete globally, one of the reports argues.

Although the federal government regulates how immigrants enter the U.S., state and local governments have to deal with the effects. At least 11 states, including Illinois, have specific offices that help tailor services to immigrants and refugees.

About 1.7 million immigrants live in Illinois, half of whom have arrived since 1995, and the immigrant population is rising at a rate of 35,000 per year.

The members of the policy panel said investing in English would create indirect benefits, from improving parental involvement in schools to opening up new job opportunities. Researchers have found that immigrants who speak English well earn at least 50 percent more than those who don't.

Community agencies say demand has overwhelmed the supply of English classes. The panel recommends an additional $25 million in funding for English targeted to specific careers.

The panel also said the state should create financial incentives for local school districts to implement dual-language pilot programs. The programs, already tried in Schaumburg and other districts, teach part of the day in English and part in Spanish or other foreign languages. they want to do this at my children's school

The panel also wants to streamline the process through which foreign-born professionals can transfer degrees and other certification to the U.S., to help them land jobs that match their skill levels.

Meanwhile, a separate task force of nine state agencies wants to create welcoming centers that would ease the transition for recently arrived immigrants.

Hou said the centers wouldn't necessarily add services but would likely consolidate the existing staff. The centers would be located in areas of the state where the immigrant influx is relatively new, Hou said.

The reports represent the first policy blueprints from the panels, created by a Blagojevich executive order last year.

If we went in, do you think they'd give us anything?

The panel also wants to streamline the process through which foreign-born professionals can transfer degrees and other certification to the U.S., to help them land jobs that match their skill levels.

I'll guess the pilot program will include Canada & Mexico ?

Or you don't invest and it deteriorates,"

Sorry I tried to bite my tonque on this one but I just couldn't! YA like not investing in AMERICAN CITIZENS and allowing this nation to deteriorate!