Published: Jan. 26, 2010
Updated: 5:44 p.m.

Rally celebrates contributions from immigrants

BY CINDY CARCAMO

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SANTA ANA Prayer vigils and press conferences took place across the country today -- from Santa Ana to Tennessee -- to tout the release of a report detailing the contributions of immigrants to California.

Non-denominational Christians, Muslims, African American Evangelical leaders and other faith leaders joined business leaders, professors and labor leaders at First United Methodist Church of Santa Ana to call for what they called humane comprehensive immigration reform.

"This issue transcends race and faith," said Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California in Anaheim. "From the gold diggers in the 19th century ... to the governor in the 20th century, we are a state of immigrants. We are the state of California."

The local press conference, which doubled as a prayer vigil with about 50 people, reflected a nationwide mobilization of hundreds of faith leaders -- many of them Evangelicals who are playing a more aggressive and organized role in the immigration debate. The move was inspired by immigration reform legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill) late last year and expected to be taken on this year.

The event also marked the release today of a report by the California Immigrant Policy Center, a statewide partnership of immigrant rights groups including the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles and the National Immigration Law Center. (Click here to see how Orange County compares to the nation in immigration.)

The report highlights the immigrant make up of the state and the contributions immigrants -- those in the country legally and legally -- make to the state and specifically Orange County. The report used the term immigrant for legal immigrants and those in the country illegally.

"There's a sense that immigrants are a drain rather than contributing," said Manuel Pastor, who led the team that conducted the study. "What this suggests is that they are contributing over time and that the story improves over time."

Pastor, director of USC's Program for Environmental and Regional Equity, said policy makers should take note that more than half of all children in Orange County have one immigrant parent. Some of these children and immigrants who eventually naturalize will eventually vote.

Some other findings:

Immigrant workers contribute about 33 percent of Orange County's GDP.

Immigrant households make up 28 percent of the total household income in Orange County, thus representing a substantial share of all spending power.

In Orange County, immigrants are entrepreneurial and are more likely to create their own jobs or be self-employed than native-born workers.

Immigrants -- legal and illegal -- in California have a combined federal tax contribution of more than $30 billion annually In California, the average immigrant-headed household contributes a net $2,679 annually to Social Security, which is $539 more than the average household.

Officials at the Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-illegal immigration group, challenged the report. Demographers there have long stated that low-skilled, lesser-educated workers are hurt by immigrants -- legal and illegal-flooding the work force, bringing wages down.

"Generally the people on the bottom lose,'' said Steven Camarota, director of research at the center. "The people who are on the higher end gain a little bit and the immigrant gains the most. The question is, 'How do you feel about the loss to the native-born poor who'll suffer from wage and employment loss from immigrant competition, regardless if they are here legally or illegally?"

Today's rally also showcased successful immigrant stories.

Addressing a crowd of about 50 people in Santa Ana, Henry Perez gave his testimony after various faith leaders spoke about what they said God's call to embrace strangers in a foreign land.

Perez, owner of Tustin Flowers, said he employs a crew at his Tustin shop and sees himself as a contribution to the economy.

The Colombian immigrant, who was in the country illegally before becoming a citizen, worked his way up from a student at the county's Regional Occupational Center to a part-time worker to business owner.

"Just the way they took me in and helped me. That's the way I've opened my doors to the ROP and its students," he said through an interpreter.

The noon press conference ended with an inter-faith prayer by Templo Calvario's Executive Director Lee DeLeon. They prayed for Congress to pass immigration reform.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/immigran ... ation.html