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Immigrants need office that's on their side
Thursday, January 19, 2006

By ELIZABETH LLORENTE
STAFF WRITER


As home to the nation's fifth-largest foreign-born population, New Jersey must create a state government office that focuses on the needs and problems of its immigrants, says a report drafted for Governor Corzine by a statewide coalition of immigrants rights groups.

The report, which was requested by Corzine's transition team, says that "New Jersey cannot afford to ignore thousands of people and their many problems."

"Whether it's health care, housing or human rights, day laborers, driver's license or detentions," the authors said, "immigrants, especially the more recent underprivileged newcomers, are struggling to cope with the rapidly emerging social, economic and political scenario."

The New Jersey Immigration Policy Network, which has submitted the report to Corzine aides and will officially release it at its annual conference on Saturday, says that a statewide office that concentrates on immigrants can create policies that will bring them into the social and political fold.

Other high-immigration states, such as Florida, California, Illinois and Massachusetts, have a department devoted to immigrant issues.

"There's a huge difference between immigration and immigrants," said Partha Banerjee, executive director of NJIPN. "Immigration is a federal matter, an issue to be dealt with by the federal government. Immigrants are real people, living in real communities, with day-to-day problems like unequal access to good education, health insurance and social services that ought to be addressed by local governments and policies."

Corzine aides said little about the report, noting that Wednesday was the new governor's first full day in office. Corzine, a Democrat, was inaugurated on Tuesday.

But Albert Alvarez, a policy adviser for Corzine, said that after speaking with NJIPN about the state's immigration issues, it seemed best to "address it [immigration] on its own."

So, Alvarez said, "we asked for a position paper." Alvarez said they have not yet completed a review of the report.

New Jersey counts more than one million foreign-born residents. Some 50,000 legal immigrants settle in the state each year. An untold number of others who enter the United States illegally, or on a visa that they overstay, also make New Jersey their home every year.

The constant immigrant influx has been the reason many otherwise graying communities have not experienced population declines. Immigrant communities in places such as Union City, Passaic and Palisades Park also have revived local downtowns with mom-and-pop shops and eateries.

But while they've breathed new life in many places, they've also presented challenges. The steady stream of newcomers who, in many cases lack English skills and sufficient financial resources, has some communities grappling with how to address their needs and problems.

So the coalition is recommending that the Corzine administration take an approach to immigrants that not only would address their needs, but also hold them responsible for learning English and getting involved in the larger community.

To help bring their integration to fruition, the authors say, the state needs to administer state grants to community groups that could promote and offer such things as English classes, workshops on U.S. social and political systems, and help with obtaining legal permanent residency and becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen.

"The Office [of Immigrant Affairs] will build upon the strengths of immigrants, their families, and their institutions, and expedite their journey toward self-sufficiency," the report says.

"This proposal is not some type of patronizing function" that would have the state government act as Big Brother, or an immigrant advocacy agent, Banerjee said. "It's inviting them to be a part of the mainstream society."

Illinois, which has an immigrant population similar in size to New Jersey's, established an agency focused on immigrants and refugees in 1995.

The Illinois Bureau of Refugee and Immigrant Services, with an annual budget of about $16 million, manages and funds citizenship education, health-care and interpretation services to its immigrant population, which numbers 1.5 million.

"By some token, these are services that are not easily provided by government agencies," said Edwin Silverman, the bureau's chief. "These are services that need to be provided by community organizations.

"But you need an administrative entity at the state level, an entity like the Department of Human Services, that is accustomed to dealing with these community groups. For all that to happen, and to become a success, you have to have strong leadership out of the governor's office - the governor's office must make it priority for it to be a success."

E-mail: llorente@northjersey.com