Thread: NYC: Anti-immigration fervor casts city out

Anti-immigration fervor casts city out
Nation wants fewer workers, while NYC needs more; political heat intensifies split
January 05. 2008 3:58PMBy: Elizabeth MacBride

Locals turned around and looked when Cira Angeles and some friends walked into a restaurant in Kansas last summer.

"They were very courteous," says Ms. Angeles, a New Yorker originally from the Dominican Republic. "But you could tell they were thinking: `Who are they? What are they doing here? Are they legal?' "

The owner of a taxi dispatch and insurance company, Ms. Angeles is closely following the immigration debate whipsawing the country. What worries her is how measures designed to soothe concerns about illegal workers in places like Kansas may affect the many immigrants she knows and does business with here.

"In New York, you could walk into a business, and anybody could be from anywhere," she says. "I think we have a softer approach and a better way of getting along with each other."

Part of the fabric

As anti-immigrant rhetoric continues in the presidential race and Washington gears up for another year of fighting on the issue, many New Yorkers are beginning to realize how out of step they are when it comes to immigration.

Unlike the nation, the city cannot escape the economic reality that it depends on people who come from other places.

"Immigrants have been very well-integrated into the economy here," says David Dyssegaard Kallick, principal author of a recent report on immigration by the Fiscal Policy Institute. "We don't want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg."

Changes spawned by arguments in the national debate could have a huge impact on New York. The numbers make the stakes clear.

About 37% of the city's population is foreign-born, compared with 12% for the nation. Even more telling is that 46% of the city's workforce is foreign-born, compared with 15% of the nation's, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute study and the annual Economic Report of the President. The former found that immigrants contribute 22.4% of the state's GDP, or about $229 billion, a figure greater than the GDP of 30 states.

Immigrant entrepreneurs such as Ms. Angeles also play a key role in the city's economy. The report shows that business growth has been greater in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations, such as Flushing, Sheepshead Bay and Sunset Park. In Flushing, the number of businesses surged 54% between 1994 and 2004, versus less than 10% growth in the city overall.

It's not just a question of volume, either. An important distinction between the city and the rest of the nation is the skill level of immigrants. Though, as elsewhere, many in New York fill low-skill jobs like dishwasher or janitor, they also make up a quarter of the city's chief executives, half of its accountants and 40% of its architects. In fact, the study noted that immigrants are helping to repopulate New York's middle class.

Not far enough

The politics surrounding last year's immigration reform bill, which went down in flames, also put the difference between New York and the rest of the country into sharp relief. President George W. Bush's proposal to offer people who are in the United States illegally a path to citizenship triggered fierce opposition from anti-immigration forces. But the New York business community didn't support the bill because it wouldn't allow entry to enough skilled workers.

New York politicians often recognize the economic benefits of immigration. During last year's fight, Mayor Michael Bloomberg testified in Congress about the need for more immigrant workers. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani was an eloquent promoter until he began his bid for the White House; his two-step on the issue and new emphasis on enforcement crushed advocates.

"Disappointment doesn't begin to express my feelings," says Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition. "This [issue] really has brought people's hypocrisy, or lack of integrity, to light."

The shape of things is such that even politicians who are considered moderate on the issue--including basically all the Democratic presidential candidates--call for more enforcement. Major sweeps against illegal immigrants could be devastating in New York, where they make up 10% of the workforce overall and a much higher percentages in some businesses, such as restaurants.

"We need to figure out a way to back down slowly," Mr. Dyssegaard Kallick says. "We need to stop and think: What would happen if we shipped all the undocumented workers out of the country?"

Meanwhile, advocates hope that the argument will shift enough to allow a more nuanced discussion of immigration's positive aspects. After the crucible of the primaries, candidates may temper their speech to appeal to mainstream voters, including the growing number of Hispanics.

"The leadership to reframe the debate really could come from New York," Ms. Hong says. "New Yorkers are capable of having a rational debate."

SANCTUARY FOR ILLEGALS?

NEW YORKERS ARE MORE CONFLICTED about illegal immigrants--the issue that's driving the debate on Capitol Hill--than people are in other parts of the country.

Residents here tell pollsters that they oppose measures to help illegal immigrants, but New York has long been a sanctuary with a host of laws that make life easier for the estimated 500,000 undocumented people here.

Most New Yorkers knowingly or unknowingly interact with undocumented people every day. In fact, many immigrants who have expired visas or who came to the country to join family members may not even consider themselves illegal.

Joseph Salvo, director of the population division of the Department of City Planning, says he wishes people understood the extent to which undocumented workers have family ties to those who are here legally.

"Legal and illegal immigrants sit across the dinner table from each other," Mr. Salvo says.

POWER IN THE WORKFORCE

Top occupations of immigrants in New York City (number of immigrants, followed by their share of occupation):

Nursing, psychiatric and home health aides 108,600, 71%
Cashiers 61,300, 54%
Janitors and building cleaners 60,700, 58%
Maids and housekeepers 56,200, 82%
Retail salespeople 51,300, 43%
Child care workers 48,200, 62%
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs 46,900, 87%
Construction laborers 43,600, 70%
First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers 39,700, 54%
Secretaries and administrative assistants 37,500, 28%

Some categories with fewer than 10,000 immigrants.
Chief executives 8,500, 24%
Real estate brokers and agents 7,700, 32%
Police and sheriff's patrol officers 6,200, 23%
Computer software engineers 5,500, 42%
Architects 4,500, 40%

Source: Fiscal Policy Institute

COMMENTS? EMacBride@crain.com
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs. ... /604558922

Notice the number of "immigrants" in the buildings trade.

I can tell you that I know a lot of people who aren't overjoyed at that figure.

When two members of NY ICE-including our president-came out to Sheepshead Bay to visit a union local they were greeted with rapturous enthusiasm.