Out of Many, One

On February 6th, the World Affairs Council hosted:

Ali Noorani is the Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, a non-partisan advocacy organization working with faith, law enforcement and business leaders to promote the value of immigrants and immigration. Growing up in California as the son of Pakistani immigrants, Ali quickly learned how to forge alliances among people of wide-ranging backgrounds, a skill that has served him extraordinarily well as one of the nation’s most innovative coalition builders.

Before joining the Forum in 2008, Ali was executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, and he has served in leadership roles within public health and environmental organizations.

Ali is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, holds a Master’s in Public Health from Boston University and is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. Ali lives in Washington, D.C. and is the author of There Goes the Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration, (Prometheus, April 2017) and host of “Only in America” podcast. (https://csworldaffairs.org/event-list/#!event/2019/2/6/out-of-many-one-a-defining-moment-for-american-immigration)

Most Americans are afraid of immigrants because of three man things: 1)Culture- will they assimilate, 2)Security – are they a threat to American ideals? and 3)Economy – will they be givers or takers?  With immigrants there is no sense of the “common interest”. Most people have a binary choice for immigration, they either believe in it or they don’t.

1. Economy – Give or Take?  They are coming to work here, so they want American jobs.  They want their kids to have a better job.  American Immigration Council reports that 73% of agricultural workers are immigrants. Rural areas are in need of workers.  Idaho has 3% unemployment.
2. Security – they want to defend. 1 in 5 medal honors recipients are foreign born. What is a sanctuary city? The police will let immigrants go after 48 hours. Where all immigrants documented or not feel safe.  Where they don’t get harassed at every step. They won’t be witnesses if they think immigration status will be questioned. Ports of entry are where drugs are coming into our our country.  Work does need to be done there.
3. Culture – emotional anxiety and fear of others.  Allies believe that churches will find a way to bridge the immigration gap. In 2016 Latter Day Saints Church in Utah had a conference focused on immigration. They said:  “This moment does not define the immigrant but our response will define us.” Christians believe that they are not White Male Christians – they are CHRISTIAN first.  500 pastors signed letter saying “don’t divide families.

Our job is to invite a conversation about the immigration issue.  Our fellow Americans need to understand the immigration process. We need to work together to understand.  Families need to be released after 20 days and then make an ankle bracelet. They need to have access to council to speed up the process.

How do we make a bridge between the caravan of immigrants and the government view?  Are immigrants rapists or victims?  74% of Americans are in the exhausted middle and do not know what to think or do. Even if we closed the walls, we would still as a country continue to get more diverse.  You can’t build a wall high enough to stop hormones.

Podcast “Only in America”

National Immigration Reform works on Constituency, Communication and Advocacy.  Need to talk to the constituents and have them talk to the politicians.  And give your money to legal services.

Noorani was asked what would he do if he could wave a magic wand, what would he do.  He said a new policy for the undocumented 11 million which would include requirement to apply for status, learn English, pay a fine, get in line for citizenship. For the ports of entry, Noorani would invest in security. If policy above is in place, you will have more resources to deal with those who don’t want to be documented.  Noorani does not think there is a magic number to let in.  He thinks that we need a sliding scale for how many immigrants should be entering the country.