Demographic Trends Affecting Cities Immigration

Outline  Trends  Implications for cities  City employment  Checklist for cities  Information resources

Trends  Rate of immigration is growing in MN  15,456 arrivals in 2005  17 th among US states in immigration Immigrants admitted with MN as intended state of residence US Dept of Homeland Security

Trends  MN immigrants are diverse  Fast growing group: 2 in every 5 immigrants were from Africa in 2005 Place of birth for MN foreign-born population, U.S. Census 2000

Trends  Immigrants come to MN for multiple reasons (2000 Census):  63% came to join family members  16% came to work  12% came as refugees  MN leads the nation in the largest percentage of immigrants who are refugees or admitted through family reunification sponsorship

Trends  Immigrants have settled across the state  Large concentrations of immigrants live in:  St. Paul and Minneapolis;  Suburbs; and  Rural communities with food processing plants

Trends  Immigrants in MN have been attracted to jobs in:  Manufacturing  Hospitality  Construction  Food processing  Agriculture

Trends  Compared to immigrants of the late 19 th & early 20 th centuries, today’s immigrants are:  Learning English faster;  Less likely to return to their country of origin

Trends  Immigrants will become the largest source of new workers  20% of new workers entering the US labor force between will be Latino (Bureau of Labor Statistics)  MN has the highest Latino labor force participation rate in the county

Implications for Cities  A majority of MN cities over 1,500 population are experiencing community changes due to immigration (2007 LMC survey)  12% “to a great degree”  54% “to some degree”  34% reported no immigration–related changes

Implications for Cities: 2007 survey findings Main diversity issues:  Communication;  Cultural differences;  Housing; and  Lack of community integration Barriers in addressing:  Lack of money;  Lack of will/ commitment from city officials & staff;  Lack of time;  Communication & cultural differences;  Unsure of how to proceed; and  Limited staff capacity

Implications for Cities Other challenges:  Undocumented immigrants  false identification or shared documents  Overcrowding in housing  Illegal parking of too many vehicles  General code compliance  Language barriers  Costs incurred in building multilingual staff or for interpretive services

Implications for Cities  The League’s cultural diversity work found 4 main reasons for cities to build ethnic & cultural diversity: 1)Civic responsibility 2)Economic development 3)Loss control 4)Community harmony

Implications for Cities  Civic responsibility  City officials are elected and appointed to:  ensure that residents received quality city services;  engage them in the city government process; and  to lead the community in setting and achieving a shared vision of the future.

Implications for Cities  Economic development  Ethnic populations contribute significantly to the economic base of MN communities  An estimated $6 billion in buying power  Provide a stable workforce  Are engaged in entrepreneurship and job creation

Implications for Cities  Loss control  Cities face serious liability issues for noncompliance with civil rights laws  Cities must be aware of liability risks and work to reduce them

Implications for Cities  Community harmony  Existing residents likely have expectations about assimilation of newcomers  City leadership should encourage “bilateral assimilation:”  Both long-term residents and newcomers modify behaviors and expectations to accommodate each other

City Employment: Challenges  Younger generations of immigrant populations tend to be larger than the older generations  Retiring city staff are likely to be replaced by new immigrants  Immigrants may be hesitant to apply for city employment

City Employment: Challenges 2000 Census

City Employment: Opportunities  Cities need to reach out and recruit in culturally sensitive and nontraditional ways  Need for training in cultural competence to city employees working for and with diverse populations

Checklist for Cities  What is the projected future ethnic makeup of our community  How do we work with the state to understand future refugee populations  How much do we know about who currently lives in our community  Particular ethnic groups  What brought them here  Where they are living

Checklist for Cities  How does each immigrant group feel about our community  Do we know who the leaders or liaisons of immigrant populations are  Do we have strategies for reaching these communities  What is our outreach plan

Checklist for Cities  Is city staff trained to respond successfully to new residents  Language barriers  Are our city codes creating unique issues with immigrant populations

Checklist for Cities  Are we finding ways to encourage these populations to become engaged with our community  What type of messages do city officials send about welcoming newcomers  What is the human rights violation process available to members of ethnic populations

Checklist for Cities: Civic Engagement  What do we know about the culture from which they came and how that affects their view of city government  View of law enforcement  Are members of newcomer groups willing to cooperate with law enforcement

Checklist for Cities: City Employment  Are ethnic populations represented in our city workforce  Do they apply for positions  Have we taken any steps to affirmatively recruit and retain ethnic employees  Is our city staff trained in intercultural competency and able to reduce workplace conflict

Resources  U.S. Census Bureau  Professor Katherine Fennelly, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, UMN  Professor Richard Alba, SUNY – Albany  Professor Victor Nee, Cornell University  National Research Council  Social Security Administration  Tom Stinson, Minnesota State Economist  Tom Gillapsy, Minnesota Demographer