Chicago Welcomes Immigrants—Office of New Americans and Illinois Dream Act

Last month, Chicago, under the leadership of Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, announced the creation of the Office of New Americans.

The press release from the Mayor's office declared that the ultimate goal of the new office is to "make Chicago the world’s most immigrant-friendly city". Hear! Hear!

I love, love Chicago. It is a beautiful, vibrant city and this official love from the city makes me want to pack my bags and book a flight straight to O'Hare airport.

Working with community organizations, educational institutions and the private sector, the Office of New Americans will undertake several initiatives including:

1. Helping immigrants learn English by expanding resources available to them.
2. Promoting citizenship within the local immigrant communities.
3. Increased access to business development and entrepreneurship opportunities.
   
4. Ensuring access to information on education, health, public safety by developing a central language policy.
5. Supporting the Illinois Dream Act to help immigrant children access the funds they need to go to college.

Earlier this month, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Governor Pat Quinn had signed the Illinois Dream Act. The act establishes a private fund to make scholarships available to children of undocumented immigrants. These children have no other way of accessing college because they cannot get loans or grants from the federal government. The Illinois Dream Act supports the goals of those "willing and able to get a college education, want to work hard and wish to fully integrate into society".

Let's hope that other cities will follow Chicago's lead in making immigrants feel welcome and supporting their efforts to be part and parcel of our larger communities.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) has more information on the Illinois Dream Act. Click here to access their website.

8 Immigrant Contributions to the American Economy

From a report by the "Partnership for a New American Economy", comes these staggering numbers that show the positive impact of immigrants on the American economy. The report is based on membership on the 2010 Fortune 500 list.

1. 18% of companies had at least one immigrant founder.
2. 23% of companies had at least one founder who was the child of an immigrant.
3. 41% of companies were founded either by an immigrant or a child of an immigrant.
   
4. 20% of companies started between 1985 and 2010 were founded by immigrants.
   
5. 45% of high tech firms had a founder who was either an immigrant or a child of an immigrant.
6. 50% of medical equipment and device makers had a founder who was either an immigrant or a child of an immigrant.
7. 7 of the 10 most valuable brands in the world are American companies created by immigrants or children of immigrants. They include: Apple, Google, AT&T, Budweiser, IBM,Colgate, McDonald's and eBay.
8. Companies founded by immigrants or children of immigrants generated revenues of $4.2 trillion. If this were a country, it would have the 4th largest GDP in the world after USA, China and Japan.

Source: The "New American" Fortune 500—A report by the Partnership for a New American Economy.

8 Interesting Statistics about African Immigrants in the US

Figures are based on 2007 American Community Survey by US Census Bureau

1. 3% of immigrants come from Africa for a total slightly over 1 million people - 1, 023, 363.



2. 37% come from West Africa and 28% from East Africa.



3. 15% come from Nigeria and 11% from Ethiopia.



4. 8.8% of African immigrants live in New York City and 1.6% live in Chicago.



5. 54% are male and 46% are female.



6. 36% are naturalized citizens and 64% are not citizens.



7. 36% have been here for 5 years or less and 27% have been here between 6 and 10 years.



8. 42% have a college degree.

Source: "The New Wave of African Immigrants in the United States", by Holly E. Reed of Department of Sociology, Queens College, and CUNY Institute for Demographic Research, City University of New York (CUNY) and Catherine S. Andrzejewski of Principia International, USA.

8 Stats About Immigrants in America!

1. Of the 307 million people in the US, 12.5% (38.5 million) were foreign born aka immigrants.

2. 53% came from Latin America, 28% from Asia, 13% from Europe, 4% from Africa.

3. 30% came from Mexico, 5% from China, 4% from Philippines, 4% from India, 3% from El Salvador.

4. 25% live in California, 11% in New York, 10% in Texas, 9% in Florida.

5. Immigrants from Latin America represented 78% of the foreign-born population in New Mexico, 75% in Florida, 73% in Texas and 69% in Arizona.

6. In Hawaii, Asian immigrants comprised 78% percent of the total foreign-born population.

7. African immigrants in North Dakota comprise 22% of the total foreign-born population, in Minnesota, 18% and in Maryland, 16%.

8. European immigrants in Vermont make up 39% of total immigrants.

Source: US Census Bureau:The American Community Survey (ACS) 2009

What Inspires Us?

We are inspired by people’s stories....how did they get where they are? how do they do what they do?

Every month we will bring you stories of people, fellow immigrants like you and me, who are doing remarkable things.

Let their stories inspire us to reach for the best within ourselves.

Artist Unknown. Source: www.mymodernmet.com

Share your stories with us at: themakutilounge@gmail.com.