Migratory Patterns

border patrol: When Councilman Jim Kenney spoke about the need to attract more immigrants to Philadelphia, the hate mail piled up quickly. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

A councilman's immigration-office proposal faces opposition, both predictable and unexpected.

by Doron Taussig

On Valentine's Day, City Councilman Juan Ramos' fax machine received a memo. "Juan Ramos better watch his self!!!" it began. Generously employing boldface type, underlines and exclamation points, the fax went on to disparage Ramos for supporting Councilman Jim Kenney's quest to establish a city director of immigrant affairs, whose job would be to attract immigrants and help them assimilate.

"How dare you all allow him to even suggest that we need to recruit, encourage, and/or attract immigrants to come to this city and take jobs?" the writer fumed.

Ramos interpreted this tirade as a threat, and soon enough, Tracey L. Gordon, a peaceful, civic-minded mother of four from Southwest Philadelphia, was contacted by detectives who wanted to know what she meant about Ramos watching his self. "I only meant politically," she explains now. "I'm watching to see which one of these council people vote on it."

One can hardly fault Ramos for his wariness. The first time Kenney proposed opening an office of immigrant affairs, in October 2000, he inspired a good deal of mean-spirited, even hysterical, opposition. Hate mail poured in to his office, and he was booed at the Columbus Day parade. With little political support before 9/11, and even less after, he tabled the idea. Now that he has revived it — this time as a proposed change to the Home Rule Charter, which would have to be accepted by the City Council and then approved by referendum in November — Kenney's got a vicious fight on his hands.

Some of his opposition will come from people who, like Gordon, fear that immigrants will divert jobs and resources from native Philadelphians. The rest of it will come from people who agree with Kenney in theory, but think that in practice, the councilman is up to no good. When Kenney, a battle-hardened 14-year veteran of council politics, first focused on immigration, he learned that Philadelphia, like most cities, was losing residents to surrounding suburbs. But unlike most cities, Philly was not recouping that loss by attracting new immigrants. The result: Over the last decade, Philly suffered a net population loss — an honor shared only with Detroit among the nation's 10 largest metropolises. Kenney says Philly's dearth of foreign immigrants disconnects it from the global economy, deprives it of vital economic contributors and shrinks the tax base. To fix this, he says, the city needs to improve its international image, and the first step is making a commitment to lure legal immigrants, as Boston, New York and Los Angeles have all done, by setting up a government office dedicated to the task.

"It's not like we made this up," Kenney says. "There are models throughout the country that show this to be successful."

Economic insecurity and xenophobia have always been linked, and Kenney will take some lumps from the hate-mail crowd. But there are people with more measured objections to his proposal.

"The problem is the intent, the implication," says Bruce Crawley, chairman of the African-American Chamber of Commerce. "I think there is some sense that [Philadelphia's unemployed] workforce is incorrigible."

Crawley repeats several times while explaining his position that he is "not anti-immigrant."

"I'm very concerned that this referendum proposal will focus attention away from the need to develop talent in our own workforce," Crawley says, adding he would like to see the city launch job-training and apprenticeship programs. A number of black leaders share this view. And while Crawley remains respectful of Kenney, others word their criticisms more strongly.

"I believe that it's big business," says Gordon. They're "trying to bring people in to provide cheap labor, people who won't fight for unions and benefits."

"I don't think much of Mr. Kenney or his bill," says Brother Rob Gray, chair of the African American Freedom and Reconstruction League, and the host of a talk show on WURD. "All of [Kenney's bills] have been aimed at doing poor people in."

These opponents believe that Kenney is planning to divert scant resources away from locals. But the councilman says that you can't look at the city's resources as fixed or finite.

"If we can bring enough people here to create enough job opportunities and enough business and enough taxes, I can continue to improve our school system, continue to provide job training and other skills for people who've been disadvantaged in this country," he says.

All this is to say nothing of the trouble Kenney faces from people who, theoretically, agree with him. On Feb. 24, the Daily News published a letter from Frank Keel, Mayor Street's former campaign spokesman. It read, "Your "Welcome to Philly' editorial (Feb. 23) omitted an important point in the debate over the establishment of a formal entity to attract new immigrants and help them assimilate — one already exists."

Keel argued that the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians does everything a city office would do. Keel, who has done public-relations work for the nonprofit, alleges that Kenney courted its director, Anne O'Callaghan, for two years, promising much-needed funding and picking her brain before he "stabbed her in the back" by proposing an office that would shutter the center. Kenney, Keel suggested, wants to get a "toehold on an issue that will give him a degree of respectability and credibility."

Any mention of the Welcoming Center irks Kenney.

"This Frank Keel must be on his horse with this Welcoming Center," he says. "There are about 300 organizations in the region that deal with immigration issues. The Welcoming Center is one of them."

He says a city office would act as an umbrella organization, referring clients to nonprofits [See "Hotel ACANA," p. 18]. But O'Callaghan says that the Welcoming Center is the one agency whose efforts would be duplicated: Other agencies provide social services; hers focuses on economic development — and she says it can do it better than a government agency.

"The City of Philadelphia does best with a model like the public/private one that allows independence from the political process," she says, adding that a city agency will mean additional costs like the proposed $100,000 director's salary.

The only major comment Mayor Street has made on this issue — he doesn't sign or veto changes to the HRC — was: "I may have some reservations about expanding any office."

Kenney argues that a government "imprimatur" would lend an air of legitimacy and help attract funding from private foundations. He's been in contact with potential funders, and says he believes private donations would cover a large portion of the office's expenses. But, asks Councilman Frank Rizzo, what if that money dries up? As part of the HRC, the office would be permanent — and the city would be on the hook for it. Kenney says he's proposing a referendum because he doesn't believe Street, a longtime political rival, would approve the office. More importantly, he says, it leaves the decision in the hands of the people who will have to live with the consequences.

"If people want to come out and vote against this, then they've made their point clear; we won't do it," says Kenney, but "I think it'll be a major loss."