COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, June 7, 2006 10:35 a.m. - - - PRESENT: COUNCILMAN W. WILSON GOODE, JR., CHAIR COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL COUNCILMAN DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN JUAN RAMOS COUNCILWOMAN BLONDELL REYNOLDS BROWN COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO RESOLUTION 060293 - Resolution calling on the Council of the City of Philadelphia to hold hearings on the issue of Immigration, to explore how it affects our City, and to make recommendations as to what is appropriate action to protect the residents who live within our borders. - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services Eleven Penn Center 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 2
Good morning. This hearing is called to order. This is a public hearing of the Commerce and Economic Development Committee on Resolution No. 060293. My name is W. Wilson Goode, Jr., Chair of this Committee. A quorum is not necessary, but a quorum is present. I note to my left is Councilman Frank Rizzo, also Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown. To my right is Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller. To her right is Councilman Darrell Clarke. Also present is the primary sponsor of the bill, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, as well as Councilman James Kenney. The title of Resolution 060293, calling on the Council of the City of Philadelphia to hold hearings on the issue of immigration, to explore how it affects our City, and to make recommendations as to what is appropriate action to protect the residents who live within our borders. 3 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 I will start by asking the primary sponsor to make an opening statement.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning to all members of this Committee and to everyone in attendance. I am Jannie Blackwell, and I thank all of you for being here pursuant to Resolution 060293, unanimously adopted on April 20, 2006. The resolution called for hearings on the issue of immigration and how it affects our City. S. House of Representatives passed legislation criminalizing being an undocumented immigrant, criminalizing providing humanitarian and other assistance to an undocumented immigrant, and calling for the deportation of more than 11 million undocumented immigrants, 4 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 many of whom have lived with their families and in our country, the United States, for many, many years. Around the country, immigrants and others have taken to the streets to protest such a patently inhumane immigration policy and to draw attention to the fact that undocumented workers have contributed significantly to the national and regional economies by filling many jobs otherwise left vacant. S. economy and, in fact, the Philadelphia regional economy have grown dependent on undocumented immigrant workers holding jobs in hospitality, construction, manufacturing and service industries. These workers pay taxes, support their families and contribute to communities where they live in similar fashion to that of the rest of the American workers. Some 11 million undocumented immigrants live and work in the United States, according to the Immigrant and 5 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Citizen Coalition. Between 60,000 and 70,000 undocumented immigrants live and work in the Philadelphia region, including Latinos, Africans, Asians, Caribbeans, Irish, Brazilians, Chinese and Indonesians. In my district alone, we believe there's some 50,000 Africans. And to address these concerns unique to that population, we have encouraged the Mayor to establish the Mayor's Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs chaired by Stan Straughter, who helped organize today's hearing. We thank Stan Straughter, who has been an excellent partner in all that we do and in trying to represent people who may otherwise be left out. Many of these individuals have come to America seeking a better quality of life as sought by many immigrants who came before them. Many others are seeking political asylum and relief from persecution. America has always welcomed 6 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 those from abroad seeking refuge and an improvement in the quality of life, and that is in fact what this country stands for. I urge the Congress and the President to support fair and humane treatment for all of those in this country and all immigrants who are here who visit and want to stay here so that this will always be the land of opportunity for those willing to work and a sanctuary for those in need of refuge. Let me finally say that I hope that we will be wise of us, those who are minorities and others in this country, to not be used by others who would say we should fight one another, that in America we have to fight one another about jobs and be used in that fashion to say someone is taking my job, someone is taking my house, someone is absorbing the schools in my area, and realize that in America, we stand for -- when those who visit this country came to New York, 7 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 looked at the Statue of Liberty, they knew that this was a country that welcomed us all. That is what our Constitution stands for. That is what our country stands for. I would urge those who can hear our remarks to not let themselves be used in negative ways to not stand for all of those things that our country stands for and that we should certainly realize that we are our brother's keeper and that in America everyone has a right to, as the late Lucien Blackwell would say, the tree of life. Mr. Chairman, I thank you very much and I'm looking forward to our hearing and to all of those who have come to speak. Thank you very much.
Are there opening statements from any of the 8 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 members of the Committee? (No response.)
Are there opening statements from any of the members of Council? (No response.)
We will proceed with our first witness. Our first witness is Stephen Alan Glassman, Chairperson of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. Mr. Glassman, please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Stephen Glassman, the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. Honorable Councilmembers, it's a pleasure to be here today and I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you on behalf of the Governor and the State of Pennsylvania with regard to the hearings that you're holding today, which we deem to be critically important to the life 9 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 and health of the Commonwealth, particularly here in Philadelphia. We are very concerned that this issue has risen to the level of public discourse which has engaged a tremendous level of hostility, misunderstanding, stereotyping and mythologizing about individuals who have come from other parts of the world to participate in the full democracy of our life here in America. I'd like to acknowledge the leadership to begin with of Stanley Straughter, who has provided such an extraordinary opportunity for us to be able to address in a calm and reasoned and moderate way these issues which are confronting the American public. I'd also like to acknowledge the exceptional work of the State Human Relations Commission, particularly here in Philadelphia by our Regional Director Carlene Neal, who is with us here today, and also the partnership that we enjoy 10 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 with the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations under the leadership of Rachel Lawton. All of us have worked together in our attempt to open the City's and the State's eyes to issues which play out particularly in Philadelphia in ways that expand our opportunity to understand the immigrant experience that we all share here in America. There are over 100 languages, as you may know, that are spoken right here in Philadelphia. There are contributions that are made by individuals who have come here under tremendous duress, who work hard, pay their taxes, contribute to the life and health of this nation and yet are underserved, disacknowledged, disenfranchised, marginalized and rendered invisible by the way in which those who would wish to disacknowledge their experiences have developed a culture of abuse and bias here fueled by 11 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 the classic discriminations that we see at the State level. It is our responsibility to address discrimination and bias and to eradicate it here in the Commonwealth in employment, housing and public accommodations, education for all citizens and all visitors to this State. Our statutes are very broad in their authority. We have enforcement powers, and we cover every individual who is either a resident or passing through the State of Pennsylvania. Whatever your status, you are covered with regard to discrimination issues in this State. We held hearings here in Philadelphia, a public town meeting, about six months ago at the request of one of our Commissioners, Jerry Mondesire, who is also the President of the NAACP chapter here in Philadelphia, and Stanley Straughter to attempt to bring the State's understanding of these issues and support for the rights of 12 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 immigrant minority individuals to the attention of the media, the public, and we're very grateful, of course, to see that the City Council has now taken this up unanimously. Councilwoman Blackwell has been an extraordinary leader on this issue and has helped this City to understand the importance of addressing these issues in the same way that we address discrimination and bias against every other individual who is a member of a minority-protected class here in Pennsylvania. We offer our support and hope that you will call on us if there's anything at the State level that we can do to support your efforts in bringing truth and fairness to this issue and to contributing to a reasoned understanding of how we can all participate equally in support of one another in the City and in the State. Thank you very much for this 13 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 opportunity to speak to you.
Thank you for your testimony. Are there questions from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Questions from other members of Council? (No response.)
Thank you again. Our next witness is Rachel Lawton, Human Relations Commission. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Yes. Good morning, distinguished members of City Council. My name is Rachel Lawton and I am the Acting Executive Director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations. I am very pleased to testify today regarding Resolution 060293 and the call to explore the issue of immigration in Philadelphia, how it affects our City 14 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 and how to protect all residents that live within our borders. On behalf of Commissioners and staff, I would like to make a few brief points. The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations' mission is to investigate complaints of discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and the provision of City services; respond to all matters of intergroup tension and neighborhood disputes throughout the City; and to promote intergroup understanding and appreciation. To that end, PCHR cares deeply about the quality of life of all immigrants choosing to live in Philadelphia and believes that all immigrants add to the rich cultural, racial and economic life of our City. Philadelphia fully supports and complies with the October 10, 2003 Philadelphia City Solicitor directive entitled "Immigrant Access to City Services," which stipulates that all 15 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 immigrants, regardless of immigrant status, are entitled to City services under the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. To comply with the directive, no City employee, with the exception of law enforcement, under certain circumstances, shall inquire about a person's immigration status. We feel strongly about this policy and distribute it publicly, as it sends a real welcoming message to newcomers that the City wants to provide City services to everyone, and to do otherwise would result in all immigrants, regardless of immigration status, feeling vulnerable and targeted. On May 11, 2006, PCHR held a forum at the Convention Center for providers of services to immigrants and refugees. The purpose of the forum was to convene a meeting to hear from those that provide services to immigrants and refugees concerning who they serve, what parts of the City they provide the 16 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 services in, whether their clients are encountering intergroup tension in any aspect of their lives, and to hear suggestions as to where the continuing needs are. This forum also provided those that testified an opportunity to hear from one another and network to improve their own delivery of services. PCHR plans to review all the testimony, the recommendations, make appropriate referrals and assist in improving the network of services and communication to the immigrant and refugee communities in Philadelphia. Not to be ignored in the process is the understanding of the needs of receiving communities and schools into which immigrants come to live. They need to be linked closely together in services and development to help build strong inclusive neighborhoods that do not feel threatened or in competition with newcomers. After the forum, PCHR sent 17 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 letters on May 22nd to Senators Specter and Santorum, Congressmen Brady and Fattah and Congresswoman Schwartz urging them to support reform that addresses the existence of millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States by providing a path to citizenship, to create legal channels for the future flow of workers and provide them protections so they will not be exploited, to reduce backlogs in the family immigration system that keeps family members separated, and to promote the integration of newcomers and help communities that receive them. Copies of these letters are attached to this testimony. In closing, we thank Councilwoman Blackwell and members of City Council for holding this hearing.
As some Philadelphia residents have left the City over the years for the suburbs, we have been fortunate to have immigrants from all over the world come to Philadelphia to live and pursue their 18 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 American dream. We want it to come true for them in this City in the 21st century. Their success is intricately tied to our collective success economically, culturally and socially, and all of our children will benefit as their horizons are broadened by new neighbors who will help them professionally as they enter and compete in the growing global economy. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Any questions for this witness? Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ma'am, you had indicated in your testimony that City workers, with the exception of police, are not permitted to inquire as to the status of a person's immigration status. I believe that the police are also by regulation not permitted. We had that changed based on some problems we were experiencing in 19 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 the Indonesian community in South Philadelphia back when John Timoney was the Police Commissioner. As a matter of fact, the regulations then required the police to ask about a person's status and refer that information to the INS or to ICE. Timoney was shocked that that was the case, because in New York, the regulation is exactly the opposite, and he changed that regulation. I don't know whether or not that regulation has been reverted again. I doubt that it has been, but even the Philadelphia police in dealing with people who are involved in a traffic accident, who are witness to a crime, who are a victim of a crime, they are not permitted to ask the status.
I thought you said with the exception of the police, you said.
No, no. The police cannot -- you're correct. The 20 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 police cannot ask about immigration status. I think I said with exceptions, under certain circumstances. I think if somebody had been involved in a criminal activity --
-- that they are permitted to pursue certain additional questioning. Otherwise, you're correct. The police are not permitted to ask about immigration status.
Part of our problem in some communities is that people who are victims of crime, are having their stores robbed or their cars stolen or they were in a car accident, they were afraid to call the police because of their potential status issues, but I do believe that Timoney was very swift and was really -- it was incredible to him that we had such a regulation in the first place, because coming from New York, that would be unheard of, and changed it then. 21 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 So I wanted to make sure that the record was clear that the police are not permitted if you are anything other than a suspect of a crime --
Correct. And I think in conversations with community folks, the problem happens if every once in a while a police officer makes a mistake, then the kind of rumors get out that they don't know. So I think that the Police Commissioner has been very strong and constantly educating police officers to make sure that that does not happen.
What is your experience complaint-wise relative to activities of the Police Department and interaction with immigrant individuals in the City? Is that a number that's higher than other complaints from other sectors of the City 22 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 or is it there's no complaints or there's no -- what's your experience?
Well, we did take a few complaints over an incident that happened in North Philly with a number of Hispanic youth who alleged that the police used racial or ethnic epithets towards them in an incident that really got out of hand, and we are looking into that. I would say in general we do not have a lot of complaints against the Police Department with regard to this, but I think -- and I know that the police are working closely with Global Philadelphia to do the whole language line and make sure that regardless of their ability to speak English, that they have the ability to communicate with police officers. So I think the police are working on this area and it had been an issue of concern.
Maybe you ought to work with the local cheesesteak purveyor in South Philly too about this. 23 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293
That's another issue that we'll be talking about soon.
Yes. We think that's a violation of the Fair Practices Ordinance, that sign. Thank you.
Let me note for the record that we've been joined by Councilwoman Marian Tasco. At this point, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
I was upstairs and I had the television on and heard the opening of this hearing, and I 24 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 just want to say that my district, too, is quite diverse, and for a number of years, I have had concerns about the ability of the City to provide services to the various ethnic groups in my district and particularly in the City, and to that end, we tried to get someone hired in the Commerce Department to work with the businesses in the business strips, not just my district. But there is a need for diversity in the workforce in the City of Philadelphia to help immigrants navigate the system, know what the laws are, know what help there is available about the health centers, about housing laws that could protect them. Have you in any way worked with the City, the City's Personnel Department, to help strengthen their ability to recruit a more diverse workforce for the City?
I have not been to a meeting recently myself at the 25 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Personnel Department on that topic, but I do know that there's a whole committee at the Personnel Department for a while to look at exactly that point. We had a staff member, Sonya Coyaso, who served on that committee to really address the need for more employees that spoke Spanish, among a number of languages, in City departments to be able to better serve our growing diverse population, but I'm sure there can be additional work done in that area.
I do believe it, because when Councilman Kenney was promoting the idea of opening up the City and making it a welcoming City for immigrants, and I think that's fine and support that, but I do believe that we have to be ready to help new people when they come to Philadelphia and to figure out how they can get help, where to go and then that there are individuals who speak the language that they feel comfortable in talking to them, 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 talking to people who look like them. That's very important. So I hope this committee that has been set up will address those issues, because we are a real diverse City and we can have better relationships within the various groups and understanding if there's someone there helping to navigate that process and make it all happen, as we did in Olney when you all worked with us on some of the issues we had around housing when I first came on City Council. And I will always be grateful to you for the help that the Commission and you personally engaged in in helping us address those issues.
Thank you very much. It just goes to show the amount of time and effort it really takes to work through those issues and to engage all aspects of a community in the process so that everybody feels heard and moves forward for the overall success of the neighborhood. But I will go back after 27 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 this hearing and call the Personnel Director and discuss your important suggestion, because the Commission certainly supports as much language ability in every department that serves the public as possible, and kind of ebbs and flows with effort and outreach.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On that same line of discussion, one of the major recommendations that we made a number of years ago is the establishment of an Office of Immigrant Affairs similar to what New York City has done and especially what Boston has done. I think Boston is probably the model. The Office of New Bostonians is probably the model we should be using here in Philadelphia, because it would establish and accomplish what Councilwoman Tasco has been talking 28 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 about, an advocate at a cabinet-level position that can interface with the Personnel Department, the Police Department, the Health Department, whatever those agencies are that all Philadelphians have connection with or contact with to be able to smooth the issues of communication and culture differences. There's such a myriad of cultural differences that create problems, that if we were just knowledgeable of what the cultural differences are just in the way you talk to people, approach people, your hand gestures, the way you look at people and what you say would make life a lot easier. There's actually a business book called "Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands," which gives you or gives business people the information necessary in dealing with business people in other cultures and other countries, and I think a publication like that that talks about 29 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 the differences in Asian culture and African culture and Eastern European culture, the things you just avoid and don't do because it's offensive sometimes -- you're not even realizing that you're being offensive. I think a lot of times at the Police Department especially, those kinds of cultural differences create a barrier, because they're not aware. The police are not trained and other agencies are not trained. I know people who think if they speak louder, the person who doesn't understand English will get it better. It doesn't work. You need to figure out ways of communicating with people that do make sense. So I think establishing that office is a critical piece in making immigrant life and immigrant attraction here in Philadelphia more effective. So any support you can lend to the creation of an office like that. I know the Welcoming Center on a private way 30 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 attempts to do the same thing, and they do a great job. It's just a matter of having the imprimatur of the City, the Mayor, the City Council, embracing this as an important public policy that we are out to attract legal immigrants to the City and to create a diverse City, like Toronto, like Boston, like New York, that really works and is a fun place to live and a productive place. So I think that office is a very important piece, that cabinet-level position, is a very important piece in making it work.
Well, I certainly will take your recommendation back to the Commissioners for their action, and I'm sure that they would certainly support that initiative.
Are there any other questions for this witness? (No response.)
Thank you 31 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 again for your testimony.
Our next witness is Nan Feyler, Nationalities Service Center.
My name is Nan Feyler. I'm the Executive Director of Nationalities Service Center here in Philadelphia. Thank you very much for this opportunity to speak before you today. It's really an important opportunity, I think, and I feel very privileged to be part of it. As Congress and the nation struggle to fashion a response to the growing number of immigrants in this nation, it is a good time to assess the contributions of immigrants in Philadelphia and identify how 32 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Philadelphia can better embrace their contributions and respond to their needs. It's been a difficult and exciting time, as Councilwoman Blackwell talked about. S. House of Representative bill criminalizing undocumented immigrants and their service providers, like many of us in this room, is terribly disturbing. Yet it is worth noting the burgeoning grassroots immigrant-led movement across the nation and in Philadelphia that demonstrates that people who have lived in the shadows can find their voice and be heard. All immigrants, regardless of their country of origin or legal status, are important contributors to the economic and cultural fabric of Philadelphia. And we embrace principles of reform that reflect this value, creating a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants, creating legal channels for future workers, reducing backlogs and caps that separate family 33 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 members and establishing effective enforcement practices that treat all individuals with respect. Let me just briefly share to put my comments in context. The Nationalities Service Center is an 85-year-old organization that provides a range of social and language and legal services for immigrants, regardless of their status or their country of origin. We saw about 4,000 immigrants last year, with a staff of who speak 20 14 languages. And I note that we saw people 15 from 90 countries from the Philadelphia 16 region. So it reflects the diversity of 17 our community. 18 We teach English as a second 19 language. We provide legal services. We 20 have an initiative to help people 21 naturalize and become citizens. We 22 resettle refugees and help asylees who, 23 as you may know, have been persecuted or 24 tortured in their home country and are 25 resettled in the Philadelphia region. 34 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 I note that we have 80 percent of our refugees employed within four to six months, and I think that speaks well to not just refugees and asylees, but all immigrants in terms of their success entering the workplace. Let me switch gears a bit and briefly talk about the contributions that we see of immigrants and refugees in the Delaware Valley and Philadelphia. S. 4 percent of Philadelphians who are foreign born. S. cities. And as I noted, immigrants come from all over the world to come to Philadelphia. S. Census, foreign-born population based on region of birth was 30 percent from Europe, 39 percent from Asia, seven percent from Africa, 23 percent from Latin America. As you will hear today, and I 35 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 think we all know in this room, the Delaware Valley and this nation have been enriched by the contributions of immigrants and refugees. Indeed throughout history, American history, immigrants have been essential to building this community, and in this somewhat controversial and troubled times, it's worth reminding ourselves about the history of this nation in keeping the history intact and growing. Immigrants contribute to business development, cultural enrichment, community revitalization and add to the overall economic health of the region. In fact, the overwhelming majority of immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, pay taxes, including Social Security, Medicare and property taxes. Studies show that nationally immigrants are less likely to be unemployed, save more of their earnings and are more inclined to start their own 36 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES.
060293 businesses than non-foreign-born residents, and there's no reason to think that Philadelphians are any different. This, I think, reflects what Councilman Kenney was talking about. I think research indicates that there are other industrial cities that we really need to replicate and really model ourselves after, particularly Boston, New York City and I mention Chicago. They've gained population during the 1990s because immigration offset their population laws by departures of citizens who are non-foreign born. In contrast, we believe that Philadelphia has failed to attract sufficient immigration to offset our own population laws. In the 1990s, the Philadelphia population declined four percent. S. S. born, while foreign-born Philadelphians increased by 30 percent. -born residents. 37 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Our goal should be to follow our neighbors in New York and Boston and create a welcoming environment with services that I'll talk about that will encourage and empower immigrants to succeed. Finally, let me talk about a few needs of the immigrant community that we see in our work that may be useful for the Council to consider addressing. The first is that there's really not enough, in our experience, access to high-quality English as a second language classes. One of the most substantial barriers many newcomers in Philadelphia confront is an ability to speak fluent English. Yet we all know learning English is a pathway to employment and self-sufficiency. At NSC, our ESL students tell us that they work hard to learn English, sometimes working two and three jobs, to obtain better employment and communicate with their children and better their lives. Yet the demand for classes in 38 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Philadelphia far exceeds the number of high-quality classes. Almost percent 4 of Philadelphians report speaking a 5 language other than English at home, and 6 of these, 45 percent report speaking 7 English less than very well. 8 Comprehensive ESL classes are 9 needed, community-based classes in 10 immigrant neighborhoods and also 11 workplace ESL that's been more successful 12 in other cities should be embraced as a 13 model in Philadelphia. 14 On a related note, I do want to 15 just pause for a moment and commend the 16 City of Philadelphia and the Managing 17 Director's Office regarding its work thus 18 far with the Global Philadelphia 19 initiative to accommodate people of 20 limited English proficiency in our City services. You'll probably hear more about that this morning, but we strongly encourage the continued growth of this initiative. The second area where I think 39 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 that Philadelphia could encourage more growth and provide more services is the area of increased citizenship classes and related legal services. S. S. S. citizen with all its responsibilities and benefits. Finally, let me close by sharing our support at Nationalities Service Center certainly in creating an Office of Immigrant Affairs in the City government. Like Los Angeles, New York, Houston and Chicago, Philadelphia residents, both immigrant and non-immigrant, would benefit from a City 40 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 office which coordinates the availability of services for our growing numbers of immigrants and facilitates full involvement of every immigrant group in the City, helping them navigate the complex issues of starting businesses, accessing healthcare and accessing other services and succeeding in this City with culturally appropriate and language accessible services. With an active advisory board of members of immigrant communities, it could plan and anticipate where new and enhanced services are needed. It would advise the Mayor and City Council on immigration issues and opportunities facing the City and work to build bridges between immigrant and non-immigrant groups in the Philadelphia area.
Thank you very much for this opportunity to share my experience and recommendations, and I, again, appreciate this opportunity today.
Thank you 41 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 for your testimony, Ms. Feyler. Yours is the first of many names that I may mispronounce today.
Are there questions for this witness? Councilman Kenney.
Could you recount a little bit about your experience of your organization with the immigration hearing process and ICE? I mean, we've had horror stories out of Philadelphia with Judge Ferlise, who has apparently been -- I don't know what his status currently is, but I understand the U.S. Attorney General has removed him from actively participating in hearing cases. He has, I believe, denied all but 70 or so of 700 asylum cases. These people are being sent back in jeopardy of their lives and their families' lives, and it's just unconscionable that we have people sitting on a bench in the federal 42 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 court system of this ilk. I read additional horror stories about a judge in Boston who is just an absolute goof and brute and says just absolutely unreasonable things to people. I think he had a woman from Africa. Her name was Jane. And he said, Me Tarzan, you Jane.
Part of the problem with this whole issue is that the federal government after 9/11 has effectively linked immigration and terrorism.
The Sensenbrenner-King Act, which is an appurtenant piece of legislation, is titled The Immigration Control and Terrorism Prevention Act. One has nothing -- I don't even understand why 43 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 issues of immigration are in the Homeland Security Office and not in the State Department or even in the Commerce Department, because that's where they really belong. It's important to understand that all, every one of the 9/11 terrorists, were documented and here in this country legally. One of them actually had their visa renewed post 9/11 in death by this wonderful bureaucracy that we have. In addition, it's also important to understand that the entire Bin Laden family was allowed to leave this country with their documents, with their assets, without being debriefed by the FBI or interrogated by anyone, put on a plane somewhere in Washington or in New York and allowed to fly home, while we're tracking down a Mexican guy on a bike going from one job to another, and if he's not documented, we want to put him in a federal prison in York, 44 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Pennsylvania, but we let the Bin Laden family go home with all their millions. So the whole issue of the tying of immigration issues and homeland security is just wrong and it's what's created a lot of animosity and fear and anger amongst native Americans, because all immigrants are viewed as a potential terrorist, which is ridiculous. So what has been your experience with the hearing process in Philadelphia?
Well, I may defer to some of my colleagues, because I don't practice immigration law. We have a legal department. What I do know is that it's very hit or miss and there's a tremendous amount of prejudice and hostility and stereotyping throughout the whole system. I will add that it's very, very difficult to navigate, and, in fact, there's only about 11 immigration attorneys that focus on helping 45 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 low-income immigrants in the Philadelphia region. So we're overwhelmed with people who need help navigating that system.
One of the things I think that the City could do effectively is to create or expand the City Solicitor's Office to include a unit that deals with immigration affairs and could be advocates for people in that system, trained lawyers who can gain experience and actually be an important element of the Solicitor's Office and services that are being provided by the City by having lawyers available to people that are Philadelphia residents and that are in need of this kind of help. Because I really do believe that in order for us to create an image of a welcoming place for immigration, we need to be able to stand up and try to protect our people who are being drug out of their houses, being taken off the street, being called to a scheduled hearing at INS, while the father and the children 46 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 are sitting in the waiting room, the mother is pulled out the back door, put into a van and taken to an airport in New York, drug through the airport, where the people who are waiting for a flight have to intercede with our own federal agents to get them from abusing her and putting her on a plane back to China, where there's a one-child policy and she's pregnant with twins. Really a brilliant family values government we have --
-- that would do that to an individual. So I think one of the things we ought to look at as a City government is providing a unit of the City Solicitor's Office to deal with immigration and go over there and represent some of our people and keep track of what's going on.
That's a great idea. I know that I have practiced law working with people with HIV disease, 47 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 working with inmates, working with many disenfranchised people, and I will say that the fear of deportation, the separation of families, people who have invested in this country and put down roots, is really unpalatable, and we really need to provide more resources to help defend those folks and also help families with family reunification where the waiting time is years and there's tremendous anxiety.
The Bush Administration will talk on wonderfully about family values, but will split up families at a drop of a hat over these ridiculous -- could you talk a little bit, and any other witnesses, talk a little -- because what I keep on hearing in the community, especially from second- and third-generation hyphenated Americans, Italian-Americans, Irish-Americans and others, is that, When my grandparents came here, they came here legally. 48 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Well, how difficult is it to come here legally? I think before you showed up with a suitcase on a dock, you pretty much were here legally. Now it's almost impossible to get here legally. And the standard that people hold -- again, second- and third-generation hyphenated Americans -- hold against immigrants is they're not here legally. I've had an ongoing battle with Stu Bykofsky over the rule of law. Well, the rule of law when your people came here was different than the rule of law here. Could you maybe expound, and other witnesses expound, a little bit on just how difficult it is to get here legally?
You're exactly right. In fact, there are very few ways where someone can legally be permitted, and there needs to be -- and other people can speak about it as well, but there needs to be a family member, there needs 49 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 to be some sort of sponsorship. One of the problems with the Mexican and the border issues is that there aren't enough visas and there aren't visas for low-skilled workers, so there isn't an alternative, and that's one of the comprehensive reform issues. It's not just legalizing folks who are here, but making sure that there is an effective legal route.
Yes. So people who are forced to come here because of the lack of any opportunities in their home country are really given no option.
Because I hear anecdotally horror stories of people who are waiting seven, eight, ten years --
-- to get here, and then they come and their husband and wife have to wait seven, eight, ten years. That's a system that's 50 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 not palatable.
It can be ten to years, depending on what country, and 5 there's issues and also depending whether 6 the person is a citizen or a legal 7 permanent resident. 8
I don't 9 want to hold you. I get passionate about 10 this issue because it's very important to 11 me. When the Irish came here to the 12 United States, there were signs put on businesses that said, "No Irish Need Apply." Churches in Philadelphia were attacked, where people stuck cannons in front of the church and tried to burn them down because of their ethnicity. And hyphenated Americans who have been here two and three generations need to go back and understand their own history so that they can find some humanity in the faces of the people that are sitting here.
I think with an Office of Immigrant Affairs, we can begin 51 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 to do more work with those communities and also with other communities that may not have been here -- maybe have been here longer, but are making many stereotypical generalizations about how people should come and why people come.
Thank you for your comments. Thank you very much. I look forward to hearing from my esteemed colleagues.
Our next witness is Regan Cooper, Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition. Good morning. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning. My name is Regan Cooper. I am the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition, which is a coalition of 50 member organizations, many of them here in the City of 52 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Philadelphia. Good morning and thank you all for the opportunity to be here and to speak to these issues. We are very concerned about the federal policies that are currently being discussed and the impact that they could have on our immigrant communities here in the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 6 million children. The House bill would criminalize, as Nan said, anyone who works or interacts with undocumented 53 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 immigrants. This includes social service agencies, employers, attorneys, family members and friends. They would be criminalized as alien smugglers. It would turn State and local police into enforcers of federal immigration law, reducing public safety, as immigrants would be less likely to report crimes that they have been victims of or witnesses to. It would cost more than $200 billion over five years to deport millions of people, and it would split up families who are mixed status where some members are legal and other members are not, including 3 million citizen children with undocumented parents. The bill would be especially detrimental to the business community here in Philadelphia in several ways. As already mentioned, making the undocumented into aggravated felons and criminalizing those that work with them as alien smugglers. That alien smuggler 54 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 provision could carry up to five years in prison. It also would impose new fines on employers, even for some routine paperwork violations. It would require all employers to verify their employees' work eligibility through an electronic system, which up to now has simply been a pilot program, which has proven to be unreliable. So to expand it to require all employers to use this verification system without substantial improvement is another major concern. Yet in the midst of all of this, that House bill fails to provide the legal channels that we need for sufficient workers to enter legally or for willing employers to sponsor undocumented immigrants for legal status. In late May, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill 23 which was crafted by a partisan coalition, and that bill includes a path to citizenship, a three-tiered path, 55 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 which would allow about eight and a half million undocumented people to legalize. About million folks who have been here less than two years would be required to go home, and then about million people who have been here between two and five years would have a number of special processing concerns, such as being required to do a touch-back outside of the country in order to have their legalization process move forward. And unlike the House bill, the Senate bill expands employment visas to allow unskilled and skilled workers to enter legally with worker protections and dramatically improves those legal channels. Of course, the Senate bill also includes some pretty serious enforcement provisions that could have an impact on us here in Philadelphia. Many of these are incorporated from the House bill, and while their language may not be as strong, they are still of serious 56 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 concern. Even under the Senate bill, basic due process and civil liberties would be denied to many undocumented immigrants, especially folks in that two- to five-year category who sign up for legalization. They would actually have to sign away many of those rights in order to participate in the program. It increases the likelihood of preventative detention. You haven't done anything criminal, but we're going to keep you locked up.
And the Senate bill declares English as our national language, but it does so in terms that may undermine the rights of people with limited English skills. Currently, they have rights to services under the Civil Rights Act, and the City through Global Philadelphia has done a tremendous amount of work to try and address those language needs. We've worked very closely with the City on this. So this is some of what we're 57 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 up against, and I applaud the leadership of City Council in passing resolutions that relate to these proposed federal laws and in holding hearings today. It is critical that local governments raise their voices about the local impact of federal immigration policies that are currently under consideration. The House and Senate will soon enter into a conference committee in an attempt to reconcile those two bills, and I encourage City Council to remain in contact with our PA delegation. I want to highlight several areas of special concern for the City of Philadelphia. As has already been discussed, law enforcement is a major concern here. Both bills include provisions that authorize or require local law enforcement to implement federal immigration law and enforce that. Depending on the final language of an immigration bill, such a federal law 58 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 could directly contradict the existing City policies about inquiry into immigration status and confidentiality of that information. Rachel Lawton has already spoken more in-depth about the substance of those policies, but they could come into direct conflict with the federal bill. Both bills also require that out-of-status immigrants be placed into the National Crime Information Center database, which means that when law enforcement runs someone through that system, it would trigger a hit for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have committed civil violations but not criminal violations. Either provision will undermine the relationship that the Philadelphia Police Department has worked so hard to build with immigrant communities through community outreach and through policy work on the confidentiality of status and the language access directive, which was 59 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 released this December after several years of collaborative work. When immigrants fear that police contact could lead to deportation, they are reluctant to come forward and report crime, either as victims or witnesses. This reduces community safety for all of us as criminals remain on the street. As there has been a proliferation of raids by various immigration enforcement agencies, it's very difficult for communities to make this distinction between federal law enforcement and local law enforcement, and that also contributes to this climate of fear and reluctance to come forward. So we urge City Council to strongly oppose measures that would require local law enforcement to enforce federal civil immigration law. Another issue to consider is education. Every year 50,000 to 65,000 undocumented immigrant students who were 60 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 raised here in the United States find that the door to continuing their education is shut because of their immigration status. Around 800 or 850 of them here in Pennsylvania graduate high school every single year. Many of these students excelled in high school, but they find college out of reach due to two factors. The first is lack of a Social Security number. When you fill out an application for a school or when you try to register for school, you generally need a Social Security number. You also need a Social Security number to process paperwork for the vast majority of scholarships and loans, even private loans, which have nothing to do with immigration status. Additionally, undocumented students are generally charged higher tuition rates at State schools.
While they have long resided in our State and our local communities, they are charged out of state or foreign student tuition 61 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 rates because of immigration status. This is the result of a 1996 federal law which created some confusion and ambiguity about states' abilities to consider these students as residents for the purpose of in-state tuition. The Senate bill does address this by including the Dream Act, which would restore two states the power to make that decision and it would also create a path to legal status for the select group of young people. Those who qualify could earn legal status upon completion of two years of college or two years of military service, but in the meantime, ten states have gone ahead and taken action by passing in-state tuition bills to clarify the terms and carve out their right to allow these students to pay in-state tuition rates. We urge City Council to support the federal Dream Act and in-state tuition bill efforts. In addition to higher 62 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 education, there are many hard-working immigrants who would like to receive a GED. Recent cuts in funding have dramatically reduced the ability of many service providers to offer these classes in languages other than English. This impacts both immigrant and Puerto Rican communities. We ask the City to explore ways to assist these programs, as data shows that people with GEDs or high school diplomas earn more and contribute more to our local communities than those without. Other speakers today are going to detail the numerous benefits that speaking English and obtaining citizenship can yield, both in terms of business development, earning power and all sorts of other intangibles. These are benefits for both the individual and for the community in which they reside and pay taxes. The earning potential is dramatically increased. We urge the City to provide 63 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 funding for citizenship and English classes as an investment in our immigrant communities and an investment in the City of Philadelphia. This is also important in terms of some of the language access efforts that have been discussed today, that while it's both important to provide services in other languages for those with limited English proficiency, but we also need to give people the opportunity to gain those language skills so that they can do more and go further. Finally, we ask the City to create an official body to address immigrant needs. While we applaud the creation of the Mayor's Commission on African and Caribbean Affairs, our immigrant communities also include Latinos, Asians, Europeans and many others. We urge the City to create some official body to work with us and with immigrant communities to address their 64 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 needs, be it a commission, an office or an ombudsman position. Some initial areas for work for this body could include work with the Office of Consumer Protections to go after notarios. Notarios are predators that will promise you a green card in return for thousands and thousands of dollars. And with the passage of the Senate bill, they have expanded their activities. Perhaps this is an item that the City Solicitor's Office could work on. Such a body could also work on efforts to increase language capability at tax clinics to assist those with limited English skills in paying their taxes. And there are numerous other issues that can be identified by community advocates. So I urge City Council to consider the creation of such a body. I thank you for your time today and your leadership on these issues.
Thank you 65 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 for your testimony. Our next witness is Stanley Straughter, Chairman of the Mayor's Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Stanley Straughter. I'm the Chairman of the Mayor's Commission for African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs for the City of Philadelphia and also the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Guinea for Philadelphia. Good morning, and I want to thank you for allowing us to have this hearing, Mr. Chairman, and I want to congratulate the Committee and City Council for taking up this important issue today. I also want to thank the Mayor and the Honorable Councilwoman Jannie L. Blackwell for helping us to form this Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs and the efforts that you are making with this hearing today, for introducing this 66 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 hearing. You have already heard from many service providers that are working in this City doing fantastic work. You will also hear from executives in the private sectors that are immigrants and immigrant entrepreneurs during the course of these proceedings on the witness list. So I'll just try to be brief and narrow my remarks to the work of the Commission, and you will hear from other distinguished leaders in our City who are here today. The Mayor's Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs was created by Executive Order in July 2005. The function of the Commission is to encourage the development and implementation of policies, programs, practices and specifically intended to improve conditions affecting the cultural, social, economic, political, educational, health and general well-being of African and Caribbean 67 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 immigrants, refugees and asylees residing in the City of Philadelphia. The Commission itself has 5 members. We also have a total of about 6 20 members in advisory committee and we 7 have been meeting with representatives of 8 the various African and Caribbean 9 communities around the City of 10 Philadelphia to discuss with them issues 11 that are pertinent to their respective 12 communities and, more importantly, 13 pertinent to the entire immigrant 14 community in the City of Philadelphia at 15 large. The Committee gets its work done through a number of committees, and those committees include Business and Trade, Legal Services and Immigration Committee, Education, Training and Human Resources, Health and Human Services, Arts and Culture. While the Commission actually has no budget and in a very short -- although it has no budget, in a very short time we've been able to make a 68 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 number of significant contributions in the area of policy reform, programs and practices to improve the conditions of African and Caribbean immigrants, refugees and asylees residing in Philadelphia. A few examples, in our Business and Trade Committee chaired by Mr. Mjenzi Traylor, we recently held a business conference on African and Caribbean immigrants in the City of Philadelphia. Unfortunately, particularly in the African community, they have been constantly in a difficult battle with License and Inspections Department around issues around stores and getting licenses and practices. And it's complicated because many of these entrepreneurs, while they come to achieve their dream and aspirations, many of them have language proficiency difficulties and they have trouble getting through this. If you go out particularly in Southwest Philly, you'll find a number of this, but 69 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 it happens in a number of key places around the City, as some of you heard of today. But this conference brought together African and Caribbean entrepreneurs from all over the City, and I'm happy to report that as a result of that, we have now moved to organize an African and Caribbean Chamber of Commerce, which you will soon be hearing about.
Another element of this is on this Saturday, June 10th, we'll be hosting an African business roundtable at one of the aspects of the African Festival called the ODUNDE where we'll have four African ambassadors in Philadelphia at the DoubleTree Hotel to talk about trade and investment opportunities for their respective countries. And this is a way for African and Caribbean immigrants to link with their countries and in fact have an opportunity to bring trade and business 70 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 to our City from their respective countries. So hopefully that will continue to be successful. Our Legal Immigration Committee is chaired by distinguished Dr. Alston Meade and is co-chaired by Mr. Lasana Carumo. They have been acting in a Coalition with a Day Without Immigrants. Some of those organized you will hear from today, but we've been collaborating with them around immigration reform and participated in rallies that took place in April and May here in Love Park to help not only heighten the awareness of the issues experienced by immigrants in our City, but, more importantly, to show unity and solidarity amongst Africans, Latinos, Asians and others that are interested in immigration issues so, as Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell pointed out, that we will not have a stake or wedge driven between immigrants and members of our City community around issues that are really none issues. The 71 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 issue is the quality of life for all people of the City of Philadelphia, whether one is an immigrant or a born citizen. So we will continue to work in that coalition, and as I said, you will hear more from some of those members today. The Education Committee has been doing a fantastic job, but it's been challenged as a result of the brutal beating and sometime -- brutal beating, I should say, of African students in our school system. It has been addressed. We've been able to meet with -- members of the committee, I should say, have been able to meet with the School District, the Police Commissioner, and everybody has been very responsive as a result of those meetings. The committee, as someone you may hear from, have made several recommendations. I think one of the most important ones I will share with you is that we need to find some way to 72 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 have African, Caribbean and other immigrants, Latino, Asian immigrants, work in the classroom as volunteers in the classroom so our students will get an understanding of -- be able to listen to adults in this community and work with them. Also, the other recommendation revolved out of this is the whole question of helping teachers to understand. Many teachers lack a clear understanding of immigrant issues, particularly children who may not speak English clearly. They may not have the system at home in place where they can go and get assistance with their English language training. So there's a number of things you heard here and will be hearing more of that the School District I hope will take into consideration, and we're working towards resolving with them. The Health Committee has been very active, which is chaired by our own 73 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Dr. Lawrence Robinson here, but also one of our key members is Mr. Teguida Kaba, who is head of the African Haitian Caribbean Health Fair. Every year this Health Fair takes place, and it will take place in August this year in Southwest Philadelphia. And in Southwest Philadelphia, the issue of HIV/AIDS prevalence amongst Africans and people in that area is a significant factor that has to be dealt with. And while the City in its wisdom has opened up the healthcare facilities to people of immigrant status, there's just not enough, and we want to advocate for more attention in healthcare, access to healthcare for immigrants throughout the City of Philadelphia, including African and Caribbean immigrants.
We have a significant committee that has been working with arts and culture in the City and probably it's the most pronounced in that we're working with the ODUNDE Festival, as I mentioned 74 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 earlier, and beginning Friday night, we'll have several African ambassadors for the first time that the ODUNDE has hosted an African ambassador reception at the DoubleTree, and they will be honoring Ms. Lois Fernandez, and our Commission is one of the co-sponsors of that event. The combination will be on Sunday where there's something like 250,000 to 300,000 people coming to Philadelphia for the ODUNDE Festival. I just returned last Thursday. We organized and led a delegation to Salvador-Bahia in Brazil and we took a delegation to talk about the teaching of African history in Africa, the United States and Brazil. And we had the Mayor's Secretary of Education with us, Ms. Jacqueline Barnett, and we have initiated a project where we will connect high schools in Philadelphia with high schools and elementary schools in Salvador-Bahia in a project that we're now working on. So I'm sure you'll hear 75 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 more about that very soon. This is just some of the highlights that the Commission has. We have been able to, with no budget, to do a number of things, and I want to thank the dedicated members of our Commission that have funded the Commission out of its pocket, helped with the newsletter and continue to do a lot of things and travel around the City to work with various groups of people. We're not a service provider and we're not interested in duplicating the work of other organizations in the City, and some of them you have heard from and you will be hearing from. However, we try to work with these service providers to expand their services to underserved African and Caribbean immigrant communities around the City. For example, as a result of the hearings we've held in some areas of the City, we found out that there's a significant group of African senior 76 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 citizens in the City, and we've asked and she responded, Ms. Nan Feyler, who you heard from earlier at the Nationalities Service Center, to work with us to see if we can set up an African seniors center in Southwest Philadelphia. Right now we're just in the preliminary stages, but hopefully, Mr. Chairman, we can call on members of the City Council to assist us and guide us through that process as we move forward with it then. Finally, the Commission is gathering valuable information on the diverse and rich African and Caribbean immigrants in the City of Philadelphia, and I'm hopeful that this information we can share with the Committee will be instructive and help form policies and help us to improve the quality of life for the immigrants that come here and those that may have been underserved. I am hopeful that as we go on, this City and Council would be attuned to many of the issues that we've talked about. 77 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 There's been a number of recommendations. And, of course, if myself or members of the Commission can be helpful in any way, we will be glad to do so. Mr. Councilman, thank you very much.
Thank you for your testimony. I don't think there's any questions from the Committee. Our next witness is Judi Cassel from the Managing Director's Office, Dawn Ang from the Welcoming Center. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Sure. My name is Judi Cassel. Good morning. I'm Judi Cassel and I work in the City of Philadelphia's Office of the Managing Director. Thank you for inviting me here today to testify about some of the work that the City of Philadelphia, specifically the Managing Director's Office, is undertaking to ensure that City services and programs are accessible 78 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 to individuals who are limited English proficient, or LEP. I will focus in particular on those activities related to supporting immigrants and LEP individuals' contributions to the economic vitality of the region. According to the data from Census 2000, approximately eight percent of Philadelphians don't speak English or do not speak it well. More than 12 percent speak a language other than 13 English at home. Nine percent of 14 Philadelphians are foreign born and 15 another six percent are Puerto Rican. It 16 is clear that we are a global city and 17 that in order to communicate effectively with those who live, work and visit here, the City needs to take English proficiency into account. In addition, the City is mandated to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to LEP individuals by the Civil Rights Act, by federal executive order and by local 79 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 executive order, which was signed by Mayor John Street on September 29, 2001. In order to comply with mandates and to take advantage of the many opportunities related to welcoming newcomers and LEP individuals, the Managing Director's Office launched Global Philadelphia in the fall of 2003. The mission of Global Philadelphia is to unify the City's efforts to strengthen the relationship between diverse linguistic communities and the City by improving Philadelphia's language accessibility. In short, this means our goal is that limited English proficiency will not be a barrier to accessing City services. Global Philadelphia has focused on building the City's language access infrastructure; that is, ensuring that City employees have the resources they need in order to communicate effectively with limited English proficient individuals. We have invested 80 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 approximately $500,000 in new resources each year since 2004 in language access related resources, and this includes interpreters, translators and trainers. In addition, all MDO, Managing Director's Office, departments are required to have language access plans. We are undertaking extensive work in a number of departments, but I will focus the remainder of my testimony on those efforts that are directly related to regional economic development. Licenses and Inspections, the department responsible for business licensing, permitting and regulation, reports that at least one-third of applications for licenses and permits are being made by LEP individuals. Based on this fact and the anecdotal information that can be gleaned from walking down streets like Washington and Baltimore Avenues, it is clear that immigrants and LEP individuals represent a significant and growing economic force in the City. 81 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Based on this information, in June of 2004, the MDO and Licenses and Inspections jointly conducted a focus group to explore issues related to entrepreneurship and small business development in immigrant and newcomer communities. Stakeholders agreed that the City's business regulatory processes are burdensome and can be a barrier to business development. They also agreed that a key to supporting grassroots entrepreneurship is building a trusting and proactive relationship between community-based organizations and City departments such as L&I and Commerce. In order to address the areas identified by stakeholders, the MDO applied for and received a grant from the William Penn Foundation to hire a bilingual business development liaison to assist newcomer entrepreneurs to navigate the City's business regulatory processes.
The liaison's role is to bridge the gap between City departments and immigrant 82 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 business people by providing clear and accurate information about how to be properly licensed to operate in the City. As another part of the William Penn Foundation Grant, the MDO formed a grassroots business development task force, comprised of civic and business leaders from newcomer communities and charged with making recommendations about how the City can more actively support small businesses, particularly those run by immigrants. The report and recommendations from the task force are expected by the end of June 2006. And I also note the following task force members are present and testifying today: Cindy Suy, Voffee Jabateh, Ricardo Diaz, Danilo Burgos and Maron Kreidie. In addition to the tasks related to the William Penn Foundation Grant, L&I has taken a number of steps to improve its ability to be accessed by LEP individuals. The steps include 83 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 translating documents into the most commonly spoken languages, prominently posting multi-lingual signage at the Concourse, publicizing the availability of free interpretation services, training staff, facilitating meetings between front-line staff and representatives from immigrant and LEP communities, and equipping the Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing room with an integrated sound system that allows for the use of telephonic interpretation services for LEP individuals who testify at hearings. These are just some highlights of the Global Philadelphia work related to economic development. We continue to work with advocacy groups and newcomer communities to get feedback to improve our accessibility. I am available to answer any questions you might have. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Cassel. Questions for this witness? 84 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293
Good morning. Thank you. Is the bilingual staff person that you hired for the entire City or is that person assigned to a specific area of the City?
Well, the grant to the William Penn Foundation identified about four areas of the City in which there's a lot of immigrant entrepreneur activity, and those are South, Southwest, West Philadelphia and the Chinatown area. However, she has worked throughout the City and is available to work with any businesses, particularly those run by immigrants and newcomers.
Those areas were identified in a report that was put out by the Fels School of Government approximately, I would say, two or three years ago. They did some research and identified those areas in particular. 85 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293
They identified them as areas where you have entrepreneurial activity or they had more than other areas of the City?
You know, I can't recall the wording of the report exactly, but I recall that they were areas of the City with large immigrant populations and with a lot of businesses that were run by newcomers and immigrants.
Well, I would like to say that I represent the 9th Councilmanic District. There's the 7th Councilmanic District, and certainly they are very diverse communities and we have very active, what do you call it, L --
-- business people, as well as residents, and that area is not included. It would seem to me that we ought to be more global City-wide in trying to reach out 86 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 to be helpful to this population. And certainly I have 5th Street. 5th Street goes from North Philadelphia to Cheltenham Avenue. And there's a large diverse population of business owners there in that strip, and it certainly could use some support and help. They may not know about this staff person.
We did have someone at one time, but he is no 13 longer there, but I would request that this effort be expanded.
In the meantime, I can get her contact information to your staff people so that we can reach out through them as well.
The other thing is, what are you all doing in terms of working with the Personnel Department to broaden the diversity of staff in the City of Philadelphia, in the L&I Department that certainly has a day-to-day contact with these 87 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 entrepreneurs?
I think that's a really great point. One of the things we recognize is that we need to be less reliant on outside resources, like outside contracted interpreters, and we really need to develop a workforce that speaks the languages of the people who live and work and visit Philadelphia. So about two years ago, in working with representatives from the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition, we formed a task force to look at this issue, and the civil service requirements and processes are rather complex, so I won't go into them here, but one of the things we do right now is send out an e-mail communication about every two weeks and we send it to groups that work with immigrants and newcomers, and it's a list of upcoming civil service tests that are about to be given. Because what we really need to do with the civil service system is get people 88 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 who are bi and multi-lingual to come in to apply, to take the test, to get on the list and then, of course, to take the job once it's offered to them. So what we're doing now is just trying to improve our outreach and get more bi and multi-lingual people to take the tests and get on the lists.
And I think that's great, but that whole process is much more complex, too, because you have to have people on the staff of the Civil Service Commission who can communicate with the individuals who are coming in to help them understand what they're doing.
Right. And one of the requirements would be that they have to be English speakers. We're looking for bi and multi-lingual individuals.
What are you doing in the schools to provide exposure to high school students of the possibility of working for the City in 89 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 the various departments? Is there any ongoing dialogue with high school students to encourage them to look at the City as a possible source of employment?
I would defer that question to Jackie Barnett, who is the Secretary of Education. She's been doing some work in this area and would be in a better position to speak to everything that she's doing in partnership with the School District to build that relationship.
You talked about the task force. What areas are covered in the task force process?
Well, it was a one-year task force. It's just a one-year task force, because the funding that we got from the William Penn Foundation was just for one year. So in some ways, it's limited in scope. We wanted to set out -- we set out a series of tasks that we thought we could accomplish. And so that task force 90 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 met with the Managing Director, met with the representatives from the Managing Director's Office and, very importantly, met with representatives from the Department of Licenses and Inspections several times over the course of the past year, and they really drove the process in terms of asking questions and gathering data so that they then would be able to put forward a set of recommendations to the City for how we could change our processes to be more friendly and actively supportive of small businesses.
I don't have the list with me, but I will send it to you. There were people on the task force. 21
Yes, they were 24 from around the City, and they represent 25 a diverse set of countries and diverse 91 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 languages, and they're civic and business leaders from their communities.
Well, I certainly would request that you try to broaden the exposure to other parts of the City, particularly the Olney, Rising Sun, up the Boulevard area where there is a large diverse community that needs the support.
Good morning. My name is Dawn Ang. I'm with the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians. Good morning, honorable members of the 92 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Council. I am here on behalf of Anna Callahan. She is unable to attend due to a family emergency in Ireland. I'm here to emphasize the positive economic impact immigrants can make in Philadelphia and in our region. For example, immigrants play a significant role in growing a new diverse workforce in Philadelphia, offering a remedy to the trend of young and skilled workers leaving the area. Immigrants can and do contribute to the revitalization of Pennsylvania's demographic mix by contributing to population growth. Pennsylvania has the second oldest workforce in the nation, second only to Florida, and so it is imperative that we grow our workforce if the region is to thrive. In a study done by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University last year, we learned that Pennsylvania had no growth in the 93 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 native-born workforce between January 1, 2000 and April 30, 2004. The only growth was in a foreign-born workforce, and this growth of 55,000 was less than half the growth in New Jersey. Cities and states that recognized the economic impact of immigrants have maintained their population and their tax base and are reaping the rewards of this farsighted policy through strong economic growth. New York City and Boston offer the Philadelphia region an approach which might address concerns facing Southeastern Pennsylvania in general and the immigrant population in particular. Our region needs to become a magnet for immigrants, and for this to happen, it is imperative that we offer the services being offered in other cities and states whose populations and workforces have grown steadily through attracting the foreign born. Our study of the existing landscape of immigrant 94 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 and refugee service providers in the region, coupled with consultations with key stakeholders, confirmed that some major problems face new Pennsylvanians. These include a lack of information about the many excellent services for immigrants that do exist, what they are and how to access them. Misinformation and unfounded fears and stereotypes on the part of many native-born residents regarding immigrants is also a significant barrier, making it exceedingly difficult and frustrating for foreign-born newcomers to establish new lives for themselves in the Philadelphia area. Despite the fact that Philadelphia's foreign born make up only nine percent of its population versus 36 percent in New York and percent in 22 Boston, we see some of the benefits of 23 attracting immigrants as they settle into 24 our city. These are exemplified by the 25 revitalization of several corridors 95 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 within Philadelphia; namely, Moore and Morris Streets from Broad Street to 16th Street. This neighborhood is the heart of Philadelphia's Indonesian community, many of whom fled violence and rioting in the wake of Indonesia's financial and political crisis in the late 1990s. Other Southeast Asian immigrants, including the Vietnamese and Thai, make their home here. All of the businesses that have opened in this section of Point Breeze, 70 percent are immigrant owned. In addition to starting businesses, the area ethnic community has made a highly visible investment in the neighborhood's housing stock, with many buildings recently renovated with attractive landscaping and facade. Baltimore Avenue from 45th Street to 50th Street, this area, home to many African immigrants, is a hot real estate market, with housing values surging in many of the surrounding streets. This is a major shift from 96 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 patterns of blight that threatened the neighborhood in the 1990s.
Businesses on Baltimore Avenue range widely, although restaurants, delis and groceries, cafes and bars dominate the corridor, along with hair and nail salons. A few specialty stores, including a bakery and a water ice store, add to the retail mix. According to University City District's Baltimore Avenue Commercial Corridor program, 70 percent of the businesses are immigrant owned. North 5th Street between West Summerville Avenue and West Chew Avenue, this area is home to a diverse population, including immigrants from the Caribbean, Central and South America and Asia. This section was once occupied by chain stores. Today the only investment in the area, with the exception of one chain drugstore, is from micro-enterprises. Present were a range of dry good stores, dollar stores, clothing merchants and hardware stores, 97 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 in addition to restaurants, hair and nail salons, a travel agent and a seafood store. About 60 percent of the businesses appeared to be immigrant owned. Although there are many immigrant service providers in the region and the City Managing Director's Office has a Global Philadelphia initiative which provides translation services for the limited English proficiency population, immigrants still face many pressing needs. Among these needs are access to affordable legal services and access to healthcare. Immigrant groups need to develop the ability to advocate on their own behalf through leadership training and network building. Immigrants open small businesses at a higher rate than native-born Americans, overcoming significant barriers to do so. There is a need to improve access to and quality of information about starting and 98 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 operating a business in Philadelphia. This could be solved, in part, by targeting public and private small business training to meet the needs of underserved communities and to overcome critical obstacles such as business plan development. There is a need to improve availability, quality and distribution of information about Philadelphia's foreign-born populations so that well-informed decisions are made about access to services which will make Philadelphia an immigrant-friendly city and thereby benefiting from the ensuing economic growth already being enjoyed by other cities, such as Boston, New York and Chicago.
We have made it through about seven or eight witnesses so far. We still have a list of over 30, 99 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 but we do have a limited amount of time. So for remaining witnesses, I ask that you keep your remarks to two minutes. We do have copies of your testimony that can be given to the stenographer and your testimony as written can be put into the record fully. Our next witness is Judith Bernstein Baker.
Thank you very much. I'll try to be brief. And thank you for hearing me during this busy schedule, and I would like to thank Congress -- I mean Councilwoman. Maybe some day Congresswoman -- Councilwoman Blackwell for organizing this hearing, and I'll go right into my remarks, which are going to focus on two areas. I do want to say that my organization, HIAS and Council, which is a very long name, HIAS and Council Migration Service of Philadelphia, stands for the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. We've been operating for -- next year 100 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 will be our 125th year. We've brought over 100,000 people to this region, including the descendents of the Tuttleman family, and now we work with representatives from 60 different countries, no longer focusing on the Jewish community, and we have many, many success stories, which I will leave for another day since time is limited. But I am going to talk about one success story, which actually I believe is in your district, Councilwoman Tasco, but before I do that, I did want to talk a little bit about our services. We have a very diverse staff of six attorneys and five immigration specialists and social workers, and we provide legal and social services to over 2,000 people annually. We resettle new refugees, assist immigrants' petition for family members and represent asylum seekers and those who seek a path to permanency, and we know very well the hardship and suffering of families who 101 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 are separated for years and years and the ones who have faced persecution in their home country. So since others have talked about the many contributions of immigrants -- and, incidentally, I would be glad to supply many studies. One of the most interesting things is how immigrants sure up our Social Security system, which is so important to our region, which has so many elderly people. And there's been studies done that if we stop legal immigration, our Social Security system will more quickly become insolvent. But others can speak of that. I want to speak about two things: The relationship of immigration status to economic success and the promotion of citizenship. There's a strong relationship between economic status and the economic well-being of individual immigrants. And here's the story from your district, Councilwoman Tasco. OA's case is a good 102 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 example. OA has been in Philadelphia since 1989. He fled the civil disturbances in his home country of Guatemala. I have to say he's moved out of your district since some of this occurred, but he's still in Philadelphia. He entered when he was 15, but he never sought legal advice. He didn't know how to do it until the year 2000. He lived in the shadows of society, working at low-wage jobs in restaurants and gardening. He was able after legal representation, it took four years, to get his green card. Once OA was authorized to work, he had a Social Security card. He filed six years back taxes to all kinds of government agencies, paying thousands of dollars. His income has tripled. He was able to get healthcare. He is now a supervisor recruiting other workers and he even left briefly to help to do hurricane disaster relief, because he's a landscaper and a tree cutter. In short, 103 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 he's the kind of neighbor we want in our City, and with assistance in navigating the system, he was able to triple his income. Second, the case of IR. IR is from Northwest Philadelphia also, works in North Philly. She is from Liberia. She has been in Philadelphia since 1990, more than half her life. Her family home was burned to the ground by rebels during war in Liberia. IR works in North Philadelphia helping victims who are living with HIV and AIDS. She is a dedicated social worker, but she is on temporary protected status, and if that's not renewed in September, she'll become one of the 12 million undocumented, even though she spent most of her life here.
She has the potential to be a strong community leader, maybe head of a non-profit some day, but she can't plan for her future because of her uncertain status. Since 1996 and following 104 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 September 11th, it has become very difficult even for legal immigrants to get Social Security cards, a Pennsylvania identification card or a driver's license, something you need even to get into a building downtown here, much less to open a business. It is impossible to obtain a home mortgage, business license or credit without proper immigration and identification documents. Employers are unable to hire qualified workers unless these workers have valid documentation.
Okay. At one point, there's eight to 12 people providing this service in the City. We happen to have six of the lawyers right now in the City, and we're looking for partnerships. The second thing I want to say is, I have my testimony about the importance of citizenship, which others have testified to. I do want to say that 105 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 if an office, a coordinating office, which I think is a great idea, of immigrant affairs is started in Philadelphia, we would like to join with you in starting a campaign to promote citizenship. Philadelphia has a great reputation for a City that promotes volunteerism and civic involvement, and this could really put us on the map, and we'd like you to work with the front-line providers, those of us who serve the thousands of immigrants every day, and we really want to work closely with City officials on this. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Baker. That was four or five minutes, not two or three minutes. Our next witness --
-- is Dr. Kenoye Eke. 106 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293
Good afternoon. My name is Kenoye Eke. I'm the Provost and Vice-President for Academic and Student Affairs of Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. Honorable members of the City Council of the City of Philadelphia, it is indeed an honor for me to testify before you this morning about one of the most important subjects of public policy discourse in the U.S. today, immigration reform. Councilwoman Blackwell and members of the Council, thank you for giving me the opportunity to add my voice to the national conversation on this subject. You invited me to testify before you on the special subject of the contributions of the region's immigrant population and the regional economy I trust because of my position as Provost and VP for Academic and Student Affairs at Cheyney. As a result, I will focus my comments this afternoon to the 107 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 contributions of immigrants to the region's and the nation's higher education. I am certain that the Council is well aware of the major role that the more than 83 institutions of higher education in greater Philadelphia play in the region's economy. A report released in fall 2000 by the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania Economic League, titled Greater Philadelphia's Large Industry - A Leverage in the Region's Colleges and Universities in New Economy, identified the three dominant industries in the region as, one, hospitality and tourism; two, professional and business services; and, three, life sciences, with the greatest concentration of jobs found in the life services or biomedical industry. All three industry clusters rely on the area's knowledge industry; that is, a higher education, for workers' sustenance and growth. In a just-released book titled "Lock Out," 108 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Michele Wucker, a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute and Director of the Program of Citizenship and Security, argues that our economy depends more than ever on immigrants, not only for the typical low-skilled jobs, but much more so for mentoring our technological edge and promoting American products and services abroad. She arrives at this conclusion from the national data which shows that immigrants make up only 13 percent of low-wage workers, but 14 represent 50 percent of research and 15 development workers and 25 percent of 16 doctors and nurses. 17 Since the greater Philadelphia 18 region is not much different from the 19 major economic centers in the nation, one 20 can assume that an analysis of the makeup of the region's workforce will reveal a similar set of data. To address what I know best, higher education, I will say that immigrants are indispensable in the 109 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 production of knowledge and the knowledge workers that sustain and grow the region's three dominant industries. Nationally there is a significant decline in the number of STEM, which is science, technology, engineer and mathematics, faculty and workers in general. This decline has reached a level that has caught the attention of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. These academies recently, as recently as eight months ago, released a giant report alerting the nation of the dirt of scientists and engineers and the concomitant erosion of the scientific and technical building blocks of the nation's economic leadership at this global time. The report points out that India and China combined graduate now 950, nearly a million, engineers each year compared to the U.S.'s 70,000. For African-Americans, this knowledge of STEM personnel is nearing crisis proportions. 110 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 While universities are causing the nation to rely heavily on foreign-born faculty --
-- for the training of our STEM workforce, historically black universities rely even more heavily on foreign-born faculty. The shortage of STEM faculty nationwide has meant that ABCUs have traditionally relied even more on foreign-born faculty to educate their students. To give you a sampling, at Cheyney University, our foreign-born faculty comprise 50 percent of the STEM faculty. That's math, computer science, biology, physics. For Lincoln University, the number is 55.5 percent. The two ABCUs in Pennsylvania are not unique in this regard. These numbers are replicated nationwide. In addition to the importance to our students, it is important to note that these STEM immigrants, along with 111 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 the other brethren, contribute significant resources to the region's economy from their own spending around the region. In conclusion, immigrants are essential to the region's economy. We urge the City again to do whatever it will take to make Philadelphia and the region a more immigrant-friendly region. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Doctor. If we have copies of your testimony, the full testimony will be incorporated into the record.
Thank you. Again, for the record, your written testimony can be incorporated into the record in full. If you provided written testimony, just because you wrote it doesn't mean you have to read it. It will be included within the transcript for all members of Council to review. 112 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 It is very important that we get through this hearing and allow everyone to speak. We have three other hearings this afternoon, and so I have to hold you to a two- to three-minute period of time. I suggest you not try to read your testimony within two or three minutes if it was not written to be two or three minutes. Understood? Thank you. Our next witness is Susan Smolens.
Thank you. Please just gong me when the time is up. I represent the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Philadelphia chapter. We're very grateful for this opportunity to speak, and we would like to support the City in considering creating a cabinet-level representative for immigration to act as an ombudsman, a coordinator of all these various programs all over the City, and as an educator. 113 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 As lawyers, we see the problems that no one else sees, and we see the problems that are created by the legal system in Philadelphia because of ignorance of immigration law. Even people who have green cards in the United States are in danger of losing their residency and their right to be here because of minor contact with the law. Judges, prosecutors, general criminal attorneys and other practicing attorneys have no awareness of this system. The departments in the City have no awareness of the fact that the immigration impact of a plea bargain in the United States is almost a guarantee of deportation, whether you've been here years, 30 years, whether you came here 20 as a one-month-old child. If you still have a green card, you are in danger of being deported. I see these people every day. Our prisons are filled with them waiting to be deported, and we need to educate 114 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 everyone in the legal system and in the City about this problem. Other issues are tax issues, Social Security issues, identification issues. All of these can lead to deportation, not just of our illegals but our legals. We need to provide some sort of legal support for employers, particularly small employers, to sponsor people legally. Once they're here, it's too late because they're illegal. They can't legalize unless there's some sort of amnesty, which we're hoping for. But in general, we need to support small business, some sort of office in the City that will provide legal support to tell them how to do this. Thank you.
Thank you. Let me acknowledge for the record we've also been joined by Councilman Juan Ramos. Our next witness is Facundo Knight, Concilio. 115 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Facundo Knight. I'm here today representing Concilio, Spanish-Speaking Organization and the Dominican Cultural Center. Briefly, what I would like to say is that as an immigrant coming to Philadelphia and having the option of having an organization as Concilio was a big deal, because this community saw this agency was able to point me in the right direction. As someone that had given up the idea of getting involved in community services, this community service agency was really a guiding light to enhance and encourage me to get back into the doings that I did before coming to the United States. As the Director of the Dominican Center, I want to highlight what we see as contribution that we have given -- we do give to the City. We are one of those organizations that our 116 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 people when they ask about Philadelphia, the first question is, Are they an organization of Dominicans in the City of Philadelphia. And when they hear the answer of yes or when they ask the question, Are there any cultural events that we can look out to meet in Philadelphia to touch our values and our culture, and we can say to them, yes, Philadelphia, we have movements that answer those questions. It means a big deal to everyone, because it says that as a big City, it has its doors open to diversity and everyone has a place in the City. Every event we organize we take into consideration of our values, our tradition, because we take it along with us, but it helps at the same time for those who are living out of the City limits to realize that Philadelphia is not only the City of the givers that the Declaration of Independence was signed, but it says to them as many has argued, 117 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 are there Dominicans. My answer is very proud to say, yes, we do. We have events and we have organization. What I would like to leave with you in this moment is, as every big city, every time you take into consideration the contribution of the small organization -- because sometimes the small organization are overlooked based on the fact that those that have the connections tend to really stamp over the small ones, and then when we go up to do anything, we are ignored, because the fact is since we do not have the resounding name, we tend to be ignored. I'm saying to you, take into consideration the fact that we do contribute. We do do a lot in our neighborhoods. We attract others to be interested in the City, in coming to the City. I have as an experience what happened last year with our parade and festival, Garla Danna, the people of the 118 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Dominican National Roundtable came and they were shocked. They didn't realize what Philadelphia had in it.
So what I'm saying is, please remember the small organization as ours, and an organization that consider to support us are the ones that really opening doors for future resident and professional of Latino descent in the City of Philadelphia.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to acknowledge that Mr. Facundo Knight through Concilio, Council of Spanish-Speaking Organizations, and the Dominican Center is a very respected and prominent person in our community at the grassroot levels and at all levels, and he represents his people very well. 119 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Thank you for coming today.
Thank you, Councilman. Our next witness is Corinne Thatcher.
Hi. My name is Corinne Thatcher. I work for the Brazilian Organization for Social Services of Greater Philadelphia. We're a fairly new organization, just like our population. Brazilians are a fairly new wave of immigrants to the City, but are already about 10,000 strong and growing. They're concentrated mostly in Northeast Philadelphia, where we operate out of. Brazilians, along with the other immigrant groups in the Northeast, help to maintain the Northeast's neighborhood character, preventing it from slipping into some of the urban decline that has become of some of the other neighborhoods in Philadelphia, buying up empty storefronts and creating 120 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 colorful and tasty restaurants and other types of businesses. They own construction companies and other sorts of companies, and they also purchase homes in the Northeast. Brazilian immigrants tend to come with skills in construction particularly and earn sufficient money to purchase and improve homes, which also prevents homes from being purchased by absentee landlords who may allow the homes to decline. Brazilian immigrants, whether documented or undocumented, also faithfully pay their taxes. They strongly desire to be here legally and live by the law as much as they can, even though they don't have papers, with the hope that some day they will be granted the chance to stay here legally. And as one of the Councilpersons earlier mentioned, it is very difficult for immigrants to come here legally. Even people who want to 121 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 come here temporarily to work find it difficult. For example, we have a Brazilian woman who wants to come and volunteer for our organization to gain experience in the non-profit sector, with full plans to return to Brazil. Even with her intentions to go back, she's having many difficulties getting a temporary visa to come here. Also, I wanted to echo the need for increased English as a second language and vocational English as a second language classes. Most Brazilians don't speak English and they find it difficult to come down to Center City, where a lot of the classes that are offered currently are located. And we also need increased funding to support those efforts. There are many organizations that want to expand their English as a second language as well as citizenship classes, but just can't find the funding to do so. I think those are my main 122 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 points, so I'll end there and I'll allow other organizations to come up.
Thank you, Ms. Thatcher. Thank you for your patience. Our next witness is Cindy Suy.
Good afternoon. My name is Cindy Suy. I'm the Executive Director of the Cambodian Association. I arrived in the United States as a refugee as a survivor of the killing field in Cambodia. I have been in the United States for years and have since become 15 a U.S. citizen. 16 Cambodian Association is a 17 non-profit agency we formed in 1979. Our 18 goal and mission is to improve quality of 19 life of Cambodian-Americans. Programs 20 that we offer are after school, summer 21 camps, summer career, ESL programs and 22 other social services. 23 The population that we serve 24 comprise of Cambodian immigrant refugees, and Philadelphia has the fourth largest 123 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Cambodian population. There are over 18,000 Cambodian reside in the greater Philadelphia area. Last year from July 1st, '05 up till May 30th, we served over a thousand individual clients with over 2,000 services that we provide programs and social services. Cambodian-Americans who settled in the United States in the early 1980s through 1993 are refugees that fled the killing field. Many of us still suffer from the post-traumatic stress disorder until this day. Although the refugee and immigrant community are making enormous contribution in terms of economic to the City, there are little or no services in terms of programs that support their families. We are living comfortably due to the cheap labor of refugee and immigrant population. These immigrants and refugees take on jobs that no citizen are willing to do. I just also wanted to share that my experience at age of 12, ten 124 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 years experience at the New Jersey farm, that nearly all of us enjoy the blueberries at the supermarket that we get $3 a pint, where the employer paid me as a child $3 for pints. So just to 7 share with you in terms of the cheap 8 labors that the immigrant and refugees 9 are doing. 10 Based on the Cambodian 11 Association's experience, and I've been 12 working with the agency for years, the 13 20 years of experience that the agency exists, that we see there's lack of services in terms of helping the immigrant and refugee community, so often times they are turned to the community-based agency for help, and many time these agency or community-based or faith-based offer the service with no 21 funding or little funding. And we provide the service because we know that there's no other place that they can turn to assist them. Some of the recommendations, 125 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 because of the time, I just wanted to point out two things, that it is important for the government and City agency and private foundation to support the community-based and faith-based agency, because they are in the front line that provide service to this population. And another thing is that especially with the City Council official to hire more qualified diverse population staff that reflect the diversity the community that the City serve. Please keep in mind that the refugee and immigrant community contribute a great deal to our City economy and so they should treat -- and so they should be equally treated with respect as other citizen. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next witness is Jude Iheoma. Please state your name for the 126 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Dr. Jude Iheoma. I'm the President of the coalition of African organization called AFRICOM. That organization was formed in 2001 basically to get all of the African immigrants in the Philadelphia area together to advocate for African-American issues. We have 11 member countries in the organization, as 12 well as individual and professional 13 community organization in that coalition. 14 I also serve as the Secretary 15 for the newly created Commission on 16 African and Immigrant Affairs. It was 17 through AFRICOM that we advocated for 18 that Commission, because as African 19 immigrant, I'm originally from Nigeria, 20 and having spent 26 years in this 21 country, I always feel that -- the social 22 status of African-Americans is the same 23 social status that African immigrants do 24 have in the City of Philadelphia, 25 compounded with our accent. So you are 127 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 black and then you have an accent. What contributions do we have? I just want to give you an example with my own contribution, because I was talking to the Chairman of our coalition, Stanley Straughter, who has been doing a very wonderful job. He said, Why don't you tell the story of success of being in this country. Both my wife and I, I have a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. I have two Master's degree in business administration. My wife has a degree in dentistry. In this, my wife also practices general dentistry here in the City of Philadelphia, and we employ people and through our contribution in the country, we provide employment. We also mentor younger African-Americans. It is also very, very important to note that if immigration laws were to be as tight as it is today, we will not have the same opportunity to do what we do for the community. I'm sure that 128 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 members of the coalition of African communities that are also here are going to testify, so I'm not going to speak on behalf of what we do in this City, but definitely I really do want to thank the Mayor for creating the Commission on African Affairs. I want to thank Jannie Blackwell for really helping to bring the issues of African-Americans, African immigrants into the City of Philadelphia, and definitely I have to really thank Honorable Stanley Straughter for bringing issues of African immigrants and also for us to be here today to testify. Mr. Goode, I want you to be a good advocate like your father, and hopefully one day you will run. Thank you.
My name is Ibrahima 129 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 and I have to tell you that there's a lot of pressure right now. We should have gone first, but I'll do my best. To Chairman Goode, Councilwoman Blackwell, Mr. Straughter and members of City Council, let me express my gratitude for the opportunity to share my experiences, challenges and contribution in the City of Philadelphia as an entrepreneur from Guinea, West Africa. I would like to frame my testimony by providing some background on the development of my firm, CompRecovery. I will also provide a point of view to the value proposition offered by the service delivery model of CompRecovery. Then I would like to offer some closing thoughts on how a firm such as mine should partner with the City of Philadelphia officials to address the need for IT in underserved communities. In June 1999, I received my degree from Drexel University, an electrical engineering degree, where I 130 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 specialized in controls and robotics, and then joined SunGard, one of the leading firm in technology-based application and global enterprise. When I saw the opportunity at SunGard, I told myself why not me. So in 2001, I started my own company, CompRecovery, a full IT service firm, and, of course, realized that the people at SunGard had the same type of skills that I had or probably even less, graduating from Drexel. To my firm, I have helped hundreds, in fact thousands of citizens, in their daily walk of life. Can I place a dollar value to the contribution of CompRecovery? No, but I can attest to the value of serving people who purchased equipment from major computer retailer or manufacturer only to have it malfunction. These clients were left unable to receive effective tech support through an 800 number somewhere in Southeast Asia. CompRecovery was there for them. And, of 131 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 course, we have helped many, many, many other communities, including working with immigrant from West Africa nations who needed assistance in getting their business started, but due to language barriers could not articulate the technology-related needs. CompRecovery was also there for them. CompRecovery goes into many communities where other firms don't go and offer services. I'm very humbled by the opportunity to serve people through the utility of technology. This is my mission in life, of course. However, I have done so on sheer determination to succeed. No loans to capitalize my business. No technical or managerial consulting from government agencies. I have not received any of the support available for a start-up business, despite the fact that I have attempted to access such services. I have not been able to navigate the pathway to such support. However, if I had, I would be 132 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 able to do so much more for so many people who are underserved when it comes to IT. With the development of Wireless Philadelphia, and as you are very familiar with, the demand for IT services will skyrocket. With this increased demand will come increased technical malfunctions, the likes of which will severely hamper end-users. It is important to note that there are over 200 viruses that hits the Internet daily. There's also a need for intense education in all communities, but particularly in underserved communities, on how to maintain and protect their information files. The City of Philadelphia should consider the role for private sector firms, such as CompRecovery, in sponsoring technological literacy and security. It is also important that emerging IT firms, such as mine, receive support to obtain contracts with the City 133 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 of Philadelphia to assist in growing so we may continue to provide IT services in underserved communities. Check the record to see how few minority-owned IT firm are in the City.
So definitely I'm pleading to bring us some assistance so we can continue as an immigrant the good work in Philadelphia. In closing, let me thank you again for the opportunity to address this esteemed body. As an IT professional and entrepreneur who happens to be an immigrant, I look forward to making valuable contribution to the City in its effort to ensure access to IT. At CompRecovery, we stand ready to provide high-quality service at competitive rates for the City Council, agencies or operating departments to support the City of Philadelphia. So I'm, therefore, definitely pleading. A lot of people have made their testimony. I want you to help us continue the good work and have 134 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 other new emerging businesses do the same and continue helping this community.
Thank you for your testimony. Our next witness is Voffee Jabateh. (No response.)
My name is Bai Gbala and I am representing the African Cultural Alliance of North America. Mr. Chairman and members of the Council, on behalf of the African Cultural Alliance of North America, Incorporated and its Executive Director, Mr. Voffee Jabateh, who is unable to be here, I bring you greetings, wishes of good health, long life and prosperity now 135 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 and the years to come. We extend to you and through you to the government and people of these great United States and yourselves our appreciation and deep gratitude for the kind and gracious acts of humanity in opening your borders to us during our tragic hours of need. Indeed, it is needless to say that we are profoundly grateful to you, the government and people of this great metropolitan City of Philadelphia, for your kind hospitality in receiving us into your communities and homes. It is always a challenge as well as a source of great pleasure to share thoughts with you on the critical issues of refugees, immigrants and aliens. Your kind and gracious invitation does us the honor and affords us the opportunity to do so. Almost all of us Africans, particularly Liberians, Sierra Leonians, Ivorians, Guineans, Senegalese, Nigerians, Ghanians, Rwandans, Congolese 136 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudanese, Ethiopians, Eritreans, et cetera, et cetera, fled from socio-political tyranny, economic deprivation and, above all, ethnic conflicts and civil wars of wanton destruction, brutality, human suffering and death at the hands of ruling groups, to justice and equality, peace, human dignity and freedom in your great country. We come with the deep quest for education and economic advancement, the basic requirements for opportunities necessary for personal growth, development and the perfection of democratic society dedicated to the advancement of humankind. Moreover, ladies and gentlemen of the Council, we are excited and inspired by the history of the City of Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, historic cradle of American democratic thought and the birth place of American democracy. This City 137 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 has been and is the major beacon of attraction for freedom and justice-seeking peoples the world over. We value the traditional current trend of this City in welcoming and accommodating refugees and immigrants. It is with these considerations in mind that during these interactions, we sincerely ask for your kind and usual understanding, considering and humanity in providing us the opportunity to be of service to our new communities as new Philadelphians and new Americans. According to Philadelphia's Welcoming Center, and I quote, Seven percent of Philadelphia's foreign-born come from Africa. There are immigrants from almost every African country in Philadelphia. The largest communities are from Nigeria, Liberia, Ethiopia and Ghana. For more than 300 years, Philadelphia has been home to people of African origin, from African slaves in 138 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 the 17th and 18th centuries to waves of the Great Migration from the slave-holding southern states in the late 19th and 20th centuries --
Thank you for your testimony. If you have written copies, we will make sure that it is --
Thank you for your testimony. If you have written copies, we'll make sure they're entered into the record.
These were enslaved people who fled from human bondage to freedom, justice and human dignity in Philadelphia. Today Philadelphia plays host to a new --
Excuse me, sir. We actually have a time limit today for the testimony in terms of presenting it orally, but your written testimony 139 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 will be recorded fully in the record.
I understand, but we have many more witnesses that have to provide testimony. We established a two- to three-minute limit. I've given you a lot of leeway in terms of that. If you have copies of your written testimony, it will be presented fully within the record.
Okay. It is indeed considerations that we sincerely ask and hope that the City of Philadelphia continues its tradition of a home to people who flee from undemocratic regimes. That is why we support the Council Resolution 060293, which continues the tradition of hospitality to African immigrants and refugees in this country.
Thank you very much. Our next witness is Tilahan 140 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Amera, Ethiopian Center? (No response.)
Is there a representative from the Ethiopian Center? (No response.)
No. No, sir. Our next witness then will be Jocelyn Jean-Baptist. Thank you. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Jocelyn Jean-Baptist. I'm General Secretary of Yellow Cab Company. Honorable members of the City Council, members of different ethnics organization and businesses, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen, greetings. I was born in the continent of Americas. To be exact, in the first independent black country, Haiti. I'm an 141 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 American by a geographical definition, a Latin by my language and Haitian by birth. In 1983, with my visa in hands, I crossed the border with the help of American alliance. I was looking for a greater place in my own continent. I thought I was entitled to some benefits from the government because so many brave Haitian fought in Savannah to help the British -- to keep the British away in 1779. However, after a few days, I have learned that U.S. is really melting pot, a proalistic (sic) society where hard works be. In 2000, I help open the first Haitian American taxi fleet in Philadelphia. The competition was hard because we had the other city to play in the game of big boys. Today the company is still running, but we are facing difficult time with the Parking Authority. A year later, in 2001, I funded 142 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 with (unintelligible) Enterprises, a radio show to connect with everything that moves in Philadelphia in a board. Many politician participate in our show in order to familiarize with the Haitian community. We encourage people to vote and mostly to participate in the system. Today as a U.S. citizen, a taxpayer and a student in criminal justice, I would like to help more. Fellow Americans, people are risking their lives to come here, have the ultimate goal to help themself and to help America. We as a country must listen to their cries. We as a country must work to have more friends abroad, but at the local level, we have to understand the concern of the American workers. We have to make them understand that immigrant are force and contributors to the economy. These immigrants want to work for America, not for Al Quaeda. We are not contemplating to work for our enemies. Let's work together for a more 143 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 friendly and prosperous country. Thank you. God bless America.
Thank you for your testimony. Our next witness will be Brad Baldia. Good afternoon. Please state your name for the record.
Good afternoon. I am not Brad Baldia. I am Ricardo Diaz. Brad was sick this morning, so I'm just taking his spot. I guess this afternoon I'd first like to thank you for your patience. There's obviously very few -- and televisions, recorders and notes aside, we're still speaking to a very friendly audience. I know that all three of you are on our side when it comes to immigration matters, when it comes to the needs, the contributions, and so I won't dwell on that. So I'd like to transfer hopefully a couple of the thoughts into what can be done, because if we are 144 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 united in thought, can we be united in action. As you know, the immigrant marches here in Philadelphia practically sparked a nationwide effort to do the same. I received the notes. I met with those grassroots leaders from across the country on Sunday, and were quite concerned actually that those people that are most to lose are the ones that are not taking enough action. That is, an immigrant will find another job, will go back home when necessary, will find something else to survive, because most immigrants that come, especially the undocumented, start at the bottom anyway. However, we're dealing with a situation where the federal government, the federal legislators, are deciding for all of us what will be best. It is no 22 secret that the City itself is a beneficiary from the presence of immigrants. The testimony here today from our many colleagues only serve to 145 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 verify what our eyes, what our hearts see across the City. The question then is, what do we do about it? What do Councilpeople do when faced with the situation of many people -- because we are Philadelphia. We immigrants, 300,000 of us and all our relatives, happen to be a big part of Philadelphia. We are grateful and very aware that on February 16th, two days after our first rally, there was a resolution here in these Chambers. We are very aware that the resolution to have these hearings, with a plural S, were decided in these Chambers. Today we have a hearing. We consciously talked about whether we should bring the masses to this hearing, but we have trust that the resolution, having been plural, we'll have another one, but not a long, drawn-out one like today's in which we all bring our statements and we try to share and put our feelings on the record. 146 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Not one like that. One in which we have dialogue, one in which your ideas and our ideas are put together, with a political structure of the City to say to the federal legislators, You are not going to decide for us. Our policemen are already taking into consideration that these are people, not animals. A time when the City officials as yourselves and we, the people that are on the streets, say, Wait a minute, we want to play fairly, we want to play by the American system rules, by the dream that we have of making this country better, and our city, Philadelphia, will set the example. Our city, in all its efforts and L&I and all the testimony brought today, is heading in the right direction, but we're still in diapers. We are taking baby steps, but we have mistakes and diverse people have mistakes. We need to get to the training pants stage where we do, as the Councilwoman pointed 147 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 out, where we have the human resources, not contracted out but within the City. But we also need to take the steps to run, to run where the City itself becomes another -- again, the gateway that it once was for immigrants, where there is a settlement house, where there is a mini Ellis Island, not in an office. An office will get two, three people staffed. You will be arguing with it. The departments will see it as an ombudsman and they'll send all their problems there. What I see, to conclude, is that every department, including City Council, is immigrant friendly, that there are people here that speak other languages.
The people in this side will some day be sitting on that side, and they speak native English as our brethren from Africa but with a different dialect. Some of us have had to learn English, but we all come with the same values. We want to make this place better. We want 148 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 this, our adopted city, to be the place that grows for our children, for our families and, yes, for our future grandchildren. So I ask today that we take the plural S, that we make this the second hearing, that we make the third hearing and we show the rest of the nation that a city as large as Philadelphia has the guts and the mental power to take it from some ideology or for some small purpose to actually do it and show it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to commend Mr. Diaz for all the work that he has done, particularly for the organization of people, people that a lot of times we don't hear from because they're too busy working and trying to keep two or three jobs as immigrants, many of them in our 149 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 City and throughout the country without proper documentation to be in the country, nevertheless human beings who are looking for a better life. And I saw you spearhead these rallies and three of them in Philadelphia. I think we've sponsored more rallies than any other city in the country. And I think that your cause is a very just cause, and this City Council has demonstrated through our action, through resolutions, that we believe in the cause of justice. We have a question that comes up many times. You've probably answered this question in other forums, but we have people that are watching and listening to us at this moment, and this concerns all of us in City Council and those of us in leadership positions, and the question is, one among many, but I'd like to see if you can answer this question. Are new immigrants in this City taking the jobs of American people, 150 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 American citizens, of other nationalities, of different walks of life? That seems to be a very big concern among Americans, but in the Philadelphia as Americans as well, there are many people saying, Well, if we continue to let this happen, are we that are American citizens born and raised here, are we now going to be deprived of a job? Can you address that for me for a few minutes, please.
I don't think I have a full answer for that, but I think that when we deal with the logic of this, we know that this is not a logical argument against immigrants. It really is a genuine fear that I would have, and I share with those people that have that fear, but let us analyze it for a second. Are immigrants in a race to the bottom? Do we want the lowest-paying jobs? Does anybody want the lower-paying jobs? The answer is obviously no. I 151 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 don't know a dishwasher that will work for minimum wage that will pay -- that will get paid five something an hour. Of course not. They get paid six when they fairly arrive and when they don't now. And then they'll take the $8 dishwashing job somewhere else. So it is not a race to the bottom and neither do we want it, but does anybody? Should the poor people of Philadelphia be worried? Let me give you the other section to that answer, and that is this: Local native-born Philadelphians have three advantages over an immigrant. Number one, they have a Social Security number. They can be hired anywhere they want. They have an opportunity for education, minimum up until 12, but there are PAL grants and other aids for them to get further education. Does that sound like somebody would compete that somebody can't access that? And, third, they speak English 152 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 natively. Don't tell me that people that have those three advantages over someone who arrives, even the undocumented, can be competing for the same job. No way. Now, related to that concern and to that question is, do immigrants get paid less and do they make the union situation -- do they make them lose advantage in the negotiation power? I say it seems like it when you pair the people. But there is no way as -- let's take Mexico. I know the full history over there. In Mexico you cannot open a business more than 50 people without having a union. We come from a unionness tradition. We come from ways in which had we the chance, had we the Social Security number and the situation, of course we would join it. And we don't mean to take those jobs. Often we'll take two or three jobs because they're available. Among the immigrants, the undocumented immigrant, there is no 153 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 unemployment situation. If there were, they wouldn't be able to get two or three jobs. And they take them not at the lowest paying. They take them at whatever they can get, just like any one of us here.
Thank you, sir. Thank you for that. This is an ongoing discussion. I think all throughout the country everyone is like stepping back and watching this phenomena and this debate go on, and I think it's a very important time for the country to take in this reality of ours that has hit us. Over a million people have taken to the streets of this country very peacefully and in a very patriotic way, whether they were documented or undocumented. So this is a very interesting time in the country and this City for us to be able to not just be reactive. One of our business leaders in this City says he's not going to sell any steak 154 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 sandwiches to people that don't speak English, you know. We wonder what the heck is that all about. But that these the types -- instead of being reactive in that manner, for us to just listen to the people, as we've had here today, from all parts of the world that say how much they love this country, the opportunities that's afforded historically in the history of this nation to the immigrant people that have made up this country. And we're just going through another era in our country, and instead of just denying cheesesteaks to people that speak Spanish, maybe we can just listen to people.
Narrow-minded people, small owners, there have always been such, but, in fact, I think most of us can see the bigotry built into that, and so far, we've chosen to disregard it. Why polarize it anymore? If he wants to do that, let him get stuck on his cheesesteaks. We actually have five new 155 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 businesses in that same block that will offer something else. Fine. Let him keep those few cheesesteaks, and if we want one, we'll go to Pat's. But for me, the point is that when we have one person like that, they tend to rob the attention from all the good people in South Philly. In that block, we have dozens of businesses that welcome the immigrant, and sadly, they're the ones that are quiet right now and we need to help them. We need to create the climate that they weigh in so that these two weeks in Congress tip on our side, or else we'll be fighting the attitude and the law for years to come, and that's not good.
Thank you. Our next witness is Steven Zhu. Good afternoon. Thank you for your patience and please proceed with your testimony. 156 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293
Thank you. My name is Steven Zhu, Executive Vice-President of Chinese Restaurant Association. Good afternoon, everyone and the Councilmember. It is my honor to have the opportunity today to share my experience of how immigration affect our City of Philadelphia. As we all know, America is a country made of immigrant. In just a few hundred years, America has become the most powerful nation in the world, and that that cannot be done without immigrant. We all learn from our history book that immigrant has fight for America in World War I and World War II and Gulf War and now the one in Iraq. Immigrant have built railroad and so on. I can go on and on. However, today I would like to talk about how immigration affect our City of Philadelphia. I consider myself as an old-timer, because I have been here over 20 years. In these 20 years, I have 157 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 witnessed a lot of change in this country and this City, especially recent years. Now if we drive through the City, we will see new building are being built. A lot of construction are going on. More store open, more "coming soon" sign in there. Then you start to ask yourself, where are these people coming from? The answer is, most of them are from nationwide and some all over the world. In another word, some of them are immigrant. They come here because they believe they will find freedom, liberty and justice. At the same time, they help building the great Philadelphia. I am Chinese. Therefore, I would like to share with everybody how Chinese community contribute to our City. Does anybody count how many Chinese restaurants are there in the City of Philadelphia? Probably not. But I am pretty sure that any time you want to order some chicken lo mein, you do not have to go far. There are more than 600 158 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Chinese restaurants in the City of Philadelphia. You do the math that how many customers these restaurants are feeding every day. Most of these restaurants are operated by immigrant. When these hard-working immigrant save enough money, they will invest or reinvest in this City, especially in real estate. Therefore, you can see the booming Chinatown in the City. In most recent years, City of Philadelphia is booming. Real estate is part of our success. I spoke to a real estate broker in Chinatown not long ago. He told me that just his office alone has closed more than 500 house last year. All the buyer are Chinese immigrant who choose to live in Philadelphia. If an average house is sold for $150,000, just transfer tax alone, it generated $3 million revenue to the City. And I am only talking about one real estate office. In addition to that, real estate bring more job opportunity to 159 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Philadelphia. More contractor are needed. Building material business is growing. More people are moving in for the new-build condo and so on. Immigrant help building the bridge between Philadelphia and other city in the world. In our Chinese community, we often invite government official and businessman from different city of China to come visit us. In this way, we create a better and healthier relationship with China, both friendship and economically. We also bring the Chinese culture to Philly. For example, June 19th we will invite Chan Chun Acrobatic group to perform in University of Pennsylvania. By the way, if anyone need a ticket, you can ask me. Chinese immigrant help to open the door of China to the citizen of Philadelphia. Of course, new immigrant also have weak points, need everyone to pay attention and help, like culture, education. Growing environment 160 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 difference on their life and the language barrier cause a lot of misunderstanding and cannot well fitting into the mainstream. They need to learn language, culture and how to well communicate with their neighborhood, community and organization and elective officer.
I hope all the citizen can support and help those new immigrant to see what we can do each other. I also will like the City government to support Chinatown development, like putting tourist bus stop by Chinatown. Let the tourist eating and shopping in China. City will add a tourist spot. We like people can see different culture in this City. I also believe we should respect and learn from each other. I believe all the new immigrant will make their best effort to make the City of Philadelphia as the greater Philadelphia. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has said this in his speech of "I have a dream," that 161 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. " This should apply to the immigrant, too. In Chinese community, we have some illegal immigrant population. I hope Congressmen and the Senator consider to accept new immigrant as part of our nation, especially who has deportation order but who is not a criminal and they are work hard people to get benefit from the new immigration bill. I hope ICE officer can consider real family value and family unity. I hope the City government also consider to pay attention and oppose this unreadable law. Help those population to settle in the City and not afraid all the time and no nightmare for those who is undocumented immigrant. Thank you, everyone.
Thank you. Our next witness will be Brian Grant. (No response.) 162 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293
Is Bryant Grant here, Jamaica Trade Association? (No response.)
My name is Helen Gym. I'm with the Asian Americans United. I wanted to take a few moments of my testimony to emphasize today the common ground shared by immigrants and other Philadelphians, particularly low-income and working-class Philadelphians. I'd like to applaud City Council's endorsement, for example, of the Comprehensive Healthcare Reform Act of Pennsylvania and the recognition of universal healthcare as a key issue that affects not only immigrant communities but all Philadelphians as well. But another area is, Philadelphia public schools needs the support of City Council now more than ever. For most immigrant children, there are few options other than Philadelphia public schools. More than 15 percent of 163 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Philadelphia students, over 26,000, speak a language other than English at home, but last week, the School District of Philadelphia passed what its leaders called one of the leanest and most brutal budgets that they have seen since the State takeover. Rolled back are critical education initiatives, like reduced class size, additional literacy and math training coaches and classroom assistants. Many schools have talked about the loss of numerous teachers at the classroom-based level, and one of the most painful losses is the reduced class size initiative. As a former Philadelphia public school teacher, I remembered having 37 students in my room in my years of teaching in Olney, but thanks to reduced class size, children in grades K to 3, the most critical and vulnerable years of learning, had been held to less than 24 students in a room, and now, once again, 25 we are looking at the disgraceful years 164 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 of packing 33 students to a room. No 3 child, immigrant or non, should be forced to learn under these kinds of circumstances. But since the State takeover, it seems that a certain sense of urgency and obligation towards our public schools has been absent in these Chambers, particularly in light of the recent discussion of the City budget in which very little mention of the Philadelphia public schools was mentioned. If it is not already a priority, the state of the public schools must be a top priority of City Council and additional dollars must be found for our public schools. Finally, I want to talk about the need for affordable housing in immigrant communities. Over the last decade, immigrant communities, like so many neighborhoods in Philadelphia, have been held hostage by the flagrant condoning of rampant private real estate development. We can put places like 165 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 Chinatown on our tourist maps, but we put a blind eye when we see high-end condominiums and private developers taking up all available land in one of the poorest zip codes in this City. Last year, one small victory was made in the struggle to recognize the importance of affordable housing. The Philadelphia Affordable Housing Coalition succeeded in gaining a $10 million Housing Trust Fund designed to create affordable housing for people with incomes of less than $20,000, a category which includes many immigrant families and neighborhoods. Asian Americans United endorse that effort. This fund is now in danger with the threat of its division or disillusion actively discussed in this Council Chambers. The Housing Trust Fund is one of the most critical local efforts to address the needs of Philadelphians, including immigrant communities, in recent years. It represents the work of 166 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 dozens of groups from all over the City and many years of effort, yet Council is in discussion to sincerely talk about dissolving this fund. Discussion of the division among Councilmanic districts almost ensures that its mission will fail. With only $10 million, there is not enough equal need, equal capacity, nor is there enough money to divide among all the districts.
The Council must free up the fund and make the fund serve its purpose, housing and education. Our people are waiting. Thank you.
Hello. Good afternoon, distinguished members of the City Council. I want to make a correction. It's not Danilo Burgos. My name is Jose Mota from the Dominican Grocers Association, and we would like 167 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 to -- we were invited just to mention some of our support of different things that we are giving to the City of Philadelphia. We are the one who are making possible that in our neighborhoods people can eat a cheesesteak for 2.50, and it doesn't matter in which language you ask for. The Dominican Grocers Association was born in 1998. It's a non-profit organization. We have about 300 members, and we believe that we are about 500 Dominican grocery stores in the City of Philadelphia. We are a member of the Eastern Pennsylvania Organizing Project, and we came to Philadelphia to work hard, and that's exactly what we're doing, 14 hours, 13 hours a day from Monday to Sunday, and we are located throughout Philadelphia in the old neighborhoods, especially in places where the big company won't go to make businesses. We are there. We buy those houses, sometimes destroy houses. We fix 168 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 them. We build them, and we renew this house as bringing new businesses to the neighborhood. We pay taxes there. We have to buy different license to operate a business. We had to pay dumpster licenses, cigarette license. We pay alarm, but we also pay different kind of taxes, like city, state and also federal taxes. So these are only some of the contribution that we are making to the City of Philadelphia. Now the City is attracting more than any other city the Dominicans that have saved some money in bigger cities, like New York or New Jersey. They coming with a little money and they are investing that money in Philadelphia. Therefore, you see grocery stores. There are also new restaurants, beauty salons, taxi companies, and these are only part of the contribution that we are doing every day in the City. And we really thank for the support that we get from different people 169 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 in the City. And that doesn't mean that we have no times where we have problems in the City to operate. Of course. But our association is willing to work and we've been working with different City agencies like, for example, the License and Inspection, the Department of Health, the Police Department. Those are only a few agencies to mention that they have being working with the Dominican Grocers Association just to make our Philadelphia a better city, a better place to live. We are here struggling with the native Philadelphians. As new Philadelphians, we are contributing not just in that, but we are also part of the system and we suffer while Philadelphia is suffering. We are suffering when the delinquencies is here in Philadelphia. We are part of that segment of the City that have been hidden also. We lost many Dominican grocers just while they are looking for a brighter future in this City. They lost their life, but that's 170 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 not -- this is only the negative part. There is a lot of a brighter future that we see in this future and that we are contributing to that brighter future, not just for us but for the City. Thank you very much.
Good morning, Council. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Mr. Merillels Joseph. I'm a Haitian immigrant and I'm a member of the Mayor's Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs. I came here in 1994 as a political refugee. Actually, I'm a litigation paralegal, working for (unintelligible) right there in Philadelphia and also I'm working actually for a life insurance company as an insurance agent. However, I got my own business in West Philadelphia, 63rd and Haverford. 171 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 I am here today to represent the Haitian businessmen in Philadelphia. The Haitian community in Philadelphia is going up and the Haitian businesses are multiplying. We have actually two radio stations, more than Haitian businesses 8 in Philadelphia region only. When we go 9 to the Haitian population, we think we 10 have about 30,000 to 40,000 Haitian 11 families living in Philadelphia. This 12 information is not 100 percent accurate, 13 because we do not have an official status 14 stake now, but we are working on it. 15 We are here, ladies and 16 gentlemen, to cooperate with the City of 17 Philadelphia in any legal manner so that 18 we can have a better community where 19 everyone can live peacefully. So we urge 20 the Council to stand behind us in any way possible and help us to deliver up our businesses. As an immigrant, we are here in the United States for a better life. We are not trouble-makers, as some people 172 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 think. We are hard-working people. We urge all immigrants and everyone who cares about us to stand together with us to fight against any legal law that tend to consider immigrants as bad people, especially the law that is actually in discussion in the U.S. Senate. We thank you, Council, and we hope the Council will continue in that way so that we can share ideas and find ways to create a better community in Philadelphia. Thank you very much.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm very thankful for the 173 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 opportunity to address you on an issue that is important to all of us.
Oh, I'm sorry. Alston Meade, Honorary Consul, Jamaica. At this time, we especially appreciate the opportunity to focus on the positive effect that immigrants have on communities throughout the United States and especially in Philadelphia. On this occasion, I will offer a Jamaican perspective. Of course, I do not expect this to be significantly different from the things that other groups have said, especially those from the Caribbean, and simply confining my comments to the issues that I know best. A little bit of background information on the Jamaican immigrant. Jamaicans have enjoyed a long tradition in the democratic process of government. We have a culture where opportunity for service tends to be limited only by 174 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 ability. We have come a far way in ensuring that leadership, even at the highest levels of government, is not restricted by gender, social circumstance or other irrelevant criteria. People from Jamaica tend to work hard and to play hard. It is not surprising, therefore, to find us striving for excellence as hard in the workplace as on the athletic fields. Of course, we are not perfect. We're not immune from human frailties. The point that I wish to make is that the typical Jamaican immigrant tends to be a positive force in the community. In the professional ranks, we find Jamaica in the Philadelphia area in a wide range of occupations providing significant service for the City and its residents. This is volunteers that I wish to focus on in a minute or so that I have left. The quality of the Jamaican spirit is exemplified by the level of 175 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 volunteer service that they perform in the community and the contribution to the multi-culturalism that makes Philadelphia great. A few examples will suffice. The Annual Caribbean Festival at Penn's Landing provides the opportunity to join in showcasing collectively the charms of the island nations. The entertainment and education values cannot be overstated. Secondly, contributions to education and socialization process is exemplified by such activities at the Annual Career Conferences that were conducted by Jamaican volunteer organizations for more than a decade. This program supported by basketball legend Patrick Ewing, Jamaican diplomates, Temple University and local businesses contributed significantly in promoting good-will among students of different ethnic and geographic origins. A word about the religious institutions. The many Jamaican churches 176 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 with their multi-ethnic and multi-national congregations are of enormous value in the well-being of the communities that they serve. Even in elected policy-making positions in the greater Philadelphia area, we find Jamaicans have made significant contributions as elected officials; for example, in Board of Education and on other policy-making bodies essential to development of our young people and the functioning of our society. In conclusion, I stress that immigrants play an essential role in our community. They deserve our support and our protection. Thank you very much.
Wendy Hess? 177 6/7/06 - COMMERCE - RES. 060293 (No response.)
Is there anyone else to testify on this resolution? (No response.)
Seeing none, the hearing on this resolution is recessed to the call of the Chair. Thank you very much and thank you for your patience.
Thank you. (Committee on Commerce and Economic Development adjourned at 1:35 p.m.) - - - 178 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on June 7, 2006, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)