City immigration a hot topic as Census numbers roll in

With the results from the 2000 Census now tallied, leading thinkers on the topic of immigration gathered last night for a talk entitled "Immigration and the Future of Cities." The Census data showed that immigration allowed cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to increase in population. While Philadelphia saw a decrease in overall population, increased immigration in the city helped to counter the scale of the drop. The keynote speaker, Penn Sociology Department Chairman Douglas Massey, sought to set straight common misconceptions as to why such immigration was occurring, especially since many politicians see it as a cure for urban ills. "The idea that you can turn immigration on and off like a faucet is unrealistic," Massey said, who has spent the last 20 years studying migration patterns between the United States and Mexico. "The social networks make it relatively resistant to reversal." Globalization, with its huge communications abilities, has made it easier than ever to maintain such contacts in foreign lands. In fact, this is why people immigrate today, Massey said. "International immigration is not seen as a way to settle, but as a means to keep things viable in their home country," Massey said. Immigrants no longer venture abroad for a big new house, but rather as a source of income to support relatives in their home country. Massey's research shows that the income sent back home is mostly used for housing. Encouraging Philadelphia to increase its share of the nation's immigrants -- which is currently less than one percent -- Massey prodded the city to look beyond regionalism and become a global player with such countries as Mexico and Canada. The talk also touched upon how cities need to solve their own social problems while they seek to encourage new residents. "It may be all well and good... to make the city more attractive to immigrants, but we also need to pay attention to our homegrown racial woes," Massey said, noting the problems still facing African Americans. Sociology Professor Elijah Anderson, who has studied many of Philadelphia's poorest neighborhoods, said he has found great feelings of racial distrust in the African-American communities. "It looks like the white community is ready to undermine the black community," Anderson said, adding that the "poorest of the poor" in these neighborhoods are competing for jobs with places like China and Mexico. Such a situation makes them reluctant to new immigration. Councilman-at-Large James Kenney, a longtime booster of attracting more immigrants to Philadelphia, said that he wants the city to be an "immigrant-friendly city." "We not only want you here for our own economic selfishness, but we want to celebrate your diversity as well," Kenney said. College senior Matt Thornton, said that "although they addressed the issues, no one had a good idea how to go about doing it." The talk, which was the annual Albert M. Greenfield Memorial Lecture on Human Relations, marks the beginning of a five-part faculty seminar on immigration and cities. "This was a great start," Wharton Professor Susan Wachter said. "It really reflects the depth of thought that we have here."