Philly, we need to open our doors to more immigrants

Of the many broken things in America, immigration stands apart. We’re a nation of immigrants gripped by ambivalence. Our immigration policy carries all the durability of a line in the sand; it’s washed away and redrawn with the prevailing news of the day, or the high-or-low tide of public opinion. But new arrivals have been a source of economic dynamism and growth for as long as people have been coming to the United States. Philadelphia, a city whose growth has been anemic for too long, is in desperate need of a transfusion.

My family came to Philadelphia from Palestine in the early 1990s, a period of relative openness and generosity toward those of us who had newly arrived on the nation’s shores. In the months and years after 9/11, whose anniversary we mark Sunday, public sentiment toward immigrants has changed dramatically. Just days after the attacks in New York City, the FBI visited my family’s home in Roxborough, presumably to confirm our non-involvement in the horrific events of that day. For a time, many Muslims and Arabs were regarded suspiciously. Many of us felt it.

But the experience of being isolated and alienated is not unique to Palestinians or Arabs. Today, it’s migrants from Latin American countries who are being vilified. Greg Abbott has been sending buses full of immigrants from Texas to New York, dehumanizing vulnerable people for political theater.

But each prospective American who embarks on a search for opportunity presents one as well.

Philadelphia has a lot going for it. We have a vibrant cultural scene, unparalleled historical sites, an amazing medical services industry, and some of the best universities in the country. But economic growth has been sluggish in Philadelphia for too long.

» READ MORE: Philly’s ability to generate job growth could mean the difference between renaissance or stagnation

Part of the reason is that we lack workers. Since 2019, the number of Philadelphians in the workforce has fallen by 2.7%. That means there are roughly 20,000 fewer people in the city who are willing and able to work. That’s a bigger drop than the rates seen nationwide.

Without these extra workers, all Philadelphians experience a reduction in living standards. Much of the city’s revenues are linked directly to economic activity — roughly 44% of the city’s $3.4 billion General Fund derives from taxes on wages and earnings. Over time, with fewer workers paying into this fund, we may see a deterioration of waste services, police and court services, and traffic enforcement. We may have trouble making the big investments the city needs to fix our aging infrastructure, including our toxic school buildings. Prolonged underinvestment and deferred maintenance could lead to a vicious cycle of urban decay and migration away from the city, further compounding the problem.

We can see this already. Our schools are underfunded, too many of our roads are rutted, public spaces are often badly maintained, our mass transit system is unsafe and unclean. And so on.

The city’s finances are not solely its responsibility; Harrisburg and Washington play a major role in devising policy with implications for people here. Yet Philadelphia can seek to grow its population, and its economy, through a focused effort to absorb new immigrants.

The city already has many institutions designed to support immigration here. The city’s Office of Immigrant Affairs maintains a resource guide for new arrivals. We can go further.

To replace the thousands of workers the city has lost in recent years, the mayor should issue a national call for new arrivals to settle in Philadelphia, highlighting the work that was done to facilitate the integration of Afghan and Ukrainian refugees. The city’s Office of Immigrant Affairs should convene an immigration roundtable including representatives from the city housing, health, and education agencies and nonprofits like HIAS Pennsylvania, which helps low-income immigrants build a new life in our state. The goal should be to identify resource gaps, the city’s capacity limits, and opportunities for cross-agency coordination in supporting new residents. A national marketing campaign — with outreach calibrated to meet the city’s capacity for absorbing new residents — ought to follow.

It’s worth pausing here to say that inviting immigrants to our city is about more than economic growth. Immigration is about values and the kinds of communities we seek to build and maintain. I believe in welcoming immigrants because helping others survive and thrive is the right thing to do. In this case, if managed appropriately, immigration can also help to grow our economy and city.

Inviting immigrants to our city is about more than economic growth.

Minneapolis presents a good example of what’s possible. Between 2014 and 2019, that city’s population grew 6.3%. Philadelphia, by contrast, grew only 5% from 2010 to 2020 — that’s less growth in twice as much time. Incredibly, 5.9% of Minneapolis’ total population growth came directly from immigration. In 2019, the city’s foreign-born population contributed $443 million in federal, state, and local taxes while boosting local purchasing power by $1.2 billion. There’s no reason Philadelphia can’t be home to a similarly successful immigration story.

It’s unreasonable to expect people who may be economically disadvantaged, traumatized by war or conflict, or feeling the strain of traversing a continent on foot to seamlessly integrate into a society like ours. But it’s also unreasonable to expect a university to build itself, or a public utility to begin operating spontaneously. The future sometimes requires upfront investments — and that’s what an investment in immigrant services and integration can be: an investment in the future of our city.

Ahmed Moor is a World Bank consultant and a committeeperson in the 46th Ward. He lives in West Philadelphia.