June 15, 2018. In this article, by Edwin López Moya, he discusses the efforts of Philadelphia to become a welcoming city for immigrants. Specifically he talks about the successes of the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians which provides support and training to foreign professionals to help them get credentialing and jobs in the United States. This helps these foreign professionals from having to accept low wage positions. The article acknowledges research that finds that immigrants contribute to the overall economy through entrepreneurship and revitalization.
At the core of Philadelphia’s values is a simple idea: inclusion as a road to development and progress. However, the city’s doors have not always been open to all. This contradiction in principles and practice is what gave birth to the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, founded in 2003 by Anne O’Callaghan.
Philadelphia’s title as the City of Brotherly Love does not in and of itself explain why it continues to be an attractive destination for immigrants despite the fact that it has the highest poverty rate of any large city in the country, at 25.3 percent.
A report from the Fiscal Policy Institute and Americas Society/Council of the Americas confirms the profound impact that immigrant communities have had here. According to the study “Bringing Vitality to Main Street: How Immigrants Small Businesses Help Local Economies Grow,” foreign entrepreneurs have an 18 percent participation rate in the growth of local small businesses, and are overall more likely to open their own business.
Here is the link to Al Dia.