Philly’s True Immigration Story is a Triumph, not a Tragedy
Wharton professor, Zeke Hernandez (right) speaks as Anuj Gupta (left) of the Welcoming Center looks on.
By: Eileen Kenna
Two narratives historically have shaped the debate around immigration in America: the immigrant as the “villain” coming to take your job (and likely to commit crimes along the way) versus the immigrant as the “victim” needing your compassion and copious assistance.
Panelists at the Sunday Breakfast Club’s February 5th meeting, held at Think Company, laid out the factual case for discarding both narratives. They focused instead on the enormous economic benefit that U.S. cities and towns reap thanks to our immigrant population.
Zeke Hernandez, a native of South America and a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has spent his professional life exploring these issues. He's written a book titled The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers.
He was joined by Anuj Gupta, a first-generation Indian-American and Penn Law School graduate who in 2023 became president and CEO of The Welcoming Center, a non-profit that promotes economic growth through immigrant integration.
Gupta said: “We want to make a positive case for immigration and why it helps you to know it, so you can be out there as ambassadors for sanity around the issue.”
When you stick to evidence rather than emotion, Hernandez said, it puts to rest many tired old stories. He said this is especially vital now as undocumented people are being arrested and held for deportation in numerous U.S. cities, including Philadelphia.
“I can assure you: If you know the evidence, the last thing you’ll feel is fear and confusion about the issue,” Hernandez said. “What’s going on right now is not just bad for immigrants; it’s bad for Americans, it’s bad for Philadelphia.”
The old expression “It’s the economy, stupid” applies here.
Hernandez used an anecdote from his own life to illustrate the economic benefits that stem from immigrants.
When he came to the U.S. on an academic scholarship, people he met assumed he knew how to salsa dance. He assumed salsa was created in a Latin American country.
But no, he learned, salsa actually began in Queens, New York City in the 1950s and early ‘60s when immigrant musicians from several different countries got together to jam, and people danced. The salsa style was born and what followed included a dance craze, a record label, numerous club openings, national and international concert tours, and many new jobs.
“A whole industry rises up around this,” Hernandez said. “This is the story of immigration. When we talk about it from the perspective of economics, immigrants bring us five things we want.”
Those five things are investment, innovation, talent, taxes, and consumption.
“The question is not whether you are for or against immigration, the question is: Are you for or against those five things?” Hernandez asked. “And guess what? These immigrants and the investments they foster and attract, all pay taxes.”
The city of Philadelphia, Hernandez reminded the 80 club members and guests in attendance, relies on three revenue sources: the business income receipt tax, the wage tax, and the property tax.
Hernandez said that a recent study by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that in Philadelphia, 21 percent of our city revenue business taxes come from immigrant-owned businesses, 17 percent of wage tax revenue is paid by immigrants and 15 percent of our property taxes.
“This puts the myth of who pays taxes in the city to rest,” Hernandez said.
A reasonable narrative surrounds the idea that cities and towns need immigrants to thrive. Gupta said Philadelphia in particular experienced a huge population slide beginning in the 1950s. In the 90s’ alone, the city lost 6% of its net population.
“There is no city in America that can continue on that trajectory of population and employment loss and live to tell another tale,” Gupta said.
Gupta recounted that he left Philadelphia for graduate studies in the '90s after living several years in Boston and New York. In those cities, he said, all you needed to do was take a walk to understand the waves of immigrants who were making those cities home and invigorating their economies.
When he returned here around the time of the 2007 mayor's race, he was stunned to learn that not one of the seven candidates was talking about attracting immigrants to help address the city’s declining population and tax base.
As an intern with the Pennsylvania Economy League, Gupta researched the issue, writing a report that caught the attention of then-councilman Jim Kenney. Kenney began to talk up the idea of a city strategy to welcome immigrants. The publicity spurred Anne O’Callaghan, an Irish immigrant, in 2003 to found what would eventually become The Welcoming Center.
“In 2007, Gupta said, “the Titanic finally stopped sinking and we started to turn the population decline around,” largely through welcoming immigrants to the city.
“Today, nearly 16 percent of our population here is foreign born," Gupta said.
And yes, many are undocumented residents largely because, Hernandez and Gupta maintained, our immigration system is broken and too few legal paths to citizenship exist. According to the Migration Policy Institute, 13.7 million immigrants are undocumented in the U.S., roughly about a quarter of all our immigrants, Hernandez said.
Moderator Chris Satullo asked whether it’s realistic to expect millions of deportations, as promised by the current administration.
“There’s no way you’re deporting that many people,” Hernandez said.
However, he predicts that the administration instead will go after the “low-hanging fruit,” such as suspending the legal visas for thousands of Venezuelans who have Temporary Protected Status and thus are here “legally.” Many Ukrainians and Afghans also have TPS status and now fear deportation as well to their home countries where they might be exposed to danger and harm.
“There is definitely going to be theater and the raids will continue,” Hernandez said.
Gupta noted that “perception and fear” can often become more important than the reality of what’s actually happening.
“Even if the numbers [of deportations] are one eighth of what the administration has dreamt about, the real impact is still there. It’s not necessarily that lives are uprooted and kids come home from school and don’t know where their parents are. But if those same parents are unwilling to go to work or unwilling to send their kids to school, we all pay a price for that.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported recently that the Italian Market is struggling as many of its undocumented immigrant workers are afraid to come to work and so more than a few storefronts are shuttered on typically busy weekends.
Both speakers expressed sadness and disappointment at what they deem a “void of centralized leadership” on the immigration issue in Philadelphia. And even faith-based institutions seem slow in addressing concerns about immigrant raids, they said.
Due to the relative silence of elected leaders on the issue, especially since the November election, Gupta said people are looking to the Welcoming Center “for all the answers.” But that isn’t and shouldn’t be their main role. One of the organization’s program’s works with immigrants to help them develop business concepts and get them connected to capital and landlords.
“That’s a good thing for the city,” he said, noting that a program intended to start in the Northeast the night before had to go “virtual” because enrollees in the program were afraid to leave their homes.
The fear is real and even affects him, a natural-born American citizen who happens to be of Indian descent.
“It occurred to me this morning,” Gupta said, “that my wife should have the phone number of the attorney we’ve retained at the Welcoming Center to call in the event an ICE raid takes place … These raids are not precision sweeps. And unless I have my passport on me, I’m not sure what I can provide to an armed ICE agent to make it clear I’m not undocumented.”
Asked whether Philadelphia should tout itself as a “sanctuary city,” both panelists said the most important thing for city leaders is not to double down on the controversial phrase, but to commit to enforcing current policies of immigrant welcome and protection already on the books.
For example, Philadelphia Police Department policy states that it will not report city residents' immigration status to U.S. Immigration & Custom Enforcement nor will it cooperate with ICE attempts to detain or deport people based on immigration status. City police will work with ICE only when a person of interest is subject to a federal warrant for a serious crime or is being released from prison after serving time for a serious crime. The school district also won't cooperate with ICE raids.
Gupta said the Welcoming Center is piloting a program with the Philadelphia shipyard to train 30 job seekers to go into general labor and apprenticeship track positions.
“All of that is an example of a welcoming or sanctuary city,” he said. “None of us care about the label; just uphold the policies.”
What can the average citizen who is concerned about potential immigration sweeps in their neighborhoods and workplaces and across the country do to express themselves on this issue?
Both panelists urged people to call the office of the mayor and city council offices locally and their federal House and Senate offices to make the case for a positive spin on immigration.
“Bring me your poor, your tired, your poor huddled masses,” Hernandez said. “With due respect to Emma Lazarus, her poem has done us a great disservice. So, when you call the mayor or whomever, talk about the five things. Talk about how our tax base is going to go down, that factory is going to close, the neighborhood is going to be blighted. Those are the practical things that move the needle with mayors and government officials.”