Refugees and Immigrants..."the facts run counter to the rhetoric"

Lancaster County, PA is a wonderful place to live, work and play! With the sad exception of native Americans who were tragically displaced by immigrants from Europe, this has been true for many residents of Lancaster, including immigrants who began to arrive hundreds of years ago, and for many of those immigrating to the United States in recent years. This is so much so that Lancaster has become known as the "refugee capital of the United States".

In the February 18, 2018 LNP newspaper that serves the Lancaster area, two community leaders, Tom Baldrige, CEO of the Lancaster Chamber, and Sam Bressi, CEO of the Lancaster County Community Foundation, wrote a meaningful column about the significant contribution of the large immigrant community who have settled in Lancaster County, and introduce a report they recently released - New Americans in Lancaster.

The article, "Immigrants, refugees make our economy more vibrant", indicates that "the facts run counter to the rhetoric", and lists the strong contribution that refugees and other first generation immigrants who have moved from many countries around the world offer to our community. Lancaster County, and the organization in which I serve, Landis Communities, is so much the better for it!

The article is also shared below...

"Immigrants, refugees make our economy more vibrant"

? On the final Sunday in January, we gathered with hundreds of Lancastrians to celebrate and show support for our neighbors and friends, co-workers and classmates who also happen to be part of Lancaster’s refugee and immigrant community. 

Church World Service ’s Concert for Refugees was an inspiring event meant to highlight the value our community places on welcoming.

The story of Lancaster County’s community and culture cannot be told without telling the story of immigrants and refugees. New Americans have been a fundamental part of Lancaster’s community since its creation.

As early as 1732, Conrad Beissel, a German Protestant who was banned from his homeland for his religious beliefs, arrived in Lancaster and founded the Ephrata Cloister. Throughout the 18th century, members of the Mennonite, Quaker, Lutheran and Jewish faiths arrived seeking religious freedom. Throughout the 19th century, other ethnic groups such as the Scots-Irish, displaced by war and famine, arrived in the county in droves to build a better life. 

Today, we proudly welcome refugee families from the Congo, Bhutan, Somalia, Syria and many other countries around the world. Their American dream is the same as it ever was — a dream of freedom and opportunity.

Last year, the Lancaster Chamber partnered with a nonpartisan group called New American Economy to study the economic impact of these new Americans in Lancaster County. What we found runs counter to much of the current rhetoric around immigration in America.

We learned that:

— Foreign-born residents have higher levels of education than U.S.-born citizens in the county, filling critical employment needs at all levels of our economy.

— Immigrants here are more likely to be self-employed or to start their own businesses.

— Immigrants are responsible for creating or retaining more than 1,000 manufacturing jobs in Lancaster. These jobs would have vanished from our local economy without our new American workforce.

— As a group, immigrants contribute over $1.3 billion annually to the gross domestic product of the county. That translates to $52 million in state and local taxes, and $103 million in federal taxes paid. It also brings $440 million in annual spending power to our community.

— Further, national data also reflect local property and safety benefits. The 10 cities that have welcomed the largest per-capita number of refugees, including Lancaster, have experienced tremendous declines in property crime and violent crime over the last 10 years.

Again, the facts run counter to the rhetoric.

We invite each of you to read the report “New Americans in Lancaster” for details of these findings ( bit.ly/NewAmericansLancaster ).

We also invite you to be part of an effort led by the Chamber , in partnership with the Community Foundation and New American Economy , to develop a multisector plan for welcoming and integrating new Americans.

Welcoming new Americans — immigrants and refugees — is part of our community’s DNA. We welcome people because it is an important piece of what has made Lancaster County strong and resilient.

We’ve always been welcoming because it is simply the right thing to do. But it’s not a charitable act. These individuals are not “takers” from our community’s wealth and resources. Our welcoming is a smart investment, because new Americans — new Lancastrians — are, in fact, supporters, additives and creators of wealth and resources right here in Lancaster County.

Tom Baldrige is the president and CEO of the Lancaster Chamber. Sam Bressi is the president and CEO of the Lancaster County Community Foundation.