Introduction

Over the past several decades, tens of thousands of -immigrants have arrived in Minnesota. They have come from all over the world, and settled throughout the state. They’ve come for the same reason that attracted immigrants in the past: opportunity. And they experience the same difficulties of adjusting to life in a new country—-language barriers, culture shock, a sense of loss, and isolation. (See also History)

Established Minnesotans, for the most part, are eager to welcome and learn more about these new members of our community. Certainly there are challenges inherent in incorporating new languages and customs into the fabric of Minnesota life. However, the economic and cultural benefits enrich our schools, neighborhoods, businesses, and communities. And make Minnesota a more interesting place to live.

Definitions

Every year, far more people want to immigrate to the U.S. than are allowed by law. For practical and humanitarian reasons, the federal government distinguishes among people, depending on where they come from, whether they have work skills that are needed in this country, and whether they already have relatives here. These distinctions determine who can come to the U.S., for how long, and under what classification.

Refugee
A person who is unable or unwilling to live in his or her native country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Like many countries, the U.S. has made a commitment to allowing refugees to settle here.

Immigrant
A person who moves to a country where he or she intends to settle permanently. Legal immigrants have permission of the government to live in the U.S. Undocumented, or illegal, immigrants do not.

Guest or Temporary Worker
A person who has temporary permission to work in the United States

Visa
A legal permit to enter the US There are many different types of visas, granted according to the purpose, such as travel, work, or study.

Foreign-born Person
A US resident who was not a citizen at birth.

Undocumented Worker
A -person living and working in the US without legal -permission to do so.

Green Card
A colloquial term for the permit that enables someone who is not a citizen to live and work in the United States.

Family Reunification
The process by which citizens and legal immigrants, including refugees, are allowed to sponsor close relatives, enabling them to come live in the US Every year, approximately two-thirds of this country’s legal immigrants join family members already living here.

Naturalization
The process by which an immigrant becomes a US citizen. With a few exceptions (such as the right to run for president), naturalized citizens have all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities as native-born citizens.

Please note that for the sake of simplicity, the term “immigrant” has been used throughout our brochure and website to describe both immigrant and refugee populations, unless otherwise indicated.

Why Minnesota?

During the 1990s alone, Minnesota’s foreign-born population more than doubled, from 110,000 to 240,000.
For many immigrants, Minnesota provides the first glimpse of life in the United States. Others settle briefly elsewhere in America, but relocate to Minnesota because of family ties, economic and educational opportunities, or for other reasons.

Minnesota is attractive to immigrants for the same reasons it is attractive to the rest of us: a strong economy, good quality of life, educational opportunities, and a thriving civic and cultural life.
Minnesota also has a history of active volunteerism regarding immigration and refugee resettlement, led primarily by faith-based organizations.

Immigration Contributions

Tensions may arise as new immigrants establish themselves socially and financially. Some established Minnesotans may feel resentment or competition towards relative newcomers who appear to be surpassing them economically. Others may fear that already scarce resources will be spread even more thinly as services such as job training and English language instruction are provided to new immigrants. And some people are simply intolerant of cultural differences.

Yet, the contributions of immigrants benefit us all in many ways:

Work—filling jobs and providing services. Some industries, such as food processing and meat packing, are almost entirely dependent on immigrant labor.

Economic development—revitalizing neighborhoods and communities that had previously been abandoned, depressed, and unsafe. These new businesses and amenities help re-establish a healthy tax base, generating more resources for the entire community.

Intellectual capital—benefiting from the ideas and innovations of immigrant scholars. Today’s immigrants will contribute tomorrow to advancements in science, technology, health care, and other fields.

Arts, culture, and cuisine—sharing new ideas and customs with Minnesotans to enrich our lives. Today we can choose from a robust variety of food, music, and artistic offerings—such as salsa, spaghetti, fortune cookies, jazz, murals, and soccer—that were all either introduced or influenced by other cultures.

 

Economic Impact

Immigrants contribute to the economy in multiple ways: by paying taxes, filling job vacancies, engaging in entrepreneurial activities and neighborhood revitalization, and also through the consumption of goods and services. Since the majority of immigrants arrive at a young working age, they contribute to the economy for decades, often while remaining ineligible to receive some social service benefits.

For example, more than 16,000 Asian-Indians living in Minnesota have a consumer base of nearly $500 million, pay $5.2 million in real estate taxes and $2.3 million in rent, and own 400 companies, employing more than 6,000 -people. 97% of Minnesota’s Asian-Indians have received no public assistance.

It’s true there are significant short-term costs associated with immigration. With the resettlement of refugees in particular, education, job training, health care, and other support systems must adapt to meet new and complex needs. The long-term economic benefits, -however, more than offset those costs.

Studies continue to emerge that document the net financial gains that immigration produces. Economics, however, are just one aspect of immigration; civic and humanitarian, intellectual and artistic, and other important contributions are difficult to quantify.

Terms and Assumptions

Asian-American, African-American, Latino—who do you think of when you hear these terms? The Census, like most tools for dissecting information demographically, relies on these broad categories. Yet they do not distinguish between established residents and recent immigrants or distinguish among nationalities within racial groups. That contributes to the difficulty in “counting” populations and alters the substance of statistics typically relied upon to measure a racial or ethnic community’s health and progress (e.g., housing, income, and educational achievement). It also obscures the differences between individuals who share a geographic or cultural origin. Immigrants—even from the same nation or ethnic group—arrive in Minnesota with varying levels of literacy, educational attainment, professional experience, family support, and physical and psychological health.

While some mass resettlement efforts (such as those of the Hmong and the Somalis) have brought greater attention to immigration in Minnesota, it is worth remembering that people from all around the world have made their home in Minnesota for generations. For example, Latinos have been living in Minnesota since the mid-19th century, yet established Latino residents often find themselves being treated like newcomers to this state, rather than long-time contributors to and shapers of the Minnesota we live in today.

Finally, it is worth noting that “we” are not all immigrants, contrary to a common assertion among some well-meaning Minnesotans. Although the majority of Minnesotans today claim European ancestry, the first Minnesotans were Native Americans, most notably the Ojibwe and Dakota. And African-Americans first came to the United States—and thereafter to Minnesota—through slavery, a forced migration. While it may be uncomfortable to discuss these distinctions and, more importantly, what they mean, it is critical to discussions of who we are as Minnesotans, especially when the discourse turns to divisions between “us” and “them.”

Family Life

Due to economic pressures, many immigrants must adjust to changing family dynamics. Families may be expected to take care of their aging parents at home but need to find alternative care instead, or some grandparents may be enlisted as child-care providers as parents work full-time outside of the home.

Family Size
Like the European immigrants who arrived more than a century ago, many of Minnesota’s newest immigrant groups tend to have larger families. In their countries of origin, more children meant more assistance with family farms and businesses and more resources to take care of young, old, and sick or disabled family members. In the US, however, more children often translates into economic hardship—in terms of daily provisions (food, clothing, etc.), the need for paid child and senior care, and increased health care and -housing costs.

Family Separation
Immigrants often endure separation from family members. Even as they establish new roots and relationships in Minnesota, immigrants struggle to maintain close ties to relatives in their country of origin, often sending a portion of their incomes back home where economic opportunities are scarce. This financial support has received close scrutiny after September 11th as federal investigators fear that some funds are being transferred—whether intentionally or unknowingly so—to support terrorist activities.

Changing Family Dynamics
Many immigrants must adjust to changing cultural and family dynamics. In Somalia, for example, women don’t traditionally work outside of the home, men are the decision-makers, and physical punishment of children is acceptable. These norms are changing for Somali residents of Minnesota, due to economic and social pressures. In many cultures, adult children are expected to take care of their aging parents, but in Minnesota they may need to find institutional care instead as the adult children need to work full-time (often multiple jobs) to make ends meet. Alternatively, many grandparents are enlisted as child-care providers as parents find work outside of the home.

Education

Minnesota’s public school students now speak more than 70 different languages at home. Some students were born in the US and speak English fluently, although their parents speak their native language at home. Others—more than 50,000 children in the 2003-04 school year—are classified as “English Language Learners” (ELL).

Because they have a limited ability to speak, read, and write English, ELL students often struggle academically. But even the children who speak English fluently confront challenges. Many immigrant parents find it hard to communicate with teachers and school administrators about homework and other important matters. For these students, getting help with homework at home—even math, with its current emphasis on word problems—is often difficult if not impossible.

This language barrier has implications for parent-child relationships beyond the daily completion of school assignments. As -children gain fluency more quickly than their parents, they become major conduits for a range of information parents need.

Although St. Paul and Minneapolis have by far the most students who speak a language other than English at home (more than 17,000 and 12,000, respectively), this phenomenon is not exclusively urban. Suburban school districts from Anoka to Burnsville, Wayzata to White Bear Lake must find a way to educate hundreds or even thousands of such students. In parts of Greater Minnesota—Marshall, Long Prairie, Faribault—more than one of every 10 students doesn’t speak English at home. In a few small districts, such as Sleepy Eye, Pelican Rapids, and St. James, the figure is one of four.

Throughout American history, education has been essential to helping immigrants gain a foothold in the US economy and fully participate in civic life. Access to higher education will continue to be critical to helping the children of today’s immigrants become productive workers, citizens, and leaders.

Immigrant adults, too, pursue education—including English language classes and job training—often in conjunction with full-time work and family life.

Terrorism and National Security

From Mexico to Laos, Bosnia to Somalia, events half a world away often determine who comes to Minnesota as immigrants and refugees. Once in America, they find that world events continue to influence their lives in the form of federal and local policies that regulate immigration, documentation, and mobility.

Since September 11th, the phrase “national security” has been invoked as the impetus for many of these changes. For example, male temporary visitors from more than a dozen Muslim countries—most of them in the Middle East—have been photographed and fingerprinted by the federal government. In Minnesota, as -elsewhere throughout the country, policy debates about national -security and human and civil rights are often emotional and -divisive. In some respects, this is reminiscent of the anti-German and Japanese campaigns during the first and second world wars.

Civic and Political Life

After adjusting to a new way of life, immigrants begin to participate in and exercise their civic privileges, from voting and volunteerism to running for elected office. Immigrant groups are increasingly being recognized for their political influence. Much has been written nationally about the “Latino vote,” which has begun to bear weight locally, as well. Minnesota is also home to the nation’s only two Hmong state legislators, both of whom came to the US as child refugees.

Like most Minnesotans, immigrants are typically inspired to join the political process to improve circumstances for their family, neighborhood, or community; however, they serve and represent all of their constituents equally. Over the next several decades, the demographic composition of Minnesota’s political and civic leadership will change to more closely reflect the demographics of the state.

Getting Along

As Minnesotans—both long-time residents and recent immigrants—live, work, and socialize in an increasingly diverse environment, they often seek cues or guidance for interacting with people from other cultures.

While it’s true that people from the same nation, -ethnicity, or religion may share many customs and -practices, these can vary from family to family, and often become less pronounced over time. It is important to not presume everyone from one country or region adheres to the most traditional cultural practices, but rather to be respectful and aware of possible cultural differences. For example:

Avoid relying on children as family interpreters.
Immigrant -children are often exposed to age-inappropriate information when asked to translate for parents and other older relatives who don’t speak English. This is especially important in matters of health, finance, social services, and other sensitive areas.

Be mindful of body language.
In some cultures, people tend to stand very close together in conversation, while in others people prefer some physical distance—especially between men and women. Making or receiving direct eye contact can be uncomfortable for some people. Watch for physical clues to learn what’s comfortable and be conservative with touches such as hugs and handshakes.

Family involvement in decision-making can vary.
In some -cultures, major decisions are reached by the family patriarch, in consultation with clan elders, or through other collaborative processes. This means that sometimes an individual may not be able to make an immediate decision, but may need time to discuss it with other family or community members.

Be sensitive to and accepting of religious differences.
Religion can influence dress, diet, schedule, choice of profession, and numerous other aspects of daily life. Treat these practices with the same respect you would expect to receive for your own.