For decades, it was second and third generation Chicagoans who left the city's distinct ethnic neighborhoods for the green lawns of the suburbs. But in recent years, it's not just established, economically-mobile families that have moved further from the central city; a growing number of new immigrants are bypassing Chicago and heading straight to the suburbs. Unfortunately, many local communities have not dealt adequately with this trend.
After surveying 31 Chicagoland municipalities that represent new ports of entry for immigrants, Fernando Diaz of the Chicago Reporter writes that "in many ways, communities across Chicago's six-county region are playing catch-up when it comes to addressing the needs of their foreign-born residents." Among his findings:
- Five communities do not translate any of their documents, including newsletters, permits or ordinances.
- Less than half, 14, of the communities have local organizations that monitor issues such as human rights and housing within the immigrant community.
- All communities employ bilingual officers in their police departments, but only two communities require language or cultural training for police officers.
- Foreign-born residents have been elected to municipal councils in only two communities--Aurora and Evanston. Seven communities do not have any foreign-born residents in elected or appointed positions, while officials were unsure if any foreign-born residents were appointed in 11 communities.
Of course, there is a learning curve for any community struggling with a changing populace. And as Sylvia Puente, director of the Center for Metropolitan Chicago Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, tells the Reporter, some suburban leaders are beginning to recognize that they must address the impact and needs of immigrants in their communities. But a greater sense of urgency may be necessary to ease rising tensions.
"We can't afford to wait for that process to unfold how it did a generation ago. We really believe, if that process just happens over a generation or two, we’re losing people’s contributions," said Puente.
So what's it going to take to implement more humane and successful integration policies across the six-county region? Political pressure from immigrant communities and their allies -- present during the 14th Congressional District special election in March -- will be key. Another crucial component is honest dialogue between immigrants, native residents, and their elected officials:
Edwin Silverman, chief of the Illinois Department of Human Services' Bureau of Refugee and Immigrant Services, said immigrants and residents in their communities will have to work to understand each other—or the potential for problems will grow.
"Time and again across the country when there has been intergroup conflict, it inevitably stems from the fact that these groups hadn’t been talking to each other, don’t understand each other and the powers-that-be had not provided opportunities for the groups to meet and talk," he said.
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