Immigrant Rights in the Shadows of Citizenship

15. Building Coalitions for Immigrant Power

329 chapter 15 Building Coalitions for Immigrant Power Fred Tsao This article discusses how my organization , the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), has sought to organize immigrant communities across ethnic lines to build power and shape policy. I begin by describing the demographic context of our work, then discuss our overall strategy, as well as specific examples of coalition building across immigrant communities and beyond. The Immigrant Population in Illinois More than 12.4 million people lived in Illinois as of 2005. Of these, 1.7 million , or 13.6 percent, are foreign-born, and 1.5 million are the U.S.-born children of immigrants. About one-half of Illinois’ immigrants entered the United States between 1995 and 2005. New immigrant arrivals account for 51 percent of the state’s net population growth since 2000, and nearly 60 percent of its growth between 1990 and 2000.1 Illinois’ immigrants break 330 Fred Tsao down by immigration status into three major categories: approximately 425,000 are undocumented; another 500,000 are lawful permanent residents (LPRs), or green card holders; and 735,000 are naturalized citizens.2 Illinois immigrants now come from all corners of the globe: about 48 percent are from Latin America, 24 percent from Europe, 24 percent from Asia, and 2 percent from Africa. While Mexican immigrants make up the largest national group (695,000, or 41 percent of the total foreign-born population ), Illinois is also home to 150,000 immigrants from Poland; 104,000 from India; 80,000 from the Philippines; and large populations from China, Korea, the former Soviet Union, the former Yugoslavia, Germany, Italy, and Pakistan.3 It would be a grave mistake to think of Illinois’ immigrants as just Mexican or just Latino. Illinois’ immigrant population has historically concentrated in the city of Chicago. While metropolitan Chicago is still home to 93 percent of all of Illinois’ foreign-born residents, far more now live in the Chicago suburbs (984,000) than in the city (590,000).4 Immigrant communities are emerging in places like Waukegan, Elgin, Aurora, and Joliet, satellite cities of Chicago that are growing again due to the influx of new immigrant residents. More dramatically, 30 of Illinois’ 102 counties experienced an increase of more than 100 percent in their immigrant populations between 1990 and 2000; Cass County witnessed a 1141 percent surge in its foreign-born residents, as immigrants came to work in food processing plants in the county seat, Beardstown.5 Small rural communities like Cobden, Arcola, and Mendota are now home to growing immigrant communities. The dispersion of Illinois’ immigrants translates into much greater potential political influence. Nine of 19 Congressional districts had populations that were at least 10 percent foreign born, including the district of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert west of Chicago.6 Similarly, 55 of the 118 legislative districts for the Illinois General Assembly had at least 10,000 immigrant constituents.7 The shifting demographics within many of these districts, particularly those in the Chicago suburbs that have long been held by Republicans, provide an opportunity for immigrant voters to tip the balance of power on both state and federal levels. Building Coalitions for Immigrant Power 331 Vision and Strategy ICIRR’s vision is summarized in fig. 15.1. This vision seeks to convert what could be negatives about our state’s immigrant population into positives. Diverse communities that could fragment as they pursue their own interests exclusively are instead producing strong coalitions around shared goals. Dispersed immigrants might not be numerous enough in many areas to elect their own representatives, but they could provide crucial margins of victory in swing districts. The inability of the majority of immigrants to vote, rather than disempowering them, instead has motivated them to mobilize in other ways and to pursue opportunities for citizenship. In realizing this vision, ICIRR has used two basic principles of community organizing: understand and appeal to the self-interest of various constituencies , and build a sense of solidarity among them through relationships and collective action. Fig. 15.1. In this chart, ICIRR documents the proportions of foreign-born denizens of the state. ICIRR’s strategy for immigrant rights emphasizes naturalization and citizenship, so that immigrants become voters and can affect policy. Source: Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; for more information, see www.icirr.org, “Take Action!” 332 Fred Tsao Undocumented Immigrants: Legalization One of ICIRR’s major...