Efforts towards Improving a Host Society’s Perceptions of Immigrants

The immigration process can be a demanding and risky venture, and it often requires considerable energy, commitment, struggle and sacrifice of those who seek to start a new life in foreign lands.  While immigrants and their families shoulder much of the burden of integrating into new societies, the longer-term members of those societies are also implicated in this process. Without their deliberate and thoughtful engagement, which may consist of adapting their own behaviors and expectations and examining their stereotypes about new arrivals, successful integration is not possible. Support for integration cannot be based only upon providing services directly to immigrants learning about how to live in a new society; also needed are programs and activities to support native citizens as they learn about and accept their new neighbors, classmates, colleagues, and customers.  Receiving societies have begun experimenting with a wide range of approaches to engaging new members in the complex process of immigrant integration; while there is still much to be done, there is also considerable promise in this area.  At the same time, however, few government officials and policy-makers have publicly recognized the critical role of the host society in the integration process or the need to support such initiatives; and as such, this remains one of the most under-resourced aspects of immigrant integration strategies.

Educating Local Service Providers

Local service providers (health workers, police officers, teachers, etc.) are often newly arrived immigrants’ first and most frequent points of contact with their new society. In fact, interactions with these service providers may constitute some of the rare opportunities that new immigrants have to meet and communicate with members of their host society, particularly in cities where ethnic and residential segregation is the norm. Therefore, it is important to provide targeted support and training to those providers and public servants who work closely with newcomers and equip them with the background knowledge, cultural awareness, sensitivity, and skills to work effectively with immigrants.  In many ways, these individuals are ambassadors for the host society, and their attitudes and behaviors may set the tone for the larger integration process ahead.  Programs and interventions to develop greater sensitivity, cultural awareness, and the necessary skills can take a variety of forms, ranging from professional development sessions and trainings to organized educational visits to immigrants’ countries of origin.

The Center for International Understanding is a public service program of the University of North Carolina that is dedicated to enhancing mutual understanding among diverse communities within the state and across the globe. The Center offers training programs, leads international trips, and coordinates conferences and events with this goal in mind.  One training area works with K–12 teachers to develop skills and knowledge they can use to help their students become globally competent citizens. Another initiative offers resources, experience, and training to business, policy, and school leaders to increase their global awareness, and it includes travel to the countries of origin of immigrants in their communities as a key component. Finally, the Center educates local leaders about the demographic changes their communities are experiencing and provides them with strategies to help guide their communities through these transformations. For further information, see http://ciu.northcarolina.edu

The Municipal Department of Integration and Diversity in Vienna, Austria coordinates a variety of programs and activities related to immigrant integration. The Department of Integration and Diversity works with other municipal offices to implement diversity-oriented policies, improve their front-office services for heterogeneous populations, and assist them in educating local service providers. For example, they offer trainings and support for municipal offices to adjust their services to meet the needs of immigrant populations. The staff of MA-17 is uniquely qualified to do this work, hailing from 14 different countries and speaking 23 languages. For further information, see http://www.wien.gv.at/english/social/integration/index.html 

Combating Negative Stereotypes

Strategies to improve a host society’s reception of immigrants must take a multi-pronged approach to addressing the variety of issues that emerge when long-term residents are faced with changes in their communities. Demographic shifts and in-migration often produce fear of the unknown among long-term residents, and this fear converts too regularly into easy acceptance of negative stereotypes about newcomers. These stereotypes and the beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes they generate may have long-term and highly damaging consequences for social cohesion and immigrant integration. As a result, investing in campaigns to challenge false and harmful stereotypes — perhaps not only about new immigrants but also about other maligned members of society — is crucial.  Media efforts and widespread public awareness strategies can be powerful approaches to combating negative stereotypes.  Public and political will must forcefully promote positive images and messages in order to guide successful integration processes that engage all members of society.

The Centro Interculturale Mondinsieme in Reggio Emilia, Italy, is an open space for all citizens, long-term and newly arrived, to come together, exchange ideas, and generate dialogue about the changing face of Reggio society. As part of its “laboratory of ideas,” the Center publishes a regular column in the local paper highlighting the achievements and day-to-day positive contributions of new immigrants, especially youth, to Reggio society. For further information, see http://www.municipio.re.it/retecivica/urp/retecivi.nsf/PESDocumentID/B5198D673DCA359EC1256AFF003137F2?opendocument&FROM=dlscnt8&ES=-1

The Refugee Awareness Project emerged out of the work of Refugee Action, an organization whose mission, since 1981, has been to make refugee voices heard in the United Kingdom.  By developing a formal role for volunteer refugees, the Refugee Awareness Project has expanded the scope and reach of their work.  Volunteers and project coordinators give interactive workshops and talks in schools, museums, places of worship, sports clubs, offices, and wherever they are invited.  Their free sessions are designed to help the audience learn to distinguish fact from fiction about refugees and to give people an opportunity to ask questions about refugee policy and refugees’ experiences in the U.K. Using a mix of activities, film, discussion, and first-hand accounts from refugee and asylum seeker volunteers, the workshops are tailor-made to each group’s individual needs. For further information, see http://www.refugee-action.org.uk/RAP/default.aspx

In Spain, the Fundación CEAR (Consejo de Apoyo a los Refugiados ) (the Foundation Council of Support for Refugees) financed a public awareness campaign by a small NGO entitled, “Enséñame Africa” (“Show me Africa,”) aimed educating the Spanish public, and particularly students, about the lives of African refugees in Spain. The campaign sought to highlight the realities of refugee migration to Spain, emphasizing pre-migration conditions, the motivations behind migration, the challenges that migrants face, and the impact of displacement in their daily lives.  Although the campaign is no longer running, further information about Fundación CEAR can be found at http://www.fundacioncear.org/

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, another winner of the 2009 E Pluribus Unum Award for an outstanding immigrant integration initiative,has shown leadership in a new destination state by developing programs that strive to increase public understanding of the harsh realities of immigration and to engage people in a constructive dialogue about the demographic changes in their communities.  The Welcoming Tennessee Initiative sends ambassadors into communities to raise public awareness, advocate for policies that support thoughtful integration, and provide support for new community members. Conceived in partnership with a range of non-governmental actors, this project serves as a model for how active citizens can be agents for change and leaders in developing strategies for strong, inclusive communities.  The Welcoming Tennessee Initiative has inspired similar efforts in thirteen states. For more information go to http://www.welcomingtn.org/

Facilitating Contact between Native Residents and Newcomers

Human contact is one of the most powerful ways to break down artificial barriers among people, challenge misconceptions, and develop meaningful partnerships, relationships, and cooperation.  Residential segregation, high concentrations of immigrants in certain employment sectors, and xenophobia can result in severe social separation between immigrants and other members of a host society, and this constitutes a significant obstacle to successful integration.  Although in many ways more difficult than training service providers and financing public awareness campaigns, promoting opportunities for sustained and meaningful social interaction between immigrants and native residents is the lynchpin of an effective strategy to improve host society reception of immigrants, and ultimately facilitate a more rapid and smooth integration process.

The unique one-on-one citizenship mentorship program created as part of the Littleton Immigrant Integration Initiative was born out of community leaders’ belief in the importance of building bridges between old and new residents.  Although participants are focused on a specific goal — preparing for and passing the citizenship test, the impact of the program has dramatically transcended this. The mentoring relationship has fostered closer ties between native-born and immigrant members of the community, encouraged civic engagement, and enhanced intercultural understanding. Mentors provide much more than just civics instruction to immigrants; they help connect them with professional, educational, and health services. At the same time, immigrants introduce their mentors to different languages, cultures, and life experiences. Through the Littleton Immigrant Integration Initiative, the City of Littleton, Colorado has put the idea of inclusiveness into practice and begun to reap the benefits of diversity and social cohesion.  For further information see www.connectingimmigrants.org.