posted 11/27/09

It’s not, but this could easily be the story of an Irish, Italian or Jewish person who arrived in the United States a century ago, speaking no English, and having virtually no money. Instead, this is the story of Valeria Silva, and thousands of other Minnesota immigrants. A fascinating new report, “The Economic Impact of Immigrants in Minnesota” helps describe their impact in suburbs, greater Minnesota and cities.

Twenty-four years ago, Valeria Silva came here from Chile. She spoke no English, and had almost no money in her pocket. Last week, the St. Paul School Board, on a 7-0 vote, named her its next Superintendent of Schools.

Silva already has achieved a great deal, including helping to design, develop and then supervise an extremely successful approach to teaching English to students whose families don’t speak it at home. Research found that the approach Silva helped design, and that oversaw, virtually eliminated academic gaps between native English speaking students, and those who had to learn the language.

St. Paul non English speaking students have shown more progress than those in any other major urban district. The Obama administration has asked Silva for help. I’ve found her to be humble and hard-working.

Silva is just one of millions immigrants who have and are contributing to the U.S. A recent report by Hubert Institute Professor Katherine Fennelly and Master’s Candidate Anne Huart provides state and national evidence of this.

In “The Economic Impact of Immigrants in Minnesota” , www.mnla.biz/ftpgetfile.php?id=162, points out that

* 334,000 Minnesotans in 2007 were born in another country, 6.5% of state population

* Immigrant owned businesses generated $331 million dollars in net income to Minnesota in 2000

* The Number of Hispanic owned businesses in Minnesota has grown 350% since 1990.

* Foreign born workers represent the majority of growth in the Minnesota’s labor force

* If immigrants were removed from Minnesota’s labor force, there would be a loss of 24,000 jobs and $1.2 billion in personal income

* Children of immigrants are keeping many greater Minnesota schools from closing or consolidating

The report also shares important national statistics:

Immigrants are much less likely to commit crimes: In 2000, the rate of incarceration for non-immigrant males, ages 18-39 was 5 times that of immigrant males

The US Council of Economic Advisors estimates that this country’s net gain from immigration is $37 billion per year

Nationally immigrants represent 25% of physicians and 40% of engineers who hold doctoral degrees

The US Labor Department says we have an immediate shortage of 126,000 nurses. But getting permission to come to the US to work a nurse currently takes an average of 6 years. Greater Minnesota faces a shortage of 6,000 Registered Nurses in the next decade

Immigrants are most costly when they first arrive, or are in school, or retire. Over their life time, immigrants provide a net benefit to state and national economies

Fennelly and Huart concluded “Comprehensive immigration reform is necessary for the state to continue to realize the financial benefits of immigration.” They see a “Critical need for local efforts to insure full social and economic integration of immigrants.”

Valeria Silva helps show why this report is right.