Illinois has been historically strong in immigration. For decades, its numbers were right up there with the four border states near Mexico. That has ebbed in recent years, starting with the overall decline following the Great Recession and then during the Trump administration that imposed additional restrictions.
The southern state program of busing migrants north and a change in presidential administration altered things.
Ed Yohnka is the communications and public policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois. Yohnka will speak Thursday to the Immigration Project in Normal. Yohnka said quite apart from the buses from the south, he thinks Illinois is rising again as a long-term destination for immigrants.
“The strong presence of communities of people from those countries in Illinois is making us a destination. Given the differences in security and climate and other things that are forcing and driving a lot of the migration, there's little doubt that Illinois, recognized as a place that has embraced and acclimated folks from a variety of different countries and cultures, will be seen as a destination,” said Yohnka.
Cost of care
The City of Chicago estimates it will cost $344 million by the end of the year to care for migrants. The state also has started and halted insurance programs for some migrants because of cost. Yohnka said that’s the wrong lens through which to view the issue.
"What would we do if an entire community in Illinois for example was wiped out by a flood or a tornado? We wouldn't ask ourselves these questions. We would simply see how we could provide the help," said Yohnka.
More thought needs to be given to the best way to provide services, he said. It may not be solely government funding. It could be shared responsibility between the government and private sectors and partnerships.
“I think all of those questions are questions that we can wrestle with. We can walk and chew gum at the same time, when it comes to these sorts of things,” said Yohnka.
Yohnka noted most economists have recognized immigration is good for the economy in the long run. It creates a strong pool of workers at a time when it is increasingly difficult to get people to do certain kinds of jobs. It addresses falling fertility rates in the U.S. that are lower than replacement rates. And, in part, it could make up for the workforce shortage amplified by the retirement of the baby boom generation.
Some economists say segments of migrants, particularly those from Venezuela, have a higher level of professional qualifications on average than the bulk of new immigrants. Yet when they arrive, they often cannot work to their level of qualification because of language issues, or difficulty in international vetting of professional credentials. Yohnka suggested this is one of the areas of immigration policy that Congress needs to address to get a fuller economic benefit from immigration.
“In many of these areas we are wedded to a system from a generation ago. We ought to be able to modernize the way that we look at those credentials,” he said, adding the language issue largely disappears within a generation — and an expedited credentialing process is possible.
“I think it's going to look different in every circumstance. I think it could involve temporary recognition that may include some sort of kind of fellowship or internship, to have other professionals assessing and judging their skills in real time as opposed to simply on paper,” said Yohnka.
He said educational background vetting should look more broadly and holistically at what society needs people to do instead of the letters behind their names, noting immigration is good for more than just the state economy. The influx of migrants is good culturally as well.
"Whether it's people creating art or being restaurateurs or engaging in celebrations that enrich all of our communities, I think all of those things are good," said Yohnka.
Exploited children
In the last two years, more than 250,000 children have entered the United States by themselves. Nearly half came from Guatemala where poverty, not unrest, has fueled migration. Parents know they'll be turned away at the border or deported. They send the kids to get work and send money back.
The Biden administration has expedited the placement process to avoid warehousing children in border area camps. Shortening the time has allowed some local sponsors of the children and some employers to exploit their labor.
“Thinking through each step of this, looking at ways to deal with people in the reality of what they face and what they experience when they come to the country is the better approach," said Yohnka. "But that's also the harder approach. It's also the one that's the hardest in the context of the current political environment. I grant that none of this has been easy. People have tried to take interim steps, which can lead to these kinds of unintended consequences.”
The Immigration Project
Yohnka praised the work of the Immigration Project, which helps migrants navigate the legal path to residency and citizenship. He called the work "heroic."
“We often forget, because we get caught up in images of people coming to this country, that they're doing that based on a life-or-death decision. The legal work that the Immigration Project does, and does in a quiet way, is really, really important to those families. It is something we ought to lift up and contribute to and support,” said Yohnka.
He said the work is exceptionally hard, both because of the influx of newcomers and in the present environment.
“With the political demonization of migrants and newcomers that continues to ramp up, there is this element of trying to make people from different countries others. That othering makes that work harder. The system works more slowly and doesn't think in more creative ways. And we don't get holistic, comprehensive immigration reform,” said Yohnka.
He urged people to try to change hearts and minds in conversation with those who disagree on immigration.
“We all have a family origin story that usually involves someone heroically coming to this country, sometimes alone, sometimes as a child, sometimes in desperate circumstances. And yet, at the same time, when we see those things mocked, in public these days, we don't respond. We need to all be part of this narrative reset,” said Yohnka.
“Our own lived experience is a much better guide for that than anything that will come from Washington, D.C., New York, or someone like me in Chicago. Each story and their own origin stories are an inspiration for the way forward.”
Resistance to immigration, many scholars have said, comes from fear of economic or cultural loss. Yohnka acknowledged it is difficult to convince people their job will not be taken, or their view of traditional societal values is not threatened.
“You probably don’t do it in just one conversation. If communication science teaches us anything, this is an ongoing, repeated, regularized effort that is required. The second element of that ... the reason many people have that fear is because that's the only message that they're hearing,” said Yohnka. “If we talk about how our communities are better and stronger when they're more diverse we provide that kind of counter programming to some of the fear that ultimately erodes that over time.”
Another strand of Yohnka and the ACLU’s pro-immigration argument includes moral issues.
“For folks from around the world who are fleeing tyranny and hardship and fear, I think it’s an opportunity for a community that's split apart and divided to come together and unite,” said Yohnka, adding there also is a role for downstate communities to play — not just the magnet of Chicago.
“I think there are many downstate communities that could benefit, whether it's the kind of folks who have professional backgrounds and professional capacities that could serve and help, or whether it's simply an enhancement in the diversity in a community and the culture of a community,” said Yohnka.
He acknowledged many downstate communities face the same challenges as Chicago, notably a lack of affordable and available housing.
“All of those questions will have to be balanced. But I think this is an opportunity for every community to play a role,” said Yohnka.
