Forced migrants are already our neighbors

I’m a Cleveland Heights resident who’s been working in solidarity with forced migrants for the past year. While I’m very new to this work and have much to learn, I know enough to be concerned by Alan Rapaport’s August 2024 opinion in the Heights Observer: “Illegal migration is potential problem here.”

Mr. Rapaport gestures toward a hypothetically dire future if a range of “what-ifs” occur, while invoking, seemingly without irony, the xenophobic height of Cold War Red Scare media. But he does little to explore what’s already happening for forced migrants in Greater Cleveland, and how many in Cleveland Heights are already taking action to ensure that this remains a safe and flourishing community for everyone who lives here—no matter what citizenship they hold.

The term “forced migrants” encompasses refugees and asylum seekers—distinct legal groups with differing rights under U.S. and international law. Refugees are designated as such before they ever enter the country because they come from a place of recognized danger. Asylum seekers, on the other hand, while legally protected during the asylum process, are much more likely to arrive alone because of personal circumstances, and have less access to dedicated resources.

What Rapoport wrote about people in desperate circumstances and crime rates can absolutely be true, and is worthy of our consideration. [We should  ask] not whether such desperate people should be allowed anywhere near our community, but how we and the governments we elect can lessen their desperation.

There’s abundant evidence that forced migrants do not bring heightened crime to their new communities. One study by the CATO institute found that undocumented immigrants are 47% less likely than U.S.-born persons to be convicted of a crime. The National Bureau of Economic Research showed in 2020 that immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated for a crime—and have been since 1870!

Each of us can pitch in to make the happier endings for everyone in our community that Mr. Rapoport’s piece predicts are impossible. The organization AMIS (Americans Making Immigrants Safe) includes many Cleveland Heights residents who are already making sure that asylum seekers have all the things that Rapoport fears “potential” migrants won’t: housing, groceries, support. The Rainbow Initiative, with which my wife and I are active, works to connect faith communities with LGBTQ forced migrants. For those worried about immigration’s fiscal impact, Global Cleveland has been working since 2011 to connect immigrants to Cleveland jobs in ways that actually bolster our local economy. These and many other local organizations would gladly welcome the assistance of those who fear that migrants with Temporary Protected Status might be without support upon their arrival in Cleveland.

We should also emphasize individual human realities. AMIS Board President Anne Hill said, of two Haitian men currently living in Cleveland Heights and working full-time jobs on their work permits, “They are incredibly reliable and excellent workers.” Gary Benjamin, another AMIS board member, pointed out how multiple immigrant children—who initially came here as asylum seekers—are enrolled in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school system.

Forced migrants of all ages, no matter their current legal status, are already our neighbors and are already contributing to our community. While a sudden spike in the local migrant population would need to be addressed with planning and resources, I have already seen the creativity and energy our community has brought to the issue thus far. Given sufficient attention by our local, state, and federal government, and the goodwill of ordinary citizens, I believe we are up to the challenge.