This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 10, 2011 - For all the fiery talk about immigration, legal or illegal, Missouri doesn't appear to have much of either. But St. Louis continues to be a magnet for legal refugees.
Those, in essence, were the key points made by Anna Crosslin, chief executive of the International Institute of St. Louis, as she laid out the statistics during a two-hour forum on immigration set up by U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis.
Held Tuesday at Washington University, the forum featured immigration experts, lawyers and social-service agencies -- all specialists in assisting immigrants. KMOX radio host Charles Brennan was the moderator.
Clay said his aim was to assemble nonpartisan experts to provide constructive information, while debunking the "misinformation'' that he said seems to accompany most discussions of immigration.
The topic apparently continues to be a hot one, as the forum packed the large lecture room where it was held.
Crosslin noted that the latest Census figures show that the St. Louis region's immigrant population is 6 percent. That's twice Missouri's statewide figure of 3 percent. National numbers indicate that immigrants make up 14 percent of the nation's overall population.
While St. Louis is 21st among the nation's population centers when it comes to providing a home for refugees, the region's total immigrant population drops it to 60th. And when it comes to undocumented or illegal immigrants, Missouri ranks among the bottom 10 lowest states.
Crosslin's point was that such numbers underscore that Missouri doesn't have much of a problem with illegal immigrants -- but it also doesn't share in the rising diverse population that the United States is experiencing as a whole.
For example: About one in five of the nation's children, Crosslin said, have at least one parent whose legal residency status can't be verified -- and may be illegally in the country.
Such facts call for "pragmatic solutions,'' she said, as government officials decide what to do with the parents who may be illegal immigrants -- but who have at leaset one child who is a United States citizen.
Former St. Louis County Executive Gene McNary served for as the head of the federal Immigration and Natural Service from 1989-1993. He offered what he considered a pragmatic proposal for getting millions of illegal immigrants to leave the United States voluntarily.
"I would allow one time for anyone to leave ... and then come in legally'' without paying a penalty, McNary said. As it stands, he explained, millions of illegals stay in the United States because, if they leave, they can't legally return because they will be penalized.
McNary, who worked a decade as an immigration lawyer, said Congress cannot offer amnesty to illegal immigrants, especially because millions of people around the world have legally applied for entry and are willing to wait years for the proper documents.
The average wait for people from the Philippines had been 17 years, he said.
Immigration lawyer Kenneth Schmitt proposed that illegal immigrants already in the country be allowed to apply for a "green card,'' which allows legal residency, if they can show they have not been arrested, have jobs and are productive.
Such an approach is practical, he said, and was used by then-President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.
Several speakers agreed with Clay that something needs to be done for children of illegal immigrants who often have spent almost all of their lives in the United States. They often find out about their undocumented status only when they try to go to college.
Clay acknowledged the congressional resistance to the "DREAM Act,'' which would allow such children to obtain conditional residency and later full citizenship, if they served in the military or attended college for at least two years. Clay said such an approach made economic sense and also was compassionate.
What was not in dispute was that the United States has spent tens of billions of dollars to battle the illegal immigration problem with limited success.
Clay said that the United States deported 400,000 people in 2010, at an average cost to the government of $40,000 apiece.
And McNary recalled that the size of the U.S. border patrols have exploded over the past 20 years, from 4,000 border officers to about 18,000 now.
Chester Moyer, field officer director for the federal Citizen and Immigration Services, said Americans shouldn't overlook the benefits provided by legal immigrants.
Immigrants from Bosnia and southeast Asia, for example, have transformed parts of south St. Louis and neighboring parts of the county, he said. The new businesses and rehabbed neighborhoods have, in turn, created more jobs and opportunity, he said.
Clay told the crowd that "it has always been painfully obvious to me that our immigration policy is broken, and we need to fix it. "
While immigrants "must obey the law," he added that the nation also has to "find a way to help the 12 million undocumented immigrants come out of the shadows to become lawful and productive members of our society."
Clay added that he hoped to see more such forums. "I truly believe that the best way to find common ground that will lead us to a solution is to start listening to each other," he said.
