Best Immigrant-Friendly Cities in America

Every year, millions of immigrants from all over the world are coming to the United States in search of a brighter future and greener pastures. Some of them are granted work permits and special visas allowing them to stay in the country, but some were not given the same opportunity due to certain reasons, such as not meeting policy standards.

Throughout his term, it is well documented that Trump's administration has exhibited a strong campaign to reduce the number of illegal immigrants in the country through new immigration policy. In an article published in USA Today, Midwestern cities are leading the nation in providing opportunities to immigrants, and Chicago is ranked 1st among the midwestern cities.

Following Chicago are the cities of Chula Vista, California; Jersey City; and San Francisco. The result of the best immigration-friendly cities is based on the National American Economy, a bipartisan research group dedicated to comprehensive immigration reform when it released its second-annual Cities index. Moreover, 100 cities were assessed by the group in 2019.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said that they are very proud that Chicago was named as the most welcoming city for immigrants and refugees and she added that the recognition is a reflection of people's effort, especially to the public officials and members in the community who have worked together for the acceptance of diversity, no matter what the costs.

Some well-known businessmen like Michael Bloomberg and other corporate executives launched the New American Economy in 2010 that is dedicated to reframe immigration reform as the solution to repair and stimulate the American economy. The group aims to create more opportunities for immigrants, secure the borders, prevent illegal immigration, and build a path for undocumented immigrants.

They measured the cities' annual index using 51 factors that determine how well cities create an immigrant-friendly environment that helps them succeed, including language access policies, employment, homeownership rates, medicare and more.

The director of Quantitative Research at New American Economy Andrew Lim said that Chicago ranked first this year because of the opportunities it gave to immigrants especially its policies supporting the undocumented immigrants and the DACA recipients. However, like other cities, Chicago came up short in providing the immigrants with affordable housing and equality in terms of income.

HERE ARE THE TOP 24 CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES THAT ARE IMMIGRANT-FRIENDLY

1. Chicago, IL

2. Chula Vista, CA

3. Jersey City, NJ

4. San Francisco, CA

5. Baltimore, MD

6. New York, NY

7. Anaheim, CA / Newark, NJ / San Jose, CA (tied)

8. Los Angeles, CA / Portland, OR (tied)

9. Philadelphia, PA

10. Washington, D.C.

11. Cleveland, OH

12. Cincinnati, OH / Greensboro, NC / San Diego, CA (tied)

13. Seattle, WA

14. Detroit, MI

15. Fremont, CA / Riverside, CA / Sacramento, CA (tied)

16. Irvine, CA

17. Albuquerque, NM / Milwaukee, WI / Oakland, CA (tied)

In another article published in Rentberry, Chicago was also named the safest city in the U.S. followed by San Jose, California, New York, San Francisco, California, and Philadelphia.