Governor to unveil 'The New Americans Agenda'

Massachusetts Governor, Deval patrick listens to questions from journalists during a press conference with representatives of various print and electonic media in the ethnic and minority communities in Mass.. H.Maina/Ajabu

BOSTON, Mass,_ OCTOBER _2009_Massachusetts Governor, Deval Patrick, has said that minorities and immigrants in the state will benefit immensely from the new policy measures proposed in “The New Americans Agenda” initiative he signed into an executive order last year.

The initiative aims at creating a policy that better integrates immigrants and refugees who are considered to be The New Americans into economic and civic life in the state while increasing educational opportunities and greater levels of citizenship.

The new proposals will be unveiled on November 17, 2009 at the New Americans Agenda Conference to be held at the great hall in State House on Beacon Hill, Boston.

The New Americans Agenda is to be based on the recommendations of various "experts" and ongoing research which includes feedback from ordinary immigrants in the state. 

The experts include Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants (MORI) and the Governor's Advisory Council for Refugees and Immigrants (GACRI), in partnership with the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) and other community organizations.

Since last year, these experts have held at least six public meetings at different cities across the state, where people could suggest recommendations and share  experiences and challenges as immigrants in the commonwealth.

It is the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report that many in the state are eagerly waiting to hear at the New Americans Agenda conference this fall, a public gathering that everyone has been invited to attend.

Governor Patrick made the announcement yesterday during a quarterly press conference with ethnic and minority media put together by the University of Massachusetts Boston and held at the State House on Beacon Hill.

The press conference that attracts different print and electronic media representing many diverse ethnic and minority communities in Mass. is aimed at opening communication channels with these hard to reach communities that too contribute immensely to the economy and culture of the state.

The unique outreach by the government of Massachusetts has been going on for the last few months and was totally unheard of in the African community until AjabuAfrica.com broke the news.

Being one of the oldest immigrant cities in the USA, Massachusetts has always been a port of call for most new immigrants from Africa but the hard hitting recession has forced many out of the state in search of greener pastures elsewhere.

Thus, this new unique and innovative way of reaching out to build relationships of trust between the Massachusetts government and the many ethnic communities dotting the state is a great strategy for making the state more hospitable to these vibrant communities.

Flanked by Lt. Governor, Tim Murry , Richard Chacon, the Director, Office of Refugees and  Immigrants , and Joseph Landolphi, his Senior communications Advisor, Gov. Patrick said that he had great pride and was happy to welcome minorities and ethnic communities in Massachusetts. He said he would like to make the Commonwealth a better place for them.

Left to right, Joseph Landolphi, Lt. Governor, Tim Murry, Governor Deval Patrick and Richard Chacon during Ethnic Media press conference

The governor said that Massachusetts is doing great strides at coming out of the biting recession and has been rated among top five states in terms of efficiency at distributing the stimulus money. The stimulus funds were of great help and have helped reduce the sting of the recession.

Casting a brighter future for the state, Governor Patrick said signs of a recovery has started showing although a lot remains to be done as there has been a lot of layoffs in the state government as well as the private sector.

He said that investments that the state has done in sectors like the life sciences, clean energy, health care and IT are leading this state out of the recession.

Putting great emphasis on education, Governor Patrick said that he regrets the huge achievement gap between children of color, those living in poverty and in special needs compared to the well to do communities despite the fact that the state is ranked among the top 5 in national achievement scores and 7th in the world in science and math scores.

He said that parents and teachers in these communities need to take a very active role in helping their children achieve higher scores at school by participating in the learning process and helping them do their homework.

“An active parent is a key in elevating the scores of their children,” said the Governor.

The governor also said that in recognition of the great contribution immigrants bring to the economy of mass, the state is currently undertaking many investments to make the state a better place to do business for these communities.

He cited the expansion of broad band currently taking place in Western mass, the rebuilding of the infrastructure in Merrimack valley and other investments using the stimulus money.

He thanked members of these communities for continuing to work hard at improving the lives of their families.

”If you consider how much of   an economic impact our future is affected by minorities and immigrant own small businesses, whether they are partnerships by individuals, then you have to see why we are investing heaving in such things  as broad band, education and infrastructure”.
He said that these businesses are very important for job creation in the state.
 
During a question and answer session, Governor Patrick reiterated his resolve not to have the state police in the state get involved in hunting for illegal immigrants because there are simply not enough resources to be allocated for such an endeavor.

“This is not breaking news by the way,” said the governor in an answer to a question by a reporter. “This has been there for the last 3 years. However, this does not make any assertion to the correctness or wrongness of the current immigration system,” Gov. Patrick cautioned.

He also said he welcomed the new developments where more minorities are seeking elective office and wished them all the best of luck.

The governor declined to comment on the pending reparations bill that aims to hold accountable those businesses in this state that benefited from the slave trade.
 
“We have a lot to do, to work through some of the historic injustices that took place years ago before we get to the reparations bill,” he said.

Pushed to declare who he would support in the upcoming mayoral race in the city of Lawrence where a Latino man is gunning for the seat in this city with over 70% Latino population, and a councilor’ race in Boston where a South Korean immigrant is up for election, Governor Patrick said he would only wish everyone good luck because all the candidates were his friends.

The Governor also assured the minorities and immigrants that they have nothing to worry about during the upcoming population census and that boycotting it would jeopardize the welfare of our state.

 “If there is an undercount, it affects the resources allocated to us by the federal government as well as our slots at the elective seats. Nobody should boycott the census,” he advised.
 
Speaking during the same press conference, the Lt. Governor Tim Murray thanked the representatives of the ethnic and minority media for taking time to attend the press conference.

“This gives us an opportunity to communicate our visions and goals to your communities”.

Murray added that the state was doing a commendable job at implementing the federal stimulus money to rebuild the crumbling mass infrastructure thus helping reduce the sting of the recession and create more jobs.

“We have a generational responsibility to make investments in state parks, roads, bridges and other infrastructure,” said Murray. He asked everyone in the minority and ethnic communities to find some place in the growing economy.

“Not everyone has to be a PhD or a Nobel Prize winner to get a good job in Massachusetts. There are opportunities for everyone to plug in and do some job”

The Lt. Governor asked people minorities and people of color to turn out in large numbers at the upcoming November conference for the New Americans Agenda.

“We will release a comprehensive and impressive report on the study done on the problems faced by minorities and immigrants in this state. Then we shall adopt some important recommendations in the report as a warm welcome to you because we know what good things you bring here,” added the Lt. Governor.