The Tenneseean – by Paul C. Barton
WASHINGTON – Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said Wednesday that communities help themselves by making it easier for immigrants to adapt to life in the United States.
Dean was one of the speakers at the White House National Immigrant & Refugee Integration Convening, which brought together public officials and immigrant advocates from across the nation to broach ideas on dealing with immigrant populations.
Dean, interviewed after the closed-to-the-press event, said he talked about Nashville’s response to seeing its foreign-born residents increase from 2.5 percent of its population a decade ago to more than 12 percent today.
“I talked about how the best thing we can do to strengthen our communities is by welcoming immigrants,” he said.
Among the programs Dean cited was the MyCity Academy in Nashville, which helps immigrants learn how metropolitan government works. He also touted his regular meetings with representatives of immigrant communities and the Pathway for New Americans program, which lends support to immigrants on a path to legal status.
There was little discussion, he said, of the crisis involving immigrant children crossing the U.S. southern border.
Dean said the invitation he received to appear at the conference was “a real compliment to our city. It’s always good to talk about Nashville.”
The event was held in the Old Executive Office Building, next door to the White House.
Contact Paul C. Barton at pbarton@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @PaulCBarton.
This “mayor’s” actions are high treason! The founding fathers gave good advice on what to do with such traitors.