Mayor Dyer: Orlando excels at integrating immigrants
I'm an Orlandoan through and through. I was born here, and for the past 26 years, I've been lucky enough to serve this community as an elected official, first as your state senator and currently as your mayor. In that time, I've witnessed our city's growing diversity; immigrants now make up nearly 20 percent of the population. And, as their presence here has grown, so has our economic prosperity.
Today, Orlando has more than 32,500 immigrant entrepreneurs who are creating jobs and investing in our community. Many of these economic contributions — businesses in the technology industry like ECHO Interaction Group or restaurants like New York Deli — have also enriched our culture, making Orlando an exciting place to live and a world-class destination for visitors.
That's why I'm so pleased that Orlando received a handful of high scores in the first-ever New American Economy Cities Index, which measures how effectively 100 of the largest U.S. cities are integrating immigrants. We received a perfect score in “Government Leadership,” which considers municipal support for foreign-born newcomers and our organizations that assist them. And we received a near-perfect score in “Livability,” which looks at homeownership rates and educational attainment among foreign-born residents.
When the local government actively supports immigrant integration into economic and civic life, other local organizations follow. It starts with representation, and the city of Orlando employs many of our foreign-born residents. With their help, we established the Hispanic Office for Local Assistance 15 years ago. HOLA helps to create a level playing field, so that immigrants and Hispanic residents have the same assistance in obtaining drivers licenses, enrolling in local colleges and joining one of our city boards that our American-born residents have.
Since 2012, our city's Office of Multicultural Affairs has provided a listening ear for needs and concerns of Orlando's multicultural communities — immigrant and native-born alike. In recent years, OMA has expanded its capacity and taken concrete action to address these needs: supporting the Minority and Women Business Enterprise Program, providing bilingual assistance for existing businesses and newcomers with business resources information, and collaborating with communities including LGBTQ+, Asian, Caribbean, Arab, Muslim and Brazilian to foster the inclusion of all Orlandoans.
The Trust Act Policy, which the City Council implemented in July, was a direct result of these efforts. The legislation prevents any city employee, including local law enforcement, from asking law-abiding residents about their immigration status. The Orlando Police Department has long been committed to unbiased policing, but it was important to go on the record about this to reassure our residents — foreignborn and otherwise — that they won't be unfairly targeted. Our hope is that it helps to build trust between citizens and law enforcement here in our home city. That way, if people witness a crime or become a victim, they'll be able to alert the police without fear.
It's clear that when immigrants are on equal footing with their American-born neighbors, the whole city prospers. According to our Livability score on the index, immigrants and American-born residents own homes in almost equal numbers. Nearly 77 percent of immigrants here have a high-school diploma or higher. And thanks to efforts by local colleges like the University of Central Florida, which offer in-state tuition to Dreamers who graduated from Florida high schools, more of our foreign-born residents can now pursue higher education.
Of course, there is room for improvement. The index showed that we can do much more to improve job opportunities for immigrants and increase their employment rate, especially compared to similarly sized cities like Chula Vista, Calif., and Newark, N.J. But here, too, we are already making strides. A survey published last month by the career website Glassdoor determined our city is experiencing some of the fastest job growth in the country.
It is my belief that a connected community is a strong community, and that starts with all residents feeling safe and supported. As your mayor, I promise to make that my top priority by continuing to make Orlando a more inclusive place for Americans and immigrants alike.