Before a speech on immigrants held at the CUNY Graduate Center in Midtown Manhattan, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was introduced by Carmen Ledesma, of Queens. Ledesma started a beauty salon in Woodside called Parisien shortly after emigrating from Paraguay 16 years ago.
Accompanied by an interpreter and speaking with the poise and dignity of a self-made woman, Ledesma described in Spanish what her success has meant to her family.
“I have been able to achieve one of my dreams – to send my three children to college,” she said on Thursday, October 8.
Parisien employs nine stylists, and, with the help of a New York City small business solution center, Ledesma will soon open a cosmetology school so that more Latinos in Queens can get work in the industry. She also hopes to teach English at the salon.
Ledesma thanked the mayor for sending a message to the immigrant community that, “We all make New York, and New York is for all of us.”
Bloomberg pointed to Ledesma’s story as an example of his administration’s support for the city’s foreign-born residents and he praised the crucial role immigrants have played in New York’s history.
“Immigrants are why New York City became America’s economic engine,” said Bloomberg. Without them, he added, “The city would still be a forest.”
After reiterating his call for federal immigration reform, the mayor went on to announce a series of policy proposals he said will make it easier for the city’s estimated three million immigrants – roughly 40 percent of the population – to live and work in their adopted home.
First on the mayor’s list was English language education for the approximately 1.8 million New Yorkers who speak little or no English.
“You need to learn English to fully participate in the great American dream,” said the mayor, promising to spend an additional $3 million in 2010 to open more English language classes to immigrants.
More than 50 percent of Queens’ residents speak a foreign language at home, according to the last census.
“We’ll develop a 10-year plan so that every New Yorker who wants to learn English has the opportunity to do so,” said Bloomberg.
Last summer Bloomberg directed city agencies to offer language services to non-English speakers. The mayor, who tried a few phrases in Spanish during his speech, said he would lobby the state to follow the city’s lead.
“Other states have taken this step,” said Bloomberg, “and I believe it’s time for New York, a state which defines immigration, to do it, and shame on us for not doing this sooner.”
Bloomberg went on to advocate helping entrepreneurs in ethnic communities, noting that enterprising immigrants like Ledesma have long provided a boost to the overall economy.
“The way out of the recession is more immigration, not less,” said the mayor, to loud applause.
Among the mMayor’s other initiatives were proposals focused on education. The mayor committed to creating a task force that will study how teachers can help students with limited English skills do better in school. He also promised to ensure that immigrants are not barred from access to college financial aid.
Bloomberg also pledged that, if reelected next month, the city would recruit first-year law school graduates to represent immigrants in need of legal assistance.
Following his speech, the mayor took about 40 minutes to answer questions from ethnic community media, something he promised to do more of in the future.
