CITYZENship: The Primacy of the City in Shaping Immigration Reform

Senator John McCain (R-AZ): Will he give his blessing on immigration reform?

The discussion on immigration reform that is taking place this Sunday morning on the New Moon hits home for thousands of New York City's residents. Heeding the Statue of Liberty's "worldwide welcome", the city possesses enclaves for many cultural, religious, and ethnic groups. Flatbush, for example, is home to Caribbeans, Africans, and South Asians.

For immigrants, "legal" and "illegal", the effort to enhance the opportunity to acquire to legal status and ultimately citizenship is intimately tied to equity and access in the urban environment. Without the legal protection of citizenship, engagement in the urban environment is subsumed to achieving the American Dream. The urban environment is simply the background for the pursuit of personal ambitions.

With reformation coming from above, reformation is needed from below as well. As inhabitants of the urban environment, immigrants ought to see themselves as cityzens who are engaged in its development. This concept envisions immigrants who, despite their status, are enfranchised to take particular action, whether collective or individual, to enhance the community.

A cityzenship approach ensures that the pursuit of legal citizenship is not merely an exercise in memorization and recitation; it is the deployment of the national standards of "liberty and justice" to grapple with the issues that impinge on city living. As an urban response to President Kennedy's inaugural admonition to "ask what you can do for your country," the cityzen can take ownership of his/her community is they aspire for legal citizenship.