The Migrant Voice

Many sociological studies have identified motivation as the main determinant for a high civic participation rate. Would it be fair to assume that the lack of motivation is what explains the low rate of civic engagement of immigrants? Let’s take the example of the protests, which took place in Los Angeles in March 2006. Thousands of foreign illegal workers went out on the streets to support a piece of law that would have given them the right to a legal permit to remain in the country, and eventually to gain citizenship. In this example, the movitation (for citizenship and against deportation) encouraged high participation among immigrants.

One other thing standing out in the analysis of the 2006 migrants’ rallies is the profile of the “civically engaged” migrant. These people had jobs, had been paying income taxes and eventually even had children who were lawful American citizens. Even more important, they wanted to stay, and they wanted to be given the opportunity to do it lawfully, in the right way. Moreover, the US Immigration Bill would have been a further step in the integration of the labor migrants, and even more, a guarantee that future such proofs of engagement will not be ignored, but accounted for. In other words, such a law would have built the capacity of ethnically diverse people to become engaged in the American political life.

Capacity and motivation – that is where the real challenge of enabling civic participation among migrants appears. As mentioned before, motivation does not seem to be lacking, so long as the issue resonates with the population (as it did in the case of the US migrants).

Capacity building, on the other hand, is a totally different issue. It can refer to the access on the labor market, to human capital accumulation, civil rights or any other social development opportunities. That is where public funding and program support come into place; language courses, special educational programs targeting the migrants’ children or professional school training, can all generate a higher level of commitment towards the community and the society as a whole. Civically engaged migrants would most likely be the next step.

Civic engagement and minority rights go hand in hand: they both converge as essential elements of a democratic society. Critics may complain that increased immigration leads to increased welfare. In fact, studies show that there is a negative correlation between the amount of government spending on welfare for migrants and their chances to become citizens.

Thus, redirecting government spending towards capacity building at community level would create the proper conditions for civic engagement among labor migrants.One can naturally extend this diagnosis to other groups: economically-disadvantaged individuals, minority citizens, young people.

Civic engagement cannot be envisioned outside the community’s boundaries. For as much as we would try, in a world which is marked more and more by liberalization and free movement, it is superfluous to believe civic engagement can be generated in any other way but through commitment towards the community. Commitment can trigger accountability and responsibility, all together strengthening civic engagement.

Join the debate: Take part in the Citizens of Europe OpenForum. For more information: www.citizens-of-europe.eu