The City of Tulsa rolled out on Thursday the New Tulsans Welcoming Plan, a roadmap to make the community a better place for immigrants.
The plan lays out steps the city or partner non-governmental agencies can take to improve immigrants’ chances at civic engagement, economic opportunity, access to education and health, and experiences with law enforcement. They’ll measure progress based on an index of policy and socioeconomic measures comparing immigrants’ quality of life to native-born residents'.
"There’s very clear data that shows that we have a lot of work to do. Out of the 100 biggest cities in the U.S., we rank 93rd," said City of Tulsa Director of Community Development and Policy Christina da Silva.
More than 53,000 people born outside the U.S. live in Tulsa, with 83 percent arriving before 2010. The New Tulsans Welcoming Plan will try to give them the same opportunities as native-born Tulsans.
"We have examples of how immigrants have been welcomed. We have places where we can see them, and when it happens, it’s really great for Tulsa. But, we want to make sure that happens across the board," da Silva said.
Hmong farmers selling their produce at the Cherry Street market was an example of immigrants who have been welcomed to Tulsa that da Silva pointed to.
City officials hope to see results from the plan within two years, which da Silva said will take help from partners and the community.
"We have shared ideals, we have shared values that we can use to move forward and accomplish great things, remove barriers that immigrants experience. And I think that, that would build momentum for accomplishing even bigger things in the future," da Silva said.
