DN editorial: Mayor Kenney reminded us of the realities of immigration

IN A speech Monday night before the Democratic National Convention, Mayor Kenney offered delegates a brief history lesson about Philadelphia.

Not about the good part - the cradle of liberty, home to the Declaration of Independence, the modern birthplace of democracy, etc.

He talked about the bad part, the Philadelphia of the 1840s when it was the center of anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States. Citizens were up in arms - literally up in arms - about the arrival of foreign trash on American soil.

These dirt-poor folk had two strikes against them: they were Irish, and therefore considered something less than human. Worse yet, they were Roman Catholic, a religion despised by God-loving Protestants, who feared the Irish were the advance guard of a plot by the pope to take over America.

Throughout the decade, there were anti-Irish riots in the city. The level of violence reached the point where the militia had to be called out.

The political manifestation of this hatred was the Know Nothing Party, which flourished during the mid-19th century, electing officials to local offices - including Philadelphia and Pennsylvania - by running on an anti-immigrant platform.

It took several generations for the newcomers to be absorbed into the society and be accepted as Americans. Today, when an Irish-Catholic mayor addresses a national party convention no one gives it a second thought.

The simple point of Kenney's speech was that America is not weakened or endangered by immigrants. It has been strengthened by them. He urged us to resist the current strain of Know Nothingism.

That's partly a statement of principal and partly a matter of practicality. Over the last 20 years, Washington, D.C., has made no progress toward devising a policy on immigration. The lack of one hasn't stopped people from slipping over the border. We have 11 million immigrants living in the United States today who came here without our government's permission.

People in Congress don't have to wrestle with this reality. They can afford the luxury of stalemate. Political candidates don't have to offer real plans. They have an audience receptive to fantasies of building a giant wall and deporting all 11 million.

Local officials such as Kenney can't stand back and just observe the debate. To Kenney, immigration is an issue as real as the Mexicans who live in South Philadelphia or the Asians in Chinatown, the Central Americans in the lower Northeast. And, yes, the Muslims from Africa and the Middle East who live in neighborhoods across the city. Thousands of them are undocumented.

In the face of this reality, Kenney has crafted a pro-immigrant policy, seeking to integrate the newcomers into the life of the city. He's made Philadelphia a "Sanctuary City," partly based on principle, but, again, as a practical matter.

These policies infuriate the modern Know Nothings, but don't upset most Philadelphians. They don't see immigrants as hordes of would-be rapists and criminals. They see the Arab family that lives down the street in West Philadelphia, or the Nicaraguan couple who owns the corner grocery story in Oxford Circle, or the Mexicans who work the line in many city restaurants.

Like Kenney, most Philadelphians live with the realities of immigration, not the nightmarish myths.

Last year, we even had the pope visit the city. After a few days, he returned to the Vatican. He did not try to take over the government.