New City Office Seeks To Make Chicago More Immigrant-Friendly
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A new Emanuel Administration official says special help for immigrant businesspeople is only the beginning of new initiatives for Chicago's immigrant communities.
As WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports, Adolfo Hernandez is the new head of Chicago's new Office of New Americans.
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For right now, the office consists only of Hernandez himself.
"It's an office of one at the moment, but obviously, we have a ton of support from all of the city agencies that currently exist," Hernandez said, "and sort of the way I like to think about it is we already have the infrastructure in place to serve immigrants. We have great city departments and agencies. The question is how do we maximize what we have in place?"
Hernandez's first job is to assist immigrant entrepreneurs. But, he says, the task won't stop there.
"This office – the goals of this office – will go far beyond that," Hernandez said. "We'll look at working with businesses. We'll look at working with community-based organizations, and helping residents and immigrants around the city access city programs, state programs, federal programs."
Hernandez says he hopes to work with other city departments and the schools to expand outreach and assistance for all immigrant communities, and make Chicago more immigrant-friendly.
