Pedro Pascal, World Bank’s Ajay Banga on Carnegie’s 2023 Great Immigrants List

NEW YORK –

World Bank President Ajay Banga, Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan, singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette and “The Mandalorian” star Pedro Pascal are in attendance this year Large immigrant list The Carnegie Corporation of New York announced this on Wednesday.

Since 2006, the foundation annually compiles a list of notable naturalized U.S. citizens to celebrate the contributions immigrants make to the country and how they strengthen democracy.

“These are extraordinary people,” said Dame Louise Richardson, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York and a resident of Ireland who is herself a naturalized citizen. “To showcase all these amazingly positive stories from people who have contributed immensely to American life is important to me every year.”

However, she acknowledges that the issue of immigration has become more politicized.

“I think there’s a growing sense that the number of migrants is somehow out of control — and this isn’t unique to the US,” Richardson told The Associated Press in an interview. “So we’d really like to suggest looking at immigrants through a different lens.”

The 35 honorees on this year’s list come from 33 countries on six continents and are leaders in everything from business and philanthropy to education and the arts.

Daniel Lubetzky, best known as the founder and former CEO of Kind Snacks, as well as his appearances as an entrepreneur on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” said he was proud to be on the list and to be an immigrant from Mexico.

“To me, the United States is a nation of immigrants and we shouldn’t forget that,” he said. “We should celebrate that. And we should contribute – each of us – to keep that dream alive.”

Lubetzky, who sold Kind to food giant Mars for an estimated $5 billion in 2020, is trying to do his part through his philanthropy. He focuses on reducing polarization through initiatives such as the community-building movement Starts With Us and the Lubetzky Family Foundation’s Futures of the Free World program, which supports democracy-building around the world.

“Authoritarianism and extremism are now rampant all over the world, and the threats against democracy are the worst in my life,” he said. “But I also have a huge belief that it will turn around.”

Grammy-winning singer Angelique Kidjo, who fled the dictatorship in her homeland of Benin to France, said immigrants, especially those who have escaped repressive regimes, cherish the United States because they understand what’s at stake.

“As imperfect as our democracy is in America, we have to work to make it better for everyone,” said Kidjo, who won the Polar Music Prize earlier this year for the global impact of her music. She said those willing to risk American democracy because of anger or petty concerns are “offensive to the point of this country.”

“America would never have existed without immigrants,” said Kidjo.

She said she is happy to be honored as an immigrant and now a naturalized citizen, but also feels responsible to use the award to make a difference.

“It’s always about finding and reaching out to people I can work with to advance women’s rights, human rights and our democracy,” she said.

On Monday, Republican presidential nominee Ron DeSantis unveiled his immigration plan, which would include an amendment to the US Constitution to end the practice of automatically granting citizenship to those born in the United States, an idea also proposed by former President Donald Trump. “Dangling the price of citizenship on the future descendants of illegal immigrants is a major driver of illegal migration,” the Florida governor said in his “Stop the Invasion” plan. “It is also inconsistent with the original understanding of the 14th Amendment, and we will force the courts and Congress to finally address this failed policy.”

Jeremy Robbins, executive director of the American Immigration Council, a nonprofit organization that works to make people more accepting of immigration, said there are two very different narratives about immigration in the country right now: “It’s an opportunity to make the country to amplify” and “It’s a threat.”

“We’ve talked to a lot of Americans and they believe both stories,” Robbins said. “Most Americans believe that immigration has been great for America, but they’re nervous about the immigration that’s coming up now.”

According to his group’s research, immigrants to the United States are starting businesses faster than the general population, with 3.2 million immigrant entrepreneurs generating $88.5 billion in annual income.

Author Min Jin Lee, whose novel “Pachinko” was a National Book Awards finalist, said she was honored to be on the Carnegie list because “it’s an honest look at America.”

“There’s this idea that immigrants are yellow, black and brown people who come from somewhere else and ‘they have all these needs’ rather than ‘they have all these assets,'” says Lee, who lives with her family from South Korea. emigrated when she was a child. “I think this list is a really good reflection of our assets, what we bring to the table and how we make the team stronger.”

Lee said anti-immigrant political rhetoric is essentially a distraction from economic inequality and persistent systemic racism.

“Toxic rhetoric against immigrants really forgets all of America’s history, which is that without immigrants we have nothing,” she said. “I am very grateful that the Carnegie Corporation of New York is bringing back the central role of immigration as a force for good in the United States.”

Robbins said the Carnegie list is important because compelling stories change more people’s minds than economic data.

“Every year, Carnegie pulls out these stories,” Robbins said. “This is a person. This is their life. And it’s not just that they were successful, but America is stronger because of it. I think that’s tremendously powerful.”