MIAMI BEACH — At a business roundtable today, City of Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales highlighted the important role immigrant integration plays for businesses and the local economy.
Morales discussed the business and economic impact of initiatives for immigrant workers such New American Workforce, which partners with local businesses to assist their eligible immigrant employees with the citizenship process so they become full participants in the workplace, community and economy.
An important New American Workforce partner, the City of Miami Beach was one of the first cities to sign on to the project, and also the first partner to fully fund the application process of its employees and their families. The City’s first ten participants became U.S. citizens in March.
The following are quotes from speakers at today’s event:
City Manager Jimmy Morales, City of Miami Beach:
“We are very glad to host this group of businesses to discuss the value of supporting the foreign-born workforce, and the City of Miami Beach is especially glad to commit to a third year of assisting our own employees in their citizenship process.”
Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum:
“The City of Miami Beach was the first city to launch this project, and they continue to lead the country in integration work. Wherever we go, we’re talking about what the City of Miami Beach is doing to lead the way for New American Workforce and immigrant employees. We could not be more proud to partner with Miami Beach and its local businesses.”
Carmela Chiovaro, Employee, City of Miami Beach:
“Our dream was to become U.S. citizens, but it has been a long and difficult process. I could not be more grateful to the City or New American Workforce for this service.”
Wendy Kallergis, President & CEO of the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association:
“As the third largest travel industry in the country, we know the great value of our immigrant workforce and love helping our members join the project so that their employees can become U.S. citizens.”
Ana Viamonte Ros MD, MPH, Director of Medical Staff Development at Baptist Health International:
“Over the past 30 months, over 270 of our employees have benefitted from the service. The program allows us to show our loyalty to our employees.”
Florencia Tabeni, General Manager JW Marriott Marquis and Beaux Arts Miami:
“Mr. Marriott has always valued diversity. So this project was very appealing, but it sounded so easy that I didn’t trust it could be real. When we started implementing at the Marquis, we thought it was such a good program that we should expand to all of our MDM Marriott properties.”
Tala Teymour, Benefits Director, Human Resources Administration, Jackson Health System:
“We’re excited to announce that we are launching the project and we can’t wait to offer this service to our employees.”