I pulled my tuxedo out of the closet on Saturday for the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Gala at Live! Casino, thinking that maybe I’d be overdressed.
I wasn’t. This was a group of business people who aren’t afraid to dress up and party, and they made me feel very welcome.
By the time I got to the podium for welcoming remarks, I’d seen dancers, been fed, and been to the bar. I let mi corazon do the talking.
I told them about the signs they drove by as they entered our county, the ones that used to say The Best Place, but that now say The Best Place - For All.
I told them that we’d added the words For All after an increase in reported hate bias incidents, and I told them about the campaign mailers in 2018 warning that if I were elected the illegal immigrants would be released from jail and threaten our neighborhoods.
I told them that I took it personally, that my sister had married an Argentinian and raised her three daughters there, that I had majored in Latin American studies, and that county government should be embracing our immigrant neighbors, workers, and business owners, not trying to deport them.
I described the entrepreneurial spirit I’d witnessed at the monthly business breakfasts hosted by our Multicultural Affairs Officer, the generosity of Latino business owners during the pandemic, and our efforts to ensure that our Salvadoran families here legally through the Temporary Protected Status program are informed and prepared to renew that status before it expires.
I ended my remarks with the positive, the hopeful, and I gave the Hispanic Chamber a citation for helping to make Anne Arundel County the Best Place For All. That’s my job as County Executive, to cheerlead.
But it’s not all roses. I’ll get some nasty emails in response to this letter. They will come from people who’ve been told by someone that immigrants from South and Central America are overcrowding our schools, are breaking our laws, are stealing our elections, and are taking what’s “ours.”
Anyone who understands economics, education, law enforcement, or democracy knows better. And anyone who’s truly pro-business and pro-America recognizes that immigration is essential to the health of both.
Modern technology has connected the people of our world. It allows us to move beyond the barbaric tribalism and nationalism that has fed violence for thousands of years. Some resist the progress, to hold onto power, real or perceived. Some mobilize the resistance for political or financial gain.
But most of humanity seeks peace and craves friendship. We want to be connected. The United States of America was established as a land where people from across the globe could do that. Let’s keep doing it. It works.
Until next week…
Steuart Pittman
Anne Arundel County Executive