From Municipal to Regional Immigrant Integration in a Major Emerging Gateway: Creating a Community to Plan a Welcoming Metro Atlanta

Abstract

Welcoming America, a nonprofit organization based in metropolitan Atlanta, has grown a membership network throughout the United States. The network consists of nonprofit organizations and local governments that present their communities as “welcoming” for immigrants and refugees—referred to as “Welcoming Cities.” In 2018, Welcoming America launched the “One Region Initiative” to cultivate a concept of “welcoming region” to transcend municipal boundaries. The pilot initiative took place in the Atlanta metropolitan area, a major emerging immigrant gateway, and involved community listening sessions and a 56-member steering committee, representing the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. The One Region Initiative disseminated recommendations to the public in a regional strategic welcoming plan in August 2018. Through an applied, community-based participatory research framework, this paper examines the process of the One Region Initiative as an example of a diverse and dynamic epistemic community for addressing challenges and opportunities of immigrant integration and receptivity within a major-emerging immigrant gateway.