Giving Compass' Take:

• As a counterbalance to increasingly anti-immigrant government policies that it’s fighting against, the Carnegie Corporation of New York announces this year’s entrants to its list of great immigrants.

• Can immigration advocates use this information to advance their cause? How can politicians buffer the rhetoric around immigration to better educate the American people? 

• Read this article on unpacking competing approaches to selecting economic immigrants. 

In honor of Independence Day, the Carnegie Corporation of New York has inducted 38 new immigrants into its annals of amazing contributors to society. At the same time, the philanthropic funder continues to back grassroots efforts to mint more of them, by easing the process of immigration in the face of increasing government hostility to newcomers.

Since 2006, the Carnegie Corporation has highlighted the lives of so-called “Great Immigrants, Great Americans” in tribute to its namesake, the wealthy industrialist Andrew Carnegie. The former steel titan hailed from Scotland before literally reshaping America’s infrastructure. He believed that, in addition to just boosting the tax roll, people who become citizens often play an active and vital role in their communities. That’s proving true both socially and politically, and from a good business standpoint. This year’s list, for instance, includes the CEOs from Honeywell, Panda Restaurant Group, and the education and employment nonprofit Propel America.

Regardless of where you think this country is headed, many of Carnegie’s 2019 awardees trend toward boosting global unity, connectivity, and health. One example would be Gebisa Ejeta, a World Food Prize-winning geneticist originally from Ethiopia who developed a super resilient variety of sorghum that’s helping feed sub-Saharan Africa (an intervention that could contribute to more global stability). Another: Dina Katabi, a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient computer scientist from Syria who’s made great strides at increasing the “speed, reliability, and data security” of the internet. Then there’s Angelika Amon (Austria), an MIT cancer researcher who is pioneering new theories about cell division that might help cure the disease.

Read the full article about list of great immigrants by Ben Paynter at Fast Company.