Dayton focus of Daily Show with Jon Stewart immigration story


Dayton and my former downstairs neighbor Tim Riordan landed in the middle of a "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" story on immigration Thursday night.

The story spotlighted the the city’s Welcome Dayton campaign. Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi sat down with City Manager Riordan at City Hall.

“The influx of immigrants into Dayton has been a good thing,” Riordan said. “Do you know how much money we get in tax monies from immigrants? They create jobs, they create businesses.”

Riordan stood firm during the interview with Mandvi, one of the show’s ‘fake reporters.’ He called the influence of immigrants in the city a good thing.

“We want to solve problems and have a better community,” Riordan said.

Officially launched in 2011, the Welcome to Dayton immigrant-friendly campaign has garnered Dayton increased attention in recent weeks.

The New York Times profiled the campaign championed by Dayton Mayor Gary Leitzell and Ahiska Turkish American Community Center founder Islom Shakhbandarovl in an Oct. 6 article.

Praising Welcome to Dayton, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation lists the Dayton among its top enterprise-friendly cities.

Contact this blogger at arobinson@DaytonDailyNews.com or Twitter.com/DDNSmartMouth

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