David Laskin, author of "The Long Way Home: An American Journey From Ellis Island to the Great War," will take part in a discussion about immigration tomorrow at the WYEP Community Broadcast Center.

New York. San Francisco. Pittsburgh?

The Steel City doesn't come to mind as one of the country's immigration hot spots, but a lecture tomorrow night, "The Immigration Stakes," will offer a look at what Pittsburgh stands to gain from welcoming and embracing its foreign-born population.

The lecture, a partnership between the American Shorts @ WYEP series and City of Asylum/Pittsburgh, a refuge for writers exiled from their home countries, will be held at 7 p.m. July 22 in the WYEP Community Broadcast Center, 67 Bedford Square, on the South Side.

The multimedia presentation will feature talks from three guest speakers, a short film, "Immersion," and music played by DJ Pete Spynda.

The audience will hear firsthand accounts from immigrants Silvia Duarte, a journalist who came to Pittsburgh in 2007 with her writer-in-exile husband, and Khet Mar, a Burmese journalist and author who arrived in the U.S. as City of Asylum/Pittsburgh's resident writer-in-exile in 2009. David Laskin, author of "The Long Way Home: An American Journey From Ellis Island to the Great War," will discuss his research on World War I-era immigration.

"It's a cliche, but we're a nation of immigrants," Mr. Laskin said. "Let's say we erased Italian Americans all together -- just think about the gaps there would be in our culture. The same is true for every group."

Many immigrants today come from Hispanic or Asian countries and look radically different than the accepted image of an American, as opposed to a century ago, when most immigrants were European, he said, and the physical difference contributes to suspicion.

"There was almost no such thing as illegal immigration back then," he said. "People are slipping across the border not because they are outlaws but because we've made them outlaws."

But Pittsburgh, he said, is in some ways a "poster child" for the coexistence of immigrant and American pride.

"Pittsburgh has a whole immigrant infrastructure in place," Mr. Laskin said, noting the strong integration of culture and tradition apparent in many Pittsburgh neighborhoods. "There's a difference in scale from New York or San Francisco, but Pittsburgh has this wonderful neighborhood pride and identity."

Event organizer Emily Price of Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures said the city's universities draw "the world's best brains."

"These immigrants are so intelligent and offer so much to the city," she said. "The question is how do we open our arms and become more welcoming so we can become a global city?"

Pittsburgh residents and businesses should look to immigrants not just for economic stability, Ms. Price said, but also cultural enrichment.

"The reality is we're never going to be a New York or a San Francisco if we don't keep immigrants here," Ms. Price said. "There are stakes in this."

Tickets are $10 and available at 412-622-8866, at pittsburghlectures.org or at the door.

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