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March Immigrant Affairs Update |
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There are currently 9 million lawful permanent residents eligible to naturalize and become U.S. citizens. This campaign goal to Naturalize 2 Million By 2022 is a partnership among the country’s leading immigrant and refugee advocacy, service, national networks and unions. We are uniting to educate, empower and encourage eligible folks to take the final step on their immigration journey; become U.S. citizens just in time to vote in this year’s midterm election on November 8, 2022.
Texas is the state with the third largest number of immigrants who are eligible for citizenship (990,000). Naturalized citizens are a powerful voting block that could exert its influence during the 2022 midterms and beyond.
This week, the City of Austin is proud to partner in the launch of the “Naturalize 2 Million by 2022” campaign in Texas as part of a nationwide effort to encourage two million eligible permanent residents to obtain their citizenship by the end of 2022. Tune into National Partnership for New Americans' Facebook page on Friday, March 11th at 11am to watch the livestream of the tour stop in Austin.
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Collecting Naturalization Stories
National Partnership for New Americans has set a bold goal of supprting 2 million people in becoming naturalized U.S. citizens. As part of the campaign, they want to uplift stories of naturalized citizens. If you are a naturalized U.S. citizen, you can submit your naturalization story here. |
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Center for Survivors of Torture (CST) is currently accepting new referrals
CST provides free mental health counseling to immigrant survivors in central and north Texas, with offices in Austin and Dallas. CST provides free professional interpretation for counseling sessions with our licensed clinicians. We are currently open to new referrals and welcome you to call our Austin office at (512) 358-4612 or our Dallas office at (214) 827-2314 to refer your client(s) for our services. |
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Multicultural Refugee Coalition is in need of a Volunteer ESL Teacher
Multicultural Refugee Coalition is looking for a volunteer to lead in-person sessions at New Leaf farm twice a week. Volunteers will create lesson plans and help refugees practice their English language skills. Interested in becoming a part of our ESL team? Click here to learn more & apply! |
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- DHS designated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Sudan and extended and redesignated TPS for South Sudan.
- The Biden administration is planning an expanded home confinement and curfew pilot program for immigrants seeking asylum or other protection in the U.S. immigration courts. The new pilot program will launch in Baltimore and Houston with a couple hundred immigrants in the coming weeks, according to a DHS official. In response, immigrant rights organizations are calling on the Biden administration to stop expansion of surveillance and end the immigrant detention system as a whole.
- DHS will issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would regulate how DHS applies the public charge ground of inadmissibility. Advance copy is here, and public comments can be provided here.
- A new survey from the Pew Research Center reveals that nearly 4 in 10 Latinos in the U.S. worry that they, a family member or someone close to them could be deported.
- In late February, SCOTUS granted the Biden administration's request to review the Fifth Circuit's decision in Texas v. Biden, a lawsuit brought by the states of Texas and Missouri challenging the administration’s termination of the Trump-era Remain in Mexico (also known as Migrant Protection Protocols) policy. The case will be set for argument in the second week of the April 2022 argument session.
- On February 16th, more than 100 Congressional Democrats wrote a letter to the Biden Administration calling for review of the “disparate treatment of Black migrants” throughout the U.S. immigration system and an end to Title 42, which has disproportionately impacted Black and Brown migrants presenting at the southern border.
- DHS announced the designation of Ukraine for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months.
- SA Stands recently penned an op-ed advocating for Bexar County to invest in an immigrant legal defense fund.
- In late February, Texas and national legal groups submitted a supplemental Title VI discrimination complaint urging the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to take immediate action in light of the expansion of Operation Lone Star. Through this program, migrants are targeted for arrest and funneled into a shadow criminal legal system.
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Refugee Leadership Development Program
The Refugee Leadership Development Program provides monthly workshops to refugee and immigrant organizers across the United States. Led by refugees for refugees, this training series is an opportunity to learn more about advocacy tactics being used to advance pro-refugee / pro-immigrant policy on the state and national level, story-telling and narrative shifting, and connecting with resources and local networks to build more welcoming and inclusive communities.
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Thursday, March 10 @ 11am CST
Cultivating Belonging in Communities
Thought Partnerships invites you to join Welcoming America for an inside look into the Belonging Begins with Us Campaign, a collaboration between the Ad Council, Center for Inclusion and Belonging, and Welcoming America.
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Friday, March 11 @ 10am CST
My API Live
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Tuesday, March 15 @ 12pm CST
The Butterfly Lab for Immigrant Narrative Strategy
Join us to hear from leading immigrant narrative leaders on how RaceForward's Butterfly Lab for Immigrant Narrative Strategy is building narrative power and aligning narrative strategy for the migrant and immigrant justice movement. We'll share what we've done together, our findings and toolkit, and where we are headed. Learn more and register here.
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Tuesday, March 15 @ 1pm CST
USCIS Listening Session: Citizenship and Naturalization
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services invites you to participate in a listening session. The listening session is for stakeholders to provide feedback on how USCIS can update citizenship and naturalization regulations and policy to enhance the process and limit burdens. While we are actively looking for ways to improve access to citizenship and naturalization, the focus of the listening session will be solely changes USCIS can legally make through a regulation or policy and not changes to the statutory provisions established by Congress. Register here for the listening session. |
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Tuesday, March 15 @ 3pm CST
Webinar: Abolitionist Steps vs.
Reformist Reforms
Last fall the Detention Watch Network released a new resource, Ending Immigration Detention: Abolitionist Steps vs. Reformist Reforms. Join DWN for a presentation on how to use the resource as a guide on the path towards abolishing immigration detention. RSVP here. |
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Thursday, March 17 @ 1pm CST
Pathways to Teaching for Immigrants and Refugees: How Internationally Trained Educators Can Help Build a Stronger and More Inclusive Teacher Workforce
Join us to learn how states and cities around the U.S. are engaging internationally trained immigrants and refugees to address rising shortages of K-12 teachers and bring diverse voices and experience to the classroom. This will be the first of a three-webinar series sponsored by WES Global Talent Bridge’s “Teacher Bridge” initiative, a collaboration of six state and local partners working to strengthen pathways into teaching for internationally trained educators and other professionals. RSVP here. |
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Thursday, March 17 @ 2pm CST
Austin Refugee Roundtable Meeting
The Austin Refugee Roundtable is comprised of local agencies working with refugees in Austin. The monthly meetings are a space to provide updates as well as share information and resources in order to better support our refugee communities. Please contact ARR in order to receive their newsletter and join the monthly meetings. |
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Wednesday, March 23 @ 10am CST
Immigrant Services Network of Austin monthly meeting
Sign up for ISNA membership here in order to receive access to the Zoom meeting information. ISNA is a working group of diverse community stakeholders and immigrant service providers operating together to coordinate efforts, increase public awareness, and inform policy, in order to better serve our immigrant communities. |
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The City of Austin moved down to Stage 2 of COVID-19 risk-based guidelines. Find resources here. Everyone 5 years of age and older is eligible to be vaccinated. |
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Deadline to Apply: March 15
We Are All America's Opportunity for All Table: Ethnic Community-Based Advocacy Mini-Grant
We Are All America (WAAA) is a campaign led by refugee and immigrant grassroots organizations. The Opportunity for All (OFA) Table is the national leadership table that oversees and ensures the success of WAAA’s core pillars. WAAA is launching the first Ethnic Based Community Organization (ECBO) pilot program. The $3,000 mini-grants will be awarded to 3 projects and is intended to support ECBOs that are involved in local refugee and immigrant advocacy and policy efforts. Learn more and apply here. |
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ICYMI: Recording of Pandemic Recovery in Austin Communities
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas hosted a virtual community listening session to explore how workers, businesses and communities in the Austin area are navigating the economic recovery from COVID-19. Watch the recording here. |
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Save the Date:
Welcoming Interactive
May 18-20, 2022
Charlotte, NC
Early bird registration is now open for this year's Welcoming Interactive! The Welcoming Interactive is an annual conference that highlights successful practices and inspiring stories about immigrant inclusion, programs, policies, and partnerships on economic development, civic engagement, government leadership, and more. Attendees learn about local innovations from peer communities and come away with new ideas and energy to foster welcoming places for all. Learn more and register here. |
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Save the Date:
National Immigrant Inclusion Conference
December 11-13, 2022
National Harbor, MD
Save the date to join the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA)
at NIIC, hosted at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD.
NIIC’s shift from “integration” to “inclusion” is purposeful. NPNA's priority is the full enfranchisement of immigrant communities. This includes a focus on intersections between issues and systems that impact our communities and how critical it is to build strong, cross-cutting alliances.
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