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May Immigrant Affairs Update |
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Thank you to the Asian American Resource Center, American Gateways, NALEO, and Texas AFL-CIO for their partnership and work to host a citizenship clinic in April! We were able to help 30 legal permanent residents with their N400 application for naturalization. We are grateful for Councilmember Vanessa Fuentes' support - she presented a proclamation at the clinic declaring April 22 as Austin Citizenship Day.
A huge thanks also goes out to the organizations who participated in our mini resource fair - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Asian Family Support Services of Austin, and Manos de Cristo. An additional thank you to USCIS for also conducting mock citizenship interviews with our participants!
Stay tuned for our next citizenship clinic, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 21, 2023! |
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Get Your Enhanced Library Card Today!
We are excited to share that the Enhanced Library Card pilot program has officially begun! This has been a successful collaboration between Austin Public Library, the Equity Office and several other city departments and community organizations. Stop by one of the three pilot locations and get yours today and help us spread the word within your communities.
- Little Walnut Creek Branch, 835 W. Rundberg Ln
- St. John Branch, 7500 Blessing Ave.
- Southeast Branch, 5803 Nuckols Crossing Rd.
Read local news coverage about the card:
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GirlForward Seeks Mentors
GirlForward is seeking dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers for our Mentoring Program, which matches women mentors with girls resettled through the refugee resettlement program. As a mentor, you will be paired with a mentee in grades 9-12 and will meet with her for at least two hours per week to talk about school, relationships, and careers, and to do fun and engaging activities together. As a mentor, you will make a one-year commitment to GirlForward and will receive trainings to prepare you for this role. Learn more and apply here.
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- The Texas House on Wednesday gave final approval to HB7, a sweeping border militarization measure that would create a new state border policing unit and send nearly $100 million to border communities for new detention centers, courts, border security, among other initiatives. The bill now moves to the Senate.
- Eight people were killed and at least ten others injured when a motorist driving an SUV plowed into a crowd in Brownsville, Texas. Those hurt or dead were asylum-seekers and residents of the Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center.
- Governor Ron DeSantis signed Florida's SB1718 into law earlier this week. This anti-immigrant measure requires employers with 25+ staff to use E-verify, requires hospitals to ask about immigration status, invalidates out-of-state driver's licenses held by undocumented immigrants, and allocates $12M to bus migrants to other states, among other things.
- The Biden administration finalized and released their asylum ban rule, corresponding with the end of Title 42. Under the rule, people not from Mexico who are seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border will generally be ineligible for asylum, regardless of the strength of their persecution claims, unless they first wait to apply for asylum in Mexico or another county they passed through, or they secure a scarce application appointment slot through a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) app called CBP One.
- Title 42 expires today, May 11, 2023. The answer to “what comes after Title 42” is still taking shape. But the broad contours are in place: a return to stricter federal enforcement penalties, coupled with efforts to shove as many asylum seekers as possible through an abbreviated and likely restricted asylum process.
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Thursday, May 11 @ 5:30pm CST
Refugee Matters: End of Title 42
Join We Are All America, #WelcomeWithDignity and Refugee Congress for this Refugee Matters episode discussing the end of Title 42, updates and what to expect after May 11th. Guest speakers will share their experiences, discuss the Welcome Wednesdays efforts to uplift stories of welcome happening across the country, and what people can do to take action and welcome people seeking asylum in their communities. Register here. |
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Immigrant Services Network of Austin Meeting
Wednesday, May 17 @ 10am CST
Join the next meeting of the Immigrant Services Network of Austin! 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.
During the upcoming meeting, we will discuss the City's new Enhanced Library Card and the Navegando Austin resource, among other topics.
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Wednesday, May 17 @ 1pm CST
Emergency Preparedness Pop-Up (District 5)
Menchaca Road Branch Library - 5500 Menchaca Road
The City of Austin’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) will host monthly Emergency Preparedness Pop-Up events in each of Austin’s City Council Districts throughout 2023. These events are designed to help equip Austinites with the information, tools and resources needed in emergency situations. Community members are invited to attend these three-hour open house style events.
At these events, Austinites will learn more about geographical risks in their area and how to prepare for them, and the four steps to preparedness: make a plan, build a kit, know your neighbors, and stay informed. The first 50 guests will receive a basic emergency preparedness supply kit while supplies last, limit one per person / household.
Interpretation services will be available in Spanish and ASL at each event. The public can request additional language interpreters by calling 3-1-1 at least five days before the event you wish to attend. View the full schedule here.
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Saturday, May 20 @ 10am CST
Have You Eaten Yet? : Intergenerational Communication in AAPI Families
Asian American Resource Center - 8401 Cameron Road, Austin, TX 78754
This event will bring together multiple generations of the AAPI community to talk about how to effectively communicate and support one another. The event will consist of a panel discussion, workshop, and community resource fair. Accompanied by HEB Gift Card door prizes, Starbucks coffee, and lunch from Tso’s Chinese Takeout and Delivery.
Asian Texans for Justice and the Asian American Resource Center will be providing interpreters for various Asian languages and childcare. Please indicate in the ticket form if you need these resources! Register here.
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Wednesday, May 24 @ 1pm CST
It’s Not Too Late to Advocate for American Rescue Plan (ARPA) Funds! Ways to Secure and Sustain ARPA Funding Before the End of 2024
State and local governments have close to $200 billion in unspent funds they received via the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and they must designate them for specific uses by the end of 2024. Now is the time to advocate for those funds to go toward their intended purpose of strengthening communities as we come out of the pandemic. Join us to learn how to advocate for the funds to go toward immigration legal services.
During the webinar you will hear about the funds that remain available and examples of where local governments used the funds to invest in building capacity for nonprofit immigration legal services. Learn from advocates who have successfully advocated for public investments in immigration legal services and their strategies to win these investments in future local budgets. Register here. |
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Thursday, May 25 @ 6pm CST
Organizing Your Own World Refugee Day Event From an Advocacy Lens
The purpose of this workshop is to engage, train and equip local refugee and immigrant leaders in learning about ways they can organize World Refugee Day events and action in their local communities through an Advocacy Lens. Please fill out this brief survey before the webinar. Register here.
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Tuesday, May 30 @ 6pm CST
Equity Action Team Meeting
Street-Jones Building - 1000 E. 11th Street #120
Fourth Floor, Conference Room 400A
Join us for community updates over dinner this month! Equity Office staff will provide updates on our work, including immigrant affairs. We will also have presentations about displacement prevention, among other topics brought forth by community members.
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Thursday, June 1 @ 1:30pm CST
Supporting Unaccompanied Haitian Youth
Join Girasol, Respond Crisis Translation, and LLILAS for a webinar to celebrate the release of our newly translated Haitian version of our Trauma Workbook for Unaccompanied Minors/ Teens Un Rayito de Luz and a discussion on trauma-informed interpretation, Haitian culture, and some of the challenges and push factors causing Haitian children and families to migrate to the U.S.
Texas mental health professionals can attend this webinar to receive 1.5 Cultural Diversity CEU credits. Register here. |
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