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September Immigrant Affairs Update |
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CELEBRATE WELCOMING WEEK! |
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September 9-18, 2022 marks the 10th anniversary of Welcoming Week, organized by the Welcoming America Network. Through Welcoming Week, organizations and communities bring together neighbors of all backgrounds to build strong connections and affirm the importance of welcoming and inclusive places in achieving collective prosperity.
This year's theme is "Where We Belong." By focusing on the places and spaces that have the potential to foster belonging (ie. cities, workplaces, neighborhoods, etc.), "Where We Belong" aims to go deeper and spark individual reflection on how and why belonging occurs, and ways we can break barriers so that places can foster belonging for all, including immigrants and refugees. Cities, towns, counties, and nations - and the institutions within them - have an important role to play when it comes to fostering belonging for all people.
Stay tuned for a special Welcoming Week newsletter that will go out next week! |
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U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
Mental Health First Aid Trainings
Upcoming Virtual (Open) Trainings:
September 8 (Youth MHFA)
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an evidence-based training that provides participants with knowledge on the common signs of mental health and substance use challenges among adults as well as practical ways to support someone experiencing a mental health challenge. Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) is a similar curriculum that provides participants with knowledge on the common signs of mental health and substance use challenges among youth ages 12-18. Register for the training here. |
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Juntas para establecer los Centros de Resiliencia
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Resilience Hubs Community Meetings
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- Activists sued LexisNexis for mass collection and sale of personal data of millions. According to the lawsuit, LexisNexis sells consumers’ data, in part to law enforcement agencies, through an online platform it calls “Accurint.” Accurint enables ICE, which has a $22 million contract with LexisNexis, to rapidly aggregate data from millions of data points to build detailed dossiers on individuals whom it may be targeting for deportation.
- The United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recently released a new report on racial discrimination in the U.S. immigration system. The report includes formal policy recommendations for the U.S. government to address anti-Black discrimination in immigration enforcement.
- Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas today announced that the Department has issued a final rule that will preserve and fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy for certain eligible noncitizens who arrived in the United States as children. The final rule is effective Monday, October 31, 2022. However, while a July 16, 2021, injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas remains in effect, DHS is prohibited from granting initial DACA requests and related employment authorization under the final rule. This means that only renewal requests are being accepted at this time.
- California may become the first U.S. state to ban solitary confinement in private civil immigrant detention centers. The measure would also include the state's prisons and jails.
- The New Mexico Supreme Court will no longer deny licenses to practice law based solely on the applicant's immigration status. This new rule will take effect October 1. This change aligns with recommendations by the American Bar Association and provisions in approximately eight other states that do not bar applicants based on immigration status. New Mexico currently requires law license applicants to provide proof of citizenship, permanent resident status, or work authorization.
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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. Learn more and register here. |
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Saturday, September 3 @ 12pm CST
Border Talks, Community Action!
Austin Tan Cerca de la Frontera and their frontline partners, the Comité Fronterizo de Obrer@s, will be visiting to share about union organizing in Mexican maquiladoras. Hilda Ramirez and Carmen Zuvieta, both from the Austin Sanctuary Network, will discuss anti-deportation campaigns and the struggle for immigration justice. Finally, Elvia Arriola of Women on the Border will highlight the need for women’s empowerment and gender justice in the maquiladoras.
Through "Border Talks, Community Action!" ATCF aims to bring together a broad community of Central Texas activists, allies & community members to strategically grow transnational solidarity movements for immigration justice, labor justice and an end to state violence at the border. Register here for the event.
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Tuesday, September 6 @ 2pm CST
Welcoming Economies Webinar: Skilled Immigrant Integration Programs
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College-educated and professional immigrants and refugees face their own unique barriers to finding meaningful employment in their field or professions. This webinar will be in a meeting format and will provide an introduction to the many different local approaches that local Welcoming initiatives are tackling this problem and producing tangible results.
Participants will:
- Learn about the drivers of underemployment and how local welcoming initiatives are working with national partners
- Get direct advice on their own local plans
- Hear detailed information on how other Welcoming programs have implemented their strategies
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Saturday, September 10 @ 4pm CST
Welcoming Week Screening of "Minari"
Central Library Special Events Center - 710 W. Cesar Chavez Street
Join us as we celebrate Welcoming Week! To bring together neighbors around this year's theme of "Where We Belong," Austin Public Library and the Equity Office are co-hosting a screening of the award-winning film, "Minari". Light refreshments will be provided. This event is free and open to the public. Learn more here.
Minari follows a Korean-American family that moves to an Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. The family home changes completely with the arrival of their grandmother. Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks, Minari shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
*The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. For assistance with reasonable modifications and equal access to communications, please call 512-974-7449. |
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Thursday, September 15 @ 12pm CST
A Future for All of Us: Narrative Strategy Basics for the Immigrant Movement
Join us to level up your narrative strategy skills at our upcoming webinar! In this workshop we will share tools, recommendations, and learnings for you to generate or refine a narrative project. This workshop is for you, whether you’re:
- an experienced narrative leader in the immigrant movement
- an immigrant movement organizer beginning their learning journey in narrative and cultural strategy, or
- a non-immigrant movement organizer curious about narrative strategy basics
ASL, closed captioning, and Spanish interpretation will be offered.
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Tuesday, September 20 @ 3pm CST
Emergency Preparedness Fair
Asian American Resource Center - 8401 Cameron Road
September is Emergency Preparedness Month and the City of Austin is hosting a Get Ready Central Texas Emergency Preparedness Fair. Interpretation services will be available in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and ASL. You can request interpretation services in other languages by calling 3-1-1 no later than five days before the event.
Learn more here.
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Wednesday, September 21 @ 10am CST
Immigrant Services Network of Austin (ISNA) Quarterly Meeting
As a continuation of efforts to strengthen ISNA, partners and stakeholders are being asked to provide feedback about their priorities and interests, and how ISNA can support that work. The ISNA Steering Committee will review the feedback from this survey and share the results at this upcoming September meeting. If you're interested in joining ISNA, please email ImmigrantServicesATX@gmail.com to receive the link to the survey and to register for the quarterly meeting. |
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Thursday, October 27 @ 9am-5:15pm CST
2022 Convening on Advancing Universal Representation
The Midwest Immigrant Defenders Alliance, the new universal representation pilot before the Chicago Immigration Court, is hosting the 2022 Convening on Advancing Universal Representation. This hybrid (virtual and in-person) gathering will bring together existing universal representation projects as well as groups considering starting/supporting new programs to reflect on best practices, adapting models, and ways to expand universal representation. Register for this FREE convening here. |
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Queer Detainee Empowerment Project
Leadership Development Program
Deadline to Apply: September 12
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The Austin-Travis County Health Authority has expanded COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include young children and babies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends that all children 6 months through 5 years of age should receive a COVID-19 vaccine. This age group is eligible to receive the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines. Find more information here. |
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National Immigrant Inclusion Conference
December 11-13, 2022
National Harbor, MD
Register today to join 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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