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Earlier this month, the World Education Services (WES) Mariam Assefa Fund shared its initial responses to the needs exposed and created by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Immigrants are America’s workers, and 12 million are currently on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis. Immigrant workers number disproportionately among America’s health care, food delivery, and janitorial service workers. They also rank high in industries hardest hit by the faltering economy, such as caregiver, food, retail, and hospitality sectors.
Today, the Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). While the decision was made on procedural grounds and not on the merits of the program, it nevertheless provides a reprieve for 650,000 immigrants and their families, including more than 250,000 U.S.-citizen children.
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to continue. The Court found that the Trump administration’s decision to terminate the program was “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedures Act and failed to consider the hardship to DACA recipients. The ruling allows DACA recipients to continue to receive the protections and benefits of the program.
As the daughter of a Chinese-Thai father and a Filipina mother, I struggled with stereotypes of Asian American/Pacific Islanders (AAPIs), including being perceived as a “perpetual foreigner.” When I was in kindergarten, my parents offered me the choice of learning Thai or Tagalog. However, my classmates were already teasing me because of my perceived otherness, and I roundly rejected learning another language because I was “American.” I received compliments about how “well” I spoke English. And questions such as “Where are you from?” followed by “Where are you really from?” when my answer was unsatisfactory for my interrogator, started to trigger me.
Ivy Suriyopas has been appointed as the new Vice President of Programs at Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR), effective May 12, 2021.
In her second quarterly message of 2022, GCIR president Marissa Tirona shares some of the highlights of GCIR’s recent work, including GCIR’s national convening in Houston in May, grantmaking and learning through the California Dignity for Families Fund, developing a theory of change though the strategic planning process, and partnering with Upwardly Global to advance the economic power of immigrant and refugee women of color.
All of us at GCIR grieve for the lives lost in Christchurch, New Zealand, and stand in support of their families and Muslim communities across the world. We see you, we mourn with you, and our hearts are breaking along with yours.
One month after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake killed over 2,200 Haitians and left 650,000 more in need of humanitarian assistance, the Biden administration is undertaking a mass expulsion of Haitians seeking safety in the United States. Under the guise of stopping the spread of Covid-19 through the Trump-era Title 42 policy, migrants are being sent back to a country reeling from overlapping crises and decades of political upheaval and natural disasters. Returning to Haiti is not a viable option for them.
Despite immigrants' crucial role in our nation’s economy—the country’s 45 million foreign-born residents represent 13 percent of the U.S. population but 17 percent of its workforce—many lack access to financial services the rest of us take for granted.
As COVID-19 fears rise and communities face growing health and economic concerns, local nonprofits are stepping up to fill the gaps in our social safety net while trying to protect our families and communities. Public schools are closing from Washington to Arkansas, and children are losing school meals, safe space, and basic medical care—putting an even bigger strain on the limited childcare and healthcare infrastructure in the U.S.
A letter from Unbound Philanthropy to its grantees about the COVID-19 outbreak.
Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) announced a round of grants from its Civic Participation Emergency Grant Fund to help ensure Latinos are counted in the upcoming Census as the country responds to the rapidly-changing situation concerning COVID-19. The first round of grants went to eight grassroots, community-based organizations in six southern states.