State and Local Initiatives
They say all politics is local, right? While most of the debate about immigration focuses on congressional action (or inaction), local communities across the country are the ones who feel the value of immigration most tangibly. Now active in more than 50 communities – more than 80 percent of which are in conservative states – the NAE State & Local team works with policymakers, business, and civic leaders to promote policies and programs that help create jobs and drive economic growth. You can explore more of our work on the state and local level here.
New Report: Immigrants Power Ohio’s Workforce and Pay Billions in Taxes
Immigrants in Ohio earned $27.3 billion in income and paid $7.3 billion in local, state, and federal taxes in 2023 Ohio, April 9, 2026 – New research from the American Immigration Council underscores the crucial role that immigrants play in Ohio’s economy, filling jobs in critical industries, strengthening the workforce, and contributing billions in taxes each year. The new report was prepared in partnership with … Read More
Communities Enact Protective Immigration Policies, Despite State and National Roadblocks
Across the United States, communities are at the forefront of welcoming and protecting immigrants — recognizing that immigrants are not abstract political symbols but instead friends, family, coworkers, students, caregivers, and business owners. This sentiment is on display as community members continue to show up for their immigrant… Read More
Protecting Immigrant Communities: How States Can Lead in 2026
This year has been filled with unprecedented challenges and aggressive immigration enforcement tactics across the United States. Instead of focusing on the “worst of the worst” as the Trump administration promised, communities are facing the realities of the new mass deportation playbook—racial profiling and the indiscriminate detention… Read More
New Cohort Selected for the Gateways for Growth Challenge
WASHINGTON DC & DECATUR, GA, December 15, 2025 — The American Immigration Council (the Council) and Welcoming America, two national nonprofits, are pleased to announce that over 10 local communities have been selected to receive Gateways for Growth Challenge (G4G) awards as part of Round… Read More
Iraqi Refugee Helps Other Newcomers Settle in Lincoln
Maysoon ShaheenDoctoral Student and Ambassador for Local Arabic Community Maysoon Shaheen fled Iraq in 1998 during Saddam Hussein’s regime, a move that likely saved her life. In order to receive her bachelor’s in education, Shaheen was required to sign a form saying she supported Saddam. She refused and escaped… Read More
Mexican Artist Finds Community in Lincoln
David ManzanaresMural and Sculpture Artist In 2017, David Manzanares moved to Lincoln with his Nebraskan-born wife and two sons, then ages 3 and 1. Manzanares is a mural and sculpture artist whose work often revolves around his Oaxacan heritage. He hoped America would help expand his audience and provide… Read More
Laotian Refugee Gives Back to Lincoln Community
Soulinnee PhanCity of Lincoln City Clerk Soulinnee Phan’s parents came to Nebraska from Laos, fleeing the Communists. A few years prior, they’d swum for their lives across the Mekong River and met at a Thai refugee camp. By the time Phan’s mother boarded a military plane to America in… Read More
Eugenie Kirenga
In 2005, Eugenie Kirenga traveled with her one-year-old son from Rwanda to the United States to visit her two sisters who were attending school in Pittsburgh, PA. But as her return date approached, news broke that Rwandan soldiers, who had left the country during the genocide, were returning to the… Read More
Juan Arias
In the late 1990s, at age 21, Juan Arias fled economic crisis in his native Ecuador. He landed in Richmond, Indiana, a small town with few Hispanic people. “When people saw me, they’d stare at me like I had a third eye,” he recalls. “It was isolating. I went from… Read More
Mohamed Al-Hamdani
In 1990, when Mohamed Al-Hamdani was eight, he and his family fled Iraq. Al-Hamdani’s father was part of the uprisings against Saddam Hussein, and the country was no longer safe for them. After two years in a Saudi Arabian refugee camp, they were resettled in Dayton, Ohio. It wasn’t easy. Read More
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No one should face the immigration system alone
