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.

DRC Immigrant Finds His Faith and a Path to Helping Other Immigrants
César M’nyampara was a mining-industry lawyer in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but when his father, a political activist, was murdered in 2003, he decided to find a safer place for his family. In 2011, M’nyampara, his pregnant wife, and their four children came to Illinois on diversity visas. There,… Read More

Talk Business and Politics: New study highlights economic benefit of central Arkansas’ immigrant population
A study published Tuesday (May 1) by the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, the City of Little Rock and a Washington, D.C.-business coalition reports that foreign-born residents contributed $2 billion annual in gross domestic product to the central Arkansas economy in 2016. The study’s release coincided with federal judge’s… Read More

Arkansas Online: Report details immigrants’ effect on economy of central Arkansas
Immigrants living in central Arkansas paid more than $240 million in local, state and federal taxes in 2016, according to a report published Tuesday that details the economic effect of foreign-born residents. Roughly 29,000 immigrants — more than one-third from Mexico — lived in the six-county metropolitan area that year,… Read More

Without DACA, U.S. Risks Losing Country’s Educated Talent
When Ben A. was a high-school senior in north Texas, he was class valedictorian, president of the school’s National Honor Society chapter, and had a full scholarship to Harvard University. But his girlfriend’s father still disapproved of their relationship because he was an undocumented immigrant. “It’s one of the most… Read More

WNDU: New research shows positive impact of immigrants in Michiana
New research shows the economic impacts of immigrants in Michiana. The research on “New Americans in the Michiana Region” was presented in South Bend on Friday. The researcher who presented the statistics says he hopes the research will help us better understand our foreign-born neighbors. “When you talk about immigrants… Read More

Houston Public Media: During Tax Season Undocumented Texans Were Filing, Too
In Texas alone, the undocumented population paid an estimated $1.9 billion to the IRS. That’s according to 2016 research by the New American Economy Research Fund. They estimate that, in Texas, undocumented immigrants paid another $1.3 billion to local and state governments. “For Uncle Sam, your migratory status doesn’t matter,”… Read More

Cleveland.com: Global Ties Akron to launch international ‘Global Threads’ magazine
Global Ties Akron is one of only six organizations in the country to be awarded state funding for a cultural heritage project to be unveiled at the Akron Art Museum. “Global Threads” is an online international magazine that will launch Sunday, April 22 from 1-5 p.m. at the museum. Read More

After Fleeing Bloodshed in Gambia, Immigrant Entrepreneur Starts Successful Business in Little Rock
In 2000, when Maf Sonko was 15, his family fled a bloody government crackdown on student demonstrations in their native Gambia. They received asylum and settled in North Carolina, where Sonko finished high school and earned a degree in industrial engineering from North Carolina State University Since then, Sonko… Read More

Business Owner & Indian Immigrant Advocates for Little Rock’s Economic Development
Indian native Rajesh Chokhani spent 13 years with Indian steel and textiles giant Welspun, before the company gave him an important new project: to open a $150 million pipe plant in the United States. Chokhani came to America and… Read More
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