Minnesota, District 5
Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi to Be Honored with Immigrant Achievement Award
The American Immigration Council will honor Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi with its Immigrant Achievement Award, which recognizes individuals or organizations that exhibit a commitment and dedication to our heritage as a nation of immigrants and to the struggle for fair and humane immigration policies in the United States. Read More
Advocates Release FOIA Data, Seek Transparency for Thousands of Afghans Seeking Humanitarian Parole and the Extensive Delays They Are Facing
The American Immigration Council and International Refugee Assistance Project released government records documenting the extensive delays experienced by thousands of Afghans who filed for humanitarian parole since the United States’ chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. Read More
New Research Shows Immigrants Account for Nearly 13 Percent of Utah Physicians as Demand for Bilingual Workers Jumps 38.8 Percent
The American Immigration Council released new research, The Growing Demand for Healthcare Workers in Utah, which underscores the crucial role immigrants play in some of the state’s fastest growing and most in demand healthcare fields. Read More
Class Action Filed Against USCIS for Extreme Processing Delays that Leave American Families Stranded
A group of immigrants filed a federal class action lawsuit in Seattle against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), challenging bureaucratic logjams that have left them in a multi-year limbo. Read More
Lao Refugee Becomes Engaged Community Leader in Minneapolis
Sunny ChanthanouvongExecutive Director of the Lao Assistance Center When Sunny Chanthanouvong arrived in the U.S. with his family as a Lao refugee, little did he know he would soon be among 13,000+ rebuilding their lives in Minnesota, a state as different as one might imagine from Southeast Asia. It… Read More
Indian Researcher Starts Non-profit to Serve South Asian Community in Minneapolis
Raj ChaudharyCEO, SEWA-AIFW When Raj Chaudhary moved to Minneapolis in 1968 to become a cancer researcher at the University of Minnesota, she felt like a pioneer. At that time, the Twin Cities’ Indian community was small. And as it grew, newcomers would frequently tap earlier arrivals like Chaudhary and her husband… Read More
Somalian Refugee Launches Interpretation Company in Minneapolis
Khadija AliCEO, Global Language Connections Former child refugee Khadija Ali is a natural advocate. “I believe everyone has a voice,” she says. “And I didn’t want a language barrier to be a deterrent for anyone’s well-being, which is what happened to my family members.” Ali came to America at… Read More
Argentinian Cook Starts Food Business in Minneapolis
Belén Rodríguez Owner and Creator of Quebracho Empanadas When Belén Rodríguez moved from Argentina to Minneapolis with her American husband in 2012, she quickly developed an international social circle. She worked as a Spanish interpreter at Hennepin Healthcare, where her colleagues all over the world spoke 130 languages. “From Somalia to Russia,… Read More
Costa Rican Immigrant Community Organizer Supports Vulnerable Communities in Mercer County
Laura MoraCommunity Organizer, Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund Laura Mora grew up in a poor Costa Rican farming community, where her father worked in the tobacco fields to support his 10 children. Today, she is a Community Organizer and Client Advocate who supports the vulnerable population and… Read More
Iranian Student Turned Healthcare CEO Helps Hundreds Fight COVID-19 in Mercer County
Al MaghazehePresident & CEO, Capital Health Al Maghazehe came to the United States as an international student in 1977, but when the Iranian Revolution broke out a year later, he realized he couldn’t safely return home. Raised in a tight-knit family, Maghazehe struggled with loneliness at first, but finished… Read More
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