Immigrants’ Rights Groups to Provide Pro Bono Legal Services to Detained Families in Texas
Washington D.C. – Immigrants’ rights and immigrant legal services groups are announcing the establishment of a family detention project to provide legal services to children and their mothers detained in Karnes City and Dilley, Texas, and to advocate for the end of family detention. The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the … Read More
Executive Director Benjamin Johnson Testifies Before Senate on High-Skilled Immigration
Washington D.C. – Today, the American Immigration Council’s Executive Director, Benjamin Johnson, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the integral role immigration plays in America’s economic prosperity. Although the hearing title, “Immigration Reforms Needed to Protect Skilled American Workers,” suggested that some minds had already been made up, he reframed… Read More
From South Vietnam to The U.S. Capitol: An Immigrant Tale
Joseph Cao believes a letter he received as a boy from his father helped steer his life’s course—although he didn’t recognize it at the time. Cao’s father, an officer allied with American forces in South Vietnam, had been captured by the North Vietnamese in 1975, at the close… Read More
Alabama’s Anti-Immigrant Policies Have Hurt American Construction Companies—and the State’s Economy
Bill Caton, chief operating officer of the Alabama AGC—a non-residential construction association of more than 800 contractors, construction managers, and suppliers—says the state’s anti-immigration policies have created major problems for his industry—one that has a $10 billion annual economic impact on the state. “Until the state passed laws that made… Read More
In Immigrants, Michigan’s Business Community Sees a Way to Grow the Economy, Says Entrepreneur
When Bing Goei and his parents came to western Michigan in 1960, they were among the first Indonesians to arrive in the region, and their arrival made the front page of the local newspaper. “It must have been a slow news day,” Goei laughs. These days, it’s hardly big news… Read More
British Chef Cooks Up the Quintessential American Dream
British immigrant Mark Elliott opened his first restaurant, Elliott’s on Linden, in the fall of 2000, serving up southern staples such as shrimp and grits alongside more creative culinary endeavors like elk chops with lemon-sage marmalade and pomegranate jus. The fine-dining eatery was a hit: Within months, Elliott… Read More
This Manufacturing Giant Didn’t Leave, But it Needs More Immigrant STEM Workers to Stay in the Country and Succeed
Jennifer Sharp has an unusual title for an engineering company: Immigration Specialist. Her company, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL), designs and manufacturers products that protect power grids around the world. It is one of the largest employers in southeast Washington state, with 2,600 employees at its Pullman headquarters and 4,500 employees… Read More
Reform Allowing Immigrants To Study and Work Would Boost Community Output, Says Mexican-American Volunteer
After Angelica Velasquez’s father came to the United States from Mexico at age 20, he was deported several times. But he returned, married, and started a construction business. “He’s a contributor. Plus, they raised me and my five siblings, and we’re all great contributors,” says Velasquez, 41, the human resources… Read More
Immigrant Pastor Wants Fair, Streamlined Policy to Benefit U.S. Workers and Economy
Roland Kuhl, a retired pastor, sees the contributions immigrants make every day in his life, his church and in his community. His nephew’s father, born in Guatemala and living in North Carolina, created American jobs at his painting business while he was documented and continued after his visa expired and… Read More
After Receiving Legal Status, Child Immigrant Strives to Give Back
Arcela Nunez-Alvarez was just 12 years old when she left Mexico with her mother and sisters to move to the northern San Diego suburb of San Marcos in the early 1980s. Yet her immigration experience was vastly different than those of undocumented arrivals today. A beneficiary of former President Ronald… Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone