Ethiopian Immigrant Fulfills Her Dream of Owning a Business
Rhoda Worku was a college student in Ethiopia when civil war broke out. Her father, a high-ranking member of the government, was executed and her mother was imprisoned. Eventually, Worku’s mother was released but life barely improved. “We didn’t have anything,” Worku says. “The government took everything from us.” In… Read More
Bolivian Immigrant Proud to Serve His New Country’s Air Force
Growing up in La Paz, Bolivia, Fernando Torrez was fascinated with American super hero cartoons. In 1996, when he was 12, his parents brought him and his older sister to Colorado in search of the American dream. There, he encountered real-life American heroes: cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Read More
American Immigration Council’s Statement on the Trump Administration’s Failure to Reunite Separated Families
"The government’s failure to comply with the court order to reunify the thousands of separated children and parents confirms the administration’s utter disregard for the humane and fair treatment of families coming to our country in search of protection." Read More
Houston Public Media: How Does Immigration Impact Houston’s Economy?
As lawmakers in Washington, D.C. debate how to move forward with immigration policies, we take a look at how our economy is affected by immigrants. New American Economy is a coalition of mayors and business leaders from all over the country. They just released data on Greater Houston… Read More
Liberian Immigrant Serves Montana by Becoming Mayor of Its Capitol
Wilmot Collins knew nothing about cold weather. A Liberian, he had spent his life in sub-Saharan Africa. Now, at age 30, he was escaping civil war and moving to Montana, where his wife had spent a year during high school. So when a relative gave him two pairs of long… Read More
Filipino Immigrant Trains Lawyers to the Benefit of Montanans
Eduardo Capulong’s father, a prominent politician in the Philippines, had already endured one imprisonment when the family found their house ransacked by police and military forces one October evening. It was 1979, seven years after Ferdinand Marcos—notorious for torturing and killing his opponents—had imposed a martial-law dictatorship. “We fled here,”… Read More
Immigrant and Community Leader from Chile Paves the Way on Local Immigration Policy
Mirtha Becerra was born at the dawn of the Pinochet regime in Chile. When she was 11 years old, in the mid 1980s, her father, an architect, found himself unable to provide a good life for his family under the brutal dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte and took a… Read More
DHS Secretary Nielsen Meets with Immigration and Human Rights Groups for First Time, Reiterates Trump Administration’s Misinformation and Sidesteps Family Immigration Crisis
Leaders of several immigrant and human rights organizations were invited for the first time under the Trump administration to meet with Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen. Read More
More Than 100 Leading Economists Oppose Department of Homeland Security Move to Rescind International Entrepreneur Rule
New York, NY — As the Trump Administration moves to dismantle a program known as the International Entrepreneur Rule (IER), more than 100 leading economists have issued a statement in opposition to the decision, citing new data about the program’s potential economic impact. Published in 2017, the IER is… Read More
Economists’ Letter in Opposition to Dismantling of the International Entrepreneur Rule
To: Samantha Deshommes Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division Office of Policy and Strategy U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Department of Homeland Security 20 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington DC 20529 Re: Notice of Proposed Rule: “Removal of International Entrepreneur Parole Program.” DHS Docket No. USCIS-2015-0006 Dear Chief Deshommes:… Read More
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