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Young Poet Wins 2025 Creative Writing Award, Paying Tribute to Refugees
WASHINGTON, DC, June 24, 2025—The American Immigration Council honored Luu Ly, an 11-year-old attending the Chapin School in New York City, with its 28th annual Celebrate America Creative Writing Contest award, which honors the immigrant experience. Luu’s poem, “American Poem,” narrates her grandparents’ escape from Vietnam during the war, describing how they settled down as […]
Read MoreDistrict Court Blocks Unlawful Removal of Venezuelan Asylum Seeker Under Alien Enemies Act
In a May 21 decision, a federal district court in Georgia ordered the federal government to refrain from disappearing a Venezuelan man under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA).
Read MoreImportant Update Regarding F, M, and J Visa Interview Appointments
UPDATE (6/19/25): We are excited to share that the pause on new visa appointment interviews in J, F, and M categories has been lifted! On June 18, the State Department has instructed the Embassies to resume scheduling new visa interviews. At the same time, the implementation of new social media vetting guidelines as well as […]
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Read MoreHow Immigration is Shaping US Cities
Immigrants have long been key to population growth in the United States. Between 2018 and 2023, they were responsible for 42.1% of population growth in America’s 100 largest metro areas. In particular, 91.7% of population growth in metro Seattle, 83.7% in metro Scranton, PA, 82.1% in metro New York, and 76.9% in metro Poughkeepsie, NY […]
Read MoreAt Graduation Time, ICE Targets Young Dreamers
As young people and their families are celebrating graduations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been ramping up enforcement across the country. One new tactic: arresting teenage students. Marcelo, a member of his high school volleyball team and the school band, who has attended Milford, Massachusetts schools since he was 7. Ximena, a 19-year-old […]
Read MoreWelcoming Interactive 2025: Lessons from Detroit and the Power of Local Leadership
In May, I attended Welcoming America’s Welcoming Interactive conference in Detroit, where over 900 leaders gathered to explore what it takes to build communities where everyone feels they belong. Set in a city shaped by industrial booms, disinvestment, and powerful local activism, the conference was an opportunity to share insights and reflect on how truly […]
Read MoreAsylum Seekers Challenge Trump’s Asylum Shutdown Policy
People fleeing persecution and torture in their home countries have joined immigrant rights organizations to challenge the Trump administration’s unlawful shutdown of asylum along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Read MoreKenyan Immigrant Helps Other Newcomers Settle into Baltimore County
As a student activist in Kenya in the 1980s, Thomas Mwaura spoke out against the authoritarian government—only to be accused of sedition, wrongfully arrested, expelled from his university, and left unable to find work. With the help of the American Embassy, he was able to get a student visa and came to America in 1991 […]
Read MoreBurmese Immigant Helps Make Allen County Welcoming for All
So Min Oo remembers the day in January 1977 when the Burmese government bombed his family’s village. “It stays in my nightmares — the gunfire, the people screaming,” he recalls. He was 11. His parents and three siblings spent the next several months fleeing on foot to Thailand, where they built the refugee camp that […]
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