Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees - GCIR

"True opportunity requires that we all have equal access to the benefits, burdens, and responsibilities of our society regardless of race, gender, class, religion, sexual orientation, or other aspects of what we look like or where we come from. Ensuring equal opportunity means not only ending overt and intentional discrimination, but also rooting out subconscious bias and reforming systems that unintentionally perpetuate exclusion. It requires proactive efforts to remake our institutions in ways that ensure fairness and inclusion."

The State of Opportunity in America: Immigrants and Opportunity, The Opportunity Agenda, New York, New York

The concept that equal treatment and opportunity should be provided to everyone is widely accepted in the United States. Yet this concept has been always more of an ideal than a reality. Americans, at best, have been consistently ambivalent about immigrants. While proud of the country's immigrant heritage, they are often suspicious of new immigrants and uneasy about immigration.

Like immigrants who came before them, today's newcomers face numerous challenges in securing equal treatment and opportunity. Concerns about immigration levels and national security have led the federal government to adopt policies that are inconsistent with core American values of equality, freedom, and opportunity. For instance, 1996 federal laws bar most legal immigrants from federal benefits such as Food Stamps, Supplemental Security Income, and Medicaid. Federal law also prohibits federally funded legal services organizations from serving a significant segment of the immigrant community, severely limiting these individuals' access to the judicial system and their ability to protect their rights. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, specific immigrant communities--primarily Arab Americans, Muslims, and South Asians--have come under intense public scrutiny and attack. Racial stereotypes, reinforced by government policies, have led to discrimination and even hate crimes against these community members.

Laws and public policies can have considerable influence on the ability of immigrants and their receiving community to engage in an integration process. They can promote opportunity or place barriers in the way of aspirations. They can bring communities together or reinforce people's fears, stereotypes, and isolation.

Policies that promote equal treatment and opportunity, however, can help facilitate integration because they instill a sense of fairness in the relationship between newcomers and the receiving community. They also make immigrants feel welcomed and inspire confidence that they will eventually become full members of their new community.

This section describes funding strategies and promising practices that help immigrants secure equal treatment and opportunity. They include:

1. Creating an environment to promote integration and community building.
2. Increasing immigrants' access to legal and judicial resources.
3. Challenging discriminatory practices and promoting fair laws and policies.
4. Protecting the rights of low-wage workers.
5. Promoting fair and humane laws and policies.
6. Addressing racial stereotypes and hate violence.

• Promising Practices in Equal Treatment and Opportunity - from GCIR's Immigrant Integration Toolkit
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