Will new federal immigration policies help or harm the City?  New York continues to be an immigrant City-one third of the City's residents were born outside the U.S. and more than half of its children are from immigrant families.  Immigrants from across the globe have been critical to maintaining the City's vitality.  Federal policies currently being implemented or considered can have an enormous affect on the City's immigrant communities.

This briefing will introduce funders to Fatima Shama, the newly appointed Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs.  Commissioner Shama will discuss the City's immigrant policies and priorities regarding language access, confidentiality safeguards, and health and other City services particularly in light of national trends. 

Marie McHugh, Co-Director of the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. will provide an update on the status of federal policies, including immigration reform and the Dream Act that would enable undocumented students to legalize their status.  She will address the impact of healthcare reform on undocumented and legal immigrants and educational, ESL, and job training opportunities for immigrant students and adults under the stimulus package and other federal funding.   And Muzaffar Chishti, Director of the Migration Policy Institute-New York Office, will talk about the effect of national immigration enforcement programs.

Presenters: 

Fatima Shama, Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs
Margie McHugh, Co-Director, National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, Migration Policy Institute, Washington, D.C.

Moderator:

Muzaffar Chishti, Director, Migration Policy Institute-New York City

REGISTRATION:
Please register online by Monday, November 9th, go to www.philanthropynewyork.org and click on Events and Programs. 

For more info about the program, contact Liz OuYang, Coordinator, Fund for New Citizens at lizouyang@aol.com.