Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees - GCIR

The focus of this issue is immigrant children. Ruby Takanishi, president of the Foundation for Child Development, writes a column in which she asserts that true support for low-income immigrant families includes health care and early childhood education. Takanishi urges private and public funders, regardless of their field of interest, to evaluate their funding strategies to address the needs of the growing number of immigrant and refugee children and families. An article on immigration detention in the anti-terrorism aftermath re-evaluates the 1996 immigration law, which mandated the detention of asylum-seekers and other immigrants and resulted in a dramatic increase in the detainee population. The article also looks at who the detainees are, how philanthropy has helped, and outlines funding recommendations for foundations. Fast facts on children and immigrant families, policy issues to watch, and information on conferences and programs are also included.