Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees - GCIR

A More Perfect Union: A National Citizenship Plan sets forth the resources, activities, and partnerships that would be required to naturalize as many eligible immigrants as possible. It calls for a national mobilization in support of citizenship, identifying the roles of government, immigrant service agencies, and other sectors of society in a coordinated plan. It describes a program that could serve as the linchpin of an emerging U.S. immigrant integration strategy.

On September 17, 1997, the Unpaid Wages Prohibition Act was signed, giving New York State the strongest wage enforcement law in the country. The campaign that won the Act was conceived of and led by immigrant workers and members of the Workplace Project, a nonprofit workers center in Long Island. It was supported by a broad coalition of business, labor, religious, and community groups, as well as two other workers centers, the Latino Workers Center and the Chinese Staff and Workers Association.

This report summarizes the findings of Strategic Research Group, contracted to evaluate the Capacity Building Initiative's two-year pilot program at its midpoint and the extent to which grantees had met short-term and long-term goals. An initial organizational assessment was also used by CBI.

This comprehensive, 346-page handbook explains the new N-400 and contains up-to-date legal analysis of citizenship eligibility, requirements, and benefits. The handbook also includes 12 study units on U.S. history and civics with historic photos, time lines, vocabulary, and sample tests. Written by best-selling author Aliza Becker, it is geared for immigrants, community leaders, social service providers, and other non-attorneys, using simplified English without legal terminology.

In light of the growing intensity of the political debate regarding immigration, the U.S. government witnessed a spike in applications to become naturalized citizens. In Chicago at one naturalization ceremony, 154 people from 140 countries took the oath of citizenship. This article is available from the Chicago Tribune archive.

A report on the declining levels of civic participation--or volunteerism--that have been a source of concern for some time in California. Even more troubling are the persistent differences in civic participation among the state's racial, ethnic, and immigrant-generation groups. Relying on focus groups, interviews, and case studies, this report examines immigrant views of volunteerism and investigates the dynamics of community organizations. The authors find that immigrants face numerous barriers to civic participation and that community organizations are themselves confronting new challenges.

Finds that classic indicators of civic participation (socioeconomic status, political orientation, religiosity) have less predictive value in a multiracial urban context, where recent immigration, interracial ties, and other factors help explain differences in participation among Anglos, black, Latinos, and different Asian immigrant groups. Extensive bibliography.

Analyzes current national data to test applicability of traditional theories of political behavior to contemporary first- and secondgeneration immigrants. Assesses voting and other forms of political behavior among immigrants of different ethnic and socio-economic characteristics and operating in different contexts of political threat and institutional mobilization; also examines non-voting political behavior (e.g., signing petitions, attending meetings, contributing to political causes) across immigrant generations and ethnicities.

Brings together historians and social scientists to compare contemporary immigrant political incorporation with dynamics of the early twentieth century immigrant wave; articles examine political machines, naturalization, transnational loyalties, racial exclusion, and the role of the schools in political socialization.

Today, immigrants voluntarily serve in all branches of the U.S. military and are a vital resource in the Global War on Terrorism. Over the past five years, Congress has amended military-related enlistment and naturalization rules, allowing for expanded benefits for immigrants and their families and encouraging recruitment of immigrants into the U.S. armed forces.

Estimates that eight million LPRs were eligible to naturalize as of September 2004; provides tables by year admitted, country of birth, and state of residence.

The scientific approach that focused on the challenge of voter mobilization debuted in the first edition of Get Out the Vote! and influenced U.S. political campaign operations. This second edition includes data from more than 100 new studies plus two new chapters.

The proportion of all legal foreign-born residents who have become naturalized U.S. citizens rose to 52% in 2005, the highest level in a quarter of a century and a 14 percentage point increase since 1990, according to an analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center. This report examines the trends of naturalization in the United States by country and region of origin and length of time spent in the country, among other factors.

The Mexican population tripled in New York City between 1990 and 2000, but these new migrants mostly came from south central Mexico, a region that typically did not migrate to New York City. This study examines the growth of Hometown Associations (HTAs) among these new migrant communities, identifying 20 Mexican HTAs and six other HTAs in the larger metropolitan area. It finds the context of the development of Mexican HTAs in New York City to be unique compared to other parts of the United States.

Describes efforts to help immigrants integrate and become engaged in civic activities; summarizes recommendations for funders on ways to support civic integration through policies and programs that help immigrants establish a solid economic and educational foothold, become citizens and vote, and protect their civil rights and liberties.

The Immigration Advocates Network is a project of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), Pro Bono Net (PBN), and their partners that seeks to represent organizations around the country committed to impacting immigration policy, advocacy, and legal services. This informational publication describes the scope of IAN's work and its goals to increase capacity of organizations serving immigrants, enhance information sharing, and advance communication between organizations.

The heated political debate over immigration has sent foreigners who legally live in the United States scrambling in record numbers to determine how to become citizens. The article explores the increase in interest in naturalization, the application process, and the demographics of the groups eligible for naturalization.

Immigrant-Led Organizers in Their Own Voices: Local Realities and Shared Visions demonstrates that community organizing increases civic engagement and integration of immigrant communities. This report attempts to give voice to immigrants as they struggle in their migration and integration experiences. As a result, it contains numerous quotes from community organizers, particularly on why and how they organize.

This book examines how the dramatic increase in economic inequality since the 1970s may have stalled or reversed gains toward the U.S. ideal of participatory, responsive democracy. Scholars marshal evidence that economic inequality has diminished the voice of middle and working classes in politics, and reduced support for inclusive public policies, like the G.I. Bill and Social Security, that opened opportunities in the middle of the twentieth century.

Addresses political activism on the part of Mexican migrants, which have influenced political reforms allowing them to participate in electoral processes. It is presented entirely in Spanish.