Track: Plenary
Speakers:
- Shaffwan Ahmed, Program Manager in the Office of Immigrant Affairs & Economic Inclusion, City of Detroit
- Jamon Jordan, City Historian, Detroit Arts, Culture & Entrepreneurship Office
- Rima Meroueh, Director of National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), ACCESS
- Surabhi S. Pandit, Director of DEI and Community Engagement, Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (CFSEM)
Moderator:
- Cairo Mendes, Senior Director of State and Local Programs, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR)
Session Description:
Michigan is home to nearly 700,000 immigrants—7% of the entire state population. In the last decade alone, 31,000 refugees from 52 countries have made Michigan their home. ¹The Greater Detroit region has become a home for many different cultures—and a refuge for those seeking relief—with neighboring cities like Dearborn, Hamtramck, and Detroit neighborhoods like Southwest Detroit and Banglatown, and Warrendale, among others, attracting immigrants from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The City of Detroit is no stranger to the topic of migration, having been a key destination during the Great Migration from 1910-1970. Over that time period, more than six million Black Americans migrated from the South to the North to escape racial violence and segregation and to seek opportunities², much like many of the immigrants and refugees coming today. Grounded in this historical context, we kick off our convening in Detroit, Michigan in this critical election year.
¹https://map.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/locations/michigan/
²https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/migrations/great-migration#:~:text=The%20driving%20force%20behind%20the,leaving%20their%20industrial%20jobs%20vacant