As I reflect on what brings me to this work, I am reminded that these roots run deep. As a Puerto Rican brought up in the United States, I was raised with an awareness of our nation’s history of colonialism and at times violent intervention in Latin America and beyond. I saw how the U.S. government had fought to ensure that the political and economic arrangements in Latin American countries suited its own interests, while then abdicating responsibility for the resulting destabilization.
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Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) seeks to engage a firm, consultant, or team of consultants to update our organizational branding and redesign our website by September 2023. The purpose of this RFP is to provide a clear understanding of this project and the criteria by which proposals will be evaluated.
Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) is looking for a finance manager to support our finance and operations functions.
Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) is seeking an administrative and membership assistant to support GCIR’s executive, governance and membership functions.
In her final quarterly message of 2022, GCIR President Marissa Tirona shares her reflections and key takeaways from the midterm election results, including political wins for immigrants and refugees, communities of color, and working families across the nation. She also highlights upcoming GCIR programming that will help philanthropy gear up for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Soon after the U.S. government’s hasty and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer, the United States received over 80,000 Afghan evacuees, many of whom were at added risk due to their association with the U.S. government during the two-decade war. Ninety percent of these migrants entered the country on humanitarian parole (HP), which allows them to live and work in the U.S. for two years, but does not provide a path to permanent residency, leaving them in legal limbo. The Afghan Adjustment Act (AAA), would allow Afghans with humanitarian parole to apply for permanent legal status and would expand the categories of Afghans eligible for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs).
In her latest quarterly message, GCIR president Marissa Tirona lays out what is at stake for DACA recipients as the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals considers deeming DACA unlawful, a decision that would leave nearly 700,000 of our DACAmented families, neighbors, and friends unable to legally work and at risk of deportation. Marissa also shares what immigrant justice advocates are doing to protect and defend DACA at this critical juncture, and explains how philanthropy can help fight both to protect DACA and to ensure we are prepared for its possible end.
When I began writing this blog post, I was asked “what do you want readers to take away from it?” Immediately I knew my answer: Undocumented people have the right to be in positions of power, to be compensated fairly for their labor, and to be valued for the expertise they bring to the table. Undocumented people deserve much more than we’ve given them.
In this edition, GCIR President Marissa Tirona speaks with Arcenio Lopez, Executive Director of Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP). Read on as Arcenio shares his thoughts about building power for Indigenous immigrants, the importance of forging alliances with other Indigenous communities, and how philanthropy can support and strengthen the work of Indigenous migrants.
We find ourselves in a precarious moment for the right to seek asylum in the United States. While advocates continue to push for more inclusive and welcoming state and local policies for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, the fundamental right to seek safety in the U.S. continues to be at grave risk. Though last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision cleared the way for the Biden administration to rescind the inhumane Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as “Remain in Mexico,” an array of cruel and ineffective asylum and immigration policies still stand, foremost among them Title 42.