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GCIR is thrilled to host our 2024 National Convening in Detroit, Michigan. To help tell the city's migration story, we have created "Destination Detroit: A Timeline of Black, African, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian Migration." This timeline is focused on the history of Black, African, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (BAMEMSA) communities in the United States – from the arrival of Juan Garrido and Esteban de Dorantes in the 1500s, to the publication of The Life of Omar Ibn Said in 1831, to the arrival of Arab immigrants after the Civil War, to the Great Migration of African Americans out of the South through most of the 20^th century, to the embrace of Islam by many Black Americans, to the emergence of a coordinated movement of BAMEMSA groups advocating for justice and dignity in the 21^st century.

Why have so many people in the Americas made the perilous migration journey to the United States, especially in recent years? Why have migration patterns in the Western Hemisphere shifted over the years, and why are migrants from some countries treated differently than others? How are the policies and practices of the U.S. connected to the reasons people in the region have moved over time? To get at the root of these questions, GCIR is releasing a new timeline: U.S. Intervention and Modern Migration in the Americas, which delves into this history to allow for a nuanced analysis and deeper understanding of the migration flows and patterns we see today.

Resources from GCIR's 2022 National Convening workshop, "Black Immigrants and the Fight for Racial Justice."

While there has been a long history of efforts to erase and exclude immigrants, BIPOC, and other marginalized communities, this timeline shows how powerfully communities in Texas have resisted. From Indigenous nations fighting to preserve their culture to BIPOC communities organizing to end the criminalization of Black and Brown lives, people have sought to protect their freedom to move, stay, work, and thrive.

In this session, participants will hear from three different nonprofit partners to gain deeper insight into the intersection of law and immigrant justice, the role of litigation in advancing a broader social and racial justice agenda, and will explore concrete ways philanthropy can invest in litigation strategies to advance the interests of immigrant communities.