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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.
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).
To deepen and expand support for survivors, the Violence Against Women Act's (VAWA) most recent authorization provided more than $500 million in increased resources for survivors of violence, and, importantly, restored the ability of Indigenous courts to hold non-Indigenous individuals accountable for sexual assault. Last November, the Senate went a step further and voted to amend VAWA so that Indigenous Hawaiian survivors of gender-based violence also have access to programs and resources under the act, leaving them better equipped to keep themselves and their communities safe.
GCIR's Amplify series features interviews with immigrant justice field leaders to showcase their work and provide a platform for their perspectives. In this edition, GCIR President Marissa Tirona hosts our very first Amplify podcast episode! She speaks with Paco de Onís and Pamela Yates, who co-founded Skylight Pictures, a nonprofit human rights media organization.
As COVID-19 fears rise and communities face growing health and economic concerns, local nonprofits are stepping up to fill the gaps in our social safety net while trying to protect our families and communities. Public schools are closing from Washington to Arkansas, and children are losing school meals, safe space, and basic medical care—putting an even bigger strain on the limited childcare and healthcare infrastructure in the U.S.
Funders Applaud Outcome on Citizenship Question Case, Remain Committed to 2020 Census
A group of leading California foundations issued this call to action on immigration to philanthropy.
Why have funders been caught so off-guard here?
Why have funders been caught so off-guard here?
GCIR's Vice President of Programs Ivy O. Suriyopas interviews Maureen Meyer, the Vice President of Programs at the Washington Office on Latin America, for an expansive conversation about the root causes of migration, the U.S. government’s role in driving instability in the region, and how history can inform philanthropy’s work moving forward.U.S. Intervention and Modern Migration in the Americas timline, the root causes of migration, the U.S. government’s role in driving instability in the region, and how history can inform philanthropy’s work moving forward.
Welcome to Amplify, where we feature interviews with immigrant justice field leaders to showcase their work and provide a platform for their perspectives. In this episode of our Amplify podcast, GCIR President Marissa Tirona speaks with Maria Ibarra-Frayre, Co-Director of We the People Michigan. The organization is committed to building power and strengthening civic engagement for communities across Michigan through disciplined, rigorous, long-term community organizing.
In her quarterly message, GCIR President Marissa Tirona calls on philanthropy to step up in this critical moment and leverage its power in service of communities under attack by the current administration, including immigrants and refugees. She also shares how GCIR is stepping up in this moment to expand our state and local strategies, advance pro-immigrant policies, amplify power-building efforts and expand protections for migrants in the long-term.
Somali Family Service of San Diego seeks to meet the urgent needs of refugee and immigrant families in San Diego impacted by COVID-19. The communities that we serve experience housing and food insecurity, are often from low-income households, and have difficulty navigating systems and resources due to cultural and language barriers. Therefore, they are hit particularly hard by the current crisis.
AHRI for Justice (AHRI) and Viet Rainbow of Orange County (VROC) recognize that our communities have been greatly impacted by COVID-19. For many in our communities, COVID-19 is no longer just a public health crisis, but a humanitarian crisis on many levels.
A letter from Unbound Philanthropy to its grantees about the COVID-19 outbreak.
In her fourth quarterly message of 2021, GCIR president Marissa Tirona reflects on her first year at the helm of GCIR and looks forward to what the coming year will bring for GCIR, for movement leaders and organizations, and for our shared work.
Cairo Mendes, GCIR's Director of State & Local Programs, reflects on the listening tour that has informed our new state & local strategy.
For the second year in a row, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees led a delegation to the nation’s capital to meet directly with policy-makers and discuss the most pressing immigration issues of our time.