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Join GCIR and the RISE Together Fund for a discussion on the rise of white nationalism, research and strategies on responding to hate, and how funders can support BIPOC communities that are working to build solidarity across movements.
Emerging leader scholarship receipeint, Joél Junior Morales, reflects on his experience at GCIR's 2022 convening in Houston.
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.
As we recognize National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, many of the essential workers who put food on our tables, keep us healthy, and care for our loved ones continue to be at risk of exploitation. Many foreign-born essential workers, particularly those on temporary worker visas or those lacking work authorization, are victims of wage theft or survivors of human trafficking with few options for leaving those abusive circumstances. Perpetrators traffic individuals into agriculture, restaurant, factory, construction, domestic, and other work, industries in which enforcement of labor protections needs vast improvement.
One month after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake killed over 2,200 Haitians and left 650,000 more in need of humanitarian assistance, the Biden administration is undertaking a mass expulsion of Haitians seeking safety in the United States. Under the guise of stopping the spread of Covid-19 through the Trump-era Title 42 policy, migrants are being sent back to a country reeling from overlapping crises and decades of political upheaval and natural disasters. Returning to Haiti is not a viable option for them.
As Covid-19 vaccination rates increase and infections plummet, our society is reopening and a feeling of normalcy is returning for many of us. But those hit hardest by the pandemic, including immigrants and people of color, are returning to communities devastated by a disproportionately high death toll, rampant job loss, and the compounding traumas of the past four years, including hostile immigration policies, toxic rhetoric, surging hate crimes, and a massive racial reckoning. Not everyone has the privilege of returning to normal, and, even before the pandemic, “normal” was not working for everyone.
The mass shootings in Atlanta on March 16 that took the lives of eight individuals—six of whom were Asian women—drew national attention. These senseless murders and the surge in anti-Asian hate incidents during the Covid-19 pandemic are the latest attacks in a long history of discrimination, harassment, scapegoating, and violence against Asian immigrant communities—particularly women and the elderly—that dates back centuries and is rooted in white supremacy and misogyny. Yet, much of this history has been rendered invisible, along with the pain these communities have suffered and the remarkable resilience they have shown.
Join us for our quarterly meeting of GCIR’s Delivering on the Dream (DOTD) network, which has included 27 state and local funding collaboratives in 21 states supporting 700+ grantees, investing needed resources to protect and defend the rights of immigrants and refugees. Composed of local sites linked by a national network, collaborative members are diverse in geographic focus, priorities, and strategies.
Join the next quarterly meeting of GCIR’s California Immigrant Integration Initiative, which facilitates funder engagement, funding coordination and alignment, and member-led initiatives, creating opportunities for funders to leverage the collective impact of their grantmaking and fortify the immigrant funding field in California. CIII is comprised of statewide, regional, and local funders from across the state.
Find all program-related materials for GCIR's webinar "The Future of Immigration Legal Services: A Time For Bold Action" here, including program recording and powerpoint.
Find all program-related materials for GCIR's webinar, "BIPOC Communities' Response to Rising White Nationalism" here, including program recording and powerpoint.
Join us for the next quarterly meeting of GCIR’s Legal Services Working Group, where we discuss how we can continue to strengthen the legal services infrastructure in California. Note that Legal Services Working Group meetings are only open to grantmaking institutions and philanthropic advisors.
In 2022 GCIR adopted a policy agenda informed by input from immigrant justice movement leaders, GCIR members, and other stakeholders. The agenda aims to address the challenges that deny individuals the freedom to stay, move, work, transform, and thrive, and reflects potential solutions identified by the immigrant justice movement for addressing these challenges.
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.
Building on the legacy of Queer and Trans elders and pioneers, LGBTQ immigrant and refugee leaders continue to lead the fight for societal transformation. For years, these leaders have advocated for increased funding to support LGBTQ immigrant communities, particularly to address lack of access to medical care and asylum and detention issues (including sexual assault). A 2017 Congressional inquiry found that LGBTQ immigrants are 97 times more likely to be sexually victimized than non-LGBTQ people while in ICE custody. However, LGTBQ immigrant issues continue to receive less funding when compared to overall dollar amounts invested in LGBTQ communities.
Over the last two decades, waves of immigrants have made rural communities their homes. According to the Pew Research Center, from 2000 to 2018 immigrants accounted for 37 percent of overall rural population growth. Driven by demand for labor in the argricultural, meat packing, and dairy processing industries, this growth has led to an economic revival of parts of rural America where communities were once on the decline.
Find all program-related materials for GCIR Webinar, "Strategies for Advancing Pro-immigrant Policies", here, including recording and powerpoint.
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.
In this conversation, we'll here from Houston-area leaders who will share their strategies for welcoming newcomers to the region despite the Texas State government's hostility to immigrants and communities of color. We'll also explore how funders can support the work being done in Houston and beyond to welcome immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
Join GCIR and leading voices in the immigrant justice movement for this special strategy session where we will explore what can be done to support DACA holders during this uncertain time, addressing challenges such as the mental health impacts of the constant threats to the program, potential future workforce participation challenges, and the possible loss of other benefits such as driver's licenses and in-state tuition. We will also explore the narrative, legislative, and deportation defense strategies being pursued by advocates.