Immigration Policy
Yesterday, President Biden signed an executive order that fundamentally undermines the right for individuals fleeing dangerous conditions to seek asylum in the United States. The order, with some limited exceptions, including for unaccompanied minors, ends the longstanding US policy of allowing individuals who present at a border the chance to apply for asylum. Instead, the border will be closed to new arrivals once an arbitrary target of 2,500 irregular crossings per day is reached - a figure that is unsurprisingly already being exceeded given push factors including armed conflicts, gender-based violence, and political persecution that have displaced millions around the globe.
June 2024
Statement
News
Visibilize, mobilize, and amplify: These three goals represented the driving force behind a recent learning trip to the U.S.-Mexico border, organized for 15 funders by Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) and Grantmakers Concerned with Imigrants and Refugees (GCIR). This delgation traveled to McAllen, Texas, and Reynosa, Mexico in early May to connect with nonprofits providing critical services. Humanitarian relief, legal services, power-building, and advocacy are just some examples of the vital work groups are leading in border communities.
The learning trip left a lasting impact on Lincoln Mondy, a Program Officer at the Andrus Family Fund. He joined Ivy O. Suriyopas, GCIR's Vice President of Programs, and Andrea Villaseñor de la Vega, Director of the Migration and Climate Mobility program at HIP, to share his personal reflections and experiences.
June 2024
Blog Post
News
Find all program-related materials for GCIR's webinar "Resistance at the Border and Beyond: Frontline Efforts to Oppose Anti-Immigrant Legislation" here, including the session recording and transcription of the meeting.
June 2024
Program Materials
Resource
In an election year when immigration is the top issue in the minds of many voters, these policies exacerbate xenophobic, anti-immigrant, and racist sentiments that further dehumanize and criminalize immigrant and refugee communities while also expanding state powers to detain, deport, and terrorize undocumented individuals. To respond to this moment, organizations are leveraging different strategies–from litigation to organizing–to prevent the implementation of these policies and create a more welcoming country for all.
May 2024
Webinar
Program
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.
May 2024
GCIR Blog Series
News
"I don't have 5-year goals, I have 500-year goals of liberation," declared Rubén Garza of Voces Unidas. He didn't hold back in a room full of funders and community leaders from the Rio Grande Valley.
Rubén set the tone for 15 funders who traveled from across the United States and Mexico to join a learning trip to the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) and Reynosa, Mexico. Hosted by Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) and Hispanics in Philanthropy, the experience aimed to amplify the voices of border communities, demonstrate the impacts of unjust immigration policies, and mobilize resources for migrant-serving groups.
May 2024
Blog Post
News
Please join our partners at The Four Freedoms Fund for a funder briefing on what’s happening in Texas, what’s at stake, and how advocates are fighting back, turning the tide, and defending our democracy.
April 2024
Co-Sponsored Program
Program
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.
April 2024
Blog Post
News
GCIR's Ivy O. Suriyopas and Rana Elmir at RISE Together Fund at Proteus Fund explain how philanthropy can respond to the crises facing Afghan migrants in the U.S. and help ensure an equitable and humane path for Afghans.
March 2024
Commentary
News
What does it mean to be an American? How has the United States defined citizenship over time? To explore these critical questions, GCIR has developed a timeline, “Who Gets to Be an American,” which provides in-depth information on the evolution of American citizenship and how the United States has determined who belongs in this country and who does not. Understanding this history and the forces that drive it is critical to understanding how we decide who gets to be American today. This is the first in a series of timelines GCIR will release over the coming year, culminating in the release of a full Im/Migration Timeline tracking the history of movement within, to, and from the United States through a decolonized lens.
December 2023
Data Tool
Resource
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