Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • S.F. immigrants seek to expand civic footprint

    Elevating the voices of noncitizen community members takes building trust through outreach and education. After the passage of Proposition N, allowing local non-citizens in San Francisco to participate in school board elections, a number of immigrant advocacy groups have mobilized to educate residents about their right to civic participation. Groups like the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) and the Immigrant Parent Voting Collaborative (IPVC) are working to organize numerous grassroots efforts promoting the civic engagement of non-citizens.

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  • Young Life at the Border

    For undocumented youth who commute between El Paso, Texas and Juárez, Mexico for school, finding a community to connect with and feel safe in is especially challenging. The Christian youth organization Young Life is there to fill that gap in immigrant students' lives by offering emotional and spiritual guidance as well as a support system that deals with any and all issues that arise, whether citizenship-related or not. The group has mentored hundreds of high school students whose lives straddle the border over the years, and many of those credit the group with helping them make sense of their "messy" lives.

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  • As ICE Releases Hundreds of Asylum-Seekers at a Time, Phoenix Churches Step in

    A series of churches in Phoenix, Arizona are stepping up to help migrant families released by ICE by providing them up with a place to stay temporarily, medical care, donated supplies, and the beginnings of a plan to find a place to stay. So far volunteers have estimated that they have helped over 60,000 migrants with no end in sight.

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  • If We Were Roma, We Wouldn't Come Back From Britain

    In stark contrast with their Slovakia homeland, England has opened its arms to Roma immigrants with a set of accommodations aimed at helping them succeed in their new country. Victims of racism in both places, but particularly among Slovaks, the Roma newly arrived in England receive health counseling and educational aid that have inclusion at their core. Britain's school-attendance policies, for example, have increased Roma children's attendance by 30 percentage points, and few are shunted into special schools.

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  • Inside the Crowdfunded Charity Helping Refugees by Topping Up Their Phones

    For many refugees living in camps and on the move, mobile phones can be a life line to families and the outside world. Phones can help organize political activities, arrange medical supplies, and so much more. But although SIM cards are fairly cheap now, data can be expensive. To address this, a Facebook group called Phone Credit for Refugees and Displaced People, or PC4R, raises funds for refugees to top up their mobile phones to support free and dignified communication.

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  • In Uganda, a unique urban experiment is under way

    Uganda has some of the most progressive refugee policies in the world, and as a result it is now home to the second largest refugee camp in the world. Bidibidi houses a quarter million people, many of whom come from the South Sudan, and as such is on its way to becoming a permanent city. While there is still progress to be made, especially economic, many residents of Bidibidi are optimistic settling into the daily routines and connections that make up a functioning city.

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  • Closing the voter engagement gap in Metro Detroit

    To close the voting participation and engagement gap between historically disenfranchised groups and more affluent, white groups, organizations in Metropolitan Detroit are employing a number of strategies. One group, Girls Making Change, is creating a political leadership pipeline by mentoring high school girls of color over the summer. CitizenDetroit organizes voter education groups, candidate debates, and even bar trivia nights with a political theme.

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  • ‘A Light for Me in the Darkness': For Migrant Detainees, a Bond Forged by Letter

    For migrant detainees in San Diego County's Otay Mesa Detention Center, a recent letter writing campaign from participants at nearby San Diego State University has brought a small form of hope and courage. The university library released hundreds of letters between detainees and university participants, which served to humanize the immigration debate. “In the U.S. our tendency is to really dehumanize migrants,” said Kate Swanson, another geography professor at San Diego State. “We put them in these concrete boxes. This helps them become visible.”

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  • First of its kind refugee-owned sewing group launches in Chicago

    Blue Tin Production Co-operative taps into the sewing talents of immigrant and refugee women in Chicago by offering a living wage to produce work for designers and eventually their own clothing line. The program also offers trauma-informed yoga, legal services, child care, transportation, and language translation to fully support the women. It is the first of its kind and is currently raising money for supplies, but already has produced "life-changing" results for the women's purpose and self-confidence.

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  • Is the U.N.'s new migration compact a major breakthrough?

    The Global Compact for Migration, the first international agreement on migration under the United Nations, affirms the human rights of migrants and refugees and notes the benefits of migration. However, the impact of the agreement is limited because it is non-binding and weak on implementation. Key countries, including the United States, also pulled out of negotiations.

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