National Immigrant Integration Conference

We are pleased to announce that the Second National Immigrant Integration Conference (NIIC) will be held in Boston, Massachusetts from Wednesday, September 29 - Friday, October 1, 2010.

Last June in Denver, the first NIIC successfully brought together over 300 stakeholders, including policy makers and community based organizations, service providers and the government sector. The focus in Denver was how to move integration efforts forward at the local, state, and national level. The Boston conference will have a similar focus and will emphasize promising practices with four broad themes: Naturalization, the Economy, Host Communities, and Justice. It will include 24 workshops on naturalization, civic engagement, public education, language, workforce development, re-certification, integration models, community development and public services.

The Partnership for New Americans selected Boston as the host site because of its rich diversity of immigrant communities and Massachusetts' long history of progressive integration policies. The breadth and depth of Massachusetts’ immigrant community, the seventh largest overall immigrant population in the nation, provides a unique backdrop for inclusion and integration discussions.  Governor Patrick will offer his New American Agenda as one example of uniting forces across all sectors to foster immigrant integration.

Why Attend?

• Best Practices 
• How to increase naturalization
• Skills development
• Program models and systems
• Relate practice and policy development
• Influence future federal integration initiatives           
• Emerging policies
• Open a dialog with Funders
• Emerging trends
• DHS and other Federal Leadership
• Innovative workshops
• Immigration Integration leaders
• Inspiring Speakers
• Current Research

Click here to register!
(or copy this link into your browser: http://webmail.iiri.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://sites.google.com/a/miracoalition.org/niic/)
For more information, contact Nicole Tambouret, 617-350-5480 ext. 222 or niic@miracoalition.org

The partners hosting the conference:

The Partnership for New Americans– The national alliance of immigrant rights state coalitions

The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) – Massachusetts’ leading immigrant rights coalition

Association of New Americans – a non-profit dedicated to increasing naturalization

Welcoming America –the 14 state initiative of receptive local communities

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U.S. Census “Portrait of America” Road Tour at IIRI

You’re Invited!

U.S. Census “Portrait of America” Road Tour at IIRI

Please join state and local officials along with representatives of the U.S. Census this Saturday morning March 20th from 10:30 am to 1 pm when the U.S. Census Van will be visiting IIRI, bringing information about the Census to community members.

The goal of the tour is to encourage people to complete and return the census this month. Live entertainment, refreshments and interactive van activities will be featured.

As a U.S. Census partner, IIRI has provided ongoing support to the U.S. Census as a testing and training site for census workers. Students at IIRI have participated in a mock census to prepare to fill out their census forms, and all community members visiting IIRI have access to census information in a variety of languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Khmer, and Nepali.

A complete count of community members is of vital importance to Rhode Island. Every year, the federal government can allocate more than $300 billion to states and communities based, in part, on census data. Census data guide local decision-makers on where to build new roads, hospitals, child-care and senior citizen centers, schools and more. Census data determine how many seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives.

With only 10 questions, the 2010 census questionnaire takes just 10 minutes to complete. Information collected by the U.S. Census is completely confidential and is never shared with other federal agencies or law enforcement entities. U.S. Census questionnaires are being delivered or mailed to households this month.
IIRI encourages everyone to complete and return their U.S. Census forms. Let’s all be counted!

For more information about the event or other IIRI activities supporting the U.S. Census, please contact Michelle DePlante at 401-784-8644 or mdeplante@iiri.org.

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7th Annual Cesar Chavez Scholarship Breakfast

A resource guide will be provided at the end of the forum with information specifically for school counselors and teachers that they can have for students who are preparing to go to college and suddenly find themselves in this situation. The resources guide can be used for students trying to navigate their options for higher education as well. The forum will include a panel discussion by a group of students and former students, who themselves are undocumented, and who are willing to share their stories of strife and success.


The César Chávez Scholarship Fund was established in 2004 by a group of individuals from Rhode Island’s Latino community in an effort to assist young Latinos in developing or enhancing their academic goals, and to honor the well-known Latino and civil rights labor leader, César Chávez by encouraging service and learn community projects throughout the state.

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Papers: A Documentary Revealing the Lives, Dreams and Struggles of Undocumented Youth

"PAPERS"

The Documentary Screening

IMMIGRANT YOUTH ACTIVISM & SOCIAL JUSTICE

Thursday March 18th 2010
7-9 pm

Brown University
Brown Street and Waterman Street
Wilson Hall, Room 102


"Papers" is the story of undocumented youth and the challenges they face as they turn 18 without legal status.
There are approximately 2 million undocumented children who were born outside the U.S. and raised in this country. These are young people who were educated in American schools, hold American values, know only the U.S. as home and yet risk deportation to countries they may not even remember.
65,000 undocumented students graduate every year from high school without “papers” and the door to their future slams shut. It is against the law to work or drive. It is difficult, if not impossible in some states, to attend college. Currently, there is no path to citizenship for these young people.
Graham Street Productions produced this film in partnership with Film Action Oregon. We are working in collaboration with the youth who want to tell their stories as well as community organizations around the country who are working to change immigration policy on behalf of these young people.
Graham Street Productions is producing this film in association with El Grupo Juvenil (the "Papers" Youth Crew). These youth producers are actively involved in all aspects of the production.

http://www.papersthemovie.com/
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=350322568774

Undocumented students will share their own stories to take part in the National Coming Out Week for Undocumented People to build a movement with immigrants and allies to bring pro-migrant reforms! http://www.dreamactivist.org/comeout/


To learn more about our movement:
Student Immigrant Movement:
http://www.simforus.com/
DREAM ACT Coalition:
http://www.dreamactivist.org/

If you're interested in joining the movement-
email -- lucy_boltz@brown.edu -- for Student Immigrant Movement meeting information.


This event is sponsored by:
Brown Immigrants' Rights Coalition- pro-DREAM Act political advocacy
Student Immigrant Movement of Rhode Island - support network for undocumented youth
Brown University Swearer Center
Brown University Taubman Center
Brown University Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
Brown University American Civilization

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Documenting Culture: A Digital Photograph Project

Please Join the International Charter School!

Documenting Culture: A Digital Photograph Project

The second of three exhibits of photographs taken by students in a dual language program.
Third Grade: Group B’s Work

Opening Celebration:
Tuesday, March 16th
6:30 pm
International Charter School
334 Pleasant Street
Pawtucket, RI 02860
401.721.0824
http://www.internationalcharterschool.org/

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Fitting a Square Peg in a Round Hole: Women and the Gendered Construction of U.S. Asylum Policy

Fitting a Square Peg in a Round Hole: Women and the Gendered Construction of U.S. Asylum Policy

A. ALFRED TAUBMAN CENTER for Public Policy and American Institutions


Brown Bag Series

12:00 Noon, Thursday March 4th, 2010
Taubman Center Seminar Room, 67 George Street

American asylum laws are the product of a specific set of norms and ideas which were dominant in the mid-20th century when the U.S. asylum system took shape. These norms privilege claims of asylum based on the “high politics” of the Cold War era but create enormous challenges for claims resulting from gendered forms of violence. The result is that women victims of gendered violence, whether rape, female genital mutilation, forced marriage or extreme domestic violence, have a very difficult time to convince the U.S. authorities that they deserve to be granted asylum.
 

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