Investing in Our Communities: Strategies for Immigrant ...

A TOOLKIT FOR GRANTMAKERS

Publisher

GR A N T M A K E R S

CO N C E R N E D W I T H

IM M I G R A N T S A N D RE F U G E E S

Editor

DA R A N E E PE T S O D

Principal Authors

DA R A N E E PE T S O D

TED WA N G

CR A I G MCGA R V E Y

Contributors

SUSAN DR A K E

ADA TSO

MI C H A E L KAY

J IM TH O M A S

KI E N LE E

Investing in Our Communities:Strategies for Immigrant Integration

ABOUT

GRANTMAKERS

CONCERNED WITH

IMMIGRANTS AND

REFUGEES

Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrantsand Refugees (GCIR) seeks to move the philanthropic field to advance the contributionsand address the needs of the world’s growingand increasingly diverse immigrant andrefugee populations. With a core focus on the United States, GCIR provides grantmakerswith opportunities for learning, networking,and collaboration. Our information resourcesaim to:

� Enhance philanthropy’s awareness ofissues affecting immigrants and refugees.

� Deepen the field’s understanding of howthese issues are integral to communitybuilding in today’s dynamic social, economic, and political environment.

� Increase philanthropic support for bothbroad and immigrant/refugee-focusedstrategies that benefit newcomer popula-tions and strengthen society as a whole.

Given immigrants’ growing numbers and theirexpanding role in the economic, social, and cultural life of nations across the globe, GCIRhas become an invaluable resource to manyfoundations, whether they have immigrant-specific funding initiatives or wish to incor-porate the immigrant and refugee dimensioninto their core grantmaking programs.

GCIR provides members the opportunity to connect with diverse colleagues, build newskills, increase knowledge, and become partof a dynamic movement to fully integrateimmigrants into U.S. society through:

� A one-stop center for high-quality elec-tronic and printed resources, includingin-depth issue reports that help fundersquickly grasp the substance of specifictopic areas and learn about provengrantmaking strategies.

� Substantive opportunities to learn aboutemerging trends and to share experiencesand strategies through member-drivennational and regional programs, learningcircles, and national convenings.

� Technical assistance and consultation tomembers wishing to incorporate immigrantand refugee issues into their portfoliosor seeking to expand or redirect theirimmigrant-related grantmaking.

In 2005, more than 1,500 grantmakers tookadvantage of our information resources andanother 1,000 participated in our programs.

For more information, visit www.gcir.org or contact the GCIR office at [email protected] or707.824.4374.

BOARD OFDIRECTORS

Susan Downs-Karkos, Co-ChairTHE COLORADO TRUST

Denver, Colorado

Taryn Higashi, Co-ChairFORD FOUNDATION

New York, New York

Laura Hogan, TreasurerTHE CALIFORNIA ENDOWMENT

Sacramento, California

Tom Kam, SecretaryCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR

THE NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION

Washington, District of Columbia

Henry AllenDISCOUNT FOUNDATION

Boston, Massachusetts

Lina AvidanZELLERBACH FAMILY FOUNDATION

San Francisco, California

Sue Lin ChongANNIE E. CASEY FOUNDATION

Baltimore, Maryland

Bob GlavesCHICAGO BAR FOUNDATION

Chicago, Illinois

José González, ProgramCommittee ChairBUSH FOUNDATION

St. Paul, Minnesota

Victor Quintana, CommunicationsCommittee ChairUNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST

VEATCH PROGRAM AT

SHELTER ROCK

Manhasset, New York

Maria Teresa RojasOPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE

New York, New York

Sandra Smith, MembershipCommittee ChairTHE COLUMBUS FOUNDATION

Columbus, Ohio

Ralph TaylorCENTRAL INDIANA

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Indianapolis, Indiana

Ellen WidessROSENBERG FOUNDATION

San Francisco, California

STAFF

Daranee PetsodExecutive Director

Alison De LuccaProgram Director

Bryan RhodesExecutive Assistant

Ada TsoResearch Assistant

Jacqueline MenendezResearch Assistant

GCIR BOARD OF

DIRECTORS

AND STAFF

P.O. Box 1100Sebastopol, California

95473-1100

www.gcir.org

Phone 707.824.4374Fax 707.581.1716

Email [email protected]

219–254

INTRODUCTION

About the Toolkit 1Acknowledgments 4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A Framework to Strengthen Community 11Immigrant Integration Funding Recommendations 13

HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND CONTEMPORARY IMPERATIVES

The Historical Context for Integration 17Why Now: The Imperatives for Integration 18Why the Rise in the Undocumented Population 22Race and Immigration 23

GCIR’S IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION FRAMEWORK

Defining Immigrant Integration 25Mutual Responsibility, Mutual Change, Mutual Benefits 26Multi-Sector Involvement 27Multi-Strategy Approach 28Pathways to Integration 28Benefits of Integration 30Evaluating Immigrant Integration Efforts 31

PROMISING PRACTICES IN IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION

Communitywide Planning 33Language Access 59Language Acquisition 71Education 83Health and Well-Being 103Economic Mobility 125Equal Treatment and Opportunity 147Social and Cultural Interaction 169Civic Participation and Citizenship 187

FILMS ABOUT THE EXPERIENCES OF NEWCOMERS IN AMERICA

Immigrant Integration: The Newcomer’s Perspective 208Journey to the Homeland 213Profiles 215New and Coming Attractions 216

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

History of U.S. Immigration Law and Policy 219Fast Facts 223 Glossary of Terms 235Recommended Readings 241DVD-ROM of Film Clips and Other Resources back pocket

17–24

1–8

9–16

25–32

33–204

Look for this symbol for references to theenclosed DVD in the inside back page pocket.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

205–218

1

OVERVIEW

Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrantsand Refugees (GCIR) is pleased to present “Investing in Our Communities:Strategies for Immigrant Integration.”The introduction of this toolkit is espe-cially timely, given the heated nationaldebate on immigration policy reformthat spurred the activism of millions ofimmigrants and their supporters in 2006.But regardless of immigration politicsand any changes in U.S. immigration

laws, demographic,economic, andsocial forces willcontinue to bringimmigrants of allbackgrounds to

our communities, and their integrationinto and impact on our society willremain a major issue that warrantsphilanthropic attention, now and in theforeseeable future.

Increasingly, foundations across thecountry are recognizing that their grant-making strategies must respond to theneeds and contributions of immigrants.As our nation’s demography continues todiversify, GCIR firmly believes that anintentional focus on immigrant integra-tion—particularly broad-based effortsthat are multi-ethnic, multi-sector, andmulti-strategy in approach—holdsstrategic promise to strengthen bothindividual communities and the countryas a whole.

Built on extensive research and interviewswith foundation, community, business,and government leaders, this multimediatoolkit seeks to inform the developmentof program, policy, and grantmakingstrategies to promote immigrant inte-gration. It also aims to help foundations,regardless of their funding priorities andgeographic focus, understand the vitalimportance of supporting efforts thatweave newcomers into the fabric of our society.

The toolkit includes a wide range ofresources to meet the information needs of diverse foundations, from those newto immigrant-related issues and seekingpoints of entry to those with extensiveexperience but looking for fresh ideas toadvance their work in this field. We hopethe toolkit is an equally informativeresource to both foundations working inemerging immigrant destinations andthose funding in traditional immigrantgateways. Because successful integrationrequires the involvement of multiplestakeholders, the toolkit is also designedto inform and strengthen the work ofdiverse practitioners in the nonprofit,public, and private sectors.

GCIR envisions this publication not asan end in itself but as a tool to engagemultiple stakeholder groups and facilitateongoing discussions within institutionsand communities. We want the toolkitto catalyze inquiry, exploration, andaction to promote effective integrationprograms and policies across the UnitedStates and beyond. We invite you toperuse the following pages and considerthe role you and your institution canplay to build strong, cohesive communi-ties through immigrant integration.

ABOUT THE TOOLKIT

This toolkit seeks to catalyze inquiry, exploration, and action to promote effective

integration programs and policies.

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the

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of

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s

Italian immigrant family at Ellis Island,circa 1910.

2

ORGANIZATION OF THE TOOLKIT

To help the reader maximize the use ofthe vast amount of information andresources, we have organized the toolkitin six distinct sections:

• Executive Summary. This sectionprovides an overview of the historicaland contemporary context for integra-tion and summarizes GCIR’s ImmigrantIntegration Framework. Most signifi-cantly, it offers a set of concrete recom-mendations to guide philanthropicinvestment in immigrant integrationactivities.

• Historical Context andContemporary Imperatives. This sectionoffers a brief historical perspective onimmigrant integration and discusses the demographic, economic, and socialimperatives that drive the need for integration today. It also examines critical topics such as the rise in theundocumented population and the roleof race in immigration and immigrantintegration.

• GCIR’s Immigrant IntegrationFramework. This section defines theconcept of immigrant integration andidentifies pathways to and benefits ofintegration. It discusses the importantinterrelationships among distinct issueareas and establishes the framework asa helpful tool for funders and otherstakeholders with particular issue inter-ests. The section also offers basic guid-ance on evaluating immigrant integration efforts.

• Promising Practices in ImmigrantIntegration. Organized along GCIR’spathways for integration, this sectioncompiles program and policy modelsthat hold considerable promise to pro-mote immigrant integration at the local,state, and regional levels. It also offersindicators of success and measurableoutcomes that can be used to evaluateand demonstrate achievement, as wellas improve immigrant integration strategies.

The section profiles promising practicesto address immigrants’ needs and facili-tate their contributions. These practicesare drawn from both established immi-grant gateways and newer immigrantdestinations, primarily in the United

States. The readerwill find models of varying scale,scope, stage ofimplementation,population and

geographic focus, race and ethnicity,level of philanthropic investment, amongmany other factors. Consistent with GCIR’sImmigrant Integration Framework, thissection highlights models that are multi-ethnic, multi-sector, and multi-strategyin approach, particularly those thatengage both newcomer and native-bornresidents.

Unable to include every exemplaryapproach and organization, this sectionidentifies basic principles and compo-nents of promising practices that can beapplied to and replicated in other settingsto promote immigration integration.

• Films about the Experiences ofNewcomers in America. This filmographyprovides a listing of recent documentaryfilms that put a human face on compleximmigration issues. They bring today’srich and varied immigrant integrationexperiences to life and illustrate thehuman consequences of policy decisionsin a way that statistics and words alonecannot do.

• Additional Resources. Resourcesinclude an overview of U.S. immigrationhistory, a selection of fast facts onimmigration and immigrant integration,a glossary of terms, and an annotatedlisting of recommended readings forthose who wish to dig more deeply. TheDVD-ROM in the toolkit back-coverpocket contains film clips and otherresources to help the reader engagefoundation colleagues and other stake-holders in productive discussions onimmigrant integration.

The reader should note that the policyenvironment was highly volatile duringthe production of this toolkit. Some ofthe information, particularly relating toimmigration reform, will surely be out-dated by the publication date. But theneed for immigrant integration remainsvital despite the ebbs and flows of policyand politics, and we believe the toolkit’score content will have a lengthy shelf life.

We invite you to use GCIR as a resource and to tell us what you’re learning and whether

and how these toolkit resources are making a difference.

3

AN INVITATION

GCIR hopes that our ImmigrantIntegration Framework and the promisingpractices and resources in this toolkitwill inform your work and inspire you to explore a new or expanded role insupporting immigrant integration effortswithin your funding priorities and communities.

As you consider immigrant integrationissues within your foundation, let usknow how the GCIR network can helpinform your discussions and deliberations.Our staff and consultants have in-depthknowledge and expertise to support yourwork. At the most basic level, we canprovide additional information resources,serve as a sounding board, organize funder briefings, and connect you tocolleagues with similar funding interests.For those interested in a higher level ofservice, we can conduct research, helpprepare board memos and presentations,and offer customized consultation to meetthe specific needs of your foundation.

In addition to letting us know how wecan help, we invite you to tell us whatyou’re learning and whether and howthese toolkitresources are mak-ing a difference inyour grantmakingand in your com-munities. We alsoinvite you to contribute promising prac-tices and other resources; we’ll makethem available to the field via our web-site, electronic newsletters, and NewAmericans publication.

We welcome your questions, concerns,ideas, and suggestions and look forward tobeing both a resource to and a partnerin your immigrant-related grantmaking.

Susan Downs-KarkosCo-Chair, GCIR Board of DirectorsSenior Program OfficerThe Colorado Trust, Denver

Taryn HigashiCo-Chair, GCIR Board of DirectorsDeputy Director, Human Rights UnitFord Foundation, New York

© Ju

pite

r Im

ages

As you consider immigrant integrationissues within your foundation, let us knowhow the GCIR network can help inform yourdiscussions and deliberations.

4

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Aproject of this scope would not havebeen possible without solid foundation

support; a team of talented thinkers,researchers, writers, editors, and designers;and wonderful colleagues who providedinsightful guidance and unwavering support.

First and foremost, GCIR gratefullyacknowledges the project funders fortheir financial support and for their confidence in our ability to produce aresource that would inform andstrengthen the field.

We wish to thank the Annie E. CaseyFoundation and the Ford Foundation,both longtime institutional supportersof GCIR, for their early investment. Theirgrants gave us the time needed to fullyexplore the issues and to conduct much-needed research, and their thoughtfulquestions helped us conceptualize astrong framework for immigrant integration.

We are grateful to Carnegie Corporationof New York, Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr.Fund, Hyams Foundation, John S. andJames L. Knight Foundation, TheCalifornia Endowment, The CaliforniaWellness Foundation, Unitarian UniversalistVeatch Program at Shelter Rock, andZellerbach Family Foundation. Not onlydid these foundations provide financialsupport; they also shared their expertiseand directed us to organizations engagedin effective integration work across theUnited States.

With a small core staff, GCIR relies considerably on outside expertise for our publication projects. Susan Drake,former longtime executive director ofthe National Immigration Law Center,conducted extensive research, includinginterviews and literature review, toensure that the framework we developeddraws upon the latest thinking and theoretical constructs in the field. Herhealth, immigration, and public benefitsexpertise significantly strengthened thetoolkit.

Ted Wang, a highly regarded consultantmost recently with Chinese for AffirmativeAction/Center for Asian AmericanAdvocacy, took the lead in researching

and writing the promising practices inlanguage, education, health and well-being, economic mobility, and equaltreatment and opportunity. We areindebted to Ted for his invaluable con-tribution; the toolkit has much greaterdepth and breadth because of his work.

Craig McGarvey, a well-respected consultant formerly with the JamesIrvine Foundation, was the point personon the promising practices in community-wide planning and civic participationand contributed to the section on socialand cultural interaction. We extend ourappreciation to Craig for his critical roleon the team and for his moral supportthroughout the project.

Our sincere thanks also go to Kien Lee, senior managing associate at theAssociation for the Study and Developmentof Community. Kien took charge of thetoolkit’s evaluation component and wasalways ready to lend a helping hand.

Beyond their specific assignments, Ted,Craig, Susan, and Kien were criticalsounding boards for this project, askingtough questions and providing construc-tive guidance on everything from thestructure of the toolkit to the framingof difficult issues. We benefited greatlyfrom their intellect and decades of com-bined experience on immigrant issues.

Our appreciation goes to Ada Tso, ourpart-time research assistant and anundergraduate student at the Universityof California, Berkeley. Ada researchedand wrote several case studies andpromising practices and assisted withproofreading.

We are grateful to Jim Thomas, a SanFrancisco-based consultant specializing inresearch and evaluation. Jim contributedthree case studies which enriched thetoolkit with additional promising prac-tices in the areas of health and civicparticipation.

We also thank Amy Skillman of theInstitute for Cultural Partnerships, PattyHaller of the Idaho Office of Refugees,and freelance writer Julie Chao, each ofwhom contributed a case study that wasadapted for inclusion in the “PromisingPractices in Immigrant Integration” section.

5

Alejandra Domenzian, who organized thesection on fast facts and provided edit-ing and proofreading assistance, has ourappreciation for her thorough work. We also thank Jacqueline Menendez,another part-time research assistant andstudent at UC Berkeley, who spent hourstrolling the Web to find many of thequotes on immigrants highlighted inthese pages.

Michael Kay, a former intern and a regular contributor to New Americans,provided invaluable editing assistanceon a number of case studies and promis-ing practices. His work helped improvethe toolkit’s clarity and accessibility,particularly for readers who are notimmersed in immigration and immigrantintegration issues.

As production came down to the wire,Rachel Kahn and Ming Leung also tookon editing assignments. Amanda Kellett,a former GCIR staff member with an eyefor details, provided critical proofreadingassistance. Amanda, Rachel, and Minghelped us meet a very tight timeline,but more importantly, their contributionsmade the toolkit a more readable, user-friendly resource.

GCIR owes a world of gratitude to ActiveVoice and its talented and highly profes-sional staff—Ellen Schneider, Grace Eng,and Steve Bartz—who took charge ofproducing the filmography and the DVD-ROM. These rich resources would nothave been part of the toolkit withouttheir expertise, creativity, and hardwork. We also thank Grantmakers in Filmand Electronic Media and David Haas fortheir seed funding to produce the filmography.

Bryan Rhodes, our executive assistantand office manager, spent countless hoursresearching photographs, conductingfact checks, and providing research andadministrative support. Alison De Lucca,our program director, conducted focusgroups on immigrant integration in newgateway states. She also took charge ofprogrammatic matters, as other organi-zational resources were directed towardtoolkit production. Alison and Bryan are

consummate professionals and amazingcolleagues, and GCIR is lucky to havethem on our staff. This project wouldnot have been possible without their hardwork, patience, and support, especiallyduring the final three months of production.

GCIR’s incredible board members haveour gratitude for their guidance, ideas,push-back, and encouragement through-out the project. A roll-up-your-sleevesboard, they helped with every aspect ofthe toolkit, including framing key inte-gration issues, sharing their resourcesand contacts, organizing focus groups,reviewing various drafts, editing sectionsthat draw on their expertise, andscreening film clips for the DVD-ROM.Their contributions were much appreciated.

Sharon Bouton, our graphic designer,made the toolkit an inviting resource,no easy task given its complexity andsubstantial girth. Axie Breen, CarolinePrado, and Matt Bail assisted with pro-duction and added design touches oftheir own. We convey our deepestthanks to these talented designers andproduction artists—as well as BarlowPrinting, a small family-owned business—for their hard work in getting the toolkitcompleted in time for release at ourJune 2006 national convening.

Last but certainly not least, we thankthe dozens of organizers, advocates,service providers, researchers, communityleaders, government officials, and funders who generously shared with ustheir time, knowledge, expertise, andinsights. Without them, there would beno toolkit. Whether or not their organi-zations are featured in these pages, theoverall conceptualization of the toolkitwas certainly informed and strengthenedby their input. We are inspired by theirhard work, ingenuity, and steadfastcommitment to helping immigrantsbecome fully contributing members of society. We hope you will be inspired, too.

Daranee PetsodGCIR Executive DirectorJune 2006

6

Brenda Dann-Messier, Dorcas Place,Providence, RI

Sharon Darling, National Center for Family Literacy, Louisville, KY

Vida Day, El Puente, Jackson, WY

John de Leon, Chavez & de Leon, Miami, FL

Maria Dominguez, Alliance for HumanServices Advisory Board, Miami, FL

Michael Donahue, International Institute of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN

Susan Downs-Karkos, The Colorado Trust,Denver, CO

Yvonne Duncan, Long Beach City College,Long Beach, CA

Maria Echaveste, UC Berkeley Boalt HallSchool of Law, Berkeley, CA

Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, San Francisco, CA

Robert BrayHenry DerSylvia Yee

Sunny Fischer, Richard H. DriehausFoundation, Chicago, IL

Michael Fix, Migration Policy Institute,Washington, DC

Hector Flores, M.D., White Memorial Medical Center Family Residency Program, Los Angeles, CA

Janice Freedman, North Carolina HealthyStart Foundation, Raleigh, NC

Michael Frias, Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporation, Chicago, IL

Foundation for Child Development, New York, NY

Annette Chin (consultant)Ruby Takanishi

Debora Furce, Refugee Family Services,Clarkston, GA

Jayne Gibson, Austin Public Schools, Austin, MN

Emily Goldfarb, Consultant, San Francisco, CA

Karen Griego, University of New Mexico,Albuquerque, NM

Kaying Hang, Otto Bremer Foundation, St. Paul, MN

Leonie M. Hermantin, Haitian NeighborhoodCenter, Sant La, Miami, FL

Monica Hernandez, Highlander Research andEducation Center, New Market, TN

Christopher Ho, Legal Aid Society/EmploymentLaw Center, San Francisco, CA

Roland Ho, Orange County CommunityFoundation, Irvine, CA

Idaho Community Action Network, Boise, IDGloria LaraAdon Ramirez

Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Chicago, IL

Josh HoytFred Tsao

Illinois Department of Human Services,Springfield, IL

Grace HouEd Silverman

Deepa Iyer, South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow, Silver Spring, MD

Marcy Jackson, English Center forInternational Women, Oakland, CA

Deeana Jang, Center for Law and SocialPolicy, Washington D.C.

Alan Jenkins, The Opportunity Agenda, New York, NY

Wanda Jung, San Francisco Human ServicesAgency, San Francisco, CA

Hamid Khan, South Asian Network, Los Angeles, CA

Jessica Kim, Koreatown Immigrant WorkersAlliance, Los Angeles, CA

Prudy Kohler, formerly of The James IrvineFoundation, San Francisco, CA

Jim Krile, Blandin Foundation, Grand Rapids, MN

Kalpana Krishnamurthy, Western StatesCenter, Portland, OR

Maria Kulp, Planned Parenthood of GreaterMiami, Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast,West Palm Beach, FL

Doua Lee, Southeast Asian CommunityCouncil, Minneapolis, MN

Ruby Lee, The Saint Paul Foundation, St. Paul, MN

Ramón León, Latino Economic DevelopmentCenter, Minneapolis, MN

Daniel Lesser, Sargent Shriver Center on Poverty Law, Chicago, IL

Deborah Liu, City of Oakland, CA

Pheng Lo, People and CongregationsTogether, of the Pacific Institute forCommunity Organization, Stockton, CA

Esther Lopez, Governor’s Office, State of Illinois, Springfield, IL

Michele Lord, Four Freedoms Fund, New York, NY

THANK YOU FOR SHARINGYOUR EXPERTISE!

Seema Agnani, Fund for New Citizens, New York City, NY

Fadumo Ali, VOICE for Community Power,Minneapolis, MN

Betty Alonso, Dade Community Foundation,Miami, FL

Margarita Alzidres, parent, Lost Hills, CA

Jocelyn Ancheta, Blue Cross and Blue Shieldof Minnesota Foundation, Eagan, MN

Jerry Anfinson, Hormel Foundation, Austin, MN

Jojo Annobil, New York Legal Aid Society,New York City, NY

Liz Arjun, Children’s Alliance, Seattle, WA

Ana Garcia Ashley, Gamaliel Foundation,Chicago, IL

Dale Asis, Coalition of African, Asian,European and Latino Immigrants of Illinois,Chicago, IL

Lina Avidan, Zellerbach Family Foundation,San Francisco, CA

Linda Baker, The David and Lucile PackardFoundation, Los Altos, CA

Talle Bamazi, KIACA Gallery, Columbus, OH

Karen Bass, California Assembly Member fromthe 47th District, formerly of the CommunityCoalition for Substance Abuse Prevention andTreatment, Los Angeles, CA

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of MassachusettsFoundation, Boston, MA

Phillip González Celeste Lee

Joanna Brown, Logan Square NeighborhoodAssociation, Chicago, IL

Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, MDIrene LeeIrene Skricki

Ted Chen, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, MI

Dudley Cocke, Roadside Theater, Norton, VA

James Comstock, Oregon JudicialDepartment, Salem, OR

Gina Craig, Donors’ Forum of South Florida,Miami, FL

Marissa B. Dagdagan, Family ViolencePrevention Fund, San Francisco, CA

7

Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, Los Angeles, CA

Vivian RothsteinRoxana Tynan

David Lubell, Tennessee Immigrant andRefugee Rights Coalition, Nashville, TN

Sara Lundquist, Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, CA

Roberta Malavenda, Smart Start Georgia,Atlanta, GA

Alexandra K. Mann, Lower East Side TenementMuseum, New York, NY

Sara Martinez, El Paso Community College, El Paso, CA

Myrna Martinez-Nateras, Pan Valley Instituteof the American Friends Service Committee,Fresno, CA

Chanchanit Martorell, Thai CommunityDevelopment Center, Los Angeles, CA

Rachel McIntosh, The Capacity BuildingInitiative: Immigrant and RefugeeOrganizations, United Way of Central Ohio,Columbus, Ohio

Deborah S. McVeigh, The Village for EarlyChildhood Education, Littleton, CO

Lourdes Montes, East Harbor CommunityDevelopment Corporation, Baltimore, MD

Nancy Alba Mullenax, San Francisco WelcomeBack Center, San Francisco, CA

Karen Narasaki, Asian American JusticeCenter, Washington, DC

National Council of La Raza, Washington, DCCharles KamasakiClarissa MartinezCecilia Muñoz

National Health Law Program, Washington, D.C.

Jane PerkinsMara Youdelman

National Immigration Forum, Washington, DCAngela Maria KelleyFrank Sharry

National Immigration Law Center, Los Angeles, CA and Washington, DC

Josh BernsteinTanya BroderJoan FriedlandMarielena HincapiéLinton Joaquin

Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in thePublic Interest, Lincoln, NE

Milo MumgaardDarcy Tromanhauser

New York Immigration Coalition, New York, NY

Jose R. DavilaAdam GurvitchMargie McHughBenjamin Ross

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Voces de laFrontera, Milwaukee, WI

Office of Human Relations, San Jose, CATeresa CastellanosRichard Hobbs

Ratna Omidvar, The Maytree Foundation,Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Partnership for Immigrant Leadership andAction, San Francisco, CA

Maria Rogers PascualMonica Regan

Luis Pastor, Cooperativa Comunitaria Latinade Credito, Durham, NC

Jo Peterson, Minneapolis Community andTechnical College, Minneapolis, MN

Anne Philben, Center to Support ImmigrantOrganizing, Boston, MA

PICO California Project of the PacificInstitute for Community Organization,Sacramento, CA

Jim KeddyRebecca Stark

Carlos Quirindongo, Hormel Foods, Austin, MN

Bonnie Rietz, Mayor, Austin, MN

Rebecca Rittgers, Atlantic Philanthropies,New York, NY

Riverland Community College, Austin, MNRoger Boughton (retired)Sue Grove

Maria Rodriguez, Florida Immigrant Coalition,Miami, FL

Silvia Rodriguez, Get Enrollment Moving,Covina, CA

Robert Rubin, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights the San Francisco Bay Area, San Francisco, CA

Loretta Saint-Louis, Cambridge HealthAlliance, Cambridge, MA

Carolyn Sexton, North Carolina Division ofPublic Health, Raleigh, NC

Sharon Seymour, City College of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Reshma Shamasunder, California ImmigrantWelfare Collaborative, Los Angeles, CA

Joan Shigekawa, The Rockefeller Foundation,New York, NY

Liliana Silvestry, The Welcome Center, Austin, MN

Goizueta Foundation, Atlanta, GA Amanda SmithMaria Elena RetterAshley RobinsonKelly Medinger

Sandra Smith, The Columbus Foundation,Columbus, OH

Abdi Soltani, Campaign for CollegeOpportunity, Oakland, CA

Unmi Song, The Fry Foundation, Chicago, IL

Nikki Will Stein, Polk Bros. Foundation,Chicago, IL

Ralph Taylor, Central Indiana CommunityFoundation, Indianapolis, IN

Tenants and Workers United, Alexandria, VAJon LissElsa RiverosDavid StaplesEvelin UrratiaFlorinda Ventura

Paul That, Viet-Aid, Inc., Boston, MA

The California Endowment, Los Angeles, CA Ignatius Bau, San FranciscoLaura Hogan, SacramentoGeorge Zamora, Sacramento

The Minneapolis Foundation, Minneapolis, MNEmmett CarsonChristelle Langer

Eric Thompson, Florida ACORN, Miami, FL

University of Georgia, Athens, GA Michael PadillaPaul Matthews

Paul Uyehara, Community Legal Services,Philadelphia, PA

Yolanda Vera, LA Health Action, Los Angeles, CA

Jill Weiller, Tellin’ Stories Project/Teachingfor Change, Washington, DC

Christopher Whitney, Chicago Council onForeign Relations, Chicago, IL

Kent Willis, American Civil Liberties Union ofVirginia, Richmond, VA

Luna Yasui, Chinese for Affirmative Action,San Francisco, CA

Son Ah Yun, Center for Community Change,Washington, D.C.

Tom Zamorano, Florida Immigrant AdvocacyCenter, Miami, FL

Leticia Zavala, Farm Labor OrganizingCommittee, Dudley, NC

9

Immigration is an enduring hallmarkof the United States, helping drive

economic growth and defining nationalidentity since the country’s founding.

Although the United States has benefited greatly from immigration, ithas always been fundamentally ambiva-lent about newcomers and their role insociety. This ambivalence has created

formidable challenges for immigrantsthroughout the course of U.S. history,whether they hail from Europe, Africa,Asia, Latin America, or the Middle East.

Nevertheless, the majority of immigrantsacross the generations—overcomingpoverty, discrimination, and other barriersto integration—have successfully pursuedthe American Dream, bettered theirlives and those of their children, andenriched American society in the process.Similarly, other groups, such as NativeAmericans and African-Americans, haveendured enormous hardships and have

contributed signifi-cantly to thenation’s prosperity.The hard work andaspirations of peo-ple from diverse

backgrounds have made America theland of opportunity: a nation renownedfor self-reliance, freedom, and democracy.

Today, as in the past, immigrants continue to play a vital role in our

society. As native birth rates continueto decline and as the Baby Boom gener-ation begins to retire, immigrants and theirchildren—as workers, taxpayers, con-sumers, and entrepreneurs—will becomeeven more critical to U.S. economicvitality and global competitiveness.

Many American communities areincreasingly recognizing that immigrants,regardless of their immigration status,are vital to local economies and arepart of the social and cultural fabric.Together with longtime residents, new-comers can contribute to communityproblem solving and help address long-standing social issues like poverty andracial inequities. Efforts to integrate

immigrants can strengthen our societyas a whole.

The unprecedented level of migrationaround the world, the high volume ofimmigration to the United States, andimmigrants’ expanding role in Americansociety create strong imperatives forimmigrant integration. To continue

thriving as a nation,the United Statesmust be intentionalabout weaving newcomers into the fabric of society and

creating opportunities for them to workwith native-born residents on sharedgoals and interests. How well we inte-grate immigrants and provide opportu-nities for all community members hasfar-reaching implications for—and isinextricable from—our current andfuture vitality.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

CONTEMPORARYIMPERATIVES

The hard work and aspirations of people from diverse backgrounds have made America the land of opportunity: a nation renowned for

self-reliance, freedom, and democracy.

Many American communities are increasingly recognizing that immigrants, regardless of their immigration status, are vital to local

economies and are part of the social and cultural fabric.

THE USE OF “IMMIGRANT” AND “NEWCOMER” IN THIS REPORT

This report uses “immigrant” and “newcomer” to generally describe aforeign-born person living in the United States, regardless of theirimmigration status or whether they have become U.S. citizens.

10

DEFINITION

GCIR defines immigrant integration as a dynamic, two-way process in whichnewcomers and the receiving societywork together to build secure, vibrant,and cohesive communities. We utilizethe term “integration” rather than“assimilation” to emphasize respect forand incorporation of differences, theimportance of mutual adaptation, andan appreciation of diversity.

As an intentional effort, immigrant integration engages and transforms allcommunity stakeholders, reaping sharedbenefits and creating a new whole thatis greater than the sum of its parts.Mutual responsibility and benefits,multi-sector involvement, and multi-strategy approach are the cornerstonesof GCIR’s Immigrant IntegrationFramework.

The actions immigrants take, theresources they possess, and the recep-tion and supports they receive from thehost community are key determinants ofsuccessful integration. The engagementof all stakeholders in the newcomer andreceiving communities, as well as thosewho bridge the two, is also critical tothe integration process. All sectors ofsociety—including government, nonprofit,business, labor, faith, and philanthropy—have a self-interested stake in promotingimmigrant integration.

SIX PATHWAYS

GCIR’s Immigrant Integration Frameworkidentifies six strategic pathways throughwhich immigrants and the receivingcommunity can work together to provideresources and opportunities and leveragethe human capital that immigrantsbring:

• Communitywide planning.

• Language and education.

• Health, well-being, and economicmobility.

• Equal treatment and opportunity.

• Social and cultural interaction.

• Civic participation and citizenship.

These pathways serve both as a tool forfacilitating integration and as a meansto assess whether integration is takingplace successfully. They interact dynam-ically, each with the power to reinforceor weaken progress in the other areas.For example, language and educationare highly correlated with economicmobility but are also a determining fac-tor in health care access, citizenshipand civic participation, and interactionwith native-born residents. Similarly,unequal treatment can threaten not onlyeconomic mobility but also immigrants’ability to access critically needed serv-ices and to participate in democracy.

Immigrant integration as a frameworkholds considerable promise to guide thedevelopment of program, policy, andfunding priorities to build a stronger,more cohesive society to benefit allmembers. To reap the full benefits ofintegration, however, U.S. society mustinvest in building a system to welcomeimmigrants, support their integrationinto the social and economic fabric, and value their cultural and linguisticdiversity. Any investment in immigrantintegration, however, should be made as part of broader community-buildingefforts. In so doing, our nation can liveup to its reputation as the land ofopportunity where people of all color,cultural background, and walks of lifecan put down roots and build a sharedcommunity together, now and in the future.

GCIR’S IMMIGRANTINTEGRATION

FRAMEWORK

As an intentional effort, immigrant integration engagesand transforms all community stakeholders, reaping

shared benefits and creating a new whole that is greaterthan the sum of its parts.

Our nation’s immigration policy must be consistent

with humanitarian values and with the need to

treat all individuals with respect and dignity…. Problems

with the immigration system cannot be resolved without

looking at the larger economic needs… such as the cre-

ation of job training programs and small business pro-

grams, as well as federal education assistance so that all

Americans can have enhanced opportunities.”

—Bruce S. Gordon President & CEO, NAACP, 2006

“

11

DEFINITION

:Im

migrant integration is a dynam

ic, two-w

ay process in which new

comers and the receiving society w

ork together to build secure, vibrant, and cohesive comm

unities. As an intentional effort, integration engages and transform

s all comm

unity mem

bers, reaping shared benefits and creating a new w

hole that is greater than the sum of its parts. M

utual responsibility, multi-sector involvem

ent, and m

ulti-strategy approach are the cornerstones of GCIR’s Imm

igrant Integration Framew

ork. These elements are critical to any effort to w

eave newcom

ers into the fabric of our comm

unities.

Imm

igrant Integration: A Framew

ork to Strengthen Comm

unity

Why Now

: The Imperatives for Integration

Pathways to Integration

Through strong leadership by and collaboration am

ong all stakeholdergroups, including philanthropy, im

migrant

integration holds the potential to create:

•A vibrant, cohesive society sharedand valued by established and new

comer

residents of different experiences, histories, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

•The revitalization of declining com

munities

through the contribu-tions of im

migrant fam

ilies working

in tandemw

ith their native-born neighbors.

•Stronger com

munities w

ith the ability to m

eet wide-ranging

needs;address racial, ethnic, and

economic diversity; and enrich the

social and cultural fabric of our society.

•Increased productivity and a robust econom

ythrough an expanded base

of workers, consum

ers, taxpayers, andentrepreneurs.

•Global com

petitivenessthrough a

multi-lingual, m

ulti-cultural workforce.

•A m

ore vibrant democracy

in which

all groups are accepted as equal m

embers of society w

ith the opportu-nity—

and responsibility—to engage

and contribute to the comm

on good.

•A m

ore secure America

where all

mem

bers of society—regardless of

race, national origin, or socio-economic

status—live in dignity and equality.

Seek opportunities to participate actively inbroad com

munity planning endeavors

Learn English while m

aintaining native language

Utilize and support school system

Be self-sufficient and support family

Contribute to the economy by w

orking, paying taxes, and starting new

businesses

Be responsible, contributing comm

unity m

embers; help prom

ote equal treatment

and opportunity for all

Adapt to a new culture w

ithout losing identity

Engage with longtim

e residents to find com

mon ground

Comm

it to new com

munity, learn about civic

processes, engage in life of broader comm

unity

Systematically engage new

comers

in comm

unity planning efforts

Offer quality English classes; ensure language access

Provide equitable access to quality education

Provide services that support self-sufficiency,e.g., job training, health care, housing

Offer access to training opportunities, living-wage

jobs, and support for entrepreneurship

Enact and enforce laws that prom

ote equal treat-m

ent and opportunity and provide resources toprotect new

comers’ rights, e.g., legal assistance

Learn about and respect diverse cultures

Engage with new

comers to find com

mon ground

Promote citizenship, opportunities for

comm

unity participation, and right to organize

NEW

COMER

COMM

UN

ITYRECEIVIN

G COMM

UN

ITYCom

munityw

ide PlanningIntentional and inclusive planning allow

s newcom

ers and longtime residents to w

ork together tofacilitate im

migrant integration and prom

ote overall safety, health, and well-being of com

munities.

Language & Education

Eliminating language barriers, prom

oting English proficiency, and providing education opportunities are key to successful integration.

Equal Treatment &

OpportunityFair law

s and policies are critical building blocks for successful integration.

Social & Cultural Interaction

Such interaction fosters understanding, creates a sense of belonging, and facilitates mutual engagem

ent.

Citizenship & Civic Participation

Opportunities for newcom

ers to participate in civic life are vital to integration.

Health, W

ell-being, & Econom

ic Mobility

Programs that prom

ote health, well-being and econom

ic mobility are essential to

helping imm

igrants establish a foothold and to strengthening the broader comm

unity.

Benefits of Integration

© 2006 by Grantmakers Concerned w

ith Imm

igrants and Refugees. The term “im

migrant” or “new

comer” is generally used to describe a foreign-born person living in the United States, regardless of their im

migration status or w

hether they have become U.S. citizens.

Through these six strategic pathways, all stakeholders can w

ork together to leverage imm

igrants’ hum

an capital to the benefit of our entire society. Imm

igrant integration efforts can draw upon m

yriad strategies from

organizing and advocacy to research and comm

unications.

The confluence of demographic, econom

ic, social, and politicalfactors creates im

peratives for imm

igrant integration. To con-tinue thriving as a nation, the United States m

ust be inten-tional about w

eaving newcom

ers into the fabric of society.H

ow w

ell we integrate im

migrants and provide opportunities

for all mem

bers has far-reaching implications for—

and isinextricable from

—our current and future vitality.

DEMOGRAPH

IC

•Global m

igration is a growing phenom

enon that shows

no signs of abating.This trend has enorm

ous implications

for the United States as a top migrant-receiving country.

•Grow

th, diversity, and dispersion of newcom

er popula-tions create opportunities

to address longstanding socialissues, im

prove racial and ethnic equity and cohesion, andstrengthen our dem

ocratic traditions.

ECONOM

IC

•Current and future U

.S. economic grow

th and stabilitydepend on im

migrants

who help address labor m

arketshortages, revitalize declining urban and rural com

muni-

ties, and expand U.S. global com

petitiveness.

•Im

migrants and their children—

as workers, taxpayers,

consumers, and entrepreneurs—

will becom

e even more

critical to U.S. econom

ic vitality,as native birth rates

continue to decline and as the Baby Boom generation

begins to retire.

SOCIAL & CIVIC

•Policies intended to affect only im

migrants have a direct

impact on m

any American fam

ilies and comm

unitiesbecause 85 percent of im

migrant fam

ilies have mixed

imm

igration status and 75 percent of children of imm

igrantsare U

.S. citizens.

•Policy changes in the past decade erode core Am

ericanvalues and affect the ability of im

migrants to integrate

by curtailing their civil rights and limiting their eligibility

for publicly funded health and social services.

12

BENEFITS OF INTEGRATION

The potential benefits of successfulimmigrant integration to the broadersociety are significant:

• A vibrant, cohesive society sharedand valued by established and new-comer residents of different experiences,histories, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

• Revitalization of declining communitiesthrough the contributions of immigrantfamilies working in tandem with theirnative-born neighbors.

• Stronger communities with the abilityto meet wide-ranging needs; addressracial, ethnic, and economic diversity;and enrich the social and cultural fabricof our society.

• Increased productivity and a robusteconomy through an expanded base ofworkers, consumers, taxpayers, andentrepreneurs.

• Global competitiveness through amulti-lingual, multi-cultural workforce.

• A more vibrant democracy in whichall groups are accepted as equal mem-bers of society with the opportunity—and responsibility—to engage and contribute to the common good.

• A more secure America where allmembers of society—regardless of race,national origin, or socio-economic status—live in dignity and equality.

ROLE FOR PHILANTHROPY

The successful integration of immigrantsin the early twentieth century wasshaped significantly by U.S. philan-thropy, which played a leadership role,along with social reformers and others,to build public libraries, reform schoolsystems, and enact health and work-place safety laws. In large part, theseand other reform measures sought tohelp cushion immigrants from crushingurban poverty and to facilitate theirmove up in U.S. society.

In one of the most well-known examples,steel magnate Andrew Carnegie foundednearly 1,700 public libraries—the back-bone of the U.S. public library infra-structure—so that children with noaccess to formal schooling could edu-cate themselves and advance, as he, an impoverished Scottish immigrant,had done.

More than a century later, U.S. philanthropy is in a strong and uniqueposition to respond to the demographic,economic, and social imperatives ofimmigrant integration. Foundations canconsider a range of grantmaking strategiesdepending on their funding approaches,issue priorities, geographic focus, andgoals. By incorporating immigrants intotheir grantmaking priorities, they candraw upon myriad strategies for commu-nity building and social change thatphilanthropy has long supported. Thesestrategies include but are not limitedto: direct services, capacity building,community outreach and education,leadership development, organizing,advocacy, legal assistance, research,policy analysis, communications, media,and litigation.

Regardless of strategies, foundationsshould link their investment in immigra-tion integration with efforts to addresslongstanding community issues such aspoverty, education, employment, andneighborhood safety. This approach,which emphasizes shared concerns andpositions newcomers as part of thesolution, will help increase racial andethnic equity and enhance communitycohesion.

The Zellerbach Family Foundation’s

commitment to immigrant inte-

gration isn’t only based on humani-

tarian ideals. It is based on a reasoned

approach to building strong, inclusive

communities. Guided by a board

composed of experienced business

and community leaders, the

Foundation believes that having

large numbers of community residents

living on the margins can act as a

weak link in community-building

efforts, and that investing in the

integration of low-income immigrants

ends up improving the quality of life

for all of us.”

—Lina Avidan, Program ExecutiveZellerbach Family Foundation

San Francisco, CA

The Chamber strongly supports

immigration and believes that

immigrants are a driving force in

our economy, both filling and cre-

ating jobs. They are also our best

hope to curb chronic American

labor shortages.”

—Thomas J. DonohuePresident & CEO

U.S. Chamber of Commerce,which represents over three

million businesses

“

“

13

IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION

FUNDINGRECOMMENDATIONS

1. PIONEER IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION POLICIES

The United States has no nationalimmigrant integration policies, anddeveloping such policies is a long-termgoal that merits philanthropic support.In the meantime, a great deal can bedone at the state and local levels tofacilitate the successful integration ofnewcomers and encourage their informedand widespread participation in community life.

Foundations are in a unique position totake leadership in initiating and invest-ing in communitywide planning effortsto develop and implement immigrantintegration policies. Such efforts arevital to facilitating the integration ofnewcomers and to strengthening thefabric of our society. Ideally, communi-tywide planning should be multi-sector,multi-strategy, and multi-ethnic innature. They should also encompass oneor more of the six pathways in GCIR’sImmigrant Integration Framework; buildon the promising practices featured inthis toolkit; and have solid evaluationand dissemination components.

2. PROMOTE SELF-SUFFICIENCY

To help immigrant families achieve self-sufficiency and contribute fully to theircommunities, foundations can support awide range of programs including:English classes, education, job training,health care, child care, affordable housing,

Philanthropy can—and should—play a pivotal role to shape a visionfor a vibrant, cohesive society that is shared and valued by all of its

members, regardless of their ethnicity, national origin, or socio-economic status. This section provides foundations with big-picture

recommendations to promote successful immigrant integration inways that strengthen our broader society. GCIR invites you to review

the “Promising Practices in Immigrant Integration” section of thistoolkit for specific recommendations on grantmaking strategies foreach of the six pathways in our Immigrant Integration Framework.

financial education, access to credit,legal services, among many others.Effective programs are culturally andlinguistically competent, well publi-cized, and trusted by the community(e.g., immigrants know that using suchprograms will not have negative immi-gration consequences for themselves ortheir family members).

In addition to funding these programsdirectly, foundations can supportresearch, advocacy, organizing, andcommunications capacity so that thefunding and design of government pro-grams (e.g., safety-net benefits likeMedicaid) and systems (e.g., publicschools and community colleges) thatpromote self-sufficiency actually meetthe needs of immigrant communities.

3. FACILITATE UPWARD MOBILITY

Despite their crucial role in the U.S.economy, many immigrants face enor-mous challenges in achieving economicstability. Foundations can support anumber of strategies to address thesechallenges and create pathways towardupward mobility for immigrant familiesthrough funding in the areas of educa-tion, employment, financial services,and entrepreneurship.

Education. The quality of public educa-tion significantly defines the ability ofchildren of immigrants to realize theirfull potential. Grantmakers can supportefforts to increase the availability ofearly childhood education; improve andexpand educational programs for Englishlanguage learners; increase the involve-ment of immigrant parents; monitor theimpact of No Child Left Behind onimmigrant students; provide mentoring,counseling, and other educational sup-ports; expose immigrant students tocareer and higher-education opportuni-ties; and create pathways to pursuepost-secondary education.

14

Given the complexity, scale, and politicalvolatility of the U.S. immigration system,long-term funding for ongoing advocacyand monitoring of policy developmentand implementation will be needed toensure that the rights of immigrants—and the broader interests of the commu-nity—are protected. Funding for abroad-based, nationally coordinatedeffort to do so will be crucial. Communityeducation and outreach, legal assistance,documentation, research, and litigationare also important activities to support.

6. BUILD SOCIAL AND CULTURAL BRIDGES

Social and cultural interaction is criti-cally important to foster understanding,build trusting relationships, and lay the foundation for mutual engagement.Such interaction often can make orbreak the integration experience, eithererecting roadblocks or paving a pathtowards integration.

To build social and cultural bridges, funders can support arts and humani-ties, cultural production and perform-ance, and civic participation activitiesthat emphasize interaction amongimmigrants and between immigrantsand native-born residents. Forums toeducate newcomer and receiving com-munities about one another’s cultures,histories, and concerns are also valu-able, particularly in newer immigrantdestinations unaccustomed to linguisticand cultural differences but also in tra-ditional immigrant strongholds. Theseactivities help newcomer and longtimeresidents appreciate differences and findcommon ground.

Employment. Grantmakers can fundprograms that help low-skill workersimprove English proficiency, increaseeducational level or vocational skills,and address workplace discriminationand mistreatment. Funders can also support efforts to help immigrants withforeign credentials and work experiencesecure employment in their professions.In addition, foundations seeking sys-temic change can invest in living-wagecampaigns and other forms of workerorganizing, including union organizing,to improve wages, benefits, and work-ing conditions for low-wage workers.Partnerships with worker centers,unions, employers, community colleges,advocacy groups, and others can helpincrease the impact of these efforts.

Financial services. Foundations canincrease the availability of affordablefinancial services to facilitate economicintegration. Newcomers can benefitfrom education on topics such as finan-cial planning, budgeting, and saving forhomeownership, college, or other major-ticket expenses. Also important is edu-cating immigrants on predatory lendersand lending practices, as well as servicesavailable from banks and other main-stream financial institutions. Services tohelp working-poor immigrant familiesapply for the Earned Income Tax Creditand the Child Care Tax Credit can helppromote economic stability.

Entrepreneurship. Foundations cansupport entrepreneurship opportunitiesfor newcomers, helping them access creditand other resources, conduct marketanalysis and research, assess financialrisks, develop successful business plans,and pool skills and resources. Well-planned small businesses and coopera-tive enterprises can create a pathway toeconomic mobility for some immigrants.

4. ENSURE EQUAL TREATMENT AND OPPORTUNITY

True opportunity is not possible withoutequal treatment for all members of society. U.S. laws and policies need toaddress barriers to integration, such asworkplace exploitation, housing discrim-ination, and restrictions on immigrants’access to resources such as health,social services, banking, and credit.Policies that impede immigrants’ abilityto integrate also harm the broader soci-ety. For example, the exploitation ofimmigrant workers depresses wages,deteriorates work conditions, and com-promises the well-being of all workers.Funders can support community educa-tion, legal assistance, organizing, advo-cacy, litigation, research, and otheractivities to ensure equal treatment andopportunity for immigrants and otheraffected groups.

5. SUPPORT FAIR AND HUMANEIMMIGRATION POLICIES

An immigration system that embodiesthe American values of fairness, equality,and opportunity is essential to promotingimmigrant integration. Such a systemadvances U.S. social and economicinterests and protects civil rights whileenhancing national security. Dependingon their priorities, foundations can sup-port efforts to develop and advocate forvarious changes and improvements inimmigration policies including workablelegal channels to meet current andfuture labor-market demands, provisionsto protect all workers from exploitationand abuse, a humane and effectiveimmigration enforcement program, expe-dited processing of family immigrationvisas, and promotion of naturalizationand civic participation.

15

7. EXPAND IMMIGRANT PARTICIPATION

The millions of immigrants who participated in rallies, marches, anddemonstrations in 2006 clearly illustratenewcomer communities’ deep interest in civic life and their commitment tobuilding a future in the United States.Tapping into this groundswell of activism,foundations can support activities suchas leadership development, organizingcampaigns, naturalization, and non-partisan voter education and registra-tion. Civic education is important toteach newcomers about local institu-tions and how laws are made; it alsogives immigrants the tools they need toparticipate effectively in local decision-making processes. In funding immigrantparticipation, funders should pay partic-ular attention to efforts that engageyoung people and that allow newcomersand established residents, particularlypeople of color and low-income groups,to work together on issues of commoninterest.

8. BOLSTER ORGANIZATIONALCAPACITY

Local, regional, and national immigrantorganizations—and the coalitions andnetworks that link them together—do atremendous amount of work with rela-tively few resources. Capacity-buildinggrants can help these groups strengthentheir organizational infrastructure andeffectiveness, positioning them to havegreater impact to the benefit of bothnewcomers and the receiving society.

In addition to the standard menu of capacity-building training, fromfundraising to board development andfinancial management, immigrant organ-izations can be strengthened by trainingin communications, leadership develop-ment, action research, advocacy, andgrassroots lobbying permissible by law.Building the capacity of these groups towork across lines of race and ethnicityis crucial, both in traditional immigrantstrongholds with significant diversityand in newer gateway communities thatare beginning to diversify.

9. STRENGTHEN MULTI-ETHNIC,MULTI-SECTOR ALLIANCES

Multi-ethnic and multi-sector alliancesare vital to successful immigrant inte-gration and effective community building.Philanthropy has long supported effortsthat engage both immigrants and native-born, such as organizing and advocacycampaigns to increase access to healthcare for working families, address educa-tional inequities, and improve wagesand working conditions for all workers.Such funding to establish common groundbetween immigrant and native-bornconstituencies, regardless of the issues,can improve the well-being for all com-munity members.

Equally important aregrants that connectimmigrant-basedorganizations withother strategic part-ners, such as civilrights groups, laborunions, professionalassociations, businessinterests, educationsystems, health providers, and faith-based organizations. Such grants cansupport coalition building and thedevelopment of partnerships andalliances, regular convenings, strategy sessions, and other activities that connect immigrant groups to broaderefforts to improve opportunities for allmembers of society.

10. ENHANCE COMMUNICATIONSCAPACITY

Funding of communications activitiesis pivotal to creating openness toimmigrant integration and policy reformmeasures that expand, instead ofrestrict, opportunities for newcomersand other communities that have mutualinterests. Activities such as messagedevelopment, framing, public-opinionresearch, and ethnic and mainstreammedia outreach can educate immigrants

about their rights and responsibilities,increase public understanding of theexperiences of newcomers and theircontributions to society, and informdebates on policy issues that can affectthe well-being of immigrant families.Communications training for immigrantleaders and allies is also important toincrease their effectiveness in the mediaand other public arenas. In addition,multi-lingual polling can ensure thatimmigrants’ voices are heard in main-stream debates.

Given the volatility of immigration issues,funders can support the development of“rapid response” capacity to help immi-grant groups get their viewpoints out to

At this historic crossroads, philanthropy can play a critical role in promoting the full integration ofnewcomers into our society. Philanthropic investmentand leadership—combined with the vision and hardwork of immigrant and allied organizations—willhelp ensure that America lives up to its heritage asthe land of freedom and opportunity. The futurevibrancy of our country is at stake.

the media and the general public in atimely manner. Those wishing to make alarge investment can support paid cam-paigns in both print and electronicmedia. Communications efforts shouldtake place at various levels, from thegrassroots to inside the Beltway.Depending on their resources and desiredlevel of impact, local and national fundershave a range of options for investing incommunications strategies.

17

THE HISTORICALCONTEXT FORINTEGRATION

Immigration is one of the UnitedStates’ most distinguishing charac-

teristics, helping drive economic growthand defining national identity since thecountry’s founding. Immigrants acrossthe generations have made America theland of opportunity: a nation that val-ues self-reliance, freedom, and democ-racy and welcomes those willing towork hard for a better future.

Although the United States has a strongand unique heritage as a nation ofimmigrants, the integration of newcomershas always presented serious challengesfor both the newcomers and the com-munities that receive them.

Historically, when Americans view thepresent and future with confidence andoptimism, immigrants and the benefitsthey bring are valued and celebrated. Butwhen faced with economic downturns,national-security concerns, and high-volume immigration, U.S. society oftenbecomes less welcoming and even hos-tile to immigrants. Our nationalambivalence about immigrants andtheir role in American society createsformidable barriers to immigrant inte-gration and community cohesion.

Yet immigrants and their descendants,throughout the course of U.S. history,have overcome these barriers and havemade substantial contributions to ourcountry. Indeed, the quintessentialAmerican narrative as a nation ofimmigrants derives its power from themany generations of newcomers whohave successfully pursued the AmericanDream, bettered their lives and those oftheir children, and enriched Americansociety in the process. Similarly, othergroups, such as Native Americans andAfrican-Americans, have contributedsignificantly to the nation’s prosperitydespite enduring enormous hardship.

At the dawn of the twenty-first century,the unprecedented level of migrationaround the world, the high volume ofimmigration to the United States, andimmigrants’ expanding role in Americansociety create imperatives for immigrantintegration. To continue thriving as anation, we must be intentional aboutweaving newcomers into the fabric ofsociety. How well we integrate immigrantsand provide opportunities for all com-munity members has far-reaching impli-cations for—and is inextricable from—our current and future vitality.

© A

P Ph

oto/

Nat

i Har

nik

“We are the land of opportunity.

Our streets may not be

paved with gold, but they are paved

with the promise that men and

women who live here—even strangers

and newcomers—can rise as fast,

as far as their skills will allow.”

—Senator Edward M. Kennedy, D-MA, 1965

18

WHY NOW: THEIMPERATIVES FOR

INTEGRATION

GROWTH, DIVERSITY, AND DISPERSION OF NEWCOMERSCREATE OPPORTUNITIES

The growth, diversity, and dispersion ofnewcomer populations create opportuni-ties to address longstanding socialissues, improve racial and ethnic equityand cohesion, and strengthen our demo-cratic traditions.

• The volume of immigrants to theUnited States is at an all-time high.As a result of global economic andpolitical factors, the foreign-born popu-lation in the United States tripled inthe past four decades and currentlytotals about 37 million or nearly 12 per-cent of the overall population.

By 2010, this figure is expected toincrease to 43 million, or 13.5 percent ofthe total population.2 By joining forceswith native-born residents who sharecommon concerns, immigrants can helpmove longstanding social issues likepoverty and racial inequities to the fore-front of the nation’s public policy agenda.

• Today’s immigrants come fromevery corner of the globe. Mexico (38percent) and Latin America (20 percent)account for more than half of newcom-ers to the United States. The remaindercomes from Asia (23 percent), Europeand Canada (12 percent), and Africa,

1. United Nations Population Division. 2003. Trendsin Total Migrant Stock: The 2003 Revision. New York,NY: United Nations.2. Capps, Randy, et al. 2005. The New Demographyof America’s Schools: Immigration and the No ChildLeft Behind Act. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute.September.

Watch the DVDThe New Americans:

A Grandfather’s StoryNative-born Americans rarely get to seehow economic conditions compel many

families to make the difficult decision toleave their homelands in search of a decentlife. Listen in as a Mexican farmer explains

to his young grandson about a once-fertile land that can no longer produce

crops and a government thatrestricts water rights.

Despite benefiting greatly from immigration since its founding, the

United States has no national immigrantintegration policies to help newcomersestablish a foothold and become fullmembers of society. Given current demo-graphic, economic, and social realities,the development and implementation ofsuch policies—and the widespread andinformed involvement of newcomers incivic life—are essential to the futureprosperity of American communities.

GLOBAL MIGRATION IS AGROWING PHENOMENON

The global migration phenomenon showsno signs of abating. An estimated 185to 192 million people live outside theircountries of birth, up from 82 million in1970.1 The quest for improved economicprospects is a prime driver of migration.Demographic imbalances also play arole: While the developed world’s popu-lations are shrinking and their averageage is rising, the developing world isstill young, and its population is grow-ing. Meanwhile, internal conflicts andpersecution based on ethnic, religious,or social grounds create millions ofrefugees. These global migration trendshave a significant impact on the UnitedStates, which is home to 20 percent ofthe world’s migrant population.

“T his country has benefited

immensely from the fact that we

draw from people from all over the

world. And the average immigrant

comes from a less benign environment,

and indeed that’s the reason they’ve

come here.

And I think they appreciate the

benefits of this country more than

those of us who were born here. And

it shows in their entrepreneurship,

their enterprise and their willingness

to do the types of work that makes

this economy function.”

—Alan Greenspan, Chairman,Federal Reserve Board, beforethe House Financial Services

Committee, July 2001

19

KEY CHARACTERISTICS EARLY 20TH CENTURYIMMIGRATION

1880-1914

CONTEMPORARY IMMIGRATION1965-PRESENT

SOURCES:

Martin, Philip and Elizabeth Midgley. 2003. “Immigration: Shaping and Reshaping America,” Population Bulletin 58, No. 2. Washington, D.C.:Population Reference Bureau; Congressional Budget Office. 2004. A Description of the Immigrant Population. Washington, D.C.: Congressional BudgetOffice November; Congressional Budget Office. 2005. The Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market. Washington, D.C.: Congressional BudgetOffice. November; and Hernandez, Donald J. “A Demographic Portrait of Children in Immigrant Families.” Presented at the Brookings Institution,Washington, D.C., December 16, 2004.

HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY IMMIGRATION: A SNAPSHOT

the Middle East, and other regions (8 percent).3 In contrast, seven of thetop-ten sending countries in 1960 wereEuropean. The diversity of today’s immi-grants challenges our society to respondto linguistic and cultural differences and to promote positive intergroupunderstanding and relations.

• Newcomers are settling in urban,suburban, and rural communitiesacross America. Many immigrants arenow living, working, and going to schoolin communities well beyond the six tra-ditional gateway states (California, NewYork, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, and

Illinois). In the 37 states never beforeconsidered immigrant destinations, theforeign-born population during the1990s grew at twice the rate of thesesix states. States that experienced thehighest growth rate include NorthCarolina (274 percent), Georgia (233 per-cent), Nevada (202 percent), Arkansas(196 percent), and Utah (171 per-cent).4 Given the geographic dispersionof immigrants, few communities acrossthe country can afford to ignore theimperative to develop immigrant inte-gration strategies.

3. Passel, Jeffrey S. and Roberto Suro. 2005. Rise,Peak, and Decline: Trends in U.S. Immigration1992–2004. Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center.September. (Note: Due to rounding the percentagebreakdown does not total 100 percent.)4. Passel, Jeffrey S. and Wendy Zimmermann. 2001.Are Immigrants Leaving California? Washington,D.C.: Urban Institute. April.

New arrivals as percent of U.S. population

Total foreign-born as percent of U.S. population

Immigrants as percent of U.S. workforce

Percent of U.S.-citizen children living in immigrant families

Settlement patterns

Shift in the economy

Industries with high concentrations of immigrant workers

Shift in countries of origin

From 1900-1910, new arrivals equaled11.6 percent of the population

14.7 percent in 1910

24 percent in 1910

28 percent in 1910

Urban gateway cities in East andNorth, with smaller numbers in West

From frontier to industrialization

Mining, steel, and meatpacking

In 1882, 87 percent from northern and western Europe

By 1907, 81 percent from southern andeastern Europe

From 1990-2000, new arrivals equaled3.7 percent of the population

12 percent in 2004

14.5 percent in 2004

20 percent in 2000

Traditional gateways, with newdispersion to suburbs; also high growthin the South, Mountain,and Plains states

From manufacturing to knowledge andservice economy

—Sciences, engineering, and medicine—Construction, services, meatpacking,and agriculture

Before 1960, 66 percent of legal immigrants from Europe and Canada, 32 percent from Latin American and Asia

By 2004, 12 percent from Europe andCanada, 81 percent from Latin Americaand Asia

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CURRENT AND FUTURE U.S.ECONOMIC GROWTH AND STABILITY DEPEND ON IMMIGRANTS

In some declining communities, immi-grants are contributing to the revitaliza-tion of local economies.They are fillingjobs, starting new businesses, buyinghomes, and sending their children topublic schools. Many leaders in once-thriving metropolises like Pittsburghand depopulating rural states likeNebraska and Iowa view immigrants ascritical to rebuilding their communities.

Nationally, immigrants constitute agrowing share of the labor force.Although immigrants make up one innine U.S. residents, they comprise onein seven workers. During the 1990s, one out of every two new entries intothe workforce was foreign-born.5

Assuming that immigration levels willremain constant, newcomers willaccount for half of the growth of theworking-age population between nowand 2015 and for all the growthbetween 2016 and 2035.6

Immigrants play an important role inmany sectors of the U.S. economy, butthey are most concentrated in jobs atthe high and low end of the labor mar-ket. For example, one in three doctors,dentists, and nurses is foreign-born, andone in three building and maintenanceworkers is foreign-born.7

Undocumented immigrants constitute alarge percentage of low-wage workers ina number of industries, many of whichwould suffer great economic hardshipwithout them. In March 2005, they were24 percent of all workers employed infarming occupations, 17 percent incleaning, 14 percent in construction,and 12 percent in food preparation.8

The U.S. Department of Labor projectsthat, by 2010, the United States willcreate 22 million new jobs—nine millionmore jobs than the estimated number ofnew workers entering the job market. Asnative birth rates continue to declineand as the Baby Boom generationbegins to retire, immigrants and theirchildren—as workers, taxpayers, con-sumers, and entrepreneurs—will becomeeven more critical to U.S. economicvitality and global competitiveness.

6. Research and Policy Committee of the Committeefor Economic Development. 2001. ReformingImmigration. Helping Meet America’s Need for aSkilled Workforce. New York, NY: Committee forEconomic Development.7. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “2004-2014Projections, Occupational Employment,”Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Winter 2005-06.Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics;Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department ofLabor, News Release: “Labor Force Characteristics ofForeign-Born Workers in 2003,” December 1,2004—Table 4. National Science Board, Science andEngineering Indicators 2004. Arlington, VA:National Science Foundation, 2004.8. Passel, Jeffrey S. 2006. Size and Characteristics ofthe Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.Estimates. Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center.March.

Watch the DVDHasta La Vista, Baby!

Immigrants who arrive in the UnitedStates without documentation are often

reluctant to defend their basic human andlegal rights. One community group, Somos

Mayfair in San Jose, California, creates populartheater based on residents’ own stories as

a dynamic way to break through the isolationand build understanding. Find out

more on the DVD and at www.mayfairneighborhood.org.

“Pittsburgh is like a lot of former

industrial centers in the

Northeast—too much infrastructure

for too few residents. That's why a

policy of encouraging more immigra-

tion is so important to revitalizing

these older urban areas. Otherwise,

the alternative is to start tearing

them down.”

—Maxwell King, President The Heinz Endowments

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

21

IMMIGRANT CONTRIBUTIONS AS TAXPAYERS,CONSUMERS, AND ENTREPRENEURS

• The average immigrant, over a lifetime, pays $80,000 more in taxes thanshe and her immediate descendants receive in local, state, and federal benefits.9

• Latino and Asian purchasing power, in 1994, constituted nearly $1 trillion,or 12 percent of the U.S. total. Between 1990 and 2009, it is expected to grow347 percent, compared to an increase of 158 percent in total U.S. buyingpower.10

• Between 1997 and 2002, the number of Asian American businesses grew24 percent, and the number of Hispanic firms grew 31 percent, compared to 10 percent for all U.S. businesses.11

9. Smith, James P., and Barry Edmunston, ed. 1997. The New Americans: Economic, Demographic,and Fiscal Effects of Immigration. Washington, D.C.: National Research Council. 10. Humphreys, Jeffrey. “The Multicultural Economy 2004: America’s Minority Buying Power.”2004. Georgia Business and Economic Conditions, Vol. 64, No. 3. (pp. 5-6).www.selig.uga.edu/forecast/GBEC/GBECO43Q.pdf. See also Singer, Audrey, and Anna Paulson.2004. “Financial Access for Immigrants: Learning from Diverse Perspectives,” Brookings InstitutionPolicy Brief. October. www.brookings.edu. 11. Humphreys, Jeffrey M. “The Multicultural Economy 2004: America’s Minority Buying Power.”2004. Georgia Business and Economic Conditions, Vol. 64, No. 3, Third Quarter. Athens, GA:University of Georgia Selig Center for Economic Growth; Minority Business Development Agency.2005. State of Minority Business Enterprises. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce. September.

12. Fix, Michael, Wendy Zimmerman, and Jeffrey S.Passel. 2001. The Integration of Immigrant Familiesin the U.S. The Integration of Immigrant Families inthe U.S. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute.13. Passel, Jeffrey S. 2006. Size and Characteristicsof the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.Estimates. Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center.March.

POLICIES INTENDED TO AFFECTONLY IMMIGRANTS HAVE A DIRECT IMPACT ON MANYCOMMUNITIES

Regardless of immigration status, new-comers are woven into the fabric ofAmerican communities. Eighty-five per-cent of immigrant families have mixedimmigration status, and 75 percent ofchildren in immigrant families are U.S.citizens. More than three million U.S.citizen children have undocumentedparents.12 The growing phenomenon ofmixed-status families makes it difficultto isolate the effects of policiesdirected towards immigrants withouthaving a negative impact on their citizenchildren. For example, when legal non-citizens lost eligibility for federal safety-net programs as a result of the 1996welfare law, many citizen children stoppedparticipating in public-benefit programseven though they were still eligible.

Increasingly, many of the estimated11.5 to 12 million undocumented immi-grants13 are becoming part of our

society. In addition to staffing our busi-nesses, they go to our schools, belongto our churches, and engage in commu-nity life. Yet their lack of legal statuscreates a significant barrier to integra-tion. Concentrated in low-wage jobs,undocumented immigrants have littleopportunity to improve their family’seconomic well-being. Their access tohigher education is limited, even if theycame to this country as young childrenand graduated from an American highschool. Exploitation and discriminationin the workplace, restricted access todrivers’ licenses, and fears of deporta-tion are some of the other factors thatmarginalize undocumented immigrants inour society.

Given the high number of undocumentedimmigrants, Congress has been debatingvarious policy solutions, includingincreased border enforcement to stem thetide; guest-worker programs to addresslabor demands; and earned legalizationand a path to citizenship for those whoare already here and contributing to theeconomy. Each of these proposals willclearly have a different impact on thewell-being of undocumented immigrantsand their families.

Notwithstanding changes in federalimmigration law, many U.S. communi-ties are increasingly recognizing thatundocumented immigrants, regardless oftheir immigration status, are vital tolocal economies and are part of thesocial and cultural fabric. These commu-nities are undertaking integrationefforts of varying scale to address theneeds and tap the contributions of thispopulation.

RECENT POLICY CHANGESERODE CORE AMERICAN VALUESAND AFFECT IMMIGRANTS’ABILITY TO INTEGRATE

Three acts of Congress in 1996—welfarereform, immigration reform, and anti-terrorism legislation—curtailed rightsfor immigrants and limited their eligi-bility for federally funded health andsocial service programs. In addition,policies enacted in response to domesticsecurity concerns since September 11,2001—from the USA PATRIOT Act to theREAL ID Act—have weakened civilrights protections for citizens and non-citizens alike, particularly those who areof Arab, Muslim, Middle Eastern, orSouth Asian descent.

Beyond the Beltway, in 2005, more than150 pieces of anti-immigrant legislationwere introduced in city councils andstate legislatures in 30 different states.Most state bills and ballot initiativesaimed to reduce undocumented immi-grants’ access to drivers’ licenses,health care, and other public services.Some municipalities are using existinglocal housing ordinances that governovercrowding to evict undocumentedrenters, and others are introducing newordinances to restrict day laborers’ abil-ity to solicit work.

While most receiving communities wel-come immigrants, anti-immigrant activi-ties are on the rise, with local groupscropping up in as many as 40 states in2005 alone. Such activities, which can

22

be expected during times of rapid demo-graphic change, often use wedge issuesto divide communities. For example,anti-immigrant forces frequently usecompetition for jobs and other resourcesto pit immigrants against African-Americans and other native-borngroups. Such efforts exacerbate racialtensions, put core American values atrisk, and make the need for consciousattention to integration more urgent.

MOVING FORWARD

Efforts to integrate immigrants mustrespond to contemporary demographic,economic, and social realities, whiletackling overarching concerns aboutimmigration, race, and national security.These factors compound the challengesnewcomers face in trying to build newlives in the United States, particularlyin new gateway communities that lack a service infrastructure, are not accus-tomed to racial and ethnic diversity,and have no recent experience withintegrating immigrants.

To be successful, integration effortsmust consider the needs of immigrantswithin the context of issues facing thebroader community, including howimmigration can affect economic oppor-tunity for other community membersand how it can influence race and inter-group relations. Keeping these consider-ations in mind can help expandresources to address longstanding socialproblems such as poverty and increaseracial and ethnic equity and cohesion.Understanding the challenges of immi-grant integration—and the role thatphilanthropy in partnership with othersectors can play—is critical to buildingsecure, vibrant, and cohesive communi-ties that benefit all members.

WHY THE RISE IN THE

UNDOCUMENTED POPULATION

U.S. demand for labor, combined withlack of opportunity in home countries, is the primary force driving immigra-tion, both authorized and unautho-rized. But many experts say U.S. immi-gration laws and policies have alsocontributed to the rise in the undocu-mented population.

First, immigration policy experts notethat very few legal avenues exist forthe foreign-born to enter the UnitedStates to fill current and future demandfor low-skilled workers. This fact hasimmediate and long-term implicationsfor the U.S. economy: Over the nextten years, low-skilled jobs will constitute two-thirds of all new jobscreated.14

Second, heightened border enforce-ment has unintentionally kept manyundocumented Mexican workers in theUnited States. In the early 1980s,about half of all undocumented

Mexicans returned home within 12months of entry, but by 2000, the rateof return migration was only 25 per-cent.15

As Princeton University researcherDouglas S. Massey points out, “TheUnited States is now locked into a per-verse cycle whereby additional borderenforcement further decreases the rateof return migration, which acceleratesundocumented population growth,which brings calls for harsher enforce-ment.”16

14. Smith Nightingale, Demetra and MichaelFix. 2004. “Economic and Labor MarketTrends” Children of Immigrant Families, TheFuture of Children, Vol.14, Issue 2, Princeton-Brookings: 49-52.15. Massey, Douglas S., Jorge Durand, andNolan J. Malone. 2003. Beyond Smoke andMirrors: Mexican Immigration in an Age ofEconomic Integration. New York, NY: RussellSage Foundation Publications.16. Massey, Douglas S. 2006. “The Wall ThatKeeps Illegal Workers in.” The New York Times,April 4, sec. A.

The truth is that the challenges

we face as a nation have not

been imported by our immigrants,

nor would they disappear if we could

only succeed in sealing our borders

for good—even if that were possible.

In fact, there is good reason to believe

that some of the problems we should

take most seriously as a people—

from the decline in our economic

competitiveness to the decay of our

community values—are problems that

the new immigrants can help us solve.”

—Mario Cuomo former Governor of New York

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In March 2006, an estimated 300,000rallied in Chicago for immigrantrights, kicking off a series of peacefuldemonstrations across the country.

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RACE AND IMMIGRATION

Race has had—and continues tohave—a profound impact on thewell-being of the Native Americanand African-American communities.Although less well-known, race hasalso contributed to the shaping ofimmigration laws and policies sinceour nation’s founding. The connec-tion between race and immigrationhas significant implications for immi-grant integration because how immi-grants are perceived and treatedaffects how well they fare, integrate,and contribute to U.S. society.18

Race and ethnicity have stimulatedfear and anxiety since the first waveof non-Anglo immigrants in the1700s. Alarmed by the swelling num-ber of Germans, Benjamin Franklinwrote in 1753, “Those who comehither are generally of the most igno-rant stupid sort of their own nation…Few of their children in the countrylearn English.”

Similarly, Italian and Irish immigrantsfaced ethnic stereotypes and discrimi-nation in the late 1800s, while newarrivals from southern and easternEurope in the early 1900s were casti-gated as racially inferior to those ofAnglo-Saxon stock.19 But as theseEuropean immigrants incorporatedinto society, anxiety and fear aboutthem faded over time.

This certainly was not the case for African-Americans and Native Americans—nor wasit the case for Asian and Latino immi-grants. As Native Americans and African-Americans endured legalized segregationand other forms of discrimination, Asianimmigrants, in the late 1800s and early1900s, were denied citizenship and otherrights. U.S. laws during that time periodalso restricted new entries from Asiancountries. During World War II, 120,000Japanese Americans were interned. In the1920s, thousands of Mexican workers,including U.S. citizens, were deported.And in 1954, Operation Wetback deportedmore than 1.1 million Mexican immi-grants. These laws and policies under-mined the ability of Latino and Asianimmigrants to integrate fully into Americansociety.

The Immigration Act of 1965, supportedby civil rights leaders, eliminated thenational-origins quota system that favoredEuropean immigrants and paved the wayfor expanded immigration from Asia,Africa, and Latin America. This lawmarkedly changed the racial compositionof immigrants to the United States: In1960, seven of the top-ten sending coun-tries were European; today, all of the top-ten sending countries are either LatinAmerican or Asian.

In the twenty-first century, the diversity ofimmigrants—and their dispersed settle-ment pattern—make race a central issue,requiring U.S. society to consider how raceaffects the ability of immigrants to inte-grate. This is an especially critical concernfor more homogenous new immigrantgateways and in communities where theblack-white paradigm has long been thedominant frame.

Housing segregation, employmentdiscrimination, and educationalinequities, though experienced byEuropean immigrants at the turn ofthe nineteenth century, are evenmore daunting barriers to integrationfor today’s increasingly Latino, Asian,and African immigrants. And theycontinue to limit opportunity forNative Americans and African-Americans as well.

How can receiving communitiesaddress these barriers, so that they do not impede immigrants’ socialand economic mobility? How canimmigrants and native-bornAmericans find common ground andwork together toward shared goals?

Within this context, the integration of immigrants must be a process hat reaps clear benefits not only forimmigrants but for society as a whole.

17. See “History of U.S. Immigration Law andPolicy” in the “Additional Resources” sectionof this toolkit. 18. See: Alba, Richard and Victor Nee. 2003.Remaking the American Mainstream:Assimilation and Contemporary Immigration.Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Bean,Frank D. and Gillian Stevens. 2003. America’sNewcomers and the Dynamics of Diversity. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Portes,Alejandro and Ruben G. Rumbaut. 2001.Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant SecondGeneration. Berkeley, CA: University ofCalifornia Press.19. Muller, Thomas. 1993. Immigrants and theAmerican City. New York, NY: University Press.

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Watch the DVDMaid in America:

Intergroup RelationsMeet a dedicated nanny who has

worked in several African-American house-holds since immigrating to this country.

Hear from the African-American couple shenow works for as they poignantly recounttheir own family’s working-class begin-

nings and see parallels in today’s immigrant experience.

25

Immigrant integration is a complexconcept that is fundamentally tied

to the ongoing debate about the role ofimmigrants in our society and our differ-ent visions of a thriving America. GCIR’sImmigrant Integration Framework buildson the vision that the United States, toremain strong and prosperous, must con-tinue to be the land of opportunity wherepeople of all colors, cultural backgrounds,and walks of life can put down roots, builda better life, and become contributingmembers of society.

Guided by this vision, GCIR defines immigrant integration as a dynamic, two-way process in which newcomers andthe receiving society work together tobuild secure, vibrant, and cohesive com-

munities. We believethat integrationshould be an inten-tional process thatengages and trans-forms all community

stakeholders, enriching our social, eco-nomic, and civic life over time. Mutualresponsibility and benefits, multi-sectorinvolvement, and multi-strategy approachare the cornerstones of GCIR’s

Immigrant Integration Framework. Webelieve these elements are critical toany effort to integrate immigrants.

GCIR utilizes the term “integration” andnot “assimilation” to emphasize respectfor and incorporation of differences and the need for mutual adaptation.“Integration” also reflects an apprecia-tion of diversity instead of the homo-geneity that “assimilation” has come toconnote.1 In addition, the literal mean-ing of integration—combining and coor-dinating separate elements to create aharmonious, interrelated whole—capturesour belief in the importance of immigrantintegration to our society.

DEFININGIMMIGRANT

INTEGRATION

1. Fix, Michael, Wendy Zimmerman, and Jeff Passel.2001. The Integration of Immigrant Families in theUnited States. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute.

GCIR’s definition of immigrant integra-tion builds on the rich but sometimesconflicting social-science theories onhow immigrants become members ofU.S. society. “Assimilation” theory, firstdeveloped in the 1920s, originallyposited that newcomers both absorband influence elements of the receivingsociety, with the two becoming morelike each other over time. The conceptlater became known as the “meltingpot.” Although developed in part tocounteract the “Americanization”movement of the 1920s, this theoryover time became criticized for assum-ing that the subordinate immigrantgroup could only achieve upwardmobility by becoming more like thedominant group.2

Beginning in the 1960s, a number ofscholars began trying to explain theincomplete assimilation of manygroups, documenting that lingering

discrimination and structural and institu-tional barriers to equal access to employ-ment constituted obstacles to completeassimilation. This approach became knownas the “ethnic-disadvantage” model.3

Most recently, Alejandro Portes and RubénRumbaut have advanced a more nuancedapproach: “segmented assimilation.”Combining elements of the assimilationand ethnic-disadvantage models, this the-ory suggests that while many immigrantswill find different pathways to mainstreamstatus, others will find such pathwaysblocked and come to view themselves asmembers of disadvantaged and racializedgroups as a result.4

Frank Bean and Gillian Stevens, however,point out that segmented assimilation mayinadvertently overemphasize negative out-comes. They note the transformation ofthe United States from a largely biracial,white majority-black minority society into

a multiracial, multiethnic society. Thisdiversity may render racial and ethnicboundaries more permeable and lesssusceptible to stereotyping in thefuture, at the same time that economicmobility increasingly proceeds ahead oftraditional measures of cultural assimi-lation.5

This movement, propelled by suspicionand fear, sought to induce newcomersto assimilate American speech, ideals,traditions, and ways of life.

THEORIES ON IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION: A LOOK AT THE RESEARCH

2. Bean, Frank and Gillian Stevens. 2003.America’s Newcomers and the Dynamics ofDiversity. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundationand Alba and Nee. 2003. Remaking the AmericanMainstream: Assimilation and ContemporaryImmigration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UniversityPress.3. Ibid.4. Portes, Alejandro and Ruben Rumbaut. 2001.Legacies: The Story of the Second Generation.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 5. Bean and Stevens, 2003.

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Immigrant integration is a dynamic, two-wayprocess in which newcomers and the receivingsociety work together to build secure, vibrant,

cohesive communities.

26

Throughout U.S. history, immigrantshave been viewed—by themselves and

others—as responsible for their own fate,with the classic generational transitionfrom “peddler to plumber to professor”6

through tenacity, self-reliance, and hardwork. In many respects, this responsibil-ity still holds: The human, social, andfinancial capital immigrants bring withthem or acquire are significant determi-nants of their pace of mobility inAmerican society.

Successful integration, however, is notdetermined solely by the actions immi-grants take and the resources they possess. The reception—supportive,neutral, or negative—they receive fromthe host community plays a critical role.

Integration is a two-way process inwhich newcomer and established resi-dents share responsibility for the well-being of one another and of the broadercommunity. Requiring change on thepart of the immigrant and the receivingcommunity, integration is a dynamicgive-and-take process that takes placeover time. In the ideal, it transformsboth the newcomers and the receivingsociety, creating a new whole that isgreater than the sum of its parts.

MUTUALRESPONSIBILITY,

MUTUAL CHANGE,MUTUAL BENEFITS

Through the integration process, thereceiving community learns to respectthe skills, languages, and cultures thatnewcomers bring and, simultaneously,play an active role in meeting theirneeds. Long-established residents even-tually come to recognize immigrants asassets who contribute to the long-termvibrancy and prosperity of their community.

In responding to immigrants’ needs,however, receiving communities areunlikely to be able to provide the ideallevel of support, constrained by factorssuch as limited financial resources, competing community needs, and lackof political will. Nor will receiving com-munities, with a deeply rooted set ofexisting values and norms, come toaccept and value linguistic, cultural,and ethnic diversity overnight.Nevertheless, successful integrationdepends on a shift in the receivingcommunity’s attitudes towards—andwillingness to assist—newcomers.

Immigrants and refugees—and theorganizations that represent them—also bear responsibility for integration.Newcomers must do their part tobecome contributing members of societyby learning English, getting involved intheir children’s education, sharing theircultures, and participating in democracy.Voicing concerns and ideas, workingtogether with longtime residents towardcommon goals, and taking part in com-munity decision making are all part ofthe immigrant integration experience.

At the same time, integration does notmean that immigrants must sever ties totheir countries of birth nor abandontheir cultures, traditions, values, andidentities. For most newcomers, the ini-tial focus upon arrival will be on day-to-day survival; it may take years for themto move from immediate survival toestablish roots and become active incommunity life. For others, social andeconomic realities create formidablebarriers to integration that may not beovercome until future generations.

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IRR

6. Waldinger, Roger. 1997. “Immigrant Integrationin the Post Industrial Metropolis: A View form theUnited States,” Metropolis First InternationalConference, Milan. August.

Watch the DVDRain in a Dry Land:

Learning about AmericaMany immigrants and refugees arrive

with little knowledge of everydayAmerican life that most longtime residentstake for granted. Sit in on a refugee orien-tation session in Kenya, where America-bound Somali-Bantus learn about high-

rise buildings, how to use a stove,and what American law has to

say about family behavior.

27

MULTI-SECTORINVOLVEMENT

The engagement of all stakeholdersin the newcomer and receiving com-

munities, as well as those who bridgethe two, is critical to the integrationprocess. The stakeholder sectors identi-fied in the chart below all have a self-interested stake in promoting immi-grant integration.

Stakeholder groups need to worktogether to achieve a common under-standing about immigrants’ complexroles in our society; engage in candid,

ongoing discussions about prejudice,fear, and other realities facing theircommunities; and come to an agreementabout shared community goals and themutual responsibility that is required toachieve them. Only through this two-way process and with ongoing attentionto integration can communities realize awin-win situation in which immigrantand native-born neighbors of differentexperiences, histories, and backgroundscan work together to build a sharedcommunity, now and in the future.

SECTOR/STAKEHOLDER GROUP INTERESTS

PHILANTHROPY Due to spreading demographic changes, immigration affects virtually every issuephilanthropy seeks to influence, from health and education to rights and justice todemocratic participation. To achieve their goals, foundations must take leadership inaddressing the needs of newcomers and engaging them in efforts to develop solu-tions to community problems.

GOVERNMENT Government is a key player in meeting community needs, providing resources tohelp individuals succeed and protecting those who are vulnerable. Helping newcom-ers achieve self-sufficiency and lead productive lives not only prevents strain on pub-lic resources but can increase tax revenues, economic productivity, and social andcultural vibrancy of the receiving community.

BUSINESS Immigrants represent a growing segment of the workforce and the consumer basein the United States. In addition, their transnational ties and linguistic and culturalskills help U.S. companies compete in the global marketplace.

LABOR UNIONS Unions have recently increased their organizing efforts in industries with a largeshare of immigrant workers. The involvement and leadership of immigrant workersare central to unions’ ability to improve wages, benefits, and workplace conditions,as well as strengthen the broader labor movement.

FAITH-BASED INSTITUTIONS Valuing human dignity and the worth of each individual, faith-based institutionshave a vested interest in immigrant issues through their ministry and social-actionwork and because immigrants are an important segment of their constituencies.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS Schools serve as a crucial point of contact for immigrant families and provide one of the best opportunities for newcomers to engage with other newcomer and established residents. The success of schools, particularly in communities with largeforeign-born populations, depends in part on the academic achievements and socialintegration of the children of immigrants.

COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS Responding to demographic changes, hospitals, social service providers, schools,and other community institutions have had to change the way they operate.Providing services that are linguistically accessible and culturally appropriate is nowa must for communities with growing immigration populations.

IMMIGRANT ANDETHNIC COMMUNITIESAND ORGANIZATIONS

STAKEHOLDERS IN IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION

Social networks within the immigrant communities, as well as ethnic-based communityorganizations, are invaluable to newcomers trying to establish a new life. They oftenserve as a bridge between newcomers and the receiving community. Their interest isto connect immigrants to resources to establish a new life, so that immigrants, in turn,can contribute to the advancement of their communities.

28

MULTI-STRATEGYAPPROACH Immigrant integration efforts can draw

upon myriad strategies for communitybuilding and social change that philan-thropy have long supported. These strategies include but are not limited todirect services, capacity building, commu-nity outreach and education, leadershipdevelopment, organizing, policy analysisand advocacy, legal assistance, research,communications, media, and litigation.

The combination of strategies dependson immigrants’ needs, availableresources, and the goals of the integra-tion effort, among many other factors.For example, a new immigrant gatewayexperiencing an influx of newly arrivingrefugees may begin by assessing needsand then building the capacity of community organizations to respond toidentified needs. A community strugglingwith racial and ethnic tensions mightutilize community dialogues and mediaoutreach to increase intergroup under-standing. A state fighting anti-immigrantlegislation may decide to deploy leader-ship development, organizing, advocacy,and communications strategies.

For foundations new to immigrant integration, supporting pilot projects is often a good starting point. Thisapproach allows funders to test a strategyor a set of strategies before making alarger, longer-term commitment. Investingin funding collaboratives and otherpooled funds is another good option.

It gives foundations an opportunity toexplore a range of funding possibilities,learn from and develop relationshipswith experienced colleagues, andincrease the impact of grant dollars.

PATHWAYS TO INTEGRATION

GCIR’s Immigrant Integration Frameworkidentifies six strategic pathways throughwhich immigrants and the receivingcommunity can work together to provideresources and opportunities and lever-age the human capital that immigrantsbring. These pathways are:

• Communitywide planning• Language and education• Health, well-being, and

economic mobility• Equal treatment and opportunity• Cultural and social interaction• Civic participation and citizenship

These pathways serve both as a tool forfacilitating integration and as a meansto assess whether integration is takingplace successfully. They interact dynami-cally, each with the power to reinforceor weaken progress in the other areas.For example, language and education arehighly correlated with economic mobilitybut are also a determining factor inhealth care access, citizenship and civicparticipation, and interaction withnative-born residents. Similarly, unequaltreatment can threaten not only economicmobility but also immigrants’ ability toaccess critically needed services and toparticipate in democracy.

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Where ought to be a major

movement to integrate immi-

grants into our society. The focus

should be both on making communities

more receptive to immigrants, as well

as encouraging immigrants to become

better citizens and play a more active

role in communities.”

—Bill Hing, Professor of LawUniversity of California, Davis

Watch the DVD The New Americans: The Flores Family

In this sequence, two determinedMexican kids adjust to life in rural Kansas

by learning English and succeeding inschool. But their mother, isolated anddepressed, longs to be near relatives. The family must weigh the benefits ofeducational opportunities versus the

comfort of being near theirextended family.

“

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Mutual responsibility, again, is funda-mental to successful integration.Whereas immigrants have the responsi-bility to become productive communitymembers, the receiving society bearsthe responsibility to provide them theresources and opportunities they needto succeed. All stakeholders—individualsand institutions, public and private—play a contributing role in thisendeavor.

• Communitywide planning createsintentional opportunities for immigrantand receiving communities to worktogether to identify barriers, developpolicies, and implement programs thatfacilitate immigrant integration.Depending on specific circumstances,communitywide planning efforts canvary in terms of focus, scale, and scope.For instance, they can concentrate on asingle integration issue (e.g., workforceintegration for immigrant professionals)or address multiple concerns throughmultiple strategies (e.g., improvinghealth care, education, and employmentopportunities for immigrants). The needfor such planning has never been morepressing, particularly because currentU.S. immigration policies do not reflectthe country’s social, economic, anddemographic realities and no nationalpolicy exists to support the integrationprocess.

• Language and education. With mostimmigrants arriving with limited ormoderate English skills, eliminating lan-guage barriers to services and providingopportunities to develop English profi-ciency are essential for successful inte-gration. Acquisition of English leads toa higher standard of living as newcom-ers gain access to education and jobtraining opportunities, as well as com-munity services and institutions.

To uphold their end of the integrationbargain, immigrants have the responsi-bility to learn English and partake ineducation opportunities to advancethemselves and their families.

Maintaining native-language compe-tency is a strength they also contributein light of today’s transnational market-place and global interdependence.Institutions in the receiving community,for their part, have the responsibility tooffer quality English classes, ensure lan-guage access, and provide quality edu-cational opportunities.

• Health, well-being, and economicmobility. Health care, employment, andother services and resources that pro-mote economic mobility are essentialfor helping immigrants establish afoothold and contribute fully to societyas workers, entrepreneurs, taxpayers,and community members. Economicmobility is a traditional indicator of thelevel of integration. Higher income issignificant in its own right, but it alsomeans access to other advantages, e.g.,a house in a safer neighborhood withbetter schools, that improve familywell-being and enhance economic outcomes.

In the context of health, well-being,and economic mobility, immigrants bearresponsibility to become self-sufficient,support their families, and contribute tothe economy by working, paying taxes,and starting new businesses. The receiv-ing community, in turn, providesresources that support the ability ofimmigrant families to advance (e.g., jobtraining, health care, child care, socialsafety-net programs, and access tocredit).

• Equal treatment and opportunity.True opportunity is not possible withoutequal treatment. Concerns about immi-gration status, exploitation in the work-place, unfair treatment, and discrimina-tion can severely undermine immigrants’ability to realize their full potential.Not having a level playing field forimmigrants can also lower the quality oflife and diminish opportunity for othercommunity members. Therefore, fairlaws and policies that promote equaltreatment and opportunity are criticalbuilding blocks for successful integra-tion—and for building a fair andhumane society.

In the two-way integration process,immigrants must commit to beingresponsible, contributing communitymembers and do their part to promoteequal treatment and opportunity for allcommunity members. In turn, thereceiving society must ensure that lawsand policies reflect core American val-ues of fairness and opportunity, protectcivil rights and liberties, and createopportunities for newcomers to con-tribute fully to American society.

• Social and cultural interaction iscritically important to foster under-standing, build trusting relationships,and lay the foundation for mutualengagement. Such interaction often canmake or break the integration experi-ence, either erecting roadblocks orpaving a path towards integration.

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• Civic participation and citizenship.Civic participation and citizenship notonly demonstrate immigrants’ desire tobecome active community members butalso provide an avenue for newcomersto increase their ability to shape com-munity priorities. Opportunities for new-comers and established residents to par-ticipate together in community problemsolving, leadership development, anddemocratic practice are vital to the integration process.

For their part, immigrants are responsi-ble for learning about civic processesand engaging in the life of the broadercommunity, from participating in theirchildren’s school to mobilizing new voters. Their civic involvement maybegin with issues that affect themdirectly, but over time, it will encom-pass concerns that affect the broadercommunity. The receiving community,on the other hand, bears responsibilityfor promoting citizenship, providingopportunities to participate in democracy, and ensuring the right to organize.

BENEFITS OF INTEGRATION

The potential benefits of successfulimmigrant integration to the broadersociety are significant:

• A vibrant, cohesive society sharedand valued by established and new-comer residents of different experiences,histories, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

• Revitalization of declining commu-nities through the contributions ofimmigrant families working in tandemwith their native-born neighbors.

• Stronger communities with the abil-ity to meet wide-ranging needs; addressracial, ethnic, and economic diversity;and enrich the social and cultural fabricof our society.

• Increased productivity and a robusteconomy through an expanded base ofworkers, consumers, taxpayers, andentrepreneurs.

• Global competitiveness through amulti-lingual, multi-cultural workforce.

• A more vibrant democracy in whichall groups are accepted as equal mem-bers of society with the opportunity—and responsibility—to engage and contribute to the common good.

• A more secure America where allmembers of society—regardless of race,national origin, or socio-economic status—live in dignity and equality.

As part of the integration process, new-comers and receiving community mem-bers, over time, learn about and cometo respect one another’s cultures andtraditions, both the similarities and thedifferences. They may incorporateaspects of the other’s cultural practicesinto their own. The arts and humanities,cultural production and performance,and civic participation are importantvehicles for social and cultural interac-tion and eventual integration.

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She Stopped ListeningLosing control over a teenaged childcan be terrifying for any parent, but

the impact on a refugee family can beespecially intense. Hear one singlemother’s feelings of powerlessness

as she describes a late-nightencounter with her defiant

13-year old daughter.

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Like any evaluation, the evaluation ofan immigrant integration effort shouldbegin with the following basic questions:

• What are the goals of the immi-grant integration effort?

• What are the goals of the evaluation?

• Which stakeholders need to be engaged in the design and implementation of the evaluation?

• What are the anticipated outputsand immediate, intermediate, andlong-term outcomes?

• What are the indicators of theoutputs and outcomes?

• What is the timeframe andresources for the evaluation, and towhat extent can all the outcomes berealistically assessed and captured?

• What unique issues need to beconsidered (e.g., translation andinterpretation, access to immigrantleaders and residents, confidentialityabout immigration status)?

• What is the best combination of methodologies—quantitative andqualitative—for assessing and captur-ing the outputs and the outcomes?

Building in an evaluation component at the outset is worthwhile because (1)there is much to be learned about theprocess of immigrant integration andthe conditions that facilitate or hinderit, and (2) it ensures that the evaluationwill be aligned with the goals of theeffort and conducted in a participatoryand culturally responsive manner.

In developing an evaluation, the “outputs”and “outcomes” should be clearly defined.Outputs are short-term measures of a pro-gram activity or strategy, such as the num-ber of English classes taught, participantstrained, or voters registered. A program'soutputs should lead to the desired outcomes.

Outcomes are the effects of a programactivity or strategy, which can be meas-ured in short, intermediate, and longterm. Outcomes may relate to knowledge,skills, attitudes, values, behaviors, or con-ditions. The following sample outcomescan help grantmakers and other integrationstakeholders begin to consider the goals oftheir immigrant integration efforts:

• Immigrants develop the capacity(e.g., English language proficiency andjob skills) to improve their social andeconomic well-being.

• Immigrants have an extensiveunderstanding of U.S. systems and institutions (e.g., education, economic,civic) and know how to access and navigate them.

• Immigrants participate in activitiesto help shape policies that affect thecommunities in which they live (e.g.,neighborhood redevelopment).

• Immigrants receive high-qualityservices (e.g., health care and education)that are responsive to their needs.

• Immigrants work alongside receivingcommunity members to improve theircommunities and the systems thataffect their lives.

• Receiving community members andimmigrants feel a sense of belonging toand security about the community inwhich they all live.

• Receiving community membersvalue the contributions of immigrantsand do not discriminate against them.

• Receiving community membersand immigrants engage in ongoingcultural and social exchange.

• Laws and policies that supportimmigrant integration, includingproviding equal treatment andopportunity, are put into place.

To assess these indicators, a mixed-method design combining both quali-tative and quantitative approaches isrecommended. Funders should notethat a full-scale evaluation of an immi-grant integration effort can consumesubstantial time and resources becausethe change process not only takes along time, but it is complex and constantly evolving.

Although multi-year evaluations arepreferable, they are not always possible.Therefore, the “Promising Practices inImmigrant Integration” section of thistoolkit offers preliminary indicators foreach of the pathways to integration, e.g.,language acquisition, education, andcivic participation. These preliminaryindicators may be more feasible to meas-ure and document, depending on thetimeframe and resources for the evaluation.

Note that indicators can be separatedinto immediate or intermediate out-comes, depending on the starting pointof the immigrant integration effort andthe anticipated sequence of activitiesthat will lead to immigrant integration.They can also be separated to deter-mine change at the individual, organi-zational, or communitywide levels.

The immigrant integration changeprocess is neither linear nor sequential.Therefore, any effort to evaluateprogress toward immigrant integrationshould analyze and document thedynamic two-way interaction betweenthe immigrant community and thereceiving society.

EVALUATING IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION EFFORTS

SOURCE:

United Way of America. 1996. MeasuringProgram Outcomes: A Practical Approach.Alexandria, VA: United Way of America.

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Promising Practices in Communitywide Planning

Increasing numbers of immigrants and refugees are coming into our community, and they are coming from increasingly diverse countries,

backgrounds, ethnic groups, and religions. Communities that don’t reachout to newcomers risk having separate and divisive ‘we-they’ neighborhoods.It’s essential to provide the tools that will help immigrants put down rootsand become true members of our community.”

—Susan Thornton, former Mayor, Littleton, Colorado

INTRODUCTION 35

LEADERSHIP, VISION & COURAGE 36The Maytree Foundation and Immigrant Economic Integration in Canada

GETTING AHEAD OF THE CURVE 39The Supporting Immigrant Integration Initiative of The Colorado Trust

ECONOMY, COMMUNITY & IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION 43The World in Austin, Minnesota

HELPING MINNESOTANS FIND COMMON GROUND 47Initiatives of The Minneapolis Foundation

FROM CRISIS TO A COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRATION MODEL 48What Local Governments Can Learn from Santa Clara County

A HERITAGE BUILT AND BUILT UPON 52The State of Illinois Leads the Way to Strategies for Immigrant Integration

EVALUATING COMMUNITYWIDE PLANNING EFFORTS 56

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Communitywide planning creates anintentional opportunity for immigrant

and receiving communities to worktogether to identify barriers, developpolicies, and implement programs thatfacilitate immigrant integration. Theneed for such planning has never beenmore pressing, particularly in the UnitedStates, where current immigration poli-cies do not reflect the country’s social,economic, and demographic realities andwhere no national policy exists to support the integration process.

In this section, GCIR profiles six initiativesthat demonstrate strategic vision andconsiderable promise to promote the fullintegration of newcomers into our society.We’ve chosen projects from both estab-lished immigrant gateways and newerimmigrant destinations. Regardless of theirfocus, scale, scope, or stage of implemen-tation, all share a set of common “bestpractices” that can inform philanthropicsupport of and involvement in similarefforts in U.S. communities and beyond.

• Involve institutions and individualsfrom both receiving and immigrantcommunities, including both institutionaland grassroots leaders. Research showsthat community planning processes thatvalue high levels of participation andlocal knowledge, treat everyone as equallyimportant, and stay focused on theanticipated outcomes are far more likelyto foster shared ownership of problemsand solutions and achieve sustainedchange. When involving grassroots leaders,remember that established gatekeepersare not always the most authenticallyrespected members of the community.

• Engage multiple sectors inidentifying the problems and developingthe solutions. Getting buy-in from andbuilding trust with stakeholders—including philanthropy, nonprofits, gov-ernment, and business—are criticallyimportant to the success of multi-sectorcollaborations. For efforts involving thepublic sector, political will is essential.

• Utilize multiple strategies, such asaction research, organizing, advocacy,capacity building, public education,media, communications, among others.The combination of strategies usedshould be tailored to local circumstancesand draw upon the strengths of partnersand stakeholders.

• Have patience, flexibility, a long-term commitment, and a willingness toproblem solve. Effective integration ofimmigrants into communities happensover time. Stakeholders will need to allowthe highly dynamic process to play out—and to expect the unexpected. Mistakes,misinterpretations, and miscommunica-tion will happen along the way, so beready to respond creatively and constructively.

• Allow time for both relationshipbuilding and getting the tasks done.The ends and the means to the ends areof equal importance. The right balance isdifficult to achieve, but making an effortto do so will reduce frustration andstrengthen buy-in and ownership of theplanning process among the stakeholders.The importance of building trust amongparticipants cannot be underestimated.

• Be prepared to tackle tough issues.Concerns about undocumented immigra-tion, intergroup tensions, or competitionover jobs and scarce resources willsurely arise. Leaders of the planningprocess must be prepared to addresssuch concerns in a careful and genuinemanner. Spend enough time addressingthem, use sound data to inform discus-sions, and move the conversation towardsfinding local solutions.

We hope the case studies in this sectionwill inspire you to consider seeding similarcommunity-planning initiatives. As yourfoundation explores strategies for address-ing immigrant issues, consider GCIR andthe organizations featured in this sectionas a resource.

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Ratna Omidvar, executive director ofThe Maytree Foundation in Toronto,

describes as “magical” the opportunitypresented to Maytree in bringing togetherindustry and government to facilitate theeconomic integration of Canadian immi-grants. Maybe there has been some magicto it, but Maytree’s central role in remark-able multi-sector accomplishments islargely the result of broad vision, targetedgoals, a savvy combination of strategies,and willingness to take risk.

It may seem unsurprising that a foundation based in one of the mostdiverse cities in the world, committedto building strong civic communitiesand dedicated to reducing poverty andinequality, would have interest in theintegration of newcomers. But Maytree’ssupport of newcomer issues dates backto its 1982 founding, when the city hadfar fewer foreign-born. Until the late1990s, immigrant grantmaking at theunstaffed foundation was largely respon-sive, not guided by an overall strategy.Through these years, however, an important clarity of vision emerged.

“Our assets would be too small, wecouldn’t make change unless we focusedon social policy,” says Omidvar. “And we were interested in nation-building.”For Maytree, immigrants and refugeesrepresented the strength of thecountry’s future.

LEADERSHIP, VISION & COURAGE

THE MAYTREEFOUNDATION AND

IMMIGRANT ECONOMICINTEGRATION IN

CANADA

www.maytree.com

FOCUSING FOR IMPACT

In 1997-98, the Foundation had aninflux to its corpus, hired its first staffmembers, and set about making strategicdecisions. “We had a dilemma,” Omidvarrecalls. “Should we focus on the childrenor the parents?” Maytree chose the latter, asserting that, “the single mostmeaningful marker of settlement isattachment to the labor market.”

Economic integration would be whereMaytree placed its bets: expanding post-secondary educational opportunities forall immigrants and creating pathways to the workforce for those who hadarrived with skills and work experience.Although the Foundation’s ambitionswere strong and its toolkit of strategieseventually evolved into a comprehensivecollection of innovative programs, theoriginal targeting of highly leveragedopportunity was deliberately narrow.

One target was an identified barrier,codified in Canadian law, that inadver-tently hindered refugees who had notyet received permanent status fromgaining access to public loans for post-secondary study. Without the loans, therefugees could not afford to study; with-out coursework, good jobs remained out of reach. Such policy change couldpotentially improve the lives of thousandsof newcomer families.

Omidvar recalls the reasoning: “It wasrelatively easy, because it was a singledepartment in one ministry. We just hadto rally our efforts.”

The key word in that quote is “relatively,”and the efforts the Foundation ralliedwere innovative and varied. To raisepublic awareness, Maytree first had tomake the case, basing its arguments onfacts, costs, and benefits. The Foundationpartnered with the Caledon Institute forPublic Policy (which it had co-founded)to research and publish a series of policypapers. The research became the core ofan advocacy campaign in partnershipwith other nonprofits. But there wasalso a desire to meet real needs, tounderstand this issue from the perspec-tive of the refugees, and to help them

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advocate on their own behalf. As part ofits response, the Foundation created ascholarship program and a credit unionto provide grants and loans. It also builtrelationships with recipients, helpingthem to take their stories to the mediaand to government commissions as partof the campaign.

After four years of these coordinatedtactics, three words—“and Conventionrefugees”—were added to the identifiedregulation, granting access to highereducation to some 10,000 refugeesacross Canada.

A GREATER CHALLENGE

Building on its success, Maytree targeteda much more complex issue in its secondproject: immigrant workforce integration.Some 60 percent of Canada’s immigrantsend up in semi-skilled or unskilled jobsoutside the professions for which theyhave trained and worked in their originat-ing countries. No single jurisdiction here,no clarity of authority or responsibility.The tangled web of barriers includesregulatory bodies, policies and proce-dures, and public attitudes.

Maytree aspired to create pathways tothe workforce for these skilled immigrants,and again, it was clear in its focus andanalysis. The lens it chose was theregion of Toronto, reasoning that aplace-based effort could be managedand could create models for use else-where. The strategies it pursued werebuilt from a belief that, in RatnaOmidvar’s words, “solutions lie in thebehavior and attitudes of people.”

Many stakeholders were involved, notthe least of which was the public atlarge. “This issue was not front-and-cen-ter in the public mind,” says NaomiAlboim, a researcher at the School ofPolicy Studies at Queen’s University inKingston, Ontario, who also works withMaytree and the Caledon Institute.“Maytree made it front-and-center inthe public domain.”

Once again, solid research was the start-ing point. Alboim’s report, publishedthrough Caledon, “Fulfilling the Promise:Integrating Immigrant Skills into theCanadian Economy,” presented an analy-sis of an economic imperative. “By theyear 2011, it is estimated that 100 per-cent of Canada’s net labour force growthwill depend on immigration,” she wrote.

The report also proposed a “systems”approach to facilitate immigrant entry intothe economy, recommending incentivesfor collaboration among stakeholders tocreate programs; increase immigrants’access to information, services, advice,and bridging efforts to fill gaps; andestablish a leadership council to fostercollaboration, coordination, and communication.

With Maytree participation and supportand building on its 2002 Toronto CitySummit on regional strengths and chal-lenges, the new leadership council createdthe Toronto City Summit Alliance to pursue the issues identified by Summitparticipants. Integration of immigrantsinto the labor market was on the list,and the public, private, and nonprofitleaders who constituted the Alliancejoined with Maytree to form the TorontoRegional Immigrant Employment Council(TRIEC) in September 2003.

TRIEC embodies the multi-sectorapproach necessary to overcome barriersto immigrant economic integration:public and private funding (Maytreesupports the secretariat) and leadershipfrom the business, nonprofit, and publicsector. TRIEC offers internships to provideCanadian work experience to skilledimmigrants, mentoring programs withestablished professionals to build net-works for newcomers, and an employertoolkit describing promising practices ofpeers who have integrated immigrantsinto their workforces and other programs.Other cities in Canada have becomeinterested in the TRIEC model.

MULTIPLE PARTNERS, MULTIPLE STRATEGIES

Maytree officials are quick to point outthat they are not the only catalyst forthe changes that have created TRIECand policy improvements. “We were atthe center of a perfect storm,” saysOmidvar, “brewing at the right time, inthe right place, with the right people.”This is modesty speaking, and not ofthe blushing sort.

“Maytree walks its talk,” says JoeBreiteneicher, of The PhilanthropicInitiative, Inc., which conducted alengthy overall assessment of Maytree’sprograms and impacts. “Again and again,thoughtfully and effectively, in a self-effacing way that others trust andbelieve in.”

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“It is a testimony to Maytree’s skill andpolitical smarts,” continues Breiteneicher,“that it is viewed by colleagues andcombatants alike as the preeminentlyeffective force in policy matters inCanada—but is never seen as adversarial.Even its enemies in government respectits approach to its work!”

Components of this approach, in additionto strategic modesty? Turn to impeccableresearch to establish yourself as a trustedexpert. Target policy change for highestleverage.

“The biggest lever available to effectcrucial social issues is public policy,”says Alan Broadbent, Maytree’s chairman.“By changing how a society agrees toexercise its collective will, we can createsolutions to the hard problems and thecritical issues.”

And there is yet another distinguishingcharacteristic of Maytree’s immigrantgrantmaking. Accompanying its disciplinein selecting targets for strategic impact,the foundation maintains a willingnessto come at a problem from severalpoints of view, to surround an issuewith creative partnerships. That creativityhas led to the Diaspora Dialogues, a

partnership with PEN Canada and theYMCA of Greater Toronto, which “encour-ages well-known and emerging voicesfrom a dynamic mix of ethnicities toexplore their lived experiences throughfiction, poetry and drama.”

“We are trying to get to a new public, a reading public, telling the story ofToronto’s global village back to itself,”explains Omidvar.

Another Maytree project, abcGTA, seeksto place more immigrants from theGreater Toronto Area (GTA) on publicagencies, boards, and commissions (abcs).And Maytree’s involvement with theFunders’ Network on Racism and Povertyhas drawn several philanthropic partnersinto its work with immigrants. In theNetwork’s first joint project, for example,members are coordinating grants on therights of contingent workers.

CANADA’S EXEMPLAR

In recognition of its work with manyplayers to move policy, the Council onFoundations selected Maytree for the2005 Paul Ylvisaker Award for PublicPolicy Engagement. In his letter in support of the foundation’s Ylvisakercandidacy, Breiteneicher wrote thatMaytree “has begun to change thenational dialogue” on immigrants andrefugees, elevating “public discourseabout the need for comprehensive policiesvis-à-vis immigrants that are as humane,fair, and productive as possible.”

Multiple sectors, multiple partners, multiple tactics. Long-term vision andresilience. Strategic use of data. Modestyand tenacity. Trustworthiness in thepursuit of policy change.

These characteristics, says Breiteneicher,earned The Maytree Foundation recogni-tion as “Canada’s philanthropic exemplar,one with many lessons of value, vision,collegiality, courage and unwaveringstaying power of great import for itsU.S. foundation cousins.”

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agrees to exercise its collective will,

we can create solutions to the hard

problems and the critical issues.”

—Alan Broadbent, Chairman The Maytree Foundation

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A SENSE THAT THE COMMUNITY WAS CHANGING

Years before the 2000 Census figuresappeared, program officers at The ColoradoTrust began hearing from communitiesthat the state was undergoing a demo-graphic shift. African immigrants wereworking at the ski resorts. Vietnamesegrocers and noodle shops were flourishingin urban strip malls. More Spanish wasbeing spoken everywhere.

“There was a strong sense,” says SusanDowns-Karkos, senior program officer atThe Trust, “that the community waschanging.”

Colorado was already aware of, if notentirely comfortable with, the populationgrowth caused by migration from otherstates. Migration from outside the country,however, was new. The question was:What should be the response of a foun-dation whose mission is “to advance thehealth and well-being of the people of Colorado”?

To the answer, The Trust broughtstrengths in both policy and practice.The foundation had become accustomedto working at the community level, supporting community-based planning onissues such as teen pregnancy, violence,and health. Lessons had been learned,and there was a body of experience to

GETTING AHEAD OF THE CURVE

THE SUPPORTINGIMMIGRANT INTEGRATION

INITIATIVE OF THECOLORADO TRUST

www.coltrust.org

draw upon. The Trust also had a traditionof taking an initiative approach tograntmaking, focusing on specific issues,investing significant resources, andstaying committed over the long term.

Importantly, the foundation had definedits understanding of mental healthbroadly. The importance of the stressaccompanying “cultural adjustment” was understood. If large numbers ofimmigrants were entering Colorado communities, The Trust saw the need to respond.

AN EXPLORATORY FIRST PHASE

The board adopted an exploratoryprocess. Data were gathered; focus groupsconvened; immigrant service providerssurveyed. In response to the identifiedgaps in service capacity, The Trust in2000 launched its first newcomer-focusedeffort, the Supporting Immigrant andRefugee Families Initiative (SIRFI).Partnering with Denver’s Spring Institutefor Intercultural Learning to provideoverall management, technical assistance,and peer-learning networking opportuni-ties, SIRFI, over a period of four yearsand at a total of $7 million, funded 23immigrant-serving organizations acrossthe state. The goal was to help them buildstrength and sustainability to work onmental health and cultural adjustmentissues, broadly defined.

Meanwhile, data from Census 2000 confirmed what the foundation hadlearned on the ground. The foreign-bornpopulation of Colorado had increased by160 percent in the last decade. Somerural communities that were drawingnewcomers to the tourist, meatpacking,and agricultural industries had increasedtheir immigrant populations seven, eight,even nine fold. In a phenomenon occur-ring across the country, Colorado hadbecome one of the top ten new-gatewaystates for immigration.

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A PAUSE FOR REFLECTION

SIRFI significantly helped its immigrant-serving organizations build sustainablestrength. But under the circumstancesof such rapid demographic change, Truststaff members began asking themselvesif this was enough. Where should theygo from here?

“Ultimately, our interest in culturaladjustment was an interest in communitybuilding,” says Downs-Karkos. “Communitybuilding is mutually beneficial, dependenton everyone’s strengths.” In other words,it is not just helping immigrants overthe initial hurdles in the acculturationprocess; it is an approach in which thereceiving community plays a criticalrole. The Trust describes it as “a mutualand dynamic process between the immi-grant family and the new home.”1

The Trust paused for further researchand information gathering on the concept it was coming to understand as“immigrant integration.” For a full day inOctober 2003 it convened local leadersand experts from around the country foran “Immigrant Integration Summit,” todiscuss what the approach might meanfor Colorado. To learn what newcomersfelt about integration, Spring Instituteconducted five focus groups amongimmigrants and refugees from Africa,Asia, Mexico, and Eastern Europe.

ESTABLISHED & NEWCOMERRESIDENTS WORKING TOGETHER

What was learned is often expressed thisway by John Moran, The Trust’s presidentand chief executive officer: “Immigrantintegration means creating opportunitiesfor communities and immigrants to worktogether and to thrive. It's our goal tohelp Colorado communities to becomestrong and vibrant places in which to live."

SIRFI’s second phase, SupportingImmigrant Integration, was launched in mid-2004, with an investment of

$6.4 million over four and a half years. The approach was flexible, place-based,and learning-focused, with the SpringInstitute remaining as a facilitator forfull community-planning processes.Through a request for proposals, TheTrust sought out collaboratives of main-stream institutions (schools, health care,local government, law enforcement,business, etc.), newcomer-servingorganizations, and immigrants andrefugees themselves to receive four-to-six-month planning grants of $5,000each. So much interest was expressedthat the foundation increased the number of grants from four to ten.

The Trust asked its ten grantees forcomprehensive integration plans, devel-oped by steering committees of localleaders and community collaboratives,which looked beyond service provisionto efforts that would create systemicchange in their communities. These plans,which required a 20 percent cash or in-kind match, would become proposalsto The Trust for four-year implementationgrants at $75,000 per year.

The process was met with enormousinterest across the state. “This is anissue that has been rising to the top incommunities,” says Downs-Karkos.

Susan Thornton, former Mayor ofLittleton, puts it this way: “Increasingnumbers of immigrants and refugees arecoming into our community, and theyare coming from increasingly diversecountries, backgrounds, ethnic groups,and religions. Communities that don'treach out to newcomers risk having separate and divisive ‘we-they’ neigh-borhoods. It’s essential to provide thetools that will help immigrants putdown roots and become true membersof our community.”

A COMMITMENT TO LEARN

Empowerment of local communities is amajor goal. Through community-drivendesign, each plan has developed differ-ently, with each community makingdecisions about what it will look for asindicators of progress. The initiativeprovides continuing Spring Institutefacilitation and regular cross-learningconvenings. It also provides an evaluation,conducted by the Association for theStudy and Development of Community,that will describe how community mem-bers have come together to collaborate,assess how well their self-identified out-comes are being achieved, as well asseek the pulse of change in attitudes ofthe broader community toward integration(see evaluation sidebar on the following page).

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Grantees are pursuing many differentstrategies. Approximately half areadopting an “immigrant integrationcenter” approach, offering resources andreferrals. Several other projects havemoved into schools with educationalliaisons. There are “immigrant friends”programs, community dialogues, andcultural components being added toexisting community events. Health,workforce and economic development,and home ownership are among themany issues of interest.

Regular convenings offer SupportingImmigrant Integration grantees anongoing opportunity for cross-learning.As early as the planning phase, proactivecommunications training has been ofprimary importance.

“We wanted to develop key messagesearly,” says Downs-Karkos. “We allwanted to be able to talk about thesesensitive issues using similar language.”

Frank Sharry of the National ImmigrationForum provided the communicationstraining, speaking practically to partici-pants about strategy: when and how toengage in public dialogue. And TamarJacoby of the Manhattan Institute offeredinsights into talking about issues from aconservative point of view.

CHALLENGES AND LESSONS IN A NEW GATEWAY

Peer learning has helped grantees dealwith emerging challenges. For instance,some projects have found it difficult toengage Asians and other ethnicitiesbeyond Latinos. Even among Latinoparticipants, sustained participation andleadership development have been hur-dles among a population that generallyworks long hours and multiple jobs tosupport their families. Business partnershave been shy to participate, wary ofissues that touch upon the undocumented.Collaboratives have struggled with whowill speak on behalf of the project andwhen collaborative members are speakingas individuals.

THE COLORADO TRUST: ONE APPROACH TO EVALUATION

The evaluation of The Colorado Trust’sSIRFI Immigrant Integration Strategy isguided by three questions:

1. How did communities form collaboratives to support immigrantintegration?

2. Were the outcomes identified inthe community plans achieved?

3. Was there an increased sense of immigrant integration among collaborative members or communitystakeholder groups, among individualsserved directly by the immigrant inte-gration projects, and among residents(both immigrants and longtime residents) of participating granteecommunities?

Planning for the evaluation began in2004 at the same time that other partsof the Immigrant Integration Strategywere being conceptualized (e.g., technical assistance and the Requestfor Proposal). The evaluation will continue until 2010.

EVALUATION ACTIVITIESINCLUDE:

• Review of written documents bygrantees (e.g., proposals, implementa-tion plans, logic models, newspaperarticles).

• Interviews and observations fromannual site visits to the communities.

• Annual survey of all collaborativemembers.

• A community survey of a stratified sample of immigrants andnon-immigrants in each of the tencommunities in 2005, 2007, and 2009.

The evaluation’s progress and findingsare shared with The Colorado Trust andthe Spring Institute (which providesfacilitation for the Immigrant IntegrationStrategy) on an ongoing basis at regularmeetings and retreats where theyreflect on the findings, lessons learned,and challenges. The Spring Institutefacilitators also share the informationgenerated by the evaluation withgrantees as they guide them throughthe implementation and improvementof their immigrant integration initia-tives. Additionally, the evaluation teampresents its findings at annual granteemeetings and works closely with thefoundation’s director of evaluation toidentify opportunities for disseminatingthe findings and lessons learned to helpinform the field.

For the communitywide planning component of the ImmigrantIntegration Strategy, the evaluationteam surveyed collaborative memberswho participated in the planning processin each of the ten communities. Thesurvey questionnaire solicited informationabout shared vision, communicationand decision-making processes, natureof any disagreements, facilitating andchallenging conditions, and benefits of their participation. The evaluationteam also interviewed key collaborativemembers to find out more about eachcollaborative’s accomplishments, andhow their participation may have led tonew and improved relationships andunanticipated changes in their organi-zations. In addition, the evaluationteam compiled information about thenumber and type of sectors representedin each collaborative.

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And of course this initiative has beenlaunched—quite courageously and professionally in the view of many inthe broader philanthropic community—in a new gateway state in which far-right conservative voices have occupiedcenter stage.

“A big lesson for us,” says Downs-Karkos,“is that flare-ups will happen.”

One story involving a grantee of theSupporting Immigrant Integrationinitiative made it from the local paperin Longmont, Boulder County, throughThe Associated Press to the RockyMountain News and on to The New YorkTimes. The piece focused on the commu-nity debate surrounding the Longmont CityCouncil’s decision to hire an immigrantintegration coordinator as a componentof its plan. Part of the “flare” that carriedthe story so far was a suggestion at thecollaborative meeting that undocumentedimmigrants should be considered as can-didates for the position. While the idea

did not gain traction, it certainly stirredthe debate. The Boulder coalition is infavor of debate and has brought in theStudy Circles Resource Center to encouragecommunity dialogue.

“The fact is,” says Longmont’s MayorJulia Pirnack, as reported in The Times,“people are here, they exist in the community, and ignoring them, I think,would be a worse mistake.''

Susan Downs-Karkos and her colleaguesat The Trust are aware that they must stayon top of both the media’s heightenedinterest and the politics (a record numberof immigrant-related bills being consid-ered by the state legislature and a biganti-immigrant proposition on the ballotfor November 2006). Yet for all of theseeming harshness surrounding theissue, the initiative is helping positivethings happen in Colorado communities.Downs-Karkos is not the only personwho “feels like we’re at a turning point;there is so much more awareness today,

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So much of this is in the timing.

We have been able to get ahead

of the curve.”

—Susan Downs-Karkos Senior Program Officer

The Colorado Trust

so many more foundations taking interest.” In the fall of 2005, for instance,a group of funders began meeting inDenver for monthly discussions onimmigrant issues.

“So much of this is in the timing,”Downs-Karkos reflects. “We have beenable to get ahead of the curve.”

Getting ahead of the curve is possiblyone of the better indicators we have toassess foundation vision and leadership.

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READY TO LEARN, WILLING TO WORK

In March 2005, The MinneapolisFoundation gathered more than 650community leaders in a town-hall-stylemeeting, aided by high-tech video presentation, emailed queries, and inter-active audience questions for statisticalanalysis on the big screen. It was thefirst in the 2005 Minnesota Meetingseries which aimed to spark “a candidconversation based on facts” towardthe goal of “shaping a statewide immigration agenda.”

Some of the facts: Immigrants andrefugees currently comprise five percentof Minnesota’s population, compared to30 percent in 1900. During the first 38years of the state’s history, non-citizenswere permitted to vote in state andlocal elections. In 1896, there were ninelanguages on the state ballot.

Small comfort to police officers in theTwin Cities who nowadays must call theAT&T language lines to communicatewith the increasingly diverse populationthey are sworn to serve. Less so for nativeswho feel 1896 is ancient history andfind their Minnesota niceness wearingthin under what they perceive to berapid and unsettling change in theirtraditional culture.

One of America’s “new gateway” states,Minnesota’s immigrant population morethan doubled in the 1990s. Refugeeshave resettled from wars in SoutheastAsia and Africa. Migrants have arrivedfor work from Mexico and Central America.

ECONOMY,COMMUNITY &

IMMIGRANTINTEGRATION

THE WORLD IN AUSTIN, MINNESOTA

Much of Minnesota’s economy is basedon agriculture and agricultural processing,and many of the newcomers have takenjobs in the meat-processing industry.For Bonnie Rietz, one of the speakers at the Minnesota Meeting and mayor of the small meatpacking town of Austin,Minnesota, this reality hits home. From“one or two black families” in the 1970s,Austin’s population of 24,000 has grownto some 12 percent immigrant andrefugee today, up from five percent in 2000.

Recognizing this new diversity, MayorRietz is one of the many Austin leaderswho, with imagination, compassion,energy—and the help of local founda-tions—have created progressive policiesand programs for immigrant integration.The story of these projects deserves tobe broadcast widely. Yet the full story ofAustin, as all of the town’s native-bornknow well, is layered in complexity. Thepromise of Austin’s new demography sitswithin the often painful changes of itsnew economy.

THE STRIKE OF THE DECADE

German immigrant George Hormel settledin Austin in 1887, back when newcomerscould vote in their own language. Heopened a butcher shop then built ameatpacking plant. The George A. HormelCompany, which processed pigs, becameAustin’s primary employer. When Georgepassed the business to his son Jay, thepork-cutting assembly line was passingto a second generation of native-bornAustin residents.

Hormel was a benevolent employer.Thanks to its agreements with theUnited Food and Commercial WorkersUnion (UFCW) that represented theworkers, Hormel was the highest-payingmeatpacking plant in the country.Workers and their families sustained amiddle-class lifestyle on the company’swages and benefits.

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Propelled in part by the forces of globalization, the meatpacking industryunderwent major structural changes inthe early 1980s—and so did Hormel. Thecompany modernized its meatpackingplant and moved to significantly reducewages. In response, Local P-9 of theUFCW called a strike.

It was the union-busting era of the 1980s.Coming from progressive Minnesota, thestrike took on national significance. Itbecame known as the strike of thedecade. At a pro-union rally, on thespeaker’s platform, young Senator TomHarkin of Iowa met for the first time aprogressive college professor named PaulWellstone, who would later earn a seatin the U.S. Senate.

Six months after the strike was called,some workers began crossing the picketline. When they were locked in by pick-eting strikers, Minnesota’s DemocraticGovernor called out the National Guard.The wife of Hormel’s president took abodyguard with her to the beauty parlor.

Those who lived through the Austinstrike tell of what can only be describedas a civil war. Husbands and wives,fathers and sons found themselves onopposite sides of the line. After a year,the strike was broken, and workers ratified a new union contract with Hormel.

Hormel Foods Corporation, which theworld now knows under additional brandssuch as Jennie-O and Dinty Moore asmuch as for its infamous SPAM, steppedup to the international corporate stage.The old Hormel Company, in the wordsof a current town leader, was “a goodthing that no longer exists.” Many ofthe former meatpacking workers foreverlost their previous standard of living,says Roger Boughton, a retired RiverlandCommunity College administrator andone of the current native-born leaderswho have built the town’s programs tointegrate immigrants.

SHOOTING FOR A SOFT LANDING

Hormel’s corporate leadership believedthat either the plant would have tomove to find lower-paid labor, or thelower-paid labor would move to theplant. Austin’s demography was destinedto diversify.

Today, immigrants comprise 83 percentof the Hormel workforce. A majoritycomes from Mexico and Central America,but workers also hail from Sudan, Croatia,Bosnia, Eritrea, Togoland, Vietnam,Korea, and Laos. Many have traveled“the loop” of the meat-processing laborforce throughout rural America, workingat Smithfield, Farmland, Swift, or ITBTyson plants before arriving in Austin.At Hormel, the workers, through UFCWrepresentation, have secured decent wagesand benefits that give them economicstability and ease their integration intothe community.

In response to the influx of newcomers,Austin residents have undertaken volun-tary efforts to make the town a successstory for newcomer integration. It hadbegun, really, well before the strike. Asthe first refugees from the Vietnam Warbegan arriving in Minnesota, local lead-ers formed a sponsorship committee—they called themselves Amis Austin—toresettle new Vietnamese and HmongAmericans in their town. “We were thesocial services,” says community collegeforeign language and ESL teacher SueGrove. Amis Austin helped refugees get

social security cards, to find dentistsand apartments. They organized rides toschools and visited delivery rooms.

As the newcomer Hormel labor forcebegan to arrive in town in the 1990s,that same community spirit mobilizeditself. In 1999, Bonnie Rietz got talkingwith Jerry Anfinson, treasurer of theHormel Foundation. They and anotherleader, Pat Ray, later convened a groupof 60 residents to identify the top issuesthat the new diversity was bringing toAustin. From that gathering, ApexAustin was born. The effort eventuallyled to seven committees and upwards of 200 people working on strategies intransportation, housing, education, andchild care, among others.

“We were looking for a soft landing,”says Anfinson. “If you wait for things tohappen, you’re too late.”

A FOUNDATION’S FIVE MILLION DOLLARS

In particular, Anfinson wanted to attractimmigrant families to Austin. He tookApex Austin’s ideas back to the HormelFoundation, and philanthropy stepped into support the collective energies of thecommunity’s leaders.

“What if we start with $10 million fromour corpus for the support of projects to help immigrants get settled in thecommunity?” asked Treasurer Anfinson.

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“What if we start with $5 million,”answered Foundation President DickNorton. Anfinson gladly accepted.

That investment, Anfinson estimates,has now leveraged upwards of $50 millionin federal, state, county, and city fundsin support of some of the nation’s mostimaginative projects for newcomer inte-gration. Among the programs that havecome out of Apex Austin:

Affordable Housing. The city contributed$1 million in land, and Hormel invested$2.25 million to build the 700-unitMurphy’s Creek housing development.When new owners have accumulatedequity in the development, they can buyan adjacent lot for $1 and build theirown single-family home. Murphy’s Creekis approximately 25 percent newcomer,and the development had an unintendedside effect of helping to integrate down-town Austin. Many native-born schoolteachers and early-career professionalsmoved in, opening up large old homesscattered throughout the city, whichmany immigrants now occupy.

Transportation. Many immigrants onthe cutting line at Hormel, Apex Austinlearned, had no reliable way to get towork. The Foundation and the citizenleaders teamed up with the city and thecounty to create a new small-bus routeand to build a new public transportationterminal.

Child Care. The Foundation helped alocal community organization purchasethe historic Catherwood Home and turnit into a “24/7” child care and parentingresource center, where the children ofHormel workers from every shift canlearn and play in a safe environment.

English as a Second Language.Enrollment had been forecast to declinein Austin’s public schools. Newcomerkids have held enrollment steady, butthey’ve brought English-language learn-ing needs. With support from theHormel Foundation, the schools haveadopted a program that had beenpiloted with Hmong youth in the TwinCities. Students spend their first year inhalf-day Spanish-language instructionfor content learning, half-day ESL forintegration, before being mainstreamedin year two.

Global Volunteers. When teachersbegan noticing that students were losingtheir English during vacation, Austin’sleaders brought in—and joined in—theGlobal Volunteers program to providementorship, field trips, and languagepractice during one week of the summer.Volunteers from around the country(they pay $500 to participate) workwith Mexican, Bosnian, Sudanese,Russian, and Ukrainian children. Hormelprovides support.

The Welcome Center. This jewel inAustin’s immigrant integration crownwas launched in June 2000 with gradu-ally decreasing annual support from theHormel Foundation. Liliana Silvestry, aPuerto Rican American who, by allaccounts, is an “absolute crackerjack,”was recruited from South Bend, Indianato serve as the Welcome Center’s foundingexecutive director. The Welcome Centerseeks “to connect newcomers to theresources and information that willfacilitate their becoming part of ourcommunity, and to provide programs andservices that will promote self-sufficiencyand multicultural understanding.” Some350 immigrants per month avail them-selves of Welcome Center services, fromhousing and employment referrals (85percent of the contacts) to translationof personal letters.

PROUD WEARERS OF THE PINE CONE

Hormel is not the only philanthropy thathas partnered with Austin leaders insupport of these programs in immigrantintegration.

The Blandin Foundation, located 300miles north in Grand Rapids, Minnesota,works to strengthen rural communitiesthroughout the state. In addition to itsgrantmaking, the Foundation has run theBlandin Community Leadership Program(BCLP) for the past 20 years. Groups arebrought together to participate in a cur-riculum that includes community proj-ects, as well as a five-day and a three-day residential component.

Blandin took this core leadership programinto Austin immediately after the strike,and it is not a stretch to say Apex Austinwas one of the outcomes of the training.That same Hormel president’s wife withthe bodyguard—and the president ofthe union—were both participants. Fivecycles of Blandin’s programs have comethrough Austin, and the sixth is on the horizon.

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Four years ago, responding to thestate’s increasing rural diversity, Blandincreated Partners in Leadership (PIL), todraw newcomers from diverse culturaltraditions into leadership networks.Graduates can go on to participate in BCLP.

Bonnie Reitz, Roger Boughton, LilianaSilvestry, and Sue Grove have all partici-pated in Blandin’s programs (they callthemselves, referring to the Blandinlogo, “proud wearers of the pine cone”).Another alum is Carlos Quirindongo, who has worked on the cutting line atHormel, and subsequently, as a translatorfor the UFCW local and as Hormel’semployment manager. Quirindongo’sproject with PIL helped to institute anannual Austin ethnic festival, now in itsfifth year, drawing 3,000 people. SueGrove calls PIL “one of the most fantastic”experiences she has ever had.

With support from the Hormel Foundationand the Wilder Foundation, located inthe Twin Cities, Austin’s leaders turnedmost recently to focus groups of new-comers to identify the issues that stillneed tending to. They are currently atwork on developing English and Spanishlanguage programs, addressing cuts insocial services, and working on community attitudes.

WELCOMING THE CHALLENGE OF INTEGRATION

In Austin, immigrant workers havefound a town not without its challenges,not without those who would prefer thedays when Austin’s ancestors weresolely European and the economy waslocal, not global in nature. But they’vealso found a place that has worked tobuild programs and institutions devotedto the notion that integration is a two-way process.

Those native-born who have joined with the newly-arrived to developAustin’s immigrant integration ethosare immensely proud of their town. “Ihave Austin stamped on my rear end,”says Jerry Anfinson. To Roger Boughton,it is “a great community to raise childrenin, a great spirit.”

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The effort to share this family-friendlyspirit with Austin’s newcomers hasclearly invigorated the old-timers. Toother towns—and other foundations—their accomplishment offers a model of what is possible.

At the Minnesota Meeting, Mayor Rietzput it this way: “In 2000, we wereexpecting to lose population, and wedidn’t. We would much rather have thechallenge of integrating new peoplethan the challenge of a city that is dying.”

In 2000, we were expecting to

lose population, and we didn't.

We would much rather have the

challenge of integrating new people

than the challenge of a city that

is dying.”

—Mayor Bonnie ReitzAustin, Minnesota

Liliana Silvestry of the Welcome Center and Mayor Bonnie Reitz.

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The Minneapolis Foundation has a longhistory of challenging Minnesotans to

view tough issues from a new perspectiveand encouraging community response.Not an institution that shies away fromcontroversial issues, the Foundation hastackled immigration issues head-onthroughout its 90-year history.

As early as 1925, ten short years afterits founding, The Minneapolis Foundationsupported a community-relations campaignon immigration. “Give Them a Welcome”sought to combat the hostility thatimmigrants were facing at that time. Inthe 1930s, the Foundation was at theforefront of funding resettlement serv-ices for new immigrant populations. Itcontinues that work today by callingpublic attention to immigrant issues and the contributions newcomers make to society.

The Foundation’s “Minnesota, Nice orNot?” campaign, launched in 1999,focused on educating Minnesotans onthe growing numbers and diversity ofimmigrants who are now part of thecommunity. This award-winning campaigncombined the Foundation’s toolkit ofstrategies: grantmaking, convening, andpublic advocacy. Its advertising campaignincluded a brochure, a website, radioand print ads, bus shelter posters, andother vehicles. The provocative ads(“Some recent immigrants to Minnesotathink it’s a rather cold place. And theydon’t mean the weather.”) stimulatedrich community conversations about thetreatment of immigrants and their rolein an increasingly diverse Minnesota.

“When we introduced the advertisingcampaign, we had no way to predictwhether it would have any kind ofimpact or if it would even be noticed,”says Emmett D. Carson, president andCEO of The Minneapolis Foundation. “Welaunched it over a weekend with cover-age and an ad in the local paper. ByMonday morning, our phone system hadcrashed, overloaded with hundreds ofmessages, including congratulations,requests for the brochure, and somepretty angry response as well. So, weknew we’d pushed some buttons.

HELPING MINNESOTANS FINDCOMMON GROUND

INITIATIVES OF THEMINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION

www.minneapolisfoundation.org

Seven years later, we still get requestsfor copies of the ads, and there is con-tinuing interest—and controversy—about immigration and public policies.”

Responding to that continuing interestand controversy, the Foundation, in2005, launched its latest effort to fostercandid, ongoing discussions on immigra-tion based on facts over fear and falseassumptions. With numerous partnerorganizations, the Foundation published“Immigration in Minnesota: DiscoveringCommon Ground” and organized the2004-2005 Minnesota Meeting seriesaround shaping a state agenda for immi-gration. The series engaged hundreds ofcommunity, civic, business, nonprofit,and government leaders. In addition to deepening their understanding ofimmigration issues, the MinnesotaMeeting challenged these leaders towork individually and collectively tohelp the state address the challenges—and reap the benefits—of immigration.

Building on the statewide immigrationconversations, the 2005-2006 MinnesotaMeeting series tackles another toughand related concern: racial disparities.The Foundation’s choice of issues forthese statewide discussions reflects itsbelief that “the well-being of each citizenis connected to that of every other andthat the vitality of any community isdetermined by the quality of those relationships.”

The role of The Minneapolis Foundation,Carson believes, appropriately extendsbeyond that as a grantmaker. “Toadvance our mission to advocate andpromote long-term ‘systems change,’ wemust address core community issues likeimmigration and racial disparities,” saysCarson. “Our public awareness work isfocused on promoting inclusive dialogue,advocating for fair policies, and elicitingviewpoints which often go unheard inpublic debate. It seems that even afternine decades, our work has just begun.”

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FROM CRISIS TO ACOMPREHENSIVE

INTEGRATION MODEL

WHAT LOCAL GOVERNMENTS CAN LEARN FROM SANTA

CLARA COUNTY

www.immigrantinfo.org

The Silicon Valley, which catapultedto fame during the dotcom boom, is

known worldwide for its abundant high-tech industries, but it is also the proudhome to one of the most comprehensiveand significant immigration integration programs in the country: Santa ClaraCounty’s Immigrant Relations andIntegration Services (IRIS).

Santa Clara County has the third largestimmigrant population by county inCalifornia, boasting more than 600,000immigrants. Its largest city, San Jose,whose population today nears the one-million mark, was over 80 percent whitein 1970. By 2000, reflecting the influxof both high-tech and low-skill immigrantworkers, the white population was lessthan 30 percent.

Responding to demographic realities and recognizing that the integration of immigrants is crucial to the region’scontinued vitality, Santa Clara County,led by visionary officials, developed aninnovative and comprehensive programthat has become a national model.

“I see it as being an excellent model ofthe way local government and community-based organizations can work togetherto support the integration of immigrants

in a local community,” says Lina Avidan,program executive at the ZellerbachFamily Foundation. “The way they havedone that has not only improved publicpolicies and support for immigrant-servingorganizations; I think it has helped publicofficials understand the immigrant expe-rience and appreciate the contributionsimmigrants make.”

The original impetus for the County’simmigrant integration efforts was the1996 federal welfare reform legislation,which drastically reduced the eligibilityof lawful immigrants for federal means-tested benefits. Although legal immigrantsnationwide made up only nine percent ofpublic benefits recipients, they shouldered43 percent of the cuts. In Santa ClaraCounty, this translated into 36,000 legalimmigrants losing their Food Stampsand 15,000 elderly and/or disabledimmigrants losing their SupplementarySecurity Income (SSI).

“A number of us convinced the Board of Supervisors that it would be wise toinvest in a citizenship application assis-tance program so that legal immigrantscould reestablish eligibility on the federallevel for Food Stamps and SSI,” saysRichard Hobbs, director of the SantaClara County Office of Human Relationsand a key leader behind the County’simmigrant integration efforts.

To aid with this effort, the NorthernCalifornia Citizenship Project, with fundingfrom philanthropist George Soros’s OpenSociety Institute and over a dozen BayArea foundations, made a $1.2-milliongrant to Santa Clara County. The grantallowed the County to develop a citizen-ship program that provided citizenshipinformation to 51,000 legal immigrantsin its first year.

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The result was “Bridging Borders inSilicon Valley,” a 400-page report thatpresented numerous recommendations to improve the lives of immigrants andhelp them become full, participatingcommunity members. To put these recommendations into practice, theCounty expanded the scope of its effortsand renamed its program ImmigrantRelations and Integration Services.

“We wanted our name to more fullyreflect the scope of the work we do. Ouroriginal focus was on citizenship assis-tance, but we’ve done a lot of thingsbeyond citizenship and we wanted toconsolidate everything under onename,” Hobbs says.

IRIS programs encompass leadershipdevelopment, policy advocacy, communityorganizing, immigrant cultural proficiency,community education, legal assistance,social services, health services, andcriminal justice initiatives (see sidebaron page 51 for an overview of theseprograms).

But citizenship remains the “heart andsoul of where we started” according toHobbs, who believes that helping anestimated 100,000 low-income immigrantsobtain their citizenship is among themost important accomplishments of theSanta Clara County immigrant integrationprograms.

“Another big success has been inter-cultural immigrant education. Over twodozen immigrants from the largest need-iest immigrant populations in Santa ClaraCounty have received communicationsand speech training to make presentationsregarding the history, customs, challenges,and contributions of immigrants fromtheir countries,” Hobbs says. “This ispart of the immigrant cultural proficiencyinitiative in Santa Clara County.”

Castellanos also believes that IRISshould pride itself on its Knowledge ofImmigrant Nationalities (KIN) efforts,which researched and published a guideprofiling the rich diversity of cultures in the county. “The KIN project focuses on both the unique experiences andcommonalities among different ethnicgroups and nationalities,” she says,adding, “Just because you’re an immi-grant doesn’t mean you understandother immigrants here. The idea was tohighlight the contributions of each community, not just dispel stereotypes.”

Avidan, who formerly directed theNorthern California Citizenship Projectand has watched the Santa Clara immi-grant integration program develop overthe years, considers the immigrant lead-ership development initiative to be oneof the program’s most effective efforts.

It began as an experimental project toenhance the organizing, policy, andmedia skills of immigrant communities.Since then, it has grown into a three-unit course offered at San Jose CityCollege. Many graduates of the coursego on to join the Immigrant LeadershipForum, which engages immigrants inadvocating on their own behalf.

“This funding provided the seeds thatblossomed into our current program andmotivated the County to commit fundingand resources to addressing immigrants’needs,” Teresa Castellanos, IRIS programcoordinator, says.

The citizenship program laid the ground-work for more expansive efforts involvingleaders from the faith-based, labor, andother sectors. Responding to immigrants’needs and contributions, these effortsseek to facilitate the integration ofnewcomers into the community.

Santa Clara County began the planningprocess by conducting the most compre-hensive study on the needs of immigrantsof any county in the United States.Understanding that effective programsmust reflect the needs of the communitythey aimed to serve, the study, imple-mented in 1999 and 2000, assessed themotivation to immigrate, health careaccess, criminal justice, workplace conditions, and more through communitymeetings, focus groups, surveys, andother research methodologies. Over2,500 of the county’s immigrants andother residents responded to a 113-question Human Needs Questionnairethat was translated into 14 languages.In addition, 24 focus groups were held,and a number of independent researchprojects were conducted.

Just because you're an immigrant

doesn't mean you understand

other immigrants here. The idea

was to highlight the contributions

of each community, not just dispel

stereotypes.”

—Teresa Castellanos IRIS Program Coordinator

“

“I think it’s a great example of howthings can start small and become moreinstitutionalized. These kinds of programsneed to become the regular way ofdoing things,” Avidan says. In particular,she admires the manner in which theSanta Clara model has synthesizednumerous aspects of integration intoone overall program.

“Successful immigrant integration takesa multi-pronged approach. You can’t justmake sure that the police departmenthas cultural competency or that healthinsurance is provided for all children. It really takes a very comprehensiveapproach to looking at the ways thatfamilies and individuals become fullyinvolved in different aspects of communitylife,” Avidan asserts.

The immigrant integration efforts inSanta Clara were originally financedjointly by public and private funds, butas the number of programs proliferatedand the population of immigrants swelled,more of the financial responsibilityshifted to the County. Today, IRIS isalmost exclusively funded by the County,and Castellanos emphasizes the supportIRIS has received from local officials asone of the keys to its continued success.Despite immigration’s status as a bed of controversy most politicians try toavoid, the Board of Supervisors in SantaClara County has consistently championedand promoted IRIS.

“We’ve been very blessed to work in acounty where the politicians really wantto respond to everyone in the community.They recognize the demographic realitymore than the general population does,so they continue to support us eventhrough times of economic difficulty,”Castellanos says.

While IRIS has yet to be fully replicatedby another county, Castellanos notesthat the office frequently fields callsinquiring about how Santa Clara hasaccomplished its work. Avidan hopesthat such programs will emerge in otherBay Area counties, all of which havelarge immigrant populations. But shepoints out that local leaders will needto step up to the challenge of promotingimmigrant integration. “It takes a verythoughtful, coordinated, long-term commitment by a lot of different playersto change the community,” Avidan notes.“It doesn’t happen on its own, but it’ssomething that’s definitely doable.”

Castellanos sees no reason why somethinglike IRIS, although an ambitious andextensive enterprise, cannot be realizedin other counties, even those withsmaller or newer immigrant populations.After all, she observes, Santa Clara hadlittle experience with these matters at thetime of IRIS’s inception. She encouragescommunities, especially smaller ones, toconnect, share information, and networkwith those already involved with immi-grant integration work.

The need for intentional immigrant integration strategies will becomeincreasingly important as communitiesacross the United States continue toundergo demographic transformation andas the gulf widens between the havesand have-nots. In response, communityleaders must take the initiative to developan inclusive vision that engages multiplesectors in the integration process.

“When large numbers of residents don’tunderstand community institutions orknow what their rights are, they are vulnerable and easily exploited. Thisacts as a ‘lowest common denominator’that undermines the quality of life foreveryone,” Avidan emphasizes. “Healthycommunities require the informed andwidespread participation of all residentsin community life. We need to invest inefforts that aim to make that a reality.”

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Watch the DVDThe Price of Renewal:Community Policing

Planning and problem solving in demo-graphically changing communities tends tobe most productive when immigrants them-

selves are directly and authentically involved.Meet the first Somali police officer in one major

American city, who not only helped calm conflict between his community and the

department, but also serves as a resourcefor building cultural competency

among his colleagues.

• Santa Clara County CitizenshipProgram holds two free citizenship dayseach year in 18 languages, provideslegal support, and maintains a trilingualcitizenship hotline in English, Spanish,and Vietnamese. The program also fundsliteracy programs and for non-literate Spanish speakers to learn English,which is necessary for citizenship.

• Immigrant Leadership Instituteholds a three-unit course at San Jose CityCollege. Over 250 immigrants havetaken this course. The curriculum centersaround understanding governments andnonprofits, learning about the backgroundsof various counties, and networking with others.

• Policy Advocacy aims to influenceimmigration policy at the local, state,national, and international levels. Forexample, IRIS participated in successfulefforts to establish a state food stampreplacement program for legal immigrantsand the restoration of certain benefits tolegal immigrants that had been eliminatedby the 1996 welfare reform legislation.

• Community Organizing comprisesthe efforts of both county and nonprofitprojects: the Immigrant Leadership Forum,Voting and Organizing in ImmigrantCommunities through Education andSupport, and Services, Immigrant Rightsand Education Network. These projectswork at the federal, state, and local levelsto advocate for fair and equitable immigrant-related policies.

• Immigrant Cultural ProficiencyInitiative centers on Knowledge ofImmigrant Nationalities (KIN) of SantaClara County, an exhaustive study of the 16 largest immigrant groups in thecounty. The information collected

includes photos, life conditions, countrybackground information, and more. Fromthe KIN study, two programs emerged.Under KIN Ambassadors, more than twodozen immigrants receive training andgive public presentations about theirhome countries to government depart-ments, community organizations, andschools. KIN to KIN is an exhibit that fea-tures the background, culture, and con-tributions of immigrants in Silicon Valleyand includes panel presentations onimmigrants from 17 countries.

• Community Education focuses on increasing newcomers’ awareness of topics such as immigrant rights, Englishclasses, workers’ rights, domestic violence,child care, access to health services, andthe criminal justice system. The Countymakes $150,000 in grants annually tocommunity groups striving to educateimmigrants on these subjects. In addition,it publishes an immigrant resource guidetitled “Immigrants, Responsibilities, andResources” that covers 23 topics in 11languages. The County also has a website,www.ImmigrantInfo.org, which lists allESL and literacy courses offered by com-munity colleges, adult education programs,churches, and community-based organi-zations. Immigration Legal Assistance isprovided through numerous organizationsincluding Catholic Charities, the Centerfor Employment Training, and attorney-led programs by Santa Clara Universityand the Asian Law Alliance.

• Social Services primarily ensuresaccess to food programs and languageaccess services. The County has investednearly $1 million under the “No One WillGo to Bed Hungry” program, which haspartnered with the Second Harvest FoodBank and its food suppliers to create

multilingual hotlines, boost the numberof ethnic food providers, increase refrig-eration capacity, and more effectivelymeet the dietary needs of immigrantcommunities. Reflecting its commitmentto language access, the County has alsoexpanded translation services and increasedthe number of bilingual employees in itssocial services agency and other countydepartments.

• Health Services supports twocounty-funded programs, Prenatal Carefor All, which covers prenatal care expensesfor undocumented immigrant mothers,and the Children’s Health Initiative, whichprovides health insurance to all income-eligible children under 18, regardless oftheir immigration status (see page 110for more details on this program). Thesuccess of the Children’s Health Initiativehas raised the number of insured childrenin Santa Clara to 98 percent.

• Criminal Justice Initiatives seek toreduce the number of criminal convic-tions that result from cultural or linguisticmisunderstanding on the part of immi-grants and law enforcement. One programlets immigrants who have committedmisdemeanors such as failure to appearin court or petty theft to opt out of jailtime by paying a fine of $100 and takinga course called “How to Live in America,”which teaches the laws and customs ofthe United States. Making education atwo-way process, all sheriffs possess copiesof KIN in their patrol cars so that theyhave a reference for understanding thecustoms and background of the personbeing arrested. The Office of the PublicDefender also has a public defender whospecifically examines the immigrationconsequences of criminal pleas.

IRIS PROGRAMS

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A HERITAGE BUILTAND BUILT UPON

THE STATE OF ILLINOISLEADS THE WAY TO

STRATEGIES FORIMMIGRANT

INTEGRATION

www.illinois.govwww.icirr.org

OUR FAMILIES, AMERICA’S FUTURE

The 4,000-plus immigrants and refugeesfilling Chicago’s Navy Pier on November19, 2005, had something to celebrate.The convention that the Illinois Coalitionfor Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR)called “Our Families, America’s Future”included an impressively diverse gather-ing of families—Muslims, Latinos,Asians, Eastern Europeans, many more—and a vision for the integration of new-comers into the future of the state thatcould scarcely have been more bold and concrete.

Surrounded on the dais by immigrantleaders, advocates, and state and nationalelected officials, Illinois Governor RodBlagojevich, himself a son of immigrants,signed the New Americans Executive Order.

This policy, the first of its kind in thecountry, aims to “develop a New AmericansImmigrant Policy that builds upon thestrengths of immigrants, their families,and their institutions, and expeditestheir journey towards self-sufficiency.This policy shall enable State governmentto more effectively assist immigrants inovercoming barriers to success, and tofacilitate host communities’ ability tocapitalize on the assets of their immigrant populations."

The Executive Order created three newentities to help the State develop systemicstrategies for supporting the economic,social, and civic integration of immigrants.

“Rather than react to issues,” explainsEsther Lopez, the Governor’s deputy chiefof staff, “we want to plan and recognizethe realities of today and the realities of10 years from now.”

The first entity, the Office of NewAmericans Policy and Advocacy, is chargedwith convening an interdepartmentaltask force to analyze, initiate, and coor-dinate policy efforts. It is run from withinthe Governor’s administration.

The second entity is the New AmericansImmigrant Policy Council—whose member-ship of 15 includes Illinois leaders representing business, labor, civic, faith,and philanthropic interests. After con-sulting with communities across thestate and studying key integration issues,the Council will prepare a set of writtenrecommendations for the state to consider.

A National Advisory Council, composedof respected national experts and led bythe National Immigration Forum and theMigration Policy Institute, rounds outthe group. Its responsibilities includesharing promising practices to informthe planning process and assisting inthe nationwide dissemination of theIllinois initiative’s findings and recommendations.

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich signsthe New Americans Executive Order

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—Esther Lopez, Deputy Chief ofStaff, Illinois Governor’s Office

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THE CULMINATION OF A SERIES OF STATE PARTNERSHIPS WITH ICIRR

The Executive Order is the most dramaticpartnership the State has developed withICIRR. It builds on a series of program-matic collaborations between Illinois andthis coalition of some 130 dues-payingorganizations, including immigrant andrefugee service organizations, communityorganizing groups, ethnic associations,unions, and religious and educationalinstitutions.

A recent example is the bipartisan JointLegislative Task Force on Immigrantsand Refugees, lobbied for and staffed byICIRR. It resulted in the New AmericansInitiative, a $3 million multi-year statefund to promote naturalization by sup-porting citizenship preparation, legalscreening, and assistance in filling outapplications. The Initiative, which aimsto assist 20,000 newcomers annually, isadministered by ICIRR in cooperation withthe Illinois Department of Human Services(IDHS).

Such state-community partnerships arerare and much admired around the country.“These partnerships,” says Grace Hou,assistant secretary of IDHS, “are designedto address challenges in immigrant com-munities that neither government northe nonprofit sector can solve alone.”

Philanthropy, too, has played an importantsupporting role in this endeavor. TheExecutive Order received substantialsupport from the John D. and CatherineT. MacArthur Foundation and CarnegieCorporation of New York for planning,implementation, and dissemination.Josh Hoyt, ICIRR’s executive director,credits early foundation support forenabling the coalition to pursue discus-sions about coordinated strategies withhigh-level government officials includingHou and Lopez. Out of these conversa-tions, the idea of the Executive Orderwas born.

The right political circumstances alsomade a critical difference. In 2002,Illinois elected its first DemocraticGovernor in 26 years, a man who placedimmigrant community leaders, like Houand Lopez, in key positions of hisadministration; who identifies with hisimmigrant parents; and who told thecrowd assembled at Navy Pier, “I havebeen blessed with the American Dreamand every day as a governor I think ofwhat I can do to make the AmericanDream real for everyone.”

BUILDING ON A LONGHERITAGE OF OUTREACH,ORGANIZING, VISION

Yet, all of those responsible for this key victory, particularly the leadership,staff, and coalitional colleagues atICCIR, emphasize that the work standson the shoulders of decades of earliereffort by visionaries in both the publicand private sectors and affiliated withboth major political parties.

Chicago has drawn newcomers since thefirst great wave of immigration at theend of the nineteenth century. It hasbeen a laboratory for civic outreach andcivic activism in the integration ofimmigrant populations. The eight-hourworkday, for example, is partly due tothe activism of Chicago immigrants. Theirintegration was supported by religiousinstitutions and community organizations,most notably Jane Addams’ Hull House,a leader in the Settlement House move-ment, and its offspring, the Immigrants’Protective League. In the twentieth century, the city spawned communityorganizing groups, drawing Europeanimmigrant workers into organizing andadvocacy efforts and branching intomajor networks, such as Gamaliel andthe Industrial Areas Foundation, whichremain active in the state today.

As refugees from Southeast Asia beganresettling in Illinois in the 1970s, theState joined this heritage by creating itsown pioneering programs to promote

newcomer integration. It began with theestablishment of the Bureau of Refugeeand Immigrant Services (BRIS) withinIDHS to provide state leadership andcoordination on refugee and immigrantissues.2 With Ed Silverman at the helmsince its inception, BRIS sought partner-ships with community, civic, and philan-thropic institutions. It also leveragedstate funds and directed federal supportto mutual assistance associations (MAAs)and other ethnic-based communitygroups, building grassroots strengthamong an infrastructure of newcomer-owned institutions.

Taking leadership through the 1995Refugee and Immigrant CitizenshipInitiative, BRIS supported 35 agenciesstatewide to assist newcomers to natu-ralize, the first-ever state-funded programof its kind. And it was Silverman’s officethat, in the same year, initiated theIllinois Immigrant Policy Project tostimulate research and recommendationsabout state immigrant policy.

Joining 26 local and national foundations,BRIS contributed $2 million in statemonies to the Fund for Immigrants andRefugees, a five-year funding collabora-tive that addressed the disproportionateimpact of welfare reform on immigrantsand refugees in metropolitan Chicago.

2. BRIS’ initial focus, however, was on the resettle-ment of refugees from Southeast Asia, Africa, andEastern Europe.

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March for Immigrant Rights, Fall 2005

And in partnership with ICIRR and over 30 other organizations across thestate, BRIS created the Outreach andInterpretation Project in 2000 to helpnewcomers gain access to public benefitprograms available through IDHS.

All these efforts had bi-partisan support:the governor’s mansion was in firmRepublican control, while Democratsgenerally dominated both houses of thestate legislature.

MULTI-SECTOR COLLABORATION

To be sure, the momentum that propelledIllinois to its leading role in immigrantintegration cannot be attributed to asingle person, agency, or coalition. Toomany players have been instrumental tolaying the groundwork and building themomentum.

The Jewish Federation of MetropolitanChicago, for example, worked with ICIRRfollowing the 1996 change in federalwelfare and immigration laws to createand make permanent a $6-million lineitem in the state budget for services toassist immigrants who lost eligibility forfederal public benefits.

The Illinois Latino Caucus lent its growing political power. Many Caucasianpoliticians in Illinois, particularly thoserepresenting metropolitan Chicago, stillfeel a strong connection to their immi-grant roots. And advocacy by communityorganizations—among them Centro SinFronteras; the Coalition of African,Asian, European, and Latino Immigrantsof Illinois; and the Council of IslamicOrganizations of Greater Chicago—alsohelped build momentum.

In 2003, the Chicago Council of ForeignRelations (CCFR), which had never beforeexamined the issue of immigration, convened an independent task force ofbusiness, civic, and community leadersto analyze the impact of immigration onthe Midwest. The non-partisan panel wasco-chaired by former Republican governor,Jim Edgar; former INS commissioner,Doris Meissner; and Chicago businessleader, Alejandro Silva. The task forceproduced recommendations for reformingthe U.S. immigration system and devel-oping integration policies consistentwith the country’s economic needs andvalues. Its 2004 report, “Keeping thePromise: Immigration Proposals from theHeartland,” provided a framework thatthe business community and other“non-traditional” supporters of immi-

grants could use to engage in publicpolicy discussions on issues affectingimmigrants.

Philanthropic support and leadershipplayed a crucial role in building wide-spread interest in immigration andimmigrant integration. Following areonly a few examples; many more indi-viduals and institutions than can bementioned have played important roles.

• The Fund for Immigrants andRefugees, a collaborative of 27 fundersincluding the State, made $6.8 millionin grants to 66 organizations between1997 and 2002 in support of citizenshipservices, legal services, policy and advo-cacy, community organizing, and healthaccess projects.

Watch the DVDThe Price of Renewal:

Community ClinicWhen redevelopment is eminent, how arecommunities with large immigrant popula-tions weighing their priorities? Observe atense, ultimately triumphant, community

planning meeting where advocates are makingthe case for a bigger health clinic that willserve mostly uninsured Mexican, African,

and South Asian families—instead of another high-end

food store.

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ICIRR Convening, November 2005

• CCFR’s immigration task force wasfunded by the Robert R. McCormickTribune Foundation, the John D. andCatherine T. MacArthur Foundation,Carnegie Corporation of New York, theJoyce Foundation, and Motorola, Inc.

• The Fry Foundation, the CommunityMemorial Foundation, and the MichaelReese Health Trust supported a collab-oration between IDHS and the SargentShriver National Center on Poverty Law todevelop a comprehensive plan for accessto IDHS services by limited Englishspeakers (see “Promising Practices onLanguage Access” for details).

• The two co-chairs of the NewAmericans Executive Order’s Policy Councilare Ngoan Le, senior program officer atthe Chicago Community Trust and JuanSalgado, president of ICIRR.

The involvement of philanthropy reflectsa collaborative approach that Illinoisadvocates have long taken and definebroadly. “We’ve been intentional inbuilding alliances with labor, business,Republican leadership, African-Americanleaders,” says Hoyt of ICIRR.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CIVIC PARTICIPATION

Active immigrant civic participation—with a focus on finding common causeamong diverse immigrant communities—is highly valued at ICIRR. In March2005, the coalition was among the

many immigrant organizations thathelped organize a march for immigrationreform. The march turned out more than300,000 participants and inspired otherrallies and marches in dozens of citiesacross the United States.

For ICIRR, an important goal is to convert this show of numerical strengthinto votes, particularly in the Chicagosuburbs and downstate, where immigrantvoters, in Hoyt’s term, are the new “soccer moms” of swing politics. For the2004 election, the coalition registered27,000 new immigrant voters and brought65,000 voters to the polls, includingmany first-time voters. Banners at theMarch 2005 immigration-reform rallyproclaimed, “Today we march. Tomorrowwe vote!”

ROLE FOR THE STATE

“If we know that immigrants becomeintegrated by becoming civically engaged,what is the proper role of the state?”Hoyt asks. Service is important, andICIRR and others have worked hard toget those services provided, but Hoytbelieves the state needs much more than“a giant list of social service programs.”

“I think we have a unique opportunityhere in Illinois,” says Lopez, the Governor’sdeputy chief of staff. “Government can’talways be about saying no; sometimes ithas to be about saying yes…. Of every-thing on our list in the State of Illinois,[immigrant integration] is our number-one priority. If we work together, we’llbe able to do things we’ve never done.”

This was the message of the ICIRR convention at the Navy Pier. It is theaspiration of the New AmericansExecutive Order.

Government can't always be

about saying no; sometimes it

has to be about saying yes.... If

we work together, we'll be able to

do things we've never done.”

—Esther Lopez, Deputy Chief ofStaff, Illinois Governor’s Office

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Initially, the evaluation of communitywide planning may focuson the process of collaboration byexamining the following elements,which also reflect the planningeffort’s outputs:

• The types of institutions, by sector and area of influence (e.g., amayor’s office is more influential inthe public sector, while the immigrantadvocacy group may have more credi-bility in the immigrant community).

• Background of individualsinvolved, by sector, demographiccharacteristics, and influence (e.g.,the Latina grandmother who istrusted by Latina women in thecommunity, and the Caucasian judgewho is respected in the legal sector).

• Levels of involvement, as well asformal or de facto sharing of power(e.g., decision making and/or inputonly, executive committee, and/orsubcommittees).

• Methods of engagement (e.g.,simultaneous interpretation, drawingout of quiet participants, assistingthe overly-enthusiastic to step back).

• Process for decision making, handling disagreements and conflicts,and determining goals, strategies,and actions.

With time, however, the evaluationcan shift to how the planning processhas impacted particular outcomesrelated to immigrant integration as awhole, thus establishing the connectionbetween the above elements with thegoals attained and other unanticipatedoutcomes (see figure at right).

The outcomes described in the followingchart can be observed among partici-pants of the planning process as wellas in the larger community. It is likelythat the former will happen first. Hereare examples of ways to determine ifthe outcomes occurred:

• Frequency of contact and reasonfor contact (e.g., joint sponsorship ofevents, joint organizing campaign)between two or more participants,particularly between receiving andimmigrant community leaders, beyondwhat they do together in the planningprocess.

• Improved and widespread practicesthat facilitate the involvement of immi-grants (e.g., change to more convenientmeeting times, use of translation equip-ment at meetings, availability ofchildcare and transportation).

• Increased presence of representa-tives from a variety of sectors andimmigrant groups at meetings andevents.

• More immigrants in leadershippositions (e.g., committee chair, convener, board member).

• Increased satisfaction with theability to participate (e.g., voting,influence over decisions, new andstrengthened relationships, dialogue,advocacy).

• New and improved strategies thatare more culturally relevant (e.g., dissemination of information throughless traditional avenues such as thebulletin board in the Latino market,use of ethnic media to promotehealthy eating).

SOURCES:

Backer, T., ed. 2003. Evaluating CommunityCollaborations. New York, NY: Springer PublishingCompany.

Minkler, M., ed. 2002. Community Organizing andCommunity Building for Health. New Brunswick,NJ: Rutgers University Press.

EVALUATING COMMUNITYWIDE PLANNING EFFORTS

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EVALUATING COMMUNITYWIDE PLANNING EFFORTS

OUTPUTS

• Equal participationof institutions and individuals from receivingand immigrant commu-nities (agency- and community-based).

• Clear process for makingdecisions and handlingdisagreements and conflicts.

• Strategies for communi-cating to members andlarger community.

• Shared understanding ofgoals and objectives.

• Clear roles for partici-pants.

• An action plan.

OUTCOMES

Among planning process participantsand in larger community:

• Increased involvement of immigrantleaders in decision making.

• Increased exchange of informationand resources across sectors andamong organizations and individuals.

• Better understanding of unique andcommon concerns and solutions(e.g., improved policies and conditions to facilitate Englishlanguage acquisition).

• Increased cross-cultural interactionand understanding, and reductionin prejudices.

• Changes in the way organizationsand leaders work together.

• Increased and deepened relation-ships across cultural boundaries.

• Changes in policies, procedures,and practices within participatingorganizations.

These outputsencourage an inclusiveprocess, and asinclusivenessimproves, theseoutputs will alsobecome morewidespread infuture planningprocesses.

These outcomesencourage integration, and as integration graduallyoccurs, theseoutcomes willalso becomemore wide-spread.

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Promising Practices in Language Access

It is not easy for people to learn a language overnight; for most of us, it takes awhile. In the meantime, immigrants and the receiving

community need to communicate with each other. If their children are in school, it is really important to get the parents involved, and the onlyway to get parents with limited English skills involved is to communicatein their native language.

“Everybody benefits if parents are helping their children to do better in school. Everybody benefits if newcomers know how to access policeservices, if working immigrants know how to pay their taxes, if senior citizens know how to vote. Investing in language services makes it possible for new immigrants to participate and contribute to our community. Ultimately, such investments are to society’s benefit.”

—Judy Chu, California Assembly Member, 49th District

INTRODUCTION 61

PUBLIC POLICIES TO EXPAND LANGUAGE ACCESS 63OverviewSuccessful Elements of Language Access Policies

PROMISING PRACTICES IN PUBLIC AGENCIES 65Assessments and Development of Effective PracticesCommunity-Public Agency CollaborationsCost-Effective Methods of Serving LEP Populations

COMMUNITY AND LEGAL ADVOCACY 68

EVALUATING LANGUAGE ACCESS PROGRAMS 69

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INTRODUCTION

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1. Capps, Randolph, Michael E. Fix, Jeffrey S.Passell, Jason Ost, and Dan Perez-Lopez. 2003. A Profile of the Low-Wage Immigrant Workforce.Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute. (Analysis of2000 Census data found that 47 percent of immi-grant workers were limited English proficient, i.e.,spoke English less than “very well.”)2. See, e.g., Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.42 U.S.C. Section 2000d.3. Van Derbeken, Jaxon. 2001. “Death in a Cell:How Sick Man Spent Final Hours in SF Jail.” SanFrancisco Chronicle, September 26, sec. A.

Almost 14 million U.S. residents,including nearly half of all immi-

grant workers, have limited English pro-ficiency (LEP).1 Learning English, espe-cially for adults, is often a challengethat can take years to accomplish, particularly since many low-incomeimmigrants hold multiple jobs to support their families and have limitedtime for English classes. Receiving communities should understand thatcertain segments of the immigrant community—the elderly, people withdisabilities, andimmigrants whoare not literatein their nativelanguages—willhave great diffi-culty learningEnglish and maynever achievefull proficiency.However, thevast majority ofimmigrants arehighly motivated to learn English andrecognize the importance of goodEnglish skills to their success. As theseimmigrants make the often-difficulttransition toward English proficiency,receiving communities have a stronginterest in ensuring that lack of Englishskills does not increase social or economic isolation, barriers, or disparities for their newest members.

The integration of immigrants into localcommunities can be strengthened whennewcomers, including those with limitedEnglish proficiency, have access to gov-ernment services that help them meetbasic needs and become self-sufficient.In fact, government agencies thatreceive federal funds are required toprovide language access to their LEPclients.2 In some instances, governmentagencies’ inability to communicate with LEP immigrants has had dire consequences.

An 80-year-old man suffering from congestive heartfailure, colon cancer, high blood pressure, anddementia died within 24 hours of being taken intopolice custody because the corrections officials couldnot communicate in his native language and wereunaware of his medical conditions. The man’s wifetried to explain that her husband was sick andneeded medical care, but neither the police nor nursing staff understood her Cantonese.3

In addition to the direct impact onimmigrants themselves, language barriersto government agencies and servicescan affect the well-being of the broadercommunity. Untreated illnesses andunsolved crimes can endanger publichealth and safety. Immigrants’ inabilityto report workplace abuses can depresswages and deteriorate work conditions,lowering the standards for all workers,particularly those in low-wage industries.

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Although primary responsibility lies withgovernment agencies, foundations canplay an important role in catalyzingefforts to make publicly funded servicesmore accessible to LEP individuals.Foundations can:

• Convene stakeholders to identifylanguage barriers in public servicesand to advance policy solutions.Stakeholder groups include policymakers,community advocates, service providers,and immigrant organizations.

• Provide planning grants to helpgovernment agencies conduct assess-ments and develop effective languageaccess policies and practices. Efforts thatinvolve collaboration among immigrantorganizations and government agenciesare especially promising.

• Fund technical assistance to help government agencies to develop,implement, and evaluate languageaccess strategies and demonstrationprojects. Technical assistance is especiallyvaluable to agencies with limited experience working with LEP populations,such as those located in new immigrantdestinations.

• Fund trainings and convenings tosupport peer-to-peer learning and thesharing of promising practices amongcommunity advocates, practitioners, and government workers. Outside of thehealth care field, such opportunities arecurrently limited.

• Support community and legaladvocacy to monitor efforts by gov-ernment agencies to increase accessto services for LEP individuals. Suchadvocacy can include providing feedbackand technical assistance to public agen-cies on developing responsive languageaccess practices; helping governmentagencies develop community and politicalsupport for its language access activities;and pursuing litigation in situationswhere agencies have consistently failedto remove harmful language barriers.

• Fund community organizations toprovide interpretation and orientationservices to help LEP individuals gainaccess to government services.Examples of such programs include providing community-based interpretersto help LEP immigrants communicatewith their children’s teachers and school officials, as well as helping LEP familiesreceive appropriate social services.

In this section, GCIR profiles promisinglanguage access initiatives of varyingscales to illustrate the range of possibil-ities, from modest efforts, such as theinterpreter request card, to ambitiousefforts that aim to change the way billion-dollar state agencies serve LEPpopulations. Examples from both estab-lished immigrant gateways and newerimmigrant destinations are represented.Not only have foundations seeded orsupported these initiatives, but in somecases, they have exercised leadership inconvening key stakeholders to discussproblems and identify solutions.

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GCIR hopes that the examples in thisreport will help you identify key ele-ments of good programs and policiesand inform the role your foundation canplay to support promising efforts thatrelate to your funding priorities. As youexplore funding strategies in this field,we invite you to utilize GCIR and theorganizations featured in this section as resources that can help inform andguide your work to improve languageaccess to government services for LEPpopulations in your communities.

Watch the DVDRain in a Dry Land:The Supermarket

Imagine moving from a refugee camp,where food is extremely scarce, to a majormetropolis, where the simple act of buyingtea requires new linguistic, technological,and social skills. Go shopping with one

immigrant and his teenaged son, as theystruggle to figure out how much“money” is left on their Food

Stamp “charge card.”

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PUBLIC POLICIES TO EXPAND

LANGUAGE ACCESS

OVERVIEW

Despite myriad compelling reasons forincreasing language access, governmenthas consistently lagged behind the private sector in delivering multilingualservices. Responding to market forces,private companies—including banks,utility companies, hospitals, and otherbusinesses—have invested millions ofdollars to provide services in variouslanguages, especially in localities withlarge immigrant populations. These corporations have prioritized hiringbilingual staff, translating sales andproduct materials into other languages,and developing multilingual branch officesor telephone centers to communicatewith LEP customers. Government agen-cies could significantly improve theirability to serve LEP clients by adoptingthese widely used business practices.4

Responding to federal policy directives(see sidebar), government agencieshave begun to develop and implementstrategies to expand language access totheir services. And recognizing demo-graphic changes, a growing number ofstates and local governments have affirmatively enacted their own policiesrequiring public agencies to provideequal access to LEP individuals. Theselocal policies, which reaffirm federallanguage access requirements, generallyshare several important characteristics:

• They usually apply to governmentagencies that provide important servicesand have regular contact with the public(e.g., health care, social services,employment, and law enforcement).

• They require agencies to provideservices in multiple languages, includingboth verbal communications and thetranslation of important written materials.However, as a practical and financialmatter, most only mandate that servicesbe provided in widely spoken non-English languages.

Two California cities, Oakland and SanFrancisco, were the first to adopt locallanguage access ordinances in 2001.Washington D.C. and New York City followed suit in 2004. Maryland andCalifornia have similar laws in place atthe state level, while many other publicagencies have translated governmentdocuments into non-English languagesand increased their hiring of bilingualstaff even without new legislation.

4. Chinese for Affirmative Action. 2004. TheLanguage of Business: Adopting Private SectorPractices to Increase Limited-English ProficientIndividuals’ Access to Government Services. SanFrancisco, CA: Chinese for Affirmative Action.Available at www.caasf.org. 5. Executive Order 13166, Improving Access toServices for Persons with Limited English Proficiency,65 Fed. Reg. 50121. Federal Register: August 16,2000, Volume 65, Number 159.

In August 2000, then-President BillClinton ordered federal agencies todevelop guidelines to ensure that fed-erally funded programs are accessibleto LEP individuals,5 as required byTitle VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.Under Title VI, recipients of federalfunding (e.g., state and local govern-ment agencies, hospitals, nonprofitorganizations, and private businesses)must make their programs and servicesreasonably accessible to LEP individuals.The Bush administration reaffirmedClinton’s executive order, and theU.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) leda multi-agency effort to developguidance to help federal agencies andentities that receive federal fundingmake their services accessible. TheDOJ guidance emphasizes that recipi-ents of federal funds must affirmativelyensure LEP individuals can effectivelyparticipate in their programs; failureto take reasonable steps may consti-tute national-origin discriminationprohibited by Title VI and may resultin the loss of federal funding. Theguidance of DOJ and other federalagencies, along with tools andresources to help recipients of federalfunding comply with language accessrequirements of Title VI, can be foundat www.lep.org.

FEDERAL

LANGUAGE ACCESS

REQUIREMENTS

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SUCCESSFUL ELEMENTS OFLANGUAGE ACCESS POLICIES

The experiences of private corporationsand government agencies suggest that reducing or eliminating languagebarriers in government services can beachieved effectively and efficientlywhen agencies implement policies thatinclude the following elements:

• Regular assessment of the languageneeds of its constituency or clientelethrough demographic analysis, surveys,or intake information.

• A translation plan that identifies,prioritizes, and translates importantdocuments in a linguistically and culturally competent manner.

• Sufficient numbers of qualifiedbilingual staff in positions that interactregularly with the public.

• Training of public contact staff onhow to interact with LEP persons andon interpreter services.

• Centralized translation resourcesacross local offices or even across agencies.

• Procedures for evaluating the quality of bilingual services.

• Easy-to-use complaint proceduresand effective enforcement mechanisms.

• Outreach to LEP communities abouttheir right to receive assistance in theirlanguage. This often requires collaborat-ing with community-based organiza-tions, ethnic media, and/or other immigrant institutions to disseminatematerials and solicit feedback on thequality of services.

In addition to these elements, the support of elected officials or policy-makers is critical to putting in placeeffective language access policies ingovernment. Making government moreaccessible to LEP individuals requiresnot only technical knowledge; ultimately,public agencies must understand thattheir constituency includes such resi-dents to whom they are accountable for serving.

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Watch the DVDHold Your Breath:The Doctor’s Office

In hospitals and doctors’ offices aroundthe country, complex and often confusing

relationships are being played out betweenoverwhelmed medical professionals and thenon-English speaking patients they serve.Listen in as a well-meaning oncologistexplains to the daughter of an Afghanrefugee how a language barrier may

have compelled her ailing fatherto refuse cancer

treatment.

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PROMISINGPRACTICES IN

PUBLIC AGENCIES

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Foundations are playing an importantrole in making government services

more accessible for LEP individuals.Individual grants are generally in therange of $25,000 to $75,000, althoughsome health care initiatives are consid-erably larger. Foundation grants havesupported technical assistance and plan-ning to government agencies, partnershipsbetween public agencies and immigrantorganizations, and implementation ofpolicy reforms. This section highlightssome of the promising practices toimprove language access in governmentagencies in the United States.

ASSESSMENTS ANDDEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICES

While an increasing number of statesand municipalities have adopted lan-guage access policies in recent years,there are relatively few resources out-side of the health care sector to assistpractitioners in implementing these newrequirements. In response, the Annie E. Casey Foundation launched a projectto facilitate peer-to-peer learning andcollaboration among government practitioners, as well as to develop bestpractices publications and web-basedresources for public agencies servingLEP children, youth, and families. A primary goal is to build the capacity ofchild- and family-serving agencies todesign and implement high-quality language access models.

The project seeks to develop a nationalpeer network of experienced and newpractitioners to document effective poli-cies, program implementation, and eval-uation methods. It also aims to developways of assessing the effectiveness oflanguage access services to improveservice delivery and outcomes for LEPchildren and families.

One example is a grant to the New YorkCity’s Administration for ChildrenServices to develop a comprehensiveplan for serving LEP families, making itone of first public child welfare agenciesin the country to do so. The grant aimsto make a wide range of agency serv-ices—child care and Head Start, childprotection, preventive services, and fos-ter care—available in the six majornon-English languages in New York City.

“Immigrant families whose primary language is not English pose a specialchallenge to public systems and a specialburden to children who may be asked toprovide translation services,” says IreneLee, senior associate at the Annie E.Casey Foundation. “The Foundation iscommitted to promoting the goal thatvulnerable immigrant children and fami-lies successfully learn English and haveaccess to high-quality, low-cost socialand financial services in their nativelanguages, so they can become fullyintegrated into their communitiessocially, politically, and economically.”

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COMMUNITY-PUBLIC AGENCYCOLLABORATIONS

The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation has fundeda unique collaboration between theIllinois Department of Human Services(IDHS) and the Sargent Shriver NationalCenter on Poverty Law (Center) to developa comprehensive plan for increasing LEPindividuals’ access to IDHS services.IDHS is the largest Illinois publicagency, with over 15,000 employeesand an annual budget of over $5 billion.Its seven divisions provide most of thestate’s safety-net and self-sufficiencyservices, including welfare, mental healthprograms, alcoholism and substanceabuse treatment and prevention services,programs for people with developmentaldisabilities, health services for womenand children, prevention services fordomestic violence and at-risk youth,and rehabilitation services.

The Fry Foundation’s $50,000 grant tothe Center has allowed a team of expertsto conduct a demographic analysis andassessment of IDHS’s language capaci-ties. IDHS has given the Center’s staffand experts access to departmental doc-uments and made senior staff availablefor interviews. The Center will makedetailed recommendations, which IDHS

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will use to develop a new languageaccess plan that is expected to serve as a model for other state agencies.

Both IDHS and the Center credit the Fry Foundation for encouraging a partner-ship between agencies that have notalways seen eye-to-eye. As Unmi Song,executive director of the Fry Foundation,observes, “Developing a plan for increas-ing immigrants’ access to health andsocial services requires that it be informedboth by the needs of the communityand government institutions… Becausethese parties were willing to collabo-rate, there was an opportunity to developa process and plan that everyone couldsupport.” The Community MemorialFoundation and Michael Reese HealthTrust have also provided support forthis project.

Shortly after San Francisco became oneof the first municipalities in the UnitedStates to adopt a local language accessordinance in 2001, the ZellerbachFamily Foundation provided Chinese forAffirmative Action/Center for AsianAmerican Advocacy (CAA) a multi-yeargrant to monitor implementation andprovide technical assistance to govern-ment agencies which faced challengesin meeting the new mandates.

Over a four-year period, CAA developeda community coalition that worked with law enforcement, public housing,human services, public health, andrenters’ assistance agencies to improvetheir capacity to serve LEP populations.The coalition’s advocacy led these agen-cies to add bilingual staff positions anddevelop formalized procedures and stafftrainings. For instance, in response totwo police shootings of LEP individualsin 2003 and 2004, the coalition convinced the San Francisco PoliceDepartment to develop a curriculum andvideo training to instruct officers onhow to interact with persons with lim-ited English skills. Under this program,all patrol officers are given a multilin-gual card that allows LEP persons toidentify their native language. Officersare also required to use telephoneinterpretation services when no bilingual police staff is available.

According to Lina Avidan, program executive at the Zellerbach FamilyFoundation, “This project demonstratesthat language access is essential for thetimely integration of newcomers intolocal communities. Beyond the impactof its work with immigrants, CAA hashelped elected and appointed officialsrecognize that the entire communitybenefits when all residents have accessto essential services and understandtheir rights and responsibilities as com-munity members.” The Zellerbach FamilyFoundation has since expanded itsfunding to provide support for similarwork in Oakland, California.

With support from The MinneapolisFoundation, the Southeast AsianCommunity Council (SACC) developedand distributed interpreter request cardsto Hmong-speaking individuals who usethe card when they come into contactwith police officers. Each card lists the telephone numbers of an English-speaking family member, SACC, andinterpreter telephone services, so thatpolice officers have several options forfinding interpreters to communicate inHmong. Three local police departmentsin the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metropol-itan area and the state police agencyhave trained officers to respond to theusage of this card.

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COST-EFFECTIVE METHODS OFSERVING LEP INDIVIDUALS

The potential high costs of improvinglanguage access can present significantchallenges to government agencies. Yet, more and more public agencies aredeveloping innovative, cost-effectiveapproaches that can be replicated inother communities. These approachesinclude utilizing volunteer interpreters,hiring bilingual workers, and using communication technologies to providemultilingual information. Many of thefollowing cost-effective practices weredeveloped in established gateways thathave extensive experience serving LEP populations.

• Utilizing Community Interpreters.The volunteer interpreters program,operated by the City of Oakland’s EqualAccess Office (EAO), provides languageassistance to city departments that donot have sufficient bilingual staff.Volunteers receive basic training on howto interpret and are tested for languagecompetency by EAO staff before theyare referred to city agencies. Volunteerinterpreters are only used in situationsthat do not require specialized vocabu-lary and where health and safety issuesare not at stake. After each session, thevolunteers are evaluated, and those whofail to provide competent interpretationreceive further training or are removedfrom the volunteer pool. The programcurrently has approximately 65 volun-teers who speak nine languages. Thesevolunteers assist more than 500 LEPindividuals per year.

• Hiring Bilingual Staff. In responseto a lawsuit filed in the early 1990s,San Francisco Human Services Agencydeveloped effective outreach efforts toincrease its hiring of bilingual staff,recognizing that such an approachwould be the most cost-efficient andeffective way to communicate with itsgrowing immigrant caseload. By 2004,31 percent of the agency’s public con-tact staff was bilingual, far exceedingthe percentage of LEP individuals in thecounty’s caseload.

• Using CommunicationsTechnology. New York City has been a national leader in developing a 311telephone system that allows residentsto obtain information about local gov-ernment programs and non-emergencyservices. Calls to 311 are answered by a live operator, 24 hours a day, sevendays a week. Through a contract withthe AT&T Language Line, interpreters areavailable in 170 languages. Similarly,Oakland has established a cost-efficientmethod of providing basic informationon city services through a multilingualtelephone system that gives recordedinformation on 500+ city services inEnglish, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese,and Vietnamese. For some departments,applications and information documentscan be faxed or e-mailed to the callerupon request.

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COMMUNITY ANDLEGAL ADVOCACY With a three-year grant from

the William Penn Foundation,Community Legal Services created theLanguage Access Project (LAP) in 1999to increase the access of low-incomeLEP individuals to legal services inPhiladelphia and to help make localgovernment programs more responsiveto this population. In a short period oftime, the project has become a recog-nized national leader in advocating forinnovative language access policiesthrough the filing of complaints, negoti-ating with government agencies, lobby-ing for legislative changes, and provid-ing trainings to public agencies, courts,and legal service groups. Its accom-plishments include:

• Reforming government welfareagencies. After documenting languagebarriers at the state and city welfareagencies, LAP filed a series of adminis-trative complaints under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Following aninvestigation, the U.S. Department ofHealth and Human Services found theseagencies to be out of compliance withfederal laws, and LAP is currently workingwith the state Department of Public Welfareto develop new procedures that areexpected to increase LEP families’ partici-pation in critical income-support programs.

• Developing innovative lawenforcement language policies. LAPworked with an immigrant coalition toadvocate that the Philadelphia PoliceDepartment improve its capacity toserve LEP residents. Working in conjunc-tion with a U.S. Department of Justice’sreview of the police agency, LAP’s advocacy efforts resulted in a detaileddepartmental directive issued inDecember 2005 requiring police to pro-vide language-appropriate services toLEP people. The directive establishesprocedures for providing free languageassistance, specifies how police officersare to interact with both LEP victimsand suspects, and calls for the transla-tion of many forms and documents into the most commonly encounteredlanguages. To ensure proper implemen-tation, the directive requires that allofficers be trained on how to interactwith LEP residents.

• Providing technical assistance tothe City’s Global Philadelphia program.This initiative, in accordance with the mayor’s executive order, providestechnical assistance and centralizedresources to help increase LEP individu-als’ access to government services.

LAP has also received substantial supportfrom the Samuel S. Fels Foundation andseveral grants from the PennsylvaniaIOLTA (Interest on Lawyers’ TrustAccounts) program.

The Rosenberg Foundation has a longhistory of supporting community-basedand legal organizations to advocate forimproved language access in publicservices. For example, Rosenberg pro-vided multi-year funding to the LegalAid Society/Employment Law Center’sLanguage Rights Project to combat dis-crimination against language minoritiesthrough litigation, policy advocacy, and public education. The Project’sactivities include:

• Legal advice and counseling.The Project provides individualizedassistance and legal counseling tocallers via a toll-free, nationwideLanguage Rights Information Line (services provided in Spanish,Cantonese, Mandarin, and English).

• Community outreach and education. To educate language-minority communities and others aboutlanguage rights, the Project promotespublic service announcements and othermedia coverage of relevant issues, aswell as distributes fact sheets and self-help materials in Chinese, Spanish, and English.

• Technical assistance to communitygroups and lawyers. Language rightsattorneys provide free technical assis-tance to other advocates and serviceproviders interested in developing policies and/or lawsuits to promote language access. For instance, theProject worked with immigrant advocatesto draft the first local language accessordinances enacted in the United States(in Oakland and San Francisco).

• Litigation. The Project has also litigated a number of language cases inthe areas of employment, education, andaccess to government and businessservices.

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Research has shown that high-qualitytranslation and interpretation services,coupled with improved understanding of the immigrants’ cultural traditions andpractices, can help immigrant access services that can improve their health,self-sufficiency, and other qualities thatlead to better integration into the receiving community.

Foundations can utilize the followingmeasures to assess the quality of language access for LEP individuals,including measures such as effectivecommunication and the degree to whichservices and systems are accessible toimmigrants:6

• Assessment. The organization conducts a thorough assessment of thelanguage needs of the population to beserved.

• Development of comprehensivewritten policy on language access.The organization has developed andimplemented a comprehensive written

policy that will ensure meaningful com-munication via interpreters, bilingualstaff, language lines, community volun-teer interpreters and translation of writ-ten materials.

• Training of staff. The organizationhas taken steps to ensure that its staffunderstands the policy and is trainedaccordingly to carry it out.

• Vigilant monitoring. The organiza-tion conducts regular oversight of thelanguage assistance program to ensurethat LEP persons have meaningfulaccess to the program.

Foundations can also utilize the follow-ing indicators to assess the degree towhich services and systems are accessible to immigrants and other LEP individuals:

• Presence of bilingual signs, telephone and service menus, imagesthat portray people and symbols fromdifferent cultures in facilities, and

translated forms (e.g., applications,medical histories, education materials,consent forms for parents).

• Use of bilingual staff and/or inter-preters at all points of contact with theorganization.

• Service providers’ knowledge aboutservice recipients and consumers (e.g.,ethnic background, language used, reli-gious practices).

• Advertisement of translation/inter-pretation services in culturally appropri-ate venues (e.g., ethnic media, ethnicgrocery stores, distribution of informa-tion at cultural festivals).

• Policies and procedures pertainingto language access (e.g., mandatory useof certified interpreters).

• LEP clients’ understanding of the available services.

EVALUATING LANGUAGE ACCESS PROGRAMS

6. Office for Civil Rights. 2000. Title VI of the CivilRights Act of 1964; Policy guidance on the prohibi-tion against national origin discrimination as itaffects persons with LEP. Federal Register:Department of Health and Human Services,65(169). August 30.

LANGUAGE AND CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN PUBLIC AGENCIES THAT PROVIDE SERVICES(e.g., education, health,human services)

OUTCOMES

• Increased use of servicesamong immigrants, leading to improved health, self-sufficiency, etc.

• Improved interaction betweenpublic agencies and immigrants.

• Higher quality services offeredby public agencies and systems.

These outcomesencourage integration, and as integration gradually occurs,these outcomeswill also becomemore widespread.

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Promising Practices in Language Acquisition

For…immigrants to be successful, they must learn to speak English,improve their education and job skills, and understand the law and

what is expected of them.”

—Michael E. Alpert, ChairmanLittle Hoover Commission, Sacramento, California

INTRODUCTION 73

INTERGENERATIONAL FAMILY LITERACY PROGRAMS 75Elements of Effective ProgramsDeveloping and Supporting Family Literacy Programs

VOCATIONAL ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE PROGRAMS 78Elements of Effective ProgramsEnglish and Vocational Training for FarmworkersLanguage Training for High School GraduatesAdvanced English and Vocational Training for Health Care Careers

EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY TO INCREASE RESOURCES 81

EVALUATING LANGUAGE ACQUISITION PROGRAMS 82

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For immigrants, learning the Englishlanguage is an important pathway to

integration, opening the door to newworlds and opportunities and expandingtheir contributions to U.S. society.

Although most immigrants arrive in theUnited States with limited English skills,they recognize the benefits of Englishproficiency and are highly motivated tolearn. Increased English proficiency inimmigrant families is highly correlatedwith economic and social well-being. Itcan lead to increased income for wageearners, greater school readiness forchildren, and improved intergenerationalcommunications within immigrantfamilies.1 According to the 2000 Census,fluent English-speaking immigrants earnnearly double that of non-Englishspeaking workers (see Figure 1) andhave substantially lower unemploymentrates.2 While differences in educationalbackground and immigration statuscontribute to this income gap, develop-ing English fluency by itself generallyleads to increased household income.3

From society’s standpoint, helpingimmigrants learn English also has many other benefits. It facilitates theintegration of newcomers into the localcommunity, helps them become moreeconomically productive, and allowsthem to participate more fully in andcontribute to society.

Despite the large growth in the U.S.immigrant population and the benefitsof promoting English proficiency, federaland state funding for English as a SecondLanguage (ESL) classes has not keptpace. In many localities, immigrantsface long waiting periods for enrollment.Massachusetts, for example, has morethan 180,000 residents on waiting listsfor ESL classes, with an average wait of six months to two years.4 Similarshortages of ESL courses exist in a numberof other communities.5 The lack offunding for ESL also means that manyclasses are overcrowded and lack updatedcurriculum and equipment.

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1. Martinez, Tia Elena and Ted Wang. 2005.Supporting English Language Acquisition:Opportunities for Foundations to Strengthen theSocial and Economic Well-Being of ImmigrantFamilies. Sebastopol, CA: Grantmakers Concernedwith Immigrants and Refugees and the Annie E.Casey Foundation.2. Gonzalez, Libertad. 2004. Nonparametric Boundson the Returns to Language Skills. IZA DiscussionPaper No. 1098. 3. Mora, Maria. 2003. An Overview of the Economicsof Language in the U.S. Labor Market: PresentationNotes. Denver, CO: American Economic AssociationSummer Minority Program. 4. Redell, Peter. 2005. “Study: ESL Funding BadlyNeeded.” MetroWest Daily News, June 20.5. Gozdziak, Elzbieta and Susan F. Martin, eds.2005. Beyond the Gateway: Immigrants in aChanging America. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

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RECOMMENDATIONS TO FOUNDATIONS

Although foundations alone cannot fullyaddress the growing demand for high-quality English programs, they can playseveral important roles in making suchprograms, particularly vocational ESL(VESL) and family literacy, more widelyavailable to immigrants. Specifically,foundations can:

• Serve as a catalyst in bringingtogether different community institu-tions—government, community colleges,job-training programs, and nonprofitorganizations—to develop high-qualityEnglish acquisition programs.

• Fund programs that integratevocational or adult basic educationwithin ESL or family-literacy classes.

• Leverage government funding foradult ESL and family-literacy programsby supporting supplemental wraparoundservices, such as job counseling, casemanagement, and supportive socialservices.

• Support policy advocacy to makeadult education and related servicesmore responsive to the educational needsof limited English proficient (LEP) adults.

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Figure 1: Hourly Wages of Immigration Workers by English Language Proficiency, 2000

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ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVEPROGRAMS

The non-economic benefits of Englishacquisition—potentially greater schoolreadiness for the children of immigrants,increased parental participation inchildren’s education, and improvedparent-child relationships—are alsoimportant to the well-being of immigrantfamilies and their integration into U.S.communities. Intergenerational familyliteracy programs can address multipleneeds of immigrant families by improvingthe language skills of both immigrantparents and their children while helpingparents learn how to support theirchildren’s educational development.Successful family literacy program forimmigrant families usually have four keyprogram components:

• ESL and adult education asneeded. Depending on the educationalneeds of participants, family literacyprograms for immigrants frequentlyprovide both ESL and basic adult educationinstruction. Successful programs generallyuse participatory or learner-centeredcurriculum that draw upon parents’experiences. Just as in the VESL context,having state-of-the-art adult ESL materialsand well-trained teachers is critical tothe overall success in helping adultslearn English.

• Early childhood education. Whilethe parents are learning English andother subjects, family literacy programsalso provide early childhood educationto bolster the skills young children needto succeed in school. The primary focusis on developing literacy and languageskills, while fostering cognitive, social,and emotional development.

• Teach parents how to support theeducational growth of their children.This component helps parents increaselanguage-related and educational activi-ties with their kids. The curriculumusually includes topics such as parentingpractices, nutrition, the importance ofliteracy learning for their children,information about the public schoolsystem, and community resources. Someprograms also introduce parents to theU.S. school system, provide strategiesfor increasing parental participation intheir children’s education, and show

parents how to advocate effectivelywithin public schools for their children’seducation needs.

• Activities for parents and childrento practice shared language learning.Effective programs usually bring theadults and children together to participatein shared literacy and other educationalactivities, with the goal of increasingsuch behavior at home. By watchinginstructors model ways to supportchildren’s learning, parents learn how to interact with their children duringeveryday routines that enhance thedevelopment of literacy, cognitive, andsocial skills.

Research of family literacy programssuggests that high-quality programs areeffective in increasing adult Englishproficiency and academic learningrelative to stand-alone ESL or adulteducation programs.6 Similarly, theseprograms can also increase the cognitiveand social development of children andhelp them be better prepared to learn in school.7 “The most impressive thingabout family literacy,” says SharonDarling, President of the National Centerfor Family Literacy, “is that it strengthensa family and builds a learning team. Weare not just changing one generation,but all that follow.”

Although there are multiple governmentsources that support family literacyprograms—e.g., Even Start, Head Start,and Title I funds—foundation support isimportant to these programs’ success. As discussed above, funding for supple-mental activities can increase programeffectiveness by tailoring services to theneeds of the target population. Evenrelatively small grants can help withprofessional development, publicity andoutreach, and translation of documents.Such grants can also help create aninviting environment for newcomers andprovide important wraparound servicesthat address the full range of assistanceneeded by low-income families.

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6. Hayes, Andrew. 2002. High-Quality Family LiteracyPrograms: Adult Outcomes and Impacts. Louisville,KY: National Center for Family Literacy.7. Hayes, Andrew. 2001. High-Quality Family LiteracyPrograms: Child Outcomes and Impacts. Louisville,KY: National Center for Family Literacy.

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PROGRAMS

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Educators have long urged that familyliteracy programs be extended to adoles-cents, government funding is limited toserving families with young children(usually up to age eight). As a leadingliteracy expert has observed, intergener-ational programs with adolescents canalso strengthen families by “encouragingthe development of mutual languagesbetween children and adults (includingnative languages for children), weavingoral history and culture stories into thefabric of educational work, and invitingchildren to learn from their communityelders.”8 Without government funding toserve families with adolescent youths,foundation support in this area isespecially important.

DEVELOPING AND SUPPORTING FAMILY LITERACY PROGRAMS

National Center for Family LiteracyLouisville, Kentuckywww.famlit.org

The National Center for Family Literacy(NCFL) has been an important leader inthe development of the family literacymodel and helped create the four-component model described above. NCFLadvocates for government policies tosupport literacy development, providestraining and technical assistance tohundreds of local family literacy programseach year, conducts research and evalua-tion to identify effective family literacyprograms, and offers professionaldevelopment opportunities for practi-tioners. While NCFL’s work targets manycommunities, it operates a number ofprograms to help LEP immigrant familiesgain English literacy skills and makevital connections to their child’seducation and school.

The Hispanic Family Learning Institute(Institute) was established by NCFL to expand and enhance family literacyservices for the educational, social, andeconomic advancement of Latino andother immigrant families in need. It has received more than $6 million ofsupport from the Toyota Foundationsince 2003, as well as leveraged federaland local funding.

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8. Weinstein-Shr, Gail. Undated. “Learners’ Lives asCurriculum” in Look at Even Start Newsletter.9. These include Chicago, Washington, D.C., LosAngeles, New York, Providence, Chelsea, Denver,Detroit, Santa Paula, and Shelby County.

The Institute currently offers familyliteracy programs in approximately 30sites across 10 cities.9 It combinesNCFL’s extensive knowledge of programand curriculum development with localschool districts and service-basedagencies that have developed compre-hensive programs to serve low-incomeLatino families. The results are well-runprograms that bring about literacy andacademic gains for both parents and children.

An example of this success can be seen in Providence, Rhode Island, oneof the first cities in which the Instituteworked. Providence was selected becauseof its fast-growing Latino population(which tripled between 1980 to 2000),a school district with a majority Latinostudent population, and a Latinopopulation in which 30 percent of theadults have limited literacy skills. Likeall of the Toyota program sites, theProvidence project is a collaborationamong NCFL, the local school district,and community organizations, withDorcas Place Adult and Family LearningCenter (www.dorcasplace.org) playingthe lead role. Although the Toyotaprogram provides each site with athree-year grant, both the schooldistrict and Dorcas Place are leveragingthe grant with federal Title I funds aswell as support from local foundations.

Dorcas Place oversees classroom instruction for 80 participating familiesin three elementary schools. The familyliteracy program uses NCFL’s four-pronged model that provides (1) literacyand adult education to the parents, (2) age-appropriate educational instruc-tion for children, (3) instruction to parentson early childhood development, and(4) “parent and child together time” forparents to practice how to support theirchildren’s development through variousactivities. While the organization hasexperience operating family literacyprograms, its CEO, Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier, observed that the NCFL collabo-rative has been especially effective forseveral reasons:

• Integrated Curriculum. The curriculum for the parents’ and children’sclasses is integrated so that both arestudying similar subjects, and parentscan immediately begin to support theirchildren’s learning and developmentduring class and at home.

• Adult education curriculum. Whilesome family literacy programs focusprimarily on children, NCFL’s curriculumdraws on years of work in adult educationand offers immigrant parents a strongcurriculum for learning English as asecond language.

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• Professional Development. NCFLprovides training to all literacy stafffunded by the Toyota program andbrings them together regularly forconferences and meetings to discusschallenges and best practices.

• Case Management and WraparoundServices. All of the participants have acase manager who is responsible forensuring that each family’s situation isstable and its members are capable ofusing the literacy classes as a first steptowards achieving other economic oreducational goals. Participants, forexample, have full access to all ofDorcas Place’s vocational and educationalservices.10 The case manager also refersfamilies to other agencies for healthcare and social services as the needarises. These services are supported bylocal grants and are critical to theprogram’s success. “Without wraparoundservices and case management,” says Dr. Dann-Messier, “even the best familyliteracy programs would have difficultyhelping participants achieve their goals.These families need intensive andongoing support.”

• Partnership between the schooldistrict and the community. By holdingthe family literacy classes at theirchildren’s elementary school and havinga school parent liaison staff memberhelp support the participants, theprogram has also had the effect ofmaking parents more comfortable withtheir children’s schools. This, in turn,has led to increased parental participa-tion in school activities and givenparents the confidence to interact withteachers and administrators.

The total costs of the Providenceprogram, including federal Title Ifunding and in-kind support from theschool district and Dorcas Place, isapproximately $350,000 over threeyears, or an average of $1,450 perfamily annually. The initial data fromthe first two years suggest that theprogram is both helping adults increaseliteracy skills and helping participatingchildren, as rated by their teachers,perform better in school than comparablestudents.11 This initial success suggeststhat family literacy programs hold greatpromise in providing the education andservices that immigrant families need tothrive in their new communities.

Family Literacy Aprendiendo,Mejorando, Educando (FLAME)Chicago, Illinoiswww.uic.edu/educ/flame

Based in Chicago, FLAME (FamilyLiteracy: Learning, Improving, Educating)operates a two-year, family literacyprogram that (1) promotes the literacyand civic skills of LEP parents and (2)improves the home literacy environmentsof their young children. FLAME activitiesare conducted in English or Spanish,depending on the participant’s level ofEnglish proficiency, but they are supple-mented by participatory ESL courses.The program has three basic modules:

1. Parents as Teachers consists of 14bimonthly classes, attended by bothparents and children, that teach parentsabout book sharing, book selection,libraries, the alphabet, songs and games,math, home literacy centers, andcommunity literacy. Parents also learnhow to provide homework help, visittheir child’s classroom, interact withteachers, and speak with administratorsto ensure their child’s needs are addressed.

2. Parents as Learners consists ofbiweekly ESL classes and activitiesaimed at improving literacy skills. Forexample, parents may write stories ordevelop books for their children. Parentscan also attend basic skills or GED classes.

3. Parents as Leaders offers a three-day summer leadership institute toincrease parents’ awareness of existingcommunity services and to empower themto advocate for their children in schoolsettings. The training curriculumincludes how to recognize effectiveschool programs, the importance ofparent-teacher relationships, and therole of advocacy, as well as an overviewof bilingual education, immigration law,and parents’ rights.

As families participate in the FLAMEprogram, their children demonstratesignificant gains in cognitive develop-ment, pre-literacy and literacy skills,and vocabulary development in bothSpanish and English. Results furtherindicated that parents became morecomfortable teaching their children athome and also became more proficientin English as shown by significant gainsin the Language Assessment Scales.

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Approximately two-thirds of the parentscomplete the first year and return forthe second. The cost for providing theprogram is approximately $500 perfamily per year.

Although begun in Chicago, FLAME has been successfully adopted by 29organizations that serve 54 sites inCalifornia, Illinois, Nebraska, NewMexico, South Carolina, Texas, andBritish Columbia (Canada). WhileSpanish-speaking families make up mostof the participants in FLAME’s programs,the model has also been used in other immigrant and African-Americancommunities. Materials produced byFLAME staff in Spanish and English havebeen translated into Chinese, Korean,and Vietnamese by other organizations.

10. Dorcas Place has a staff of over 40 employeeswho offer a wide range of literacy, workplacetraining, college preparatory, and employmentservices to low-income adults.11. National Center for Family Literacy. 2005.Teacher Report on Student Performance, Year 2: TheResults. Louisville, KY: National Center for FamilyLiteracy.

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SECOND LANGUAGEPROGRAMS

ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVEPROGRAMS

VESL courses provide instruction onEnglish vocabulary commonly used inthe workplace while helping newcomersbecome better prepared to work in jobsthat require English proficiency. Thecourses vary depending on the targetpopulation, but most promisingprograms share several characteristics:

• Teach English vocabulary used inthe workplace. All programs teachgeneral workplace English, and a growingnumber of occupation-specific coursesalso teach specialized vocabulary tohelp immigrants become better preparedfor certain types of jobs. Examples ofoccupation-specific programs includethose in the construction, nursing, foodservices, and child care sectors.

• Teach basic computer and softskills. In addition to English instruc-tion, many programs teach participantsabout job search and interview skills,customs and norms in the U.S. workplace,and how to communicate effectivelywith co-workers. As computer skillsbecome increasingly required even inentry-level positions, high-qualityprograms also try to help participantsbecome familiar with basic computersoftware programs.

• Provide basic adult education as needed to supplement Englishinstruction. An estimated 32 percent of adults enrolled in ESL programs lackliteracy skills in their native language.12

For these individuals, increased English

verbal proficiency without improvementin basic literacy and math skills is unlikelyto lead to better jobs. As illustrated bythe El Paso program described below,literacy programs can be combined withadult education to help participantslearn other skills as they becomeproficient in English.

• Provide job counseling andplacement services. Research indicatesthat even after immigrants developEnglish skills, they often continue towork in low-wage jobs in part becausethey do not know how to find and applyfor mainstream employment.13 ManyVESL programs have responded byproviding participants with employmentcounseling and placement services to help them find and retain betterpaying jobs.

ENGLISH AND VOCATIONALTRAINING FOR FARMWORKERS

Motivation, Education and Training,Inc. and El Paso Community CollegeEl Paso, Texaswww.metinc.org

This collaborative program providesliteracy and job training to formerfarmworkers interested in working in theconstruction trades or retail businesses.The program targets Spanish-speakingindividuals who have limited Englishskills and little or no formal schooling.The eight-week, 40-hour-per-weekprogram provides participants withSpanish-language GED and computerskills instruction followed by 20 weeksof VESL and vocational training in eitherconstruction or retail sales. Basic-skillsclasses are taught bilingually, whilevocational skills are taught primarily inEnglish. Participants receive stipendswhile enrolled in training and haveaccess to medical care, housing andother social services. Upon graduation,participants are placed with a localemployer who provides continuing on-the-job training for an additional 12

12. Fitzgerald, N.B. 1995. ESL Instruction in AdultEducation: Findings from a National Evaluation. ERICDigest. Washington, DC: National Center for ESLLiteracy Education.13. Martinez and Wang, 2005.

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LANGUAGE TRAINING FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

English Center for International WomenOakland, Californiawww.eciw.org

The Career Advancement Program (CAP), offered by the English Center for International Women in Oakland,California, integrates English acquisi-tion, computer literacy, and careerreadiness into a program designed fornewcomers, women and men, who have completed high school or havecomparable skills. Participants receiveapproximately 20 hours of classroominstruction per week, typically for a 32-week period. The program offers six sessions each year, during whichstudents can advance to a higher-levelclass. The program provides instructionin grammar, reading/writing,speaking/listening, vocabularydevelopment, and idioms and pronun-

ciation. Students also are required totake accompanying career readiness andcomputer education classes. As an affili-ate of Oakland’s workforce developmentsystem, the Center operates a One Stopoffice that provides vocational counseling,internship and job placement services tocomplement its intensive English program.The average class size is only 13 students,which allows participants to receivegreater attention from instructors andmore opportunities to interact withother class members. As of 2006, theprogram had 109 students, with approxi-mately 44 percent Latino, 39 percentAsian, and 17 percent European.

Yearly tuition for the program is $8,480, but because most students arelow-income, most of the funding comesfrom government workforce developmentfunds or federal financial aid programs.In addition, CAP receives a grant fromthe American Express Foundation tosupport its computer and financialliteracy training components.

Eighty-four percent of CAP’s 2005graduates found jobs or continued theireducation at a higher education institu-tion. Typical job placements includeoffice administrative work, home-healthcare and food services jobs, or programassistant positions in schools, businesses,or local service agencies. Participationin CAP helps graduates achieve signifi-cant wage gains. The average hourlywage for 2005 graduates was $10.70 perhour, which was 35 percent higher thanwhat participants earned before theyenrolled in CAP.

ADVANCED ENGLISH ANDVOCATIONAL TRAINING FORHEALTH CARE CAREERS

International Institute of MinnesotaSt. Paul, Minnesota www.iimn.org

Even after immigrants learn enoughEnglish to go about their daily lives,they often need additional languagetraining to be successful in theworkplace. Growing numbers of adulteducational providers are offeringadvanced, industry-specific VESL coursesto address this need. An example is theMedical Careers Project, operated by theInternational Institute of Minnesota.The Project provides three language andvocational training programs to helpnewcomers secure entry-level positionsand opportunities for career advance-ment in the state’s fast-growing healthcare field.

• Nursing Assistant TrainingProgram. The Institute offers fourprograms to prepare newcomers tobecome either a nursing assistant orhome health aide. Participants attendsix hours of classes each day in programsthat range from six to eleven weeks,depending on a participant’s Englishlevel and any previous work experiencein the health care field. Students arescreened to ensure that they can speak,read, and write basic English prior tobeginning the program, so that thecourse can focus on intensive Englishinstruction on medical vocabulary, alongwith state-mandated instruction fornursing assistants, life skills, andworkplace cultural issues.

weeks. Ninety-six percent of participantscomplete the training, and eighty-fourpercent were still employed six monthsafter completing the program with wagesranging from $6.50 to $9.75. Theprogram is funded through a combina-tion of federal and private foundationgrants, with the latter used to supportaccompanying social services. The totalcost of training, support services,stipends, and job placement andretention services is approximately$11,000-13,000 per participant. Thismodel has been replicated in Louisiana,North Dakota, and Minnesota.

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Participants also receive supportservices as well as job counseling andplacement services throughout theprogram. The Institute works with thelocal refugee and immigrant communi-ties, and more than 95 percent of thestudents in this program are fromAfrica—primarily Ethiopia, Somalia,Liberia and Nigeria.

Between 1990 and 2005, the programenrolled 1,147 students, 91 percent ofwhom graduated. Ninety-eight percentof these graduates were certified asnursing assistants or home health aides.The average wage of 2005 programgraduates was approximately $10.75 perhour, representing a 22 percent increaseover their earnings before they enrolledin the training. Graduates are encour-aged to pursue further study throughthe Institute’s other medical careerprograms once they have been employedfor over six months.

• Academic Skills for MedicalCareer. This 10-week ESL preparatoryprogram is designed to help immigrantsin nursing assistant or other entry-levelpositions develop their reading, writing,grammar, listening, and computer skillsso that they can enroll in technicalcollege programs and advance to moreskilled positions, such as becoming atechnician or nurse. Students spend fourhours per day in this intensive ESLcourse to improve their English andstudying skills. This course is offered atfour English levels to 140 students atany one time.

• Medical Career AdvancementProgram. This program helps immigrantscreate a career path by helping themdevelop an educational plan, identifyfinancial resources (including part-timejobs), provide referrals to tutoring andacademic support programs, and offerjob counseling and placement serviceswhen they complete their education.

Between 2002 and 2005, 84 out of 141 students enrolled in the programsuccessfully upgraded their jobs, withapproximately 60 becoming either aRegistered or Licensed Practical Nurse.

The Institute’s Medical Careers Project isprimarily supported by grants from thelocal United Way, refugee resettlementprograms, and a number of localfoundations, including The McKnightFoundation, The Phillips Foundation,F.R. Bigelow Foundation, Otto BremerFoundation, and The St. PaulFoundation. “Foundation grants havebeen essential,” says Michael Donahue,Director of the Nursing AssistantTraining Program. “They allowed us tooffer not just VESL classes but to createa career ladder program that helpsimmigrant and refugees enter the field, improve their English skills, andgrow their careers through additionaleducation.”

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In addition to supporting Englishacquisition programs, foundations can

also help immigrant organizations bringmore resources to this area throughpolicy advocacy and reform. Observershave long noted that one reason whyESL courses are consistently underfundedis that the constituency benefiting fromthese programs—LEP immigrants—haslittle political power, and their needsare often invisible to or not relevant forpolicymakers. Immigrant advocates canhighlight the importance of providinghigh-quality English acquisition programs,pointing out that such programs helpintegrate newcomers socially andeconomically and that they willultimately benefit society as a whole, forexample, through increased earnings.

LANGUAGE AND VOCATIONALRESOURCES FOR LEPIMMIGRANTS

Collaboration to Support Laid-Off Garment Workers San Francisco, California

International and local economic forcescaused more than half of the 400+garment factories in the Bay Area toclose between 1998 and 2004, resultingin thousands of workers losing theirjobs. The overwhelming majority of thelaid-off workers were LEP immigrantwomen with limited vocational skills.

While both the federal and stategovernments provide dislocated workers with special benefits and re-trainingprograms, these programs were severelyunderutilized by the laid-off garmentworkers because few were aware of theirrights, and there were only a smallnumber of training programs suited fortheir language and vocational needs.

With support from the Levi StraussFoundation, two immigrant advocacygroups—Chinese for AffirmativeAction/Center for Asian AmericanAdvocacy and Chinese ProgressiveAssociation—teamed up with local laborunions and the community college toadvocate that state and local govern-ment agencies develop a coordinatedprogram to serve garment workers wholost their jobs due to plant closures.They advocated for:

• Closer coordination between stateand local government agencies responsi-ble for administering dislocated workersprograms to ensure that laid-off garmentworkers are informed of and can partici-pate in the full range of re-training andincome support programs.

• Reduced language barriers throughtranslations of documents, bilingualstaffing, and culturally competentadministration of employment programsfor this target population.

• The development of ESL and re-training programs specifically designedto help make this population employ-able in other industries.

Using existing sources of public funding,the local and state government agenciesresponsible for serving dislocated workersagreed in 2005 to create a $1.15 millionGarment Worker Re-Training Initiative to provide 100 LEP, dislocated garmentworkers with up to 18 months ofunemployment insurance and incomesupport, intensive VESL, options for

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EFFECTIVEADVOCACY TO

INCREASERESOURCES

EVALUATING LANGUAGE ACQUISITION PROGRAMS

HIGH-QUALITY ESL,VESL, AND FAMILYLITERACY PROGRAMS

OUTCOMES

• Improved English proficiencyamong immigrants.

• Better job prospects and increasedearnings for immigrants.

• Improved dynamics in immigrantfamilies.

• Increased access to servicesamong immigrants.

• Improved interaction betweenimmigrants and service providers.

• More responsive systems andservices due to improved capacityamong immigrants to express andadvocate for their own needs.

• Increased interactions with receiving community membersand institutions.

• Increased engagement incommunity life.

These outcomesencourageintegration, and as integrationgradually occurs,these outcomeswill also becomemore widespread.

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As the figure below illustrates, high-quality English acquisition programs can lead to outcomes that facilitate the social,economic, and civic integration of LEP newcomers. Foundations seeking to evaluate such programs can develop a wide rangeof indicators to measure progress against these outcomes.

IMM

IGRANT IN

TEGRATION

CONTRIBUTE TO

vocational skills training in fiveindustries,14 re-employment services,transportation, and child care funds.City College of San Francisco providesVESL and vocational training, whileChinese for Affirmative Action, ChineseProgressive Association, and the SanFrancisco Labor Council offers casemanagement and job placement servicesto participants. In connectingcommunity and labor organizationsalready serving dislocated garment

workers with the training expertise of the local community college, thisproject could be a model for otherlocalities facing similar challenges inserving displaced immigrant workers. Its success in creating a program withexisting workforce and adult educationfunds demonstrates that advocacy atthe state and local levels is importantto providing LEP immigrants with access to high-quality VESL programs.

14. These industries include hospitality, healthcare, early childhood development, horticultureand gardening, and janitorial and housekeeping.

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Promising Practices in Education

E ducation has always been a pathway to social and economic integration for every generation of immigrants and their U.S-born

descendants. The United States must make a commitment to ensure thatall students, including those from an immigrant background, have accessto a high-quality education that will prepare them for success in today’sknowledge-based economy. Educating immigrants and their children is vital to our ability to remain strong and prosperous as a nation.”

—Andrés Henríquez, Program Officer, Education Carnegie Corporation of New York, New York, New York

INTRODUCTION 85

EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES 86

ELEMENTS OF PROMISING PRACTICES 88

PROMISING PRACTICES: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION 90Creating a Welcoming EnvironmentWorking with Immigrant ParentsHelping Immigrant Families and Their

Child Care Providers Become TeachersPromoting Family Literacy

PROMISING PRACTICES: K-16 PUBLIC EDUCATION 93Helping Schools Communicate with Immigrant FamiliesTransforming Schools through Community ParticipationImproving Teacher TrainingPromoting the Success of English Language LearnersDeveloping a Path to College for Latino StudentsLeveraging Community Colleges

EVALUATING EDUCATION EFFORTS 101

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The demographic impact of immigrationis especially visible in the children

and youth population. Children of immi-grants make up nearly one out of fiveK-12 students in the United States.1

Their growth has been rapid, going fromonly six percent of the school-age pop-ulation in 1970 to 19 percent by 2000.Given the size of this population, howour educational institutions receive,treat, and teach children of immigrantsnot only affects immigrant families butwill determine our country’s long-termeconomic and social well-being.

The U.S. education system, from preschool through college, plays anespecially important role in integratingimmigrants and their children. The

system helps them acquire English, academic knowledge, vocational skills,and the history and values of their newhomeland. For many immigrants, educa-tion provides the raw materials to builda better life, work toward the AmericanDream, and become full members ofU.S. society.

This section explores the challenges ofserving newcomers’ educational needs,from pre-school through college, andidentifies successful strategies and programs to address them. The primaryfocus will be on children of immigrantswho live in low-income households andwhose parents have relatively limitededucation.

INTRODUCTION

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1. Capps, Randy, Michael Fix, Julie Murray, JasonOst, Jeffrey Passel, and Sinta Herwantoro. 2005.The New Demography of America’s Schools:Immigration and No Child Left Behind Act.Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute.

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EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES

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While children of immigrants sharethe general challenges faced by all

children in obtaining a high-qualityeducation, there are several uniquefactors that affect newcomer families.

• Most live in “mixed status” families with limited access to supportservices. Over three-quarters of childrenof immigrants are born in the UnitedStates and have the same rights andaccess to government services as othercitizens. However, most (85 percent)live in families with at least one non-citizen parent, and an estimated three

million live in households headed by at least one undocumented adult.2

Immigrant parents often have limitedEnglish skills, minimal knowledge of theU.S. education systems, and less accessto crucial services. The combination ofthese factors means that children ofimmigrants often must overcome multi-ple barriers to succeed in school.

• Many have limited English skills.About one-third of children in immigrantfamilies are limited English proficiency(LEP). The largest LEP population is inelementary schools. As children movethrough the school system, the size ofthis population declines but does notdisappear altogether. Interestingly,most LEP students are born in the

United States: 77 percent of LEP elementary school students and 56 percent of LEP middle and high schoolstudents are American-born. These highpercentages are due to the fact thatmany U.S.-born LEP students live in“linguistically isolated households,”a term defined by the U.S. CensusBureau as families in which no personaged 14 or over speaks English at leastvery well.

• Children of immigrants are morelikely to live in low-income and less-educated households. Twenty-one

percent of chil-dren in immigrantfamilies live inpoverty comparedwith 14 percent ofthose in U.S.-born

families.3 About a third of children ofimmigrants and half of LEP children livewith at least one parent who has lessthan a high school education. This fact,combined with limited literacy skills inboth English and their first languageand limited parental involvement ineducation, can affect the developmentof children in immigrant families.

• Immigrant families have strengthsthat can erode over time. Most immigrantfamilies arrive with multiple strengths:good health, intact families, strongwork ethic, and high aspirations for thefuture. But research suggests that manyof these strengths dissipate the longerthe family stays in the United States.For children of immigrants, the lengthof residence is correlated with decliningacademic motivation and achievement.5

Effective programs, however, canreverse this trend and help children ofimmigrants stay on the positive path to success.

2. Passel, Jeffrey. 2005. Estimates of the Size andCharacteristics of the Undocumented Population.Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center.3. Hernandez, Donald. 2004. “Demographic Changesand Life Circumstances of Immigrant Families.” TheFuture of Children 14(3) 17-47.4. Yarosz, Donald and William Steven Barnett.2001. “Who Reads to Young Children? IdentifyingPredictors of Family Reading Activities.” ReadingPsychology, 22:67-81.5. Portes, Alejandro and Ruben G. Rumbaut. 2001. Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant SecondGeneration. Berkeley, CA: University of CaliforniaPress.

Studies show that without intervention, children of immigrants aresignificantly less likely than other low-income children to be exposed

to reading and writing activities during the first five years of life.4

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THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT AND CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002(NCLB) was passed with the goal toensure that all children, including LEPstudents, receive a high-quality edu-cation. With respect to disadvantagedstudents, including immigrant andLEP students, NCLB requires eachschool to:

• Identify and report scores onstandardized tests separately for LEP,low-income, and minority students(including Latinos and AsianAmericans).

• Help these identified populationsmake progress in learning Englishand other academic subjects.

• Offer students the right to trans-fer or receive additional educationalservices if the school does not meetstate test standards.

• Close or restructure if theschool’s student population performspoorly on standardized tests over sev-eral years.

• Have highly qualified teachers in allclassrooms, including those providingEnglish language instruction or bilingualeducation.

• Communicate with parents in theirnative language about their children’sacademic performance and the school’sperformance as measured by the stan-dards of the Act.

Implementation of this law has beenhighly controversial, and several stateshave sued the federal government, alleg-ing inadequate funding as well as chal-lenging its authority to impose certainrequirements on local schools. The Act’simpact on children of immigrants is notyet fully understood. Some experts seethe potential for NCLB to hold schoolsaccountable to immigrant and LEP chil-dren, helping them improve academicperformance. A recent survey of stateand district school officials confirmedthat educators believe the law hasbrought increased attention to the chal-lenges faced by LEP students. Yet at the

same time, they expressed concernthat the Act’s accountability require-ments are inflexible and do not pro-vide enough time for these studentsto become proficient in English. Thesurvey also found that fewer schoolswere teaching LEP students in theirnative language because of the law’semphasis on learning English.6

For more analysis of how the Actaffects children of immigrants, seeCapps, Randy et al. 2005. The NewDemography of America’s Schools:Immigration and No Child Left BehindAct. Washington, D.C.: UrbanInstitute.

6. Center for Education Policy. 2005. From theCapitol to the Classroom: Year 3 of the No ChildLeft Behind Act. Washington, D.C.: Center forEducation Policy.

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ELEMENTS OFPROMISING PRACTICES

Experts on early childhood and education have identified the

following elements as critical for help-ing children of immigrants succeed inschool and beyond.

• Provide early interventionthrough high-quality family literacyor preschool programs. Well-designedearly educational programs can helpchildren of immigrants, especially thosewith limited English skills and lessaccess to services, develop literacy,problem-solving, and social skills, whileshowing parents how to become teach-ers for their children. Two promisingearly educational approaches for thistarget population include high-qualityfamily literacy and preschool programsdesigned to serve newcomers.

• Make educational programs acces-sible to immigrant families. Successfulprograms are linguistically and culturallycompetent, located at convenient sites,and offer a welcoming environment.These programs use a variety of methods

to increase access, including hiring multilingual staff, conducting outreachto increase participation by immigrantfamilies, holding events to celebrateimmigrant cultures, developing programs

that specificallyaddress the inter-est and needs ofnewcomers, andforming partner-ship with immi-

grant parents or newcomer organiza-tions to help create a more inclusiveenvironment.

• Increase parental involvement in their children’s schools. Researchconsistently indicates that academicachievement of children will increase ifparents or family members are involvedin their education. Promising practicesin this area include developing multilin-gual outreach information, hiring bilingualstaff, and forming partnerships withimmigrant-serving organizations to pro-vide language assistance, parent liaison,and leadership training to immigrantparents. These approaches allow immi-grant parents to actively participate in school programs and engage in advocacy to help improve theirchildren’s education.

7. Tankanish, Ruby. 2004. “Leveling the PlayingField: Supporting Immigrant Children from Birth toEight.” The Future of Children 14(3) 61-79.

Early intervention is critical: Studies have shown that children’s skills inkindergarten can predict their educational achievement level in third grade,

and their achievement at the end of the third grade is highly correlatedwith future school success.7

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• Provide training to teachers andadministrators to help them becomefamiliar with the background of immi-grant families and to develop effec-tive teaching methods. Schools in newimmigrant destinations are especiallyshort of personnel who are familiar withdifferent cultural backgrounds and whohave training and experience in teach-ing English learners.8 To address thisgap, foundations can support documen-tation of promising teaching methodolo-gies, innovative continuing educationand professional development programsfor teachers, and efforts to bring morebicultural and bilingual teachers andadministrators into the field.

• Provide age- and developmentallyappropriate support programs thathelp children of immigrants succeedat all levels of education, from earlychildhood through higher education.Tutoring, mentoring, college preparation,counseling on college and career options,and other support programs can helpchildren of immigrants achieve educationalsuccess. In many cases, these childrenmay be the first in their family to grad-uate from high school or attend college.

• Help immigrant families andorganizations advocate for better education. Improving academic achieve-ment among low-income children ofimmigrants requires more than goodprograms. In many low-income schooldistricts, the problems are much larger.Schools in such districts are oftenunderfunded; their facilities are in poorconditions; they may lack up-to-datetext books or computers; and the cur-riculum may not be sufficient to preparestudents for college. Helping immigrantcommunities become active participantsand leaders in developing and monitoringpolicy changes is often needed to makesignificant reforms, whether within asingle school or across a school system.

8. Wainer, Andrew. 2004. The New Latino South andthe Challenge to Public Education: Strategies forEducators and Policymakers in Emerging ImmigrantCommunities. Los Angeles, CA: Tomas RiveraInstitute.

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PROMISING PRACTICES:

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

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CREATING A WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT

The Village for Early Childhood EducationLittleton, Colorado http://village.littleton.publicschools.net

Started as a small preschool in an abandoned building provided by thelocal school district, the Village for EarlyChildhood Education is a communitypreschool open to the general public. Itserves 350 children from ten differentcountries through a variety of programs,including Head Start, state-funded pre-school, and special education. The pro-gram is center-based, with full-time andpart-time class options, and its curricu-lum is aligned with the local school district to help children prepare forkindergarten.

The Village believes that families arethe foundation for each child’s educationand actively supports and encourages apartnership between home and school.As the number of English LanguageLearners (ELLs) has grown to almost 20percent of its school population, theVillage has taken steps to make thesefamilies feel comfortable and respected.These steps include:

• Hiring bilingual Spanish-speakingteachers and aides to communicatewith its largest LEP family population.The Village has a Spanish-language hotline that provides information aboutschool activities and allows Spanish-speaking parents to leave messages for

the staff. The Village also has an agree-ment with the local school district toprovide interpretation and translationservices in other languages as needed.

• Distributing non-English books to immigrant families so that parentscan read to their children in theirnative language. While the Village usesan English immersion curriculum, it rec-ognizes that children benefit from beingread to at home regardless of the lan-guage. Providing parents with native-language materials makes it easier forthem to help children learn and developliteracy skills.

• Incorporating cultures and traditions of enrolled families into theclassroom curriculum and into specialevents that promote cross-culturallearning and understanding among theenrolled families.

• Offering a variety of bilingualcourses (English/Spanish) for parents,including parenting classes to help families reinforce their children’s class-room learning, as well as financial liter-acy classes to help newcomers learnfinancial management skills.

• Making available ESL and citizen-ship classes to immigrant parents.The Village originally offered ESL classesat its site, but as the demand for theclasses grew, it approached the city tofind other locations for an expandedprogram. The City of Littleton now offersmultiple ESL and citizenship classes atthe city library and local churches, andmany of the participants are familieswhose children attend the Village.

Despite working with a large low-incomeand immigrant student population, theVillage has been effective in helpingchildren become school ready. The pub-lic school district found that enteringkindergarteners who had at least twoyears of schooling at the Village per-formed 35 percent higher on English literacy assessments than children whodid not attend pre-school.

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SPARK Georgia and La Escuelita Atlanta, Georgiawww.sparkga.org

SPARK Georgia, a project of Smart StartGeorgia and United Way of MetropolitanAtlanta, uses a community-basedapproach to help immigrant familieslearn about early education opportuni-ties and develop skills for participatingin their children’s education over thelong run. Funded through a multi-stateinitiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation,9

SPARK Georgia works with six communityagencies and in partnership with localelementary schools to provide earlychildhood assessment, information, andother assistance to 1,000 children andtheir families in predominately low-income neighborhoods.

The formation of La Escuelita (“TheLittle School”) in the City of Norcross—a small Atlanta suburb where approxi-mately 80 percent of the public schoolchildren receive free or reduced lunches-is a good example of SPARK Georgia’scollaborative approach. Following homevisits and community meetings in amostly Spanish-speaking neighborhood,residents of two nearby apartment com-plexes asked if the project could helpthem start a program to prepare theirchildren for formal education. Lackingfunds for child care and transportation,many of these residents had little choicebut to leave their children in the careof relatives or neighbors while they worked.

SPARK Georgia and United Way workedwith the families to obtain a grant fromthe Primerica Citicorp Foundation toprovide an onsite early education programfor three- and four-year-olds. Overseenby a parental advisory committee, theprogram (1) hired a professional, bilin-gual teacher to provide six hours ofearly education weekly to 32 children;(2) developed a bilingual curriculum tostrengthen language, cognitive, andsocial skills; (3) helped families applyfor and transition into either the state-funded preschool program or the localelementary school; and (4) maintainedactive parental involvement throughholding regularly scheduled communitymeetings and encouraging parents toattend the school with their children. Atthe same time, SPARK Georgia workedwith local preschools and the publicelementary school to organize teachertrainings and meetings between educa-tors and immigrant parents to help theseinstitutions become better prepared toteach Spanish-speaking children.

SPARK Georgia’s community approach inNorcross has not only increased thenumber of immigrant children enrolledin the state’s preschool program, includ-ing a significant number from familieswith undocumented members,10 but ithas also helped parents learn how toactively support their children’s education.As SPARK Georgia’s Project CoordinatorRoberta Malavenda explains, “La Escuelitais not only intended to provide criticalearly education to children, but it also

offers the opportunity to grow parents’leadership skills and help them developa voice in their community.”

The results from the first year of the La Escuelita program suggest that it ishaving this effect. Dion Jones, the principal of the nearby RockbridgeElementary School, observes that the La Escuelita children were well preparedfor kindergarten and, equally important,their parents are participating in hisschool’s activities. Rockbridge held itsannual International Day celebration inthe fall of 2005, and Mr. Jones notesthat many of the parents who have been active with SPARK Georgia helpedorganize the event and have transferredtheir energy from La Escuelita to theirnew school.

9. SPARK (Supporting Partnerships to Assure ReadyKids) is a W.K. Kellogg-funded initiative to supportmulti-sector efforts to prepare children for school.SPARK projects involve partnerships among commu-nity-based organizations, state agencies, andschools to provide comprehensive support toyoungsters and high-quality early learning experi-ences required for success in school.10. Approximately 90 percent of the eligible chil-dren in 2005 La Escuelita program were enrolled ina state-funded preschool.

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HELPING IMMIGRANT FAMILIESAND THEIR CHILD CAREPROVIDERS BECOME TEACHERS

Good Beginnings Never EndLong Beach, California

Although child care and preschool education are increasingly provided incenter-based facilities, a large numberof children in immigrant families do notuse such care.11 For many low-income orLEP immigrants, leaving their childrenwith relatives, neighbors, or family-based providers (defined as someonewho cares for two or more unrelatedchildren in her home) is often the mostaffordable and accessible form of day-care. However, many of these providershave little or no early childhood train-ing and also face language and culturalbarriers themselves.

With support from the John S. and JamesL. Knight Foundation and First Five LA,Long Beach City College has been oper-ating the Good Beginnings Never End(GBNE) project, which uses severalstrategies to help family-based providers,grandparents, and other informal care-takers in low-income, largely immigrantneighborhoods provide better child care.These include home visits and coaching,trainings to become licensed child careproviders, and helping the providerstake advantage of community resources.

• Home visits. A bilingual staff mem-ber, or one accompanied by an inter-preter, visits and conducts assessmentsbased on the Family Day Care RatingScale12 and then works with providers toimprove their quality of care. Some ofthe frequently addressed issues includeimproving home-safety conditions, pro-viding school-readiness information,ensuring that children receive immu-nizations, and increasing literacy andeducation projects such as reading, art,music, and field trips to libraries,schools, parks, and museums.

Home visits require a high level of trust,and GBNE has developed a number ofpractices for conducting successful homevisits with immigrant family daycareproviders. These include partnering withtrusted community organizations andethnic media outlets to conduct out-

reach and to assure participants thatGBNE is not a licensing organizationthat will report conditions to authori-ties. GBNE also uses a variety of incen-tives and gifts to attract and maintainparticipation in its programs, includingdistributing children’s books, house-plants, and other useful items. Underthe Knight Foundation grant, GBNE isworking with 35 family providers over athree-year period.

• Trainings to become licensedproviders. As the trainer for the St.Mary Medical Center’s Families in GoodHealth program, GBNE offers a childdevelopment course to help low-incomerefugee women become licensed childcare providers. The course provides par-ticipants with extensive informationabout early childhood development andhow to facilitate children’s cognitive,emotional and social growth. In its firstyear, the program trained 42 Cambodianrefugee women, 11 of whom becamelicensed providers, the largest group ofSoutheast Asian women to becomelicensed at one time in Long Beach.

• Linking providers to communityresources. A key element of GBNE’s program is linking the clientele to com-munity resources, including programsoperated by nonprofits, libraries, andpublic schools. For instance, all of theparticipants in GBNE’s home visit pro-gram also participate in the Long BeachPublic Library Summer Reading and“Raising a Reader” book exchange pro-grams. In addition, GBNE provides par-ticipants with information about theavailability of children’s health insur-ance and offers classes on homeowner-ship and small business development.

Three years into its home visit program,GBNE has improved the quality of careprovided by its participating familyproviders, as demonstrated by:

• A reduction in the amount of timechildren spent watching television andan increase in literacy activities.

• Increase in the number of childrenenrolled in Head Start and other earlychildhood programs.

• Increase in immunizations andproviders’ awareness of nutrition, dentalhygiene, and home safety issues.

• Increase in providers’ knowledge ofhow to facilitate children’s social andemotional development.

PROMOTING FAMILY LITERACY

Research has documented the importanceof rich parent-child language interactionsduring early childhood. A preschooler’slanguage experiences at home lay thegroundwork for developing more sophis-ticated literacy skills during elementaryschool. Family literacy is a strategy thatcan help both immigrant adults andchildren learn English and literacy skills,while teaching parents how to supporttheir children’s cognitive and socialdevelopment in their everyday lives. Asdescribed in the English Acquisitionsection of this toolkit, successful familyliteracy programs for immigrant familiesusually have four components:

• ESL and adult education for immi-grant parents, as needed.

• Early childhood education to childrento bolster skills needed to succeed inschool.

• Training for parents to support theeducational growth of their children.

• Giving parents and children theopportunity to practice shared languagelearning and activities with the goal ofincreasing such activities at home.

Research indicates that high-qualityfamily literacy programs can increasethe cognitive and social development ofchildren and help them become betterprepared to learn in school.13 See the“Promising Practices in LanguageAcquisition” section of the toolkit for moreinformation about family literacy as wellas descriptions of successful programs.

11. Brandon, Peter. 2004. “The Child CareArrangements of Preschool-age Children inImmigrant Families in the United States.”International Migration Review 42(1):65-87.12. The Family Day Care Rating Scale assesses thequality of child care provided by a family child-careprogram. It assesses a provider in seven areas:space and furnishings for care and learning, basiccare, language and reasoning, learning activities,social development, adult needs, and provisions forexceptional children. For more information, go towww.fpg.unc.edu/~ecers. 13. Hayes, Andrew. 2001. High Quality FamilyLiteracy Programs: Child Outcomes and Impacts.Louisville, KY: National Center for Family Literacy.

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HELPING SCHOOLS COMMUNICATEWITH IMMIGRANT FAMILIES

Refugee Family Services’ Bilingual School Liaison Program Clarkston, Georgia www.refugeefamilyservices.org

One of the most common barriers toincreasing parental engagement amongimmigrants and refugees is the difficultymany parents have communicating witheducators in English. In addition, manyparents come from cultures in whichparental involvement with schools isnot the norm. Refugee Family Services(RFS), a nonprofit organization thatassists newcomer families in the Atlantaarea, has developed an innovative inter-preter program that serves parents inmultiple languages by rotating trainedparent liaison/interpreters across differ-ent schools. With funding from theGoizueta Foundation and the federalOffice of Refugee Resettlement, RFSstarted the Bilingual Liaison project in1999 through a partnership with theDeKalb County school system. Fourbilingual liaisons were initially assignedto 15 DeKalb schools that had the high-est concentration of English learners.Each liaison worked with LEP families tofacilitate communication with teachersand administrators, as well as to iden-tify difficulties or challenges faced bychildren of immigrants and refugees. By sharing resources across differentschools, the Bilingual Liaison Programhas been able to provide assistance innumerous languages. During the firstfive years of the program, RFS liaisonsassisted over 1,000 families.

Equally important, RFS liaisons haveidentified and worked with schools toaddress systemic issues affecting new-comer children by participating in theschool district’s International TaskForce, created to address gaps in educa-tional services for foreign-born students.Their involvement has led to the creationof education/parenting workgroups aspart of a year-long strategic planningeffort to prepare multiple service sectorsfor the incoming Somali Bantu refugeepopulation. In addition, the liaisonsparticipated in the district’s DiversityRoundtable, designed to give voice tothe multiethnic community served bythe county.

The School Liaison program has alsobeen instrumental in creating two newprograms to serve the district’s growingimmigrant and refugee population: TheRefugee Early Childhood LearningInitiative, through which refugee moth-ers learn how to help their childrenbecome school-ready, and the YouthSpecial Services Program serving at-riskrefugee youths.

The program has expanded to two addi-tional school districts. Eight liaisonscurrently serve newcomers in 60 schoolsand Head Start/preschool programs inthe Atlanta metropolitan area, providingservices in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese,Amharic, Arabic, Bosnian, Farsi, Urdu,Kurdish, Oromo, Pashto, and Russian. Byserving as a bridge between schools andimmigrant families, the School Liaisonprogram only improves the academicachievement of immigrant children, butit demonstrates that language assistancecan be provided in a cost-effective waythrough creative collaborations thatshare resources across schools. TheRuddie Memorial Youth Foundation hasfunded an evaluation of the program toassess whether it can be disseminatedas a model for other communities.

TRANSFORMING SCHOOLSTHROUGH COMMUNITYPARTICIPATION

Logan Square NeighborhoodAssociation Chicago, Illinoiswww.lsna.net

Serving a mix-income Chicago neighbor-hood in which Latinos make up morethan two-thirds of the population, theLogan Square Neighborhood Association(LSNA) has led an extraordinary organ-izing effort to change local schools fromisolated institutions to community part-ners for learning and empowerment.LSNA first became involved with thelocal education system during the early1990s when its members organized acampaign for new schools to relieveovercrowding. Their efforts resulted inthe construction of five elementaryschool annexes and two middle schools,as well as strong relationships withlocal educators. Recognizing that

PROMISING PRACTICES: K-16

PUBLIC EDUCATION

Watch the DVDRain in a Dry Land:The Supermarket

The children of newly arrived immigrants must learn the ropes of

American life quickly. They often mustassume the roles of translator, advisor,

advocate, and protector for their LEP par-ents. The learning curve can be difficult,

as witnessed when a newly arrivedrefugee teen and his father struggle

with a supermarket transaction.

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adding new schools was only the firststep to improving education in a neigh-borhood where 90 percent of the publicschool students were from low-incomefamilies, LSNA developed collaborativeprograms with local schools to improvethe quality of education.

For over a decade, LSNA has operated a parent mentor program that bringsparents into the classroom—from pre-school through eighth grade—to providetutoring. LSNA trains parents (the vastmajority of whom are immigrants), provides each with an annual $1,200stipend, and places them into class-rooms to help teachers for two hourseach day. Spanish-speaking parents areplaced in bilingual classes and are ableto participate in the same activities asother parents. LSNA coordinates theprogram and holds weekly workshops toallow participants to share experiencesand discuss challenges.

Observers note that the program hasnot only provided students with extraattention and resources, but it hastransformed the relationship betweenparents and schools. The program hasattracted large numbers of immigrantwomen who have had no previous con-tact with schools even when their chil-dren were enrolled. Immigrant parents,who were intimidated by the educationsystem or felt their status as Spanishspeakers prevented participation in theirchildren’s education, found ways to helptheir schools through this program.

At the same time, their presenceallowed teachers and principals to learnmore about the needs of local familiesand to develop relationships based onmutual trust and respect with the grow-ing newcomer community.

Building upon the success of the ParentMentor program and recognizing thatschools are critical institutions for help-ing immigrants become self-sufficient,LSNA has worked with educators todevelop other projects, including:

• Literacy Ambassador Program, inwhich teams of teachers and parentshold house meetings to increase com-munity awareness and participation inschools. These meetings, held in thehomes of neighborhood families, high-light school resources and discuss howfamilies can help their children developliteracy and reading skills. The programpairs a teacher with a parent mentor tobridge any communication difficultiesbetween newcomer families andeducators.

• Community Learning Centers, in which six public schools becomeevening community learning centersoffering a wide range of adult educationclasses (ESL, family literacy, GED, com-puter, and citizenship) and children’sactivities (tutoring, arts, culture, andsports). Most of the classes are free andare taught by outside agencies, commu-nity college instructors, school teachers,parents, and volunteers. Because the

centers provide free child care, parentscan improve their skills while their chil-dren learn and play in a safe, enrichingenvironment. The centers are also aplace where immigrant parents canteach and experience their own culture.This program’s success has led the localschool district to open evening learningcenters in schools throughout the city.

• Nueva Generacion (“Grow YourOwn”) Bilingual Teacher PreparationProgram, in which parents who haveparticipated in the Parent Mentor pro-gram and want to become teachers canenroll in a six-year instructional programprovided by Chicago State University. Atthe end of the program, participantsreceive a four-year college degree andbecome certified, bilingual teachers whocan work in neighborhood schools.Approximately 60 percent of the initialclass of 30 students is expected tograduate in 2007.

LSNA’s programs have not only changedthe school’s dynamic with the localcommunity, but it has helped raisereading and math test scores in the sixschools that have had the Parent Mentorprogram for over five years. Test scoreshave increased by over 35 percent, andthe percentage of students who scoredin the lowest quartile on these achieve-ment tests have been cut in half.Equally important, LSNA’s work has alsotransformed many of the people whoparticipated in its programs. Many ofLSNA’s education project staff—includingmanagers of the Parent Mentor, LiteracyAmbassador, and Community LearningCenters programs—are immigrant womenwho initially participated in the ParentMentor program and have since becomeneighborhood leaders who regularlyspeak to policymakers, legislators, orreporters about educational issues. AsLSNA’s lead education organizer JoannaBrown observes, “They can say withconfidence that parental and communityinvolvement matters—it has improvedtheir schools and their neighborhood.”

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IMPROVING TEACHER TRAINING

Center for Latino Achievementand Success in EducationAthens, Georgiawww.coe.uga.edu/clase

Responding to the rapid growth of thelocal Latino population, the Universityof Georgia’s Center for Latino Achievementand Success in Education (CLASE) hasdeveloped an innovative project thatprovides high-quality professional devel-opment and technical assistance to localschool districts. Started with a grant bythe Goizueta Foundation in 2002, CLASEtrains over 100 educators each year in a week-long summer institute that pro-vides participants with information onbest practices for teaching English lan-guage learners, model curriculum andstrategies for instructing immigrant chil-dren in different academic subjects, cul-tural background on Georgia’s emergingLatino communities, and effective waysto increase parental involvement.

CLASE selects multiple teams of partici-pants from school districts or individualschools through a competitive process.Applicants propose specific projects forimproving Latino student educationalachievement and must demonstrate thatthey have the capacity and resources toimplement the project in the upcomingschool year. Following the summer insti-tute, CLASE provides technical assistanceto these teams throughout the academicyear. Typical projects include developingtrainings for teachers, increasing Latinoparent engagement, and implementingnew program ideas such as providingbilingual kindergarten instruction ormodified science instruction for Englishlearners. By combining training withfollow-up assistance, CLASE helps edu-cators put to use their newly acquiredknowledge to improve Latino educational

14. The analysis can be found atwww.coe.uga.edu/clase/professional_development.htm.

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achievement. In addition to its summerinstitute program, CLASE organizes con-ferences on specific subject areas andleads Georgia teachers and administratorsin summer trips abroad to learn aboutlanguage, education, and culture.

Surveys combined with follow-up observations of individual projects illustrate that CLASE has had a signifi-cant impact in helping local educatorsdevelop new programs to serve thestate’s growing Latino population. Over90 percent of its summer program par-ticipants indicate that the CLASE trainingand technical assistance had a mediumto large influence in improving class-room instruction, attitudes, and pre-paredness for working with Latino students. As described more fully at itsweb site, CLASE has also documentedthe benefits of the projects undertakenby its summer institute participants,including those that increase studentachievement.14

PROMOTING THE SUCCESS OFENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

The PROMISE InitiativeSouthern California www.promise-initiative.org

More than one in every four students inCalifornia is an English language learner(ELL), the largest population in thecountry. And 65 percent of these stu-dents—over one million youngsters—are enrolled in six Southern Californiacounties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside,San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura.Of this number, less than seven percentpresently have access to both targetedEnglish language development and thefull demands of the core curriculum. Gapsin achievement are evident at every gradelevel and on every standardized test.

To address these growing disparities,the offices of education in the sixSouthern California counties have part-nered with California Tomorrow, astatewide organization that has beenpromoting cultural equity for 20 years,to create the PROMISE Initiative.

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Pursuing Regional Opportunities forMentoring, Innovation, and Success forEnglish Learners, known as PROMISE,seeks “to marshal the expertise andresources of the six counties by devel-oping a powerful infrastructure for conducting research and development,building capacity, and providing high-quality sustained support to schools,teachers, and providers.”

PROMISE’s unique approach does notattempt to implement a particular newcurriculum or instructional programdeveloped outside the schools. Rather,it relies on “principles-based reform,”helping schools reach a deep under-standing of current research and—through networked reflection, dialogue,assessment, and planning—design theirown programs for student success. Theaspiration of PROMISE is transformativein nature: To create a learning environ-ment in which bilingualism, biliteracy,and multiculturalism will activelyengage the experiences, skills, cultures,and languages of students in theirEnglish learning.

Distilled from the best of current researchon English learning and school change,PROMISE is built upon eight interrelatedcore principles:

• Enriched and Affirming LearningEnvironments that promote a sense ofcommunity, self-determination, trust,respect, and democracy among students.

• Empowering Pedagogy, with keystructural components that promoteinteraction among students, build stu-dent and family voice, and provideopportunities for leadership.

• Challenging and RelevantCurriculum that is cognitively complexand coherent enough to develop themental flexibility, problem-solving skills,and capacity for divergent thinking thatthe future will demand.

• High-Quality InstructionalResources aligned with relevant stan-dards yet enriched with graphics andaccessible formats to foster activeengagement.

• Valid and ComprehensiveAssessment integrated into learningand teaching, designed to promotereflective practice and data-drivenplanning.

• High-Quality ProfessionalPreparation and Support intended tofoster learning communities amongadministrators, teachers, and staff.

• Powerful Family and CommunityEngagement to build leadership amongparents, actively educating them anddrawing them into their children’s learn-ing, while helping teachers and admin-istrators develop cross-cultural skills.

• Advocacy-Oriented Administrativeand Leadership Systems to integrateand coordinate structures and mechanismsin support of the needs of ELL studentssystemically throughout the school’sprograms.

Although it does not prescribe particu-lar curricular approaches, PROMISE pro-vides planning tools to the schoolteams, as well as access to almost 30successful research-based programs thatembody the core principles.

Notwithstanding these rich resources,the creation of PROMISE as a six-countycollaboration to promote the success ofELL students, in and of itself, is animpressive accomplishment. The firstphase of PROMISE is a three-year pilotstudy focusing on systemic schoolreform, involving teams of three schoolsin each of the districts. The pilot willtest the implementation of the eightcore principles, honing in on whatworks and what doesn’t. The findingswill shape the five-year field test thatwill involve up to 100 schools.


Algebra ClassPublic schools in America have differentways of integrating immigrant students

into the classroom. Sit in on a fast-pacedhigh school algebra class as a caringteacher observes the capabilities of a recently arrived refugee boy and wonders how to grade and support

him when they don’t share a language.

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DEVELOPING A PATH TO COLLEGE FOR LATINO STUDENTS

The ENLACE Initiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Battle Creek, Michiganwww.wkkf.org

In 1999, the W.K. Kellogg Foundationlaunched a national initiative tostrengthen the educational pipeline for Latino youth and to increase thenumber of Latino high school andcollege graduates. Known as ENLACE or “Engaging Latino Communities forEducation,” the initiative is designed tobe a comprehensive, community-basedcollaborative effort among colleges anduniversities, public schools, businesses,and community organizations. The initiative supports 13 partnerships inseven states that provide a wide rangeof activities to keep Latino studentsengaged in education from preschool allthe way through college. Although manyprojects are service oriented (e.g.,tutoring and mentoring), the collabora-tion among educational institutions andcommunity groups has facilitated changesin local and state educational policies.

The Kellogg Foundation is expected tocontribute more than $35 million toENLACE by the end of 2007. While fewfoundations have the resources toundertake such a large project, the lessonslearned and promising practices devel-oped by ENLACE projects at the locallevel can inform other philanthropicefforts and be replicated on a smallerscale. This section includes severalexamples of promising projects thatwere developed by ENLACE partners. For more information, see reports andpromising practices on the ENLACE website at www.wkkf.org.

15. Three separate ENLACE grants were provided inNew Mexico: Albuquerque, Northern New Mexico,and Southern New Mexico. The shared goal of theseprograms is to empower the community, students,and educators in the state to work together toimprove the public education system and increasestudent success. For more information, go towww.enlaceinnewmexico.com. 16. Carrillo-Cruz, Lynn. 2005. “ENLACE LosCompañeros Mentoring Program Evaluation Report.”Albuquerque, NM: ENLACE New Mexico.

Los Compañeros MentoringProgram New Mexico ENLACE

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, a primaryENLACE project has been to develop aholistic, culturally relevant mentoringprogram to promote academic and per-sonal success among middle and highschool Latino students.15 Called the LosCompañeros, the program is open to all students but works primarily withyouths who are having difficulty withschool. Its goal is to improve their academic performance and help themplan for college.

Started in 2001, Los Compañeros programhas trained Latino college and graduatestudents to provide one-on-one mentor-ing to middle- or high-school students.The mentor, who receives college workstudy, meets with the younger studenton a daily basis to help improve schoolperformance, as well as to assist withpersonal, emotional, and psychologicalchallenges. While mentors spend abouthalf of their time tutoring students onhomework and basic skills, they alsowork with the students on improvinginterpersonal skills, intervene withteachers or school administrators asneeded, and engage parents in theirchildren’s education, including providinginterpretation when meeting withteachers or school administrators. Arecent evaluation of the program found

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it had successfully helped studentsremain in school and improve theirgrades.16 Of the original cohort of 90students who had started in the programduring sixth grade, only four haddropped out by the end of the ninthgrade. Depending on the school, between47 and 72 percent of the original par-ticipants achieved a GPA that was atleast equal to or higher than theirentering GPA. The mentoring programalso reduced behavior referrals and disciplinary actions and increased students’ academic expectations. TheENLACE staff attributes the program’ssuccess to several factors:

• Cultural competence. The mentorscome from the same community as theyounger students and are bicultural andbilingual. They are aware of the challengesLatino students face and understandhow to communicate with students andtheir families. These shared similaritiesmake it easier for mentors to build thetrust needed to play an important rolein the lives of the youths.

• Intensive mentoring. Each mentormust spend a minimum of 20 hours perweek in the program during the schoolyear, with the majority of the timedevoted to one-on-one interactionswith students.

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• Working with the entire family.Mentors are trained to work both withthe individual students, as well asaddress the conditions in their familiesthat inhibit learning and academicprogress. Many of the mentors workclosely with ENLACE Family Centers,staffed by Latino parents and commu-nity organizations, to provide familieswith the educational and social servicesneeded to help their children succeed.

• Collaboration. Los Compañeros collaborates with educators at middleschools, high schools, and higher edu-cation institutions to address systemicissues and propose policies that canimprove student learning (e.g., betterschool communications with LEP par-ents and supplemental educationalinstruction activities). By having repre-sentatives of local educational programsat the table, the ENLACE program helpsstudents, parents, community members,and educators work together to addresstheir shared interest in improving student performance.

Because the mentoring program isalmost exclusively staffed by collegework-study students, its other costs arelow as $128 per student annually or anaverage of $0.70 per student per schoolday, according to the Los Compañerosproject director.

The Santa Ana PartnershipSanta Ana ENLACESanta Ana, California

The Santa Ana Partnership—a collabora-tion of higher education institutionsand the local school district—originallycame together in 1983 in response tothe rapidly changing demographics ofthe Santa Ana Unified School District.Recognizing that the school populationwas growing and becoming increasinglyLatino and LEP, the Partnership developededucational policies and programs toaddress newcomer student needs. Overthe years, Santa Ana schools havechanged their curriculum and graduationrequirements, expanded supplementaleducational activities, and developedinnovative parental involvement programs.16

Although the quality of education forimmigrant children in the district hasimproved, finding ways to providefinancial support for students who qual-ify for college but do not have theresources remains an ongoing challenge.This challenge is especially daunting forundocumented students who make up asignificant segment of the Santa Anaschool-age population. Most of thesestudents came to the United States yearsago as children; they grew up in thiscountry, stayed in school, and workedhard to earn a high school degree.

If passed, the proposed bi-partisan leg-islation, known as the DREAM Act, willimprove access to higher education forundocumented students.17 As this legis-lation is debated and even if it were to

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pass, the Santa Ana Partnership recog-nizes that there needs to be financialresources to help these students accesshigher education.

For the Partnership, it is part of thelarger problem of helping low-incomeimmigrant students attend college evenif they have very limited resources. AsSara Lundquist, Vice President of SantaAna College and a coordinator of thelocal ENLACE project, stated, “We donot want youths to lose the opportunityto become professionals and becomeproductive members of society… If theydon’t go to college now, their livescould turn out dramatically different,and our communities will have lost outon an educated, promising group ofyoung immigrants.”

To help raise resources for these college-qualified youths, the Santa AnaPartnership has developed fundraisingprograms and actively encourages busi-nesses, foundations, and even smalldonors to contribute to privately fundedscholarships and education funds thatdo not exclude individuals based onimmigration status. As Ms. Lundquistexplained, “These funds are not setaside for any particular group, but theyallow all college-eligible students tocompete based on their academicachievements and financial need.”

The Santa Ana Partnership has success-fully worked with a growing number oflocal foundations and philanthropists toprovide college scholarships to immi-grant youths. While their specific goalsvary, all of these funds are designed tosupplement federal and state financialaid programs by helping students whootherwise cannot go to college. Withfew limited exceptions, these scholar-ships do not exclude students based ontheir immigration status. The localfunds include:

• Santa Ana 2000 Scholarship,which was established by the City ofSanta Ana, Santa Ana Unified SchoolDistrict, and Rancho Santiago CommunityCollege District’s Santa Ana College in

16. For more detailed description of the partner-ship accomplishments, go to www.sac.edu/commu-nity/partnerships/enlace/index.htm. 17. For more information about the DREAM Act, goto www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/DREAM/index.htm.

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1994 as part of an ambitious, long-terminitiative to make higher educationaccessible to all local high school grad-uates via Santa Ana College. The cityappropriated $900,000 in seed money to launch the program, which is comple-mented by individual contributions fromemployees at the city, school district,and college. Approximately 50 scholar-ships are awarded annually, providingeach student with $1,000 over two years.

• The Hispanic EducationEndowment Fund, which is a regionalresource that provides scholarships forLatino students attending higher educa-tion institutions. Formed by a coalitionof educational, community, faith-based,and business groups, and administeredby the Orange County CommunityFoundation, it administers a portfolio of28 sub-funds that makes approximately350 scholarship grants totaling over$700,000 annually.

• The Santa Ana Education Fund,which holds monies raised by the localschool district to assist academicallytalented and motivated college students.Approximately $100,000 in direct schol-arship assistance is provided annually tothe district’s graduates.

• The Santa Ana College Foundationawards more than a quarter of a milliondollars annually to incoming, continu-ing, and transferring Santa Ana Collegestudents who otherwise cannot afford toattend college.

18. Woodlief, Blaze, Catherine Thomas, and GracielaOroaco. 2003. California’s Gold: Claiming thePromise of Diversity in Our Community Colleges.Oakland, CA: California Tomorrow.

THE DEVELOPMENT,RELIEF & EDUCATION

FOR ALIEN MINORS

(DREAM) ACT

At the national level, an estimated65,000 students graduate from highschool each year but are ineligible forfinancial aid because they are undocu-mented. The majority are young peoplewho have lived in the U.S. most of theirlives, having come to the United Stateswith their parents when they wereyoung. While they are ready to attendcollege, become professionals, andcontribute to society, they face a num-ber of barriers. They often do not havethe financial resources to attend college,are unable to work because of theirundocumented status, and live in fear ofbeing detected by immigration officials.

A bipartisan supported bill, known asthe DREAM Act, would provide immi-gration relief to these students if theyattend college. The proposed law wouldallow students brought to the UnitedStates more than five years ago whenthey were 15-years old or younger, andcan demonstrate good moral character,to apply for a conditional immigrationstatus that would provide six years oflegal residency. During the six-yearperiod, they must (1) graduate from atwo-year college, (2) complete at leasttwo years towards a four-year degree,or (3) serve in the U.S. military for atleast two years. Students who meetthese requirements would be eligible toapply for permanent-residency status. A similar version of the bill, introducedin 2004, was sponsored by 48 U.S.Senators and 152 U.S. representatives,but as of spring 2006, neither theHouse nor the Senate has had a floorvote on this important bill.

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As these fundraising efforts expand, theSanta Ana Partnership hopes to workthrough the ENLACE project to developstatewide models that leverage privatesector resources to help bring highereducation within the reach of moreimmigrant students.

LEVERAGING COMMUNITYCOLLEGES

City College of San Francisco San Francisco, California www.ccsf.cc.ca.us

Community colleges are particularlyimportant educational institutions forimmigrant adults. They help integratenewcomers by providing English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) courses, vocational training, basic adult education,and access to other education opportu-nities. Research suggests that newcom-ers are 20 percent more likely thanU.S.-born college students to begintheir higher education experience at acommunity college.18 In many states,immigrants are rapidly becoming a largesegment of the community college student population.

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Successful community colleges haveresponded to these demographic changesby developing new educational practicesthat help newcomers become self-suffi-cient and productive. These include:

• Providing targeted outreach, oftenin multiple languages, to inform new-comers of ESL, vocational programs, andother educational opportunities.

• Hiring bilingual staff in public contact positions, support programs,and counseling.

• Developing strong English acquisi-tion programs and linking vocationaltraining and educational programs sothat newcomers can develop other skillsas they are learning English.

• Providing class schedules and curric-ula that respond to the realities ofworking immigrants’ lives.

• Developing programs and proceduresthat encourage immigrant students topursue higher education opportunities(e.g., moving from ESL courses to voca-tional training, noncredit to creditclasses, certificate to full-time study,and two-year to four-year institutions).

• Building partnerships with businesses,government agencies, and immigrantorganizations to address the educationalneeds of this fast-growing community.

City College of San Francisco has been anational leader in providing innovativeeducation to newcomers. With approxi-mately 106,000 students, eight majorcampuses and over 150 classroom siteslocated in community centers, churches,public schools, and government offices,City College makes extensive efforts tohave its educational programs be broadlyavailable. About half of the studentspursuing associate degrees are immi-grants. Forty percent of City College’snew students take the ESL placementtest, and ESL is its largest department,with almost 25,000 students. To serveits large newcomer student population,City College has taken a number of stepsto address their educational goals:

• Developing curricula that addressthe needs of immigrant adults. Inaddition to offering basic ESL classes,City College has been a national leader

in developing “bridge” programs thathelp immigrants progress toward theirother educational or career goals whilelearning English. Many of its vocationaltraining courses, for example, requireonly basic English skills, thereby allowingnewcomers to develop job skills whileenrolled in ESL. In addition, City Collegeoffers a large number of courses thatintegrate academic content or vocationaltraining into ESL classes. These includeESL citizenship classes to help newcom-ers naturalize, intensive vocational ESLimmersion courses to help low-incomenewcomers find mainstream employment,and occupational-specific vocational ESLprograms that help immigrant workersprepare for jobs in the fields of healthcare, child care, construction, hotels,and the food industry. Recognizing thatmany immigrants already have valuablevocational skills, City College also workswith community organizations and busi-nesses to help foreign-born health workers,doctors, and engineers improve theirEnglish, obtain professional credentials,and receive training so that they can fullyutilize their skills in the United States.

• Providing courses that easily fitinto the lives of immigrant workers.Because many immigrant adults worklong hours or multiple jobs, finding timeto attend classes is often challenging.City College has made special efforts to“fit” their courses into the lives ofimmigrants by offering frequent eveningand weekend classes and making themavailable at satellite campuses or com-munity centers in neighborhoods whereimmigrants live or work. For instance,the college’s Chinatown campus holdsthe largest group of ESL classes onSunday mornings because many studentswork six days a week and cannot attendclass at any other time. City College alsotries to make it easier for ESL studentsto further their education and pursuecertificates or degrees as they learn newskills by offering both noncredit andcredit classes at most campuses.

• Providing support to immigrantstudents. City College’s LearningAssistance Center provides academicsupport to all students but has specific

programs to address newcomer needs.Students who are enrolled in credit ESLclasses are eligible for individual tutoring,and the Center serves almost 12,000students annually. City College alsoholds regular ESL workshops, providescomputer laboratories for students tolearn and practice English and voca-tional skills, and offers career counseling.

• Working with the local communityto address immigrants’ educationneeds. A characteristic of City Collegethat especially stands out is its willing-ness to collaborate with communityorganizations, government agencies, andbusinesses to address the community’seducation needs. As discussed in the“Promising Practices in EnglishAcquisition” section of this toolkit, City College responded to large-scaleclosures of local garment factories in2005 by collaborating with immigrantorganizations and unions to re-trainhundreds of displaced workers. Similarly,when a community health organizationasked City College to help train bilingualworkers, it initially created a coursethat taught students basic health termsso that they could work alongside pro-fessional medical staff. However, as thedemand for bilingual health workerscontinued to increase in the Bay Area,the College developed both a certificateprogram for community health workersand a transfer program that allows bilin-gual students to earn up to a master’sdegree in public health. Many of theseinnovative programs require City Collegeto seek funding from foundations, private donors, and other alternativesources. Private foundation grantsreceived by City College for immigrantrelated program include The CaliforniaEndowment and MetLife Foundation.

These programs have not only helpedtens of thousands of newcomers improvetheir English and find better employment,but they have opened the door toadvance education. The number of thecollege’s ESL students who transfer tofour-year colleges has increased 63 percent since 1999.

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EVALUATING EDUCATION EFFORTS

OUTPUTS

• Parent involvement.

• Parent/student bonding with school.

• Family norms that value education.

• Community support.

• Culturally competent educators.

• Academic support and appropriate curriculum for LEP students.

• Provision of high-quality college and career counseling.

• Access to scholarships and other opportunities and resources.

• Students’ participation in extracurricular activities.

OUTCOMES

For all immigrants, regardless of immigration status:

• An inclusive school environment.

• Increased school readiness.

• Improved academic performance.

• Higher aspirations and hope.

• Increased access to higher education.

These outputsencourage civicparticipation, andas participationincreases, theseoutputs will alsobecome morewidespread.


Education is crucial to immigrant inte-gration because it helps put the immi-grant on a path towards economic sta-bility, which in turn allows the immi-grant to have access to additionalopportunities and resources.

Further, a good education from earlychildhood will better prepare children ofimmigrants for the next level of educa-tion and, eventually, post-secondary andhigher education.

The following figure provides sampleoutputs and outcomes that funders canutilize to evaluate the effectiveness ofeducation programs serving immigrantfamilies.

IMM

IGRANT IN

TEGRATION

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EVALUATING EDUCATION EFFORTS

Indicators associated with school readiness among young immigrantchildren, improved academic achieve-ment for immigrant children and youthof all ages, and higher aspirations forhigh school immigrant students include:

• Percentage of children with age-appropriate developmental skills andpositive behaviors (e.g., little to no dif-ficulty following directions, recognitionof basic shapes and the relationshipbetween letters and sounds).

• Improved standardized test scoresand grades.

• Increased graduation rates (highschool and college).

• Increased GED completion rate.

• Percentage of graduates going tovocational training programs or highereducation institutions.

Examples of indicators associated withan inclusive school environment include:

• Percent of immigrant parent volunteers in school.

• Frequency of interaction betweenimmigrant parents and their children’steachers.

• Percentage of immigrant parentwho belong to the Parent TeacherAssociation or any parent associationsand actively attend meetings.

• Events that celebrate academicachievement (e.g., graduation ceremonies)and role models among immigrant students and graduates.

• Inclusion of the culture and historyof different immigrant groups in theschool curriculum.

• Percentage of teachers who sharethe same cultural background or speakthe same language as their immigrantstudents.

• Receipt of scholarships and otheropportunities and resources amongimmigrant parents and students.

There are many ways to collect theabove data, depending on whatresources are available for the evalua-tion. For example, an evaluator couldtrack grades, conduct a survey of immi-grant parents to gauge their knowledge

of scholarships and other opportunitiesand resources available to their children,follow-up with immigrant students whosought post-secondary education andtrack their academic progress, or workwith children and youth to documenttheir hopes and aspirations.

SOURCES:

Consultative Session on Increasing EnglishLanguage Learning By Low-Income ImmigrantParents And Children, November 30-December 1,2005. Sponsored by the Annie E. CaseyFoundation.

Rhode Island KIDS COUNT. 2005. Getting Ready:Findings from the National School ReadinessIndicators Initiative. Report sponsored by TheDavid and Lucile Packard Foundation, KaufmanFoundation, and Ford Foundation.

Martinez, T.E. and Ted Wang. 2005. SupportingEnglish Language Acquisition: Opportunities forFoundations to Strengthen the Social andEconomic Well-Being of Immigrant Families.Sebastopol, CA: Grantmakers Concerned withImmigrants and Refugees and the Annie E. CaseyFoundation.

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Promising Practices to Improve Immigrants’ Health and Well-Being

Health is a cornerstone of immigrant integration as much as educationand learning English. If a family has health insurance for their

children, then those children are in school learning and not home sick.Their parents don’t have to miss work as often and can stabilize their family financially. Medical bills are the number-one cause for bankruptcy,so this is also about protecting the family against the financial difficultythat comes along with being uninsured.”

—Laura Hogan, Program Director, Access to Health Services The California Endowment

INTRODUCTION 105

BARRIERS TO HEALTH AND WELL-BEING 106

STATE-FUNDED INSURANCE PROGRAMS 107Securing State-Funded ServicesRestoring Health Insurance for Low-Income ImmigrantsPromoting Coverage for All Children

OUTREACH AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS 113Elements of Promising PracticesMultimedia Health Outreach CampaignIncreasing Enrollment in Public Health Insurance ProgramsIncreasing Access to Reproductive Health CareProviding Accurate Health Information

LANGUAGE ACCESS AND CULTURAL COMPETENCE 118Elements of Promising PracticesHealth Interpretation Services in Rural AreasEffective Health Interpretation SystemsIncreasing Workforce DiversityResponding to Demographic Change, Driven by Community Need

EVALUATION 124

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When immigrants arrive in the UnitedStates, they are generally healthier

than native-born residents. However, overtime, their healthconditions convergewith those of thegeneral population.Acculturation toAmerican lifestylesand dietary habitsmay account for part of this change, butimmigrants also face a number of barriersto maintaining good health. As a group,they are much less likely than citizens tohave health insurance, resulting in lessaccess to preventive services, fewer regu-lar check-ups, and ultimately poorerhealth outcomes.1 Even when newcomersare eligible for health insurance, they

often face a variety of language, cultural,and immigration-related barriers thatlimit their access to quality care.

Foundations can support programs thatexpand both eligibility and access, as wellas reduce barriers to health care for new-comers, including:

• Policy and advocacy projects toexpand health insurance coverage forimmigrants and their children.

• Outreach and informational cam-paigns to educate immigrants about theU.S. health care system, their eligibilityfor health care services, and healthybehaviors.

• Efforts to deliver health services toimmigrants in a linguistically and cultur-ally competent manner.

By supporting these strategies, founda-tions will promote good health for immi-grant families and enable newcomers tocontribute to the overall well-being of thebroader community.

INTRODUCTION

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1. Grantmakers In Health. 2005. For the Benefit of All: Ensuring Immigrant Health and Well-Being.Washington, D.C.: Grantmakers In Health. Availableat www.gih.org.

Maintaining good health is a critical elementof immigrant integration. It is fundamental tonewcomers’ ability to find and keep jobs, learnEnglish, and contribute to the vitality of theirnew communities.

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This section provides a brief overviewof the health care barriers faced bymany newcomers, as well as promisingpractices to overcome these challenges.

LOWER RATES OF HEALTH INSURANCE

Immigrant families are much less likelythan citizens to have health insurancefor a number of reasons:

• Less coverage from employers.While over 80 percent of immigrantshave families that include at least onefull-time worker, a disproportionatenumber is employed by small firms orlow-wage sectors which are less likelyto offer health benefits.

• Ineligibility for federal healthinsurance programs. The 1996 federalwelfare and immigration laws bar mostlegal immigrants from Medicaid andthe State Children’s Health InsuranceProgram (SCHIP) in their first five yearsin the United States. (The few excep-tions to this bar include refugees andpolitical asylees). After five years, mostremain ineligible due to “sponsordeeming,” which adds the income ofthe person who sponsored the immi-grant to that of the immigrant in determining eligibility.

• Very limited access to publichealth insurance for undocumentedimmigrants. Although some stateshave begun to offer prenatal care andchildren’s coverage to this population,federal and state laws generally barundocumented residents fromMedicaid and other programs exceptfor emergency care.2

• Unfamiliarity with public healthinsurance programs. This unfamiliarityresults in low rates of participation evenamong those eligible, particularly thecitizen or legal-resident children ofimmigrants.3

For immigrants, this low rate of cover-age means that they are less likely tohave a usual source of care, have vis-ited a doctor during the previous year,or receive immunizations and other

preventive services.4 Although few studieshave examined the long-term effects ofbeing uninsured among immigrant popu-lations, research on Latinos participatingin SCHIP and Medicaid consistently findsthat enrollment, even for short periods oftime, leads to better health outcomes.5

ACCESS BARRIERS TO HEALTH SERVICES

While providing health insurance is thefirst step to improving immigrants’ health,the availability of insurance coverage, by itself, does not automatically lead togreater utilization of health services.Newcomers also face access barriers relatedspecifically to their status as immigrantsor their limited English proficiency. These include:

• Confusion about program eligibilityand how to use the U.S. health caresystem. Health systems in immigrants'home countries often differ significantlyfrom the U.S system. Different eligibilityrequirements for various federal and statehealth programs add to the confusion,particularly in mixed-status families, inwhich some members may be eligible forcoverage and others may not, dependingon their immigration or citizenship status.

• Fears about consequences forimmigration status. Many immigrantsare reluctant to use any publicly fundedhealth programs because they are afraidof adverse immigration consequenceseven though most of their concerns areunfounded. Common fears include:

• Being labeled a “public charge,”which can result in difficulties obtain-ing permanent residency (“green card”),re-entering the country, or sponsoringa relative. This concern deters manyfrom seeking care, despite the fact thatreceipt of non-cash benefits, such asMedicaid and other publicly fundedhealth programs, are not a factor inpublic charge.6

• Making an immigrant’s sponsorfinancially liable for the immigrant’s useof public health programs. No state hasprioritized seeking reimbursement fromsponsors in these situations.7

• Providing sensitive informationabout family members that could leadto deportation or other negative immi-gration consequences. The verificationand reporting requirements in somestates’ application processes raiseconcerns that confidential informa-tion will be shared with immigrationenforcement officials.

• Language and cultural barriers.Approximately half of all foreign-bornadults in the United States speakEnglish with some limitations,8 andmany come from cultures that havevery different attitudes toward illnessesand medicine. These differences cancreate barriers to applying for healthcoverage and communicating withhealth care providers.9

BARRIERS TO HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

2. For details on health programs for whichundocumented immigrants qualify, see NationalImmigration Law Center. 2004. Guide toImmigrant Eligibility for Federal Programs. LosAngeles, CA: National Immigration Law Center.Available at www.nilc.org.3. Staudt, Kathleen and Randy Capps. 2004.“Con la ayuda de Dios? El Pasoans at theBorder.” In Philip Kretsedemas and Ana Aparicio,eds. Immigrants, Welfare Reform, and the Povertyof Policy. Westport, CT: Praeger.4. Fremstad, Shawn and Laura Cox. 2004.Covering New Americans: A Review of Federaland State Policies Related to Immigrants’Eligibility and Access to Publicly Funded HealthInsurance. Washington, D.C.: Henry J. KaiserFamily Foundation.5. Shone, Laura, Andrew Dick, Jonathan Klein,Jack Zwanziger, and Peter Szilagyi. 2005.“Reduction in Racial and Ethnic Disparities AfterEnrollment in the State’s Children’s HealthInsurance Program.” Pediatrics 115(6): 697-705;Ku, Leighton. 2005. Medicaid: Improving Health,Saving Lives. Washington, D.C.: Center onBudget and Policy Priorities.6. Fremstad and Cox, 2004.7. National Immigration Law Center. 2005.Overview of Immigrant Eligibility for FederalPrograms. Los Angeles, CA: National ImmigrationLaw Center. Available at www.nilc.org.8. Capps, Randolph, Michael Fix, Jeffrey Passel,Jason Ost, and Dan Perez-Lopez. 2003. A Profileof the Low-Wage Immigrant Workforce.Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute.9. A more detailed overview of the impact ofthese barriers, related language access legalrequirements, and strategies for overcomingthese barriers can be found in the “PromisingPractices in Language Access” section.

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Recognizing that a growing uninsuredpopulation undermines public health,

stretches already scarce emergency roomservices, and increases health care costsfor everyone, a number of states areusing their own funds to offer healthinsurance to low-income immigrantswho are ineligible for Medicaid or SCHIP.As of 2004, 22 states and the District ofColumbia were using state funds to pro-vide health coverage to some or all ofthese immigrants (See Figure 1). Almostall of these state programs provide coverage to immigrants with legal status, including low-income immigrantchildren and pregnant women, andabout two-thirds cover seniors, peoplewith disabilities, and the parents ofimmigrant children. Seven states usefederal SCHIP funds to cover prenatalcare for all women, regardless of immigration status.

Foundation-supported policy advocacyhas been critical to the developmentand preservation of these programs,especially in the states where the pro-grams have come under attack fromanti-immigrant forces or from state law-makers facing a budgetary crisis.10 Whileall of the traditional immigrant gatewaystates have enacted various state-funded health programs for immigrants,relatively few states in the South andMidwest have done so, creating oppor-tunities for foundations to support pol-icy advocacy efforts in these new gate-way states.

Supported by both foundation and gov-ernment funding, universal health insur-ance programs for children have greatlyexpanded over the past five years. As ofearly 2006, New York, Washington, D.C.,Massachusetts, Rhode Island, WashingtonState, Illinois, and a growing number ofcounties in California offer programsthat cover children without regard tocitizenship or immigration status.

STATE-FUNDED INSURANCEPROGRAMS

Figure 1: State-Funded Health Coverage for Immigrants Ineligible for Medicaid or SCHIP, May 2004

SOURCE:

Fremstad, Shawn and Laura Cox. 2004. Covering New Americans: A Review of Federal and State PoliciesRelated to Immigrants’ Eligibility and Access to Publicly Funded Health Insurance. Washington, D.C.: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

� 22 states providestate-funded coverage

� 28 states do not provide state-fundedcoverage

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SECURING STATE-FUNDEDSERVICES

California Immigrant WelfareCollaborative Los Angeles, Californiawww.caimmigrant.org

The work of the California ImmigrantWelfare Collaborative (CIWC), a partner-ship among four organizations, hasmade California a model for providinghealth and social service programs forlow-income immigrants. The 1996 fed-eral welfare and immigration lawsrestricting newcomers’ access to publichealth and social service programs had aparticularly harsh impact on California.While an estimated 40 percent of theimmigrants affected by the new restric-tions resided in the state, no singleorganization had the capacity to developa statewide response. Funding from TheCalifornia Endowment, The CaliforniaWellness Foundation, the Ford Foundation,and the David and Lucille Packard

Foundation made it possible for a coregroup of legal and community-basedorganizations (Asian Pacific AmericanLegal Center, Coalition for HumaneImmigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA),National Immigration Law Center, and Northern California Coalition forImmigrant Rights) to form CIWC.11 In itsfirst years, CIWC documented the harm-ful effects of these federal restrictionsand developed into a statewide networkthat successfully advocated for the con-tinued provision of public health careand social services to immigrants.

Over the course of several years, CIWCplayed a pivotal role in securing whatthe Urban Institute has described asone of the most “generous” and “com-prehensive” state-funded safety nets forimmigrants who lost eligibility for fed-eral programs.12 With state funding,California’s Medicaid and SCHIP pro-grams have remained available to allimmigrants who would have been eligi-ble prior to 1996. In addition, the state

created new food and cash assistanceprograms for immigrants who lost eligi-bility for federal Food Stamps andSupplemental Security Income (SSI), aswell as a state-only cash assistance pro-gram for legal immigrants who becameineligible for federal TemporaryAssistance for Needy Families (TANF).CIWC also helped preserve prenatal carefor low-income women regardless ofimmigration status.

CIWC’s success is especially striking inthat it came shortly after the passage ofthe anti-immigrant state ballot measureProposition 187,13 which proposed torestrict immigrants’ access to educationand public benefit programs. However,rather than allowing Proposition 187and federal welfare laws to paralyzeimmigrant communities, CIWC and otheradvocates used these harsh measures tobuild and mobilize support for newcom-ers. A key strategy was to increase thevisibility and involvement of affectedcommunities in policymaking. Severalfactors contributed to CIWC’s success:

• Rapid response and multi-yearsupport by funders. Early recognitionby funders of the developing crisis cre-ated by the 1996 laws made it possiblefor CIWC to launch a rapid, large-scaleresponse. And multi-year foundationsupport gave CIWC the opportunity toadvocate for incremental expansions ofreplacement programs that, over time,came to cover most immigrants who wereno longer eligible for federal programs.

• Combining policy analysis withcommunity-based advocacy. CIWC hasbeen effective because its membershave diverse and complementary skills,include broad-based immigrant rights

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11. The current organizational members of CIWChave changed slightly with Services ImmigrantRights and Education Network (SIREN) joining inthe early 2000s after the Northern CaliforniaCoalition for Immigrant Rights discontinued opera-tions.12. Zimmerman, Wendy and Karen Tumlin. 1999.Patchwork Policies: State Assistance for Immigrantsunder Welfare Reform. Washington, D.C.: UrbanInstitute. 13. Proposition 187 was an initiative approved byCalifornia voters in 1994 that, among other things,prohibited undocumented immigrants from attend-ing public schools and limited their access to pub-lic benefits programs. Proposition 187 never tookeffect; it was immediately enjoined by a federalcourt, which eventually ruled that the measure violated the U.S. Constitution.

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coalitions in Northern and SouthernCalifornia, and have access to a widerange of institutions and communitiesthat can mobilize public support.

• Extensive outreach to affectedpopulations. In its first three years,CIWC project staff traveled throughoutthe state and provided training on leg-islative changes to over 1,000 commu-nity organizations, ranging from largeservice providers to small, emergingimmigrant groups. Staff also conductedworkshops and presentations to morethan 10,000 immigrants, where they botheducated community members and broughtthem into the policymaking process.

• Empowering community groupsand immigrant leaders to participatein policymaking. This began in 1997with an annual “Immigrant Day” thatbrought up to 1,000 people to the statecapital to share their concerns directlywith policymakers. “The large size ofthese initial events,” recalls Susan Drake,then executive director of the NationalImmigration Law Center, “made a deepimpression on policymakers, as manywere only beginning to recognize thatnewcomers were a growing part of theirconstituencies.”

These activities, combined with growingrepresentation of minority communitiesin the state legislature, created oppor-tunities to build long-lasting support forincreasing immigrants’ access to publichealth and economic security programs.

Ten years after its inception, CIWC continues to protect access and servicesfor immigrants. With its extensive net-work and policy advocacy experience,CIWC emerged as the leading pro-immigrant voice in the state capital.

RESTORING HEALTH INSURANCE FOR LOW-INCOME IMMIGRANTS

Children’s AllianceSeattle, Washingtonwww.childrensalliance.org

In 2002, the Washington State legisla-ture responded to a budgetary crisis bycutting some of its health care programs,including eliminating three insuranceprograms for low-income individualswhose immigration status made themineligible for Medicaid. These cutsaffected over 28,000 people, 90 percentof them children. While individuals wholost coverage were eligible for the state’sBasic Health program, less than halfenrolled because the program requiredmonthly premiums and significant co-pays, offered fewer medical services, andprovided few language access services.14

Although the cuts initially caught healthadvocates by surprise, they quicklydeveloped a campaign to restore cover-age for tens of thousands of children.Recognizing that Washington State hastraditionally been a leader in expandingpublic health insurance coverage and

that the public was generally supportiveof providing children with health services,Children’s Alliance and other advocacygroups developed a multi-year campaignto restore the cuts through the followingstrategies:

• Developing a broad coalition oforganizations and institutions thatsupported restoring health insurance forimmigrants, including local governments,community-based organizations, clinics,hospitals, and private businesses.

• Working with health providers toidentify individual stories that put ahuman face to the cuts. These storiesincluded children who were no longerable to receive preventive care or couldnot afford needed medical procedures.

• Providing legislators and govern-ment officials with analysis of thecuts’ impact. Children’s Alliance beganpublishing policy bulletins immediatelyafter the cuts took effect, showing highnumbers of children losing coverage. Italso worked with researchers on a report(supported by the Henry J. Kaiser FamilyFoundation) that provided detailedanalysis of the cuts’ harmful effects andtrue costs.15 The report showed that the“cuts” actually resulted in substantialcost shifting to county public healthagencies and local clinics.

• Developing public messages thatpromoted coverage for immigrantchildren as part of an overall campaignto increase health care coverage forall children. Children’s Alliance foundthat its message resonated better withpolicymakers and the public as part ofan effort to help all children, includingU.S. citizens, who were losing healthinsurance because of recent budget cuts.

As a result of this campaign, the legis-lature and the governor restored thepreviously cut health insurance cover-age for all children, including programsfor immigrant children, regardless ofimmigration status. Research and advo-cacy played a key role in convincing

14. Gardner, Mark and Janet Varon. 2004. MovingImmigrants from a Medicaid Look-Alike Program toBasic Health Insurance in Washington State: EarlyObservations. Washington, D.C.: Henry J. KaiserFamily Foundation.15. Ibid.

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policymakers to reverse these cuts. AsLiz Arjun of Children’s Alliance observes,“They may have initially thought theircuts would have minimal effect. Butwhen we showed them that tens ofthousands of children were no longerreceiving regular medical care and thecost savings were minimal, they realizedthat taking health insurance away fromimmigrant children and children in gen-eral was a bad decision.”

PROMOTING COVERAGE FOR ALL CHILDREN

County and Statewide Approaches in Californiawww.insureallkids.org

In 2000, government and communityleaders in California’s Santa ClaraCounty came together to determine thebest way to allocate new monies thatwould be arriving from the TobaccoSettlement Fund. After considering vari-ous options, they identified a key prior-ity: to make fundamental changes inthe fragmented and confusing systemthat prevented many eligible childrenfrom enrolling in publicly funded healthinsurance programs.

The system was especially difficult forimmigrant families, the majority ofwhich have mixed immigration status.Depending on the children’s citizenshipor immigration status, an immigrantfamily could have one child eligible forMedicaid, one child eligible for theState Child Health Insurance Program(SCHIP), and one child eligible for nopublicly funded health coverage at all.

It became clear to these leaders thatthe County needed to create a moreefficient, better coordinated system toincrease both coverage and enrollmentof qualified children. After more than ayear of planning, the Children’s HealthInitiative (CHI) was launched in 2001.CHI has three components: (1) healthcoverage for all children in Santa ClaraCounty whose family income was under300 percent of the federal poverty leveland who were not currently eligible forexisting Medicaid or SCHIP coverage; (2)expanded and coordinated outreach toincrease enrollment; and (3) significantstreamlining of enrollment processesacross multiple public programs.

“What people inside the health systemsaw was that a lot of children who wereeligible for programs were not enrollingbecause the system was so tough tonavigate. They felt they had a responsi-bility to simplify the system and createan enrollment program that would reallywork,” says Laura Hogan, director ofAccess to Health Services at The CaliforniaEndowment. In December 2005, TheCalifornia Endowment awarded $7.5 million in grants to local Children’sHealth Initiatives in counties through-out California as part of its ongoingsupport of such efforts.

The initial idea in Santa Clara Countyoriginated at the grassroots. Two localadvocacy groups—Working PartnershipsUSA, a labor-based research group, and the faith-based People Acting inCommunities Together (PACT)—knew

that the tobacco money would be coming in and quickly drew up a plan to provide health coverage to childrenwhose family income and immigrationstatus left them uninsured.

Although Medicaid and SCHIP coverchildren under 250 percent of the fed-eral poverty level, there was nothing forchildren in families who earned morethan that threshold yet too little toafford private health insurance. Ineligiblefor any publicly funded health coverage,undocumented children also fell throughthe cracks.

To implement the program, WorkingPartnerships USA and PACT partneredwith the County Health Department, the First Five Commission, the SocialServices Agency, the Santa Clara HealthPlan, and officials at both the countyand city levels. From the very begin-ning, the Children’s Health Initiative inSanta Clara has been a partnershipbetween the private and the public sec-tors. While the proportion varies fromcounty to county, all counties with aChildren’s Health Initiative are public-private partnerships, supported by pub-lic funds as well as foundation grantsand other private donations.

“In just about every county, it’s been acooperative and collaborative effort on thepart of a lot of different sectors, andthat’s what makes it so powerful,” notesRebecca Stark, program coordinator at PICOCalifornia, which is working to promotestatewide health coverage for children.©

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people understand that health

coverage for all children is both the

right thing to do and the smart thing

to do.”

—Laura Hogan, Program Director,The California Endowment

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Under the CHI guidelines, all children up to the 300 percent of the federalpoverty level are guaranteed health coverage, meaning that in 2006, ahousehold of four can earn up to$60,000 and still qualify. CHI, unlikethe state’s Medicaid and SCHIP pro-grams, also covers undocumented chil-dren. “It’s a program for all kids, soimmigration status doesn’t become anissue,” says Linda Baker, program officerat the David and Lucile PackardFoundation.

The Children’s Health Initiatives thatmany California counties have adoptedalso streamline a daunting applicationprocess. Under such programs, allincome-eligible families, even thosethat include children in mixed-statusfamilies, fill out a single applicationwith the assurance that all of their children will be enrolled in a health care program. Moreover, children in onefamily are able to see the same providersregardless of the program in which theyare enrolled.

“When Santa Clara gave families a simplemessage that they could enroll in oneplace with one application, families didcome in and enroll,” Hogan says.

This strategy eliminated the confusionand intimidation that prevented manyfamilies from applying in the first place,significantly increasing enrollment in allthree public health insurance programs.In its first two years alone, Santa Clara’sChildren’s Health Initiative increasedenrollment in Medicaid and SCHIP in thecounty by 28 percent.

Santa Clara County’s success helped spurthe creation of similar programs in 17other counties, including, significantly,Los Angeles County which started aninitiative in 2003 and already hasenrolled 43,000 children. In all, theseinitiatives have provided coverage tomore than 80,000 children in California

and assisted in enrolling another 80,000in Medicaid and SCHIP. As of 2005, 90percent of all children in California wereinsured, either through public or privateinsurance programs. In pioneering SantaClara County, this statistic reached animpressive 98 percent.

Planning of similar initiatives in a numberof other counties is underway. “Themost important thing for a county to dowhen starting an initiative is to buildthe right coalition of people, and it hasto be a broad coalition that includesbusiness, teachers, health providers, andothers,” advises Hogan. “You have tohave champions who really want toachieve this goal and believe in what’shappening.”

Hogan further explains, “In polling,we’ve discovered that people understandthat health coverage for all children isboth the right thing to do and thesmart thing to do. Issues related toimmigration status do not weigh heavily

in the public’s mind when consideringthe benefit of this policy change. Thefeeling is that they didn’t come here oftheir own choosing, they are in societynow, and they are here to stay.”

In addition to addressing ethical and societal responsibility, having aChildren’s Health Initiative providespractical economic benefits.

“Investing in insurance for children,especially undocumented children, pro-vides them with greatly improved accessto care. And, the fact that CHI bringsinsurance to nearly all children pullsinto the system many children who havebeen eligible for insurance but were notpreviously enrolled. This is smart fiscalpolicy,” Baker says. She also notes thatin 2001 and 2002, the evaluation of theSanta Clara initiative showed that the28 percent increase in enrollment in thestate’s Medicaid and SCHIP programs hasbrought nearly $25 million in federaland state dollars into the county, whichlocal officials appreciate and need.

Although the initiatives vary slightlyfrom county to county, they remainlargely similar for pragmatic and long-term fiscal reasons. But their compre-hensive approach to coverage—and thehigh level of demand for coverage—means that the initiatives cannot besustained in the long term by local dol-lars alone. Funding, especially for smallrural counties, is a major challenge.

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When Santa Clara gave families

a simple message that they

could enroll in one place with one

application, families did come in and

enroll.”

—Laura Hogan, Program DirectorThe California Endowment

It’s a program for all kids, so

immigration status doesn’t

become an issue.”

—Linda Baker, Program OfficerDavid and Lucile Packard

Foundation

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policy,” Baker says. She also notes thatin 2001 and 2002, the evaluation of theSanta Clara initiative showed that the28 percent increase in enrollment in thestate’s Medicaid and SCHIP programshas brought nearly $25 million in fed-eral and state dollars into the county,which local officials appreciate and need.

Although the initiatives vary slightlyfrom county to county, they remainlargely similar for pragmatic and long-term fiscal reasons. But their compre-hensive approach to coverage—and thehigh level of demand for coverage—means that the initiatives cannot besustained in the long term by local dol-lars alone. Funding, especially for smallrural counties, is a major challenge.

“Each county has used a different strat-egy for funding,” Baker explains. “Theyall use First Five, tobacco settlementmoney, county general funds, privatedonations, and foundation dollars, butat this point, the demand for services isso high that waiting lists are forming,and fundraising has become a chal-lenge. It’s not easy.”

The hope, says Baker, is that eventuallyall the programs in each county canbecome one statewide initiative.

A coordinated advocacy effort is under-way to make this hope a reality. Thiseffort is led by PICO California and the100% Campaign, which is a coalition ofthree children’s advocacy organizations:Children Now, The Children’s Partnership,and Children’s Defense Fund.

Two strategies are simultaneously inplay: working through the budget andlegislative process in the CaliforniaGeneral Assembly and passing astatewide tobacco-tax ballot initiative.If either the legislation or the initiativewere to pass, statewide universal healthinsurance for low-income children wouldbecome a reality. California would joinsix other states in the country thatoffer such coverage.

Supporters of universal health coveragefor children in California continue theirefforts to win public support for theballot initiative and the bill under con-sideration in the General Assembly,while also advocating for state fundingfor county-level initiatives. This multi-strategy approach is particularly impor-tant because several counties havestarted to freeze their Children’s HealthInitiative enrollment due to insufficientfunding.

With the number of uninsured and thecost of health care skyrocketing, afford-able health coverage is vital to thewell-being of low-income families.Hogan sums it up this way, “Health is a cornerstone of immigrant integrationas much as education and learningEnglish. If a family has health insurancefor their children, then those childrenare in school learning and not homesick. Their parents don’t have to misswork as often and can stabilize theirfamily financially. Medical bills are thenumber-one cause for bankruptcy, sothis is also about protecting the familyagainst the financial difficulty thatcomes along with being uninsured.”

Watch the DVDCalifornia Healthy Kids

Most of us agree that all children,regardless of their immigration status,deserve to be healthy. Be inspired byan energetic and wide cross-section ofgrassroots and grass-tops stakeholders

as they raise the long-term implications—and the short-term

urgency—of universal healthcare for every child.

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In 2006, Illinois became the

first state in the nation to

provide universal health coverage

for all children through age 18, with

graduated premiums based on family

income. The All Kids program,

effective July 1, 2006, provides

coverage for preventive care, dental

and vision services, hospital costs,

and prescription medicine.

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Helping immigrants become more famil-iar with the U.S. health care system andthe services for which they are eligibleis an important first step toward self-sufficiency.

ELEMENTS OF PROMISINGPRACTICES

Successful health outreach and commu-nication campaigns that target newcomersrequire addressing the immigrant-specific barriers discussed above (e.g.,language, culture, and perceived andreal immigration consequences), help-ing them understand how to access andreceive medical services, and communi-cating the information through multiplesources that are trusted by the targetedcommunity. General elements of aneffective health outreach effort target-ing newcomers include:

• Culturally appropriate materialsand messages. Simply translating materials into other languages is notenough; messages and materials need tobe developed specifically for the targetedaudience. Public health campaigns areincreasingly using market research,focus groups, and community discus-sions to identify appropriate messagesand messengers. “

• Targeted campaigns that utilizeethnic or foreign-language print andelectronic media. Many immigrant fam-ilies rely upon media sources in theirnative language for information andnews. Research suggests that healthoutreach efforts conducted through eth-nic media can be less costly and moreeffective in reaching newcomers thanmainstream media campaigns.16

• Community-based strategies.Effective strategies include distributinginformation at neighborhood fairs, mak-ing presentations at community meet-ings or churches, and going door-to-door in immigrant enclaves. Combininga targeted media campaign with com-munity-based outreach is an especiallypromising approach.17

• Provider-based outreach. Trustedand accessible clinics and health centerworkers can be very effective in com-municating information and encourag-ing enrollment in public health pro-grams. In Los Angeles, for instance, 40percent of all applications to the stateSCHIP program come through healthproviders, more than twice the numberfrom any other single source.18

• School-based strategies.Promising practices include programsthat link enrollment of children in pub-lic health programs with the applicationprocess for subsidized school lunches.

Although these general strategies canbe utilized with most immigrant popu-lations, differences in beliefs and back-ground need to be taken into account.For instance, focus groups reveal thatsome ethnic groups are less likely toenroll in health programs because ofimmigration concerns, while the pri-mary barriers for others are languagecapacity or misunderstandings of eligi-bility requirements.19 Outreach needs totake into account these differences andshould incorporate media outlets andcommunity-based groups that aretrusted by each targeted group.

MULTIMEDIA HEALTH OUTREACH CAMPAIGN

North Carolina Division of PublicHealth and North Carolina HealthyStart FoundationRaleigh, North Carolinawww.ncpublichealth.comwww.nchealthystart.org

In 2000, North Carolina officialslaunched an outreach campaign to pro-mote awareness of the state’s publiclyfunded children’s health insurance pro-grams among Latino families. Ratherthan simply translating materials into

16. USC Division of Community Health. 2006.Reaching Out and Reaching In: Understanding Effortsto identify and Enroll Uninsured Children into HealthInsurance Programs. Los Angeles, CA: The CaliforniaEndowment.17. USC Division of Community Health. 2006.Reaching Out and Reaching In: Understanding Effortsto identify and Enroll Uninsured Children into HealthInsurance Programs. Los Angeles, CA: The CaliforniaEndowment.18. Ibid.19. Ibid.

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toll-free, bilingual hotline that providesinformation and referral on material andchild health. The campaign includedprint materials, advertisements, andradio programming featuring “Ana Maria,”a trustworthy Mexican woman and her family.

One highlight of the campaign is a col-orful “fotonovela,” or picture book, fea-turing Ana Maria’s family. The bookexplains complicated information in aformat that is familiar to the intendedaudience. Bilingual state andFoundation staff held focus groups tounderstand what information could help“bridge” Latinos from their previoushealth care systems to the one in theUnited States. This research was used todesign and distribute the fotonovelaand other bilingual materials to commu-nities across the state through a net-work of community service providers,clinics, businesses, and outreach work-ers. Nearly 500,000 copies of Spanishoutreach materials were distributed in2005. The materials were reinforcedthrough the placement of news storiesand advertisements in Spanish media.

The popular “Ana Maria” now appears inmaterials on other health topics, suchas obtaining preventive health care forchildren, reducing the risk of SuddenInfant Death Syndrome, the dangers ofsecondhand smoke, and the importance offolic acid for women of childbearing age.

To expand its efforts, the Foundationlaunched a Spanish website(www.nchealthystart.org/enespanol) inearly 2006 with information on childhealth insurance, the state’s health caresystem, infant mortality reduction,women's health, pregnancy, and infantcare. All materials can be easily down-loaded or ordered from the site.

Although the program’s impact is stillbeing assessed, observers note that theLatino community’s contact with publichealth programs has increased signifi-cantly. More than 25 percent of the callsto the state’s health resource hotline in2005 were made by Spanish-speakingindividuals, and 77 percent of thesecallers inquired about the state’schild health insurance program.

Spanish, the state’s Division of PublicHealth entered a unique public-privatepartnership with the North CarolinaHealthy Start Foundation to developappropriate messages and strategies tar-geting Latinos through a broad mediaand community outreach campaign.

The success of this on-going campaignis due in large measure to the partners’collective vision, cooperation, and will-ingness to build on each partner’sstrengths and expertise. The projectbegan by convening an advisory panelof Latino advocates, holding consumerfocus groups, and hiring one of thestate’s first Latino public relationsfirms. The result was a multi-facetedcampaign to promote a state-run,

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INCREASING ENROLLMENT IN PUBLIC HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAMS

GEM: Get Enrollment MovingA project of Citrus Valley Health PartnersCovina, Californiawww.cvhp.org/gem

Another approach to increasing immigrants’ enrollment in public healthprograms is face-to-face outreach.Although this type of outreach can belabor intensive, it can help alleviatefears, build trust, and provide accurateinformation to families who otherwisewould be hard to reach.

Over the last five years, Citrus ValleyHealth Partner’s Get Enrollment Moving(GEM) project has successfully utilizedthis approach to enroll nearly 30,000people into California’s Medicaid, SCHIP,and public health programs for childrenand pregnant women. GEM estimatesthat approximately 85 percent of theenrollees are Latino, three-quarters havelimited English skills, and nearly 35 per-cent live in a family headed by at leastone undocumented adult.

GEM started in 2001 in response to thegrowing number of immigrant families inthe San Gabriel Valley that lacked healthinsurance. GEM recognized that a successful outreach program requirednot only educating immigrants abouttheir health insurance options but alsoaddressing deep-rooted fears and mis-perceptions about the immigration con-sequences of using public programs.

The result was the creation of a programof volunteer health educators, “promo-toras de salud,” who go door-to-door inlow-income neighborhoods to personallyurge eligible families to enroll in publichealth programs. The volunteers, trainedand supervised by GEM staff, visit fami-lies, provide health care information,and identify individuals who are eligiblefor coverage. At GEM’s central office,multilingual staff members provideapplication assistance. As of early 2006,GEM had over 300 volunteers in the pro-motora program covering 27 zip codes

east of Los Angeles. The promotorasalso work with GEM staff to provideinformation and enrollment opportuni-ties at churches, schools, health clinics,community centers, nonprofits, andbusinesses. GEM estimates that its out-reach program makes contact withapproximately 18,000 families each year.

Several factors have contributed to thesuccess of GEM’s promotora program:

• Recruiting volunteers from thecommunity. Volunteers share the cul-ture and language of community mem-bers and face some of the same chal-lenges (e.g., limited English skills,poverty, and undocumented immigrationstatus). Volunteers can build trust withresidents and help them overcome fearsof enrolling in public health programs.

• Making volunteers partners inprogram development. GEM looks tothe promotoras for leadership in devel-oping outreach strategies. The coordina-tor of the promotora program describesher approach as “helping to lead theprogram from beside.” The GEM staffmeets with the volunteers weekly togather and incorporate feedback, ideas,and concerns. GEM also holds an annualretreat with volunteer leaders to discusschallenges facing the program, as wellas to offer an opportunity for respite,education, and camaraderie.

• Providing volunteers with anappropriate level of training andencouraging collaboration with healthworkers. GEM provides all volunteers training on the U.S. healthcare system and eligibility requirements

for public health insurance programs.According to Silvia Rodriguez, executivedirector of GEM, “The promotoras play acritical role in outreaching and identifyingpeople who are eligible. Our staff has acomplementary role in answering thetechnical questions and helping identi-fied individuals enroll in a health plan.”

• Providing personal support andprofessional development opportuni-ties for promotoras. The promotoraprogram helps volunteers develop healthcare knowledge and communicationskills, build self-esteem, gain workexperience, and access professionaltraining courses. In fact, several currentGEM staff originally started as promo-toras. Rodriguez notes that being sup-portive of volunteers encourages long-term participation and strengthens theprogram. “These women are becomingempowered and are taking it as theirmission to start addressing other issuesin their community,” she says. “Theiractivities will not only make a huge dif-ference in their own lives but ultimately,it will benefit their communities.”

The GEM’s promotora program is beingevaluated by researchers at the USCDivision of Community Health. GEMreceives funding from The CaliforniaEndowment, Kaiser Permanente, First 5LA, and L.A. County Department ofHealth Services.

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relationships with specific communities,provide services and advocacy in neigh-borhood centers, and have the languageand cultural expertise to communicateeffectively. All eight community organi-zations receive training and technicalassistance from the policy and legalorganizations, and each employs atleast one part-time bicultural, bilingualhealth advocate. The Collaborative’sactivities include:

• Conducting community educationand outreach to raise the awarenessand confidence of immigrants andrefugees interacting with the healthcare system. Community workshops,public education materials, and outreachthrough the ethnic media inform immi-grants of their rights to health care,their eligibility for insurance and afford-able payment options, and any potentialimmigration consequences.

• Providing direct assistance toimmigrants and refugees who havebeen unable to access or pay forhealth care. With technical assistanceprovided by the policy and legal organi-zations, the community health advo-cates help address problems involvinglack of access to services, health cover-age, hospital payments, or discrimina-tion. The initial four community groupsin the Collaborative assisted over 1,100clients annually. The numbers haveincreased with the addition of four newcommunity groups in 2005.

• Using knowledge gained frominteraction with individual immi-grants to develop recommendationsfor policy reform. With the informationprovided by the community partners,the Collaborative has been able to pro-vide feedback to hospitals and otherpublic agencies on improving their serv-ices (as well as file civil rights complaintswhen agencies have been unresponsive).The Collaborative is also bringing immi-grant voices to health policy debates atthe state and national levels.

• Developing the skills of immi-grant-serving organizations throughongoing capacity-building partner-ships. This project has developed thecapacity of relatively small immigrant-based organizations to provide accurateand timely health information to com-munity members. The community part-ners, in turn, are able to implementbroad public education in multiple lan-guages and can mobilize their communi-ties to support public policy reforms.

The Collaborative has an annual budgetof approximately $250,000, with fund-ing from Elebash Fund, United HospitalFund, Alman Foundation, New YorkCommunity Trust, Long Island CommunityFoundation, and Westchester CommunityFoundation. “All of the organizations inthe Collaborative are responding to theircommunities’ need for accurate healthinformation and advocacy, and theydevote considerably more resources tohealth care work than what they receivethrough these grants,” Gurvitch pointsout. “But what the grants have done isallow them to go deeper on these issues,work together, learn from each other, anddevelop a coalition that has addressedshared challenges far beyond what anysingle group could do by itself.”

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21. The eight community organizations are HaitianAmericans United for Progress, Korean CommunityServices of Metropolitan New York, Latin AmericanIntegration Center, Shorefront YW-YMHA ofManhattan-Brighton Beach, Council of PeoplesOrganization, Filipino American Human Services,Make the Road by Walking, and Reconciliation andCulture Cooperative.22. Bernstein, Nina. 2006. “Recourse Grows Slim forImmigrants Who Fall Ill,” The New York Times, March 3.

PROVIDING ACCURATE HEALTH INFORMATION

Immigrant Health Access andAdvocacy CollaborativeA project of the New YorkImmigration CoalitionNew York, New Yorkwww.thenyic.org

Addressing barriers to low-income immigrants’ access to health care in NewYork City is the mission of theImmigrant Health Access and AdvocacyCollaborative. Begun in 2000, theCollaborative involves the New YorkImmigration Coalition, New York Lawyersfor the Public Interest, and eight com-munity organizations that serve new-comers. Together, these orgainizationsprovide outreach, training, individualassistance, and systemic advocacy onpublic health care.21

According to Project Director AdamGurvitch, nearly two-thirds of uninsuredadults in New York City are immigrants,and the rate of uninsured immigrantchildren is five times higher than thecity average, even though all childrenare eligible for the state’s SCHIP pro-gram. These disparities are due in largepart to conflicting messages aboutimmigrants’ rights to public health careand the risks of using such services.Since September 11, 2001, newcomershave only become more fearful of theimmigration consequences of using pub-lic health resources. As The New YorkTimes observed, “More and more immi-grants are delaying care or retreatinginto a parallel universe of bootleg reme-dies and unlicensed practitioners.”22

The Collaborative has been successful in addressing these misunderstandingsbecause the partners are trusted com-munity groups that have longstanding

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INCREASING ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE

La Promesa and Adult Role ModelsPlanned Parenthood Southeastern Floridawww.plannedparenthood.org

Responding to the fast-growing Latinoand immigrant communities in south-eastern Florida, Planned Parenthood ofGreater Miami, Palm Beach, and TreasureCoast Area (Planned Parenthood)23

established two programs, La Promesaand Adult Role Models, to increase thesecommunities’ awareness and access toreproductive health.

La Promesa’s goal is to “break down bar-riers to reproductive health care for theHispanic population,” says Maria Kulp,vice president of education of the localPlanned Parenthood. The program usesbilingual community health workers,known as “promotoras de salud,” toconduct outreach and communicate withSpanish-speaking individuals, primarilywomen, served by its health centers.Reflecting the area’s ethnic diversity,the promotoras include women from theCaribbean, Mexico, and Central America.

In addition to increasing the access ofLatina immigrants to Planned Parenthoodservices, La Promesa works to heightentheir awareness of reproductive andfamily health issues, promote earlydetection of and reduce the mortalityrate for breast and cervical cancer, andassist families in communicating effec-tively about sexual and reproductivehealth.

La Promesa promotoras typically connectwith their Spanish-speaking clients atoutreach events, including health fairs,after-school programs, and presentationsat faith-based organizations. They alsogo door-to-door to homes, markets, andbusinesses in Latino communities.

To encourage Latina women to seekhealth services, La Promesa offers freePap smears and linguistically and cultur-ally appropriate services. “We startedthis knowing that Latina women proba-bly are one of the worst groups at seek-ing care for themselves. We wanted todo outreach to promote the health cen-ter, let them know that this was afford-able. The program just took off andbecame a lot larger than anyone hadanticipated,” Kulp says.

When women call to make an appoint-ment at a Planned Parenthood healthcenter, they are asked for their languagepreference. If their response is Spanish,a La Promesa staff person will usuallygreet the person on arrival to the office,help with the completion of forms, andfollow-up with the individual after themedical appointment as needed. Kulpestimates that about 3,000 women areserved through La Promesa each year,and the program has increased requestsfor contraception at Planned Parenthoodoffices in southeastern Florida by 129 percent.

Planned Parenthood also operates AdultRole Models (ARM), a unique trilingualprogram that utilizes parent volunteersto educate youth and the broader com-munity about sexual health and teenpregnancy. It works with three agencies

that primarily serve Latinos, Haitians,and African-Americans to recruit parentsfrom those communities to participatein the program and organize trainings inEnglish, Spanish, and Creole. ARM alsoprovides 75 hours of training to parentvolunteers on information about sexual-ity. Topics include contraception,puberty, sexual orientation, prenatalcare, HIV/AIDS, and more.

“The curriculum is designed to providethe Adult Role Models with current,accurate information on these topics.There is a pre- and post-test completedat each session to let us know if theyhave increased their knowledge…Additionally, at the end of the trainingsessions, the [role models] have todesign and present a workshop to thegroup that is taped to be able to givethem feedback,” Kulp explains.

After their training, these parents returnto their communities and train otherparents on how they can talk to theirchildren about sex. These sessions canbe either formal or informal in nature,depending on the experience of the par-ents who have finished their ARMstraining. While some, particularly thosewho were professionals in their nativecountries, teach at churches and com-munity groups, others prefer to teach in their homes. In 2005, the projecttrained over 70 parents, who in turnhave reached another 5,000 parents.

Although the ARM program, which has astaff of three, is funded solely by theChildren Services Council of Palm BeachCounty, La Promesa has received founda-tion support, including grants from theQuantum Foundation and the PicowerFoundation. The success of these pro-grams has led funders to urge thatPlanned Parenthood expand them tonearby counties. Planned Parenthoodchapters in St. Lucy County and MartinCounty have both adopted La Promesaprograms. St. Lucy County also has anARM program, and Martin County is considering launching one as well.

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23. Planned Parenthood of Greater Miami, PalmBeach, and Treasure Coast Area operates eighthealth centers in six counties. In 2005, the eightcenters served more than 30,000 individuals,approximately 17 percent of whom were Latino.

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While new immigrants frequently experi-ence communication problems in theirdaily lives, language and cultural barri-ers can be much more harmful whenimmigrants are seeking medical services.Miscommunications between medicalpersonnel and patients can have costlyand tragic consequences for both indi-vidual immigrants and the broader com-munity. A report by Grantmakers in Healthidentifies some of the harmful effects oflanguage barriers in health care:27

• Reduced access to health insurance,preventive care, and specialty services.

• Compromised patient understandingof diagnosis and treatment plans.

• Lower patient satisfaction.

• Lower quality of care, which canlead to serious complications andadverse clinical outcomes.

• Higher costs to the health care sys-tem through unnecessary testing as wellmedical complications resulting from thelack of treatment or misdiagnoses.

Conversely, there are a number of stud-ies showing the positive health effectsof providing LEP patients with languageservices. A review of these studies foundthat:

…[P]atients with limited English proficiency who are provided with...interpreters make more outpatient visits,receive and fill more prescriptions, donot differ from English proficientpatients in test costs or receipt ofintravenous hydration, have outcomesamong those with diabetes that are

24. Capps, Fix, Passel, et al., 2003. 25. Moran and Petsod. 2004. Newcomers in theAmerican Workplace: Improving EmploymentOutcomes for Low-Wage Immigrants and Refugees.Sebastopol, CA: Grantmakers Concerned withImmigrants and Refugees and NeighborhoodFunders Group.26. For a detailed analysis of relevant federal lawsrequiring language access, see: Perkins, Jane, MaraYoudelman, and Doreena Wong. 2003. EnsuringLinguistic Access in Health Care Settings: LegalRights and Responsibilities, 2nd Edition. LosAngeles, CA: National Health Law Program.27. Grantmakers In Health. 2003. In the RightWords: Addressing Language and Culture in ProvidingHealth Care. Washington, D.C.: Grantmakers InHealth.28. Ku, Leighton and Glenn Flores. 2005. “Pay NowOr Pay Later: Providing Interpreter Services InHealth Care.” Health Affairs 24: 435-444.

This federal law requires states, counties,and private health providers receivingfederal funds to make reasonableefforts to provide language assistanceto limited English proficient individuals.This longstanding requirement gainedsignificant public attention afterPresident Clinton issued ExecutiveOrder 13166 in 1999, requiring federalagencies to develop procedures for

TITLE VI OF THE 1964 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT

improving language access to their programs, as well as issuing specificguidance on how recipients of federalfunding should implement Title VI’s language access requirements. Thisorder has been affirmed by the Bushadministration, which has set up a web-site to provide guidance, best practices,and resources at www.lep.org.

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Providing newcomers with access tohigh-quality health care requires

that service providers and insuranceprograms be able to communicate withthem effectively. Because nearly half ofall immigrant adults speak English withsome limitations24 and 40 percent haveresided in the United States for lessthan 10 years,25 reducing language andcultural barriers is critical to increasingaccess to good health care.

The “Improving Language Access inGovernment Services” section of thistoolkit provides a general overview ofthe language barriers faced by newimmigrants, describes the legal obliga-tions of federal contractors and grantees(including public health agencies andmedical service providers) to providelinguistically accessible services, andhighlights promising practices. The general elements of a successful lan-guage access policy for assessment, plandevelopment, bilingual staffing, transla-tion of written materials, training ofstaff, evaluation, and outreach apply inthe health care setting as well. Healthcare organizations that receive federalfunds are required to make reasonableefforts to offer free language assistanceservices to limited English proficient(LEP) individuals.26

In addition to language, culture playsan important role in determining thequality of an individual’s interactionwith the health care system. Recentimmigrants often bring traditions andpractices unfamiliar to U.S. health careprofessionals, and they often have lim-ited experience with Western medicine.

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superior or equivalent to those ofEnglish-proficient patients, and havehigh satisfaction with care. LEPpatients with bilingual providers askmore questions, have better overallinformation recall, and are more com-fortable discussing sensitive or embar-rassing issues; those with hypertensionor diabetes have less pain and betterphysical functioning, psychologicalwell-being, and health perceptions andhave high patient satisfaction…28

ELEMENTS OF PROMISING PRACTICES

The health care sector has been a leaderin developing promising practices toreduce language and cultural barriers.There is federal funding available tosupport language assistance in healthprograms serving low-income families.In addition, several foundations havefunded projects that provide advocacy,technical assistance, and research sup-port to help states seek federal match-ing funds and develop long-term fund-ing streams for this purpose.29 Thehealth care sector has also been wellahead of other fields in developingstandards for providing linguistically and culturally competent services.

Improving communications betweenhealth care providers and recent immi-grants in the service delivery settinghas been the focus of most efforts toincrease access. Because of the diversityof health care providers (ranging fromsmall clinics to large public hospitals),varying demographics of local communi-ties, and differences in culture and lan-guage among immigrant communities, awide range of practices have been devel-oped over the years. They include:

• Assessing community needs anddeveloping administrative infrastruc-ture for providing language services.Each agency begins with an assessmentof the language needs of its servicepopulation and its capacity to servethese individuals. This is followed bythe development of a plan for communi-cating both verbal and written informa-tion. Providing funding for these initialsteps can encourage health care institu-tions to make the changes needed toserve LEP individuals.

• Increasing the number of bilingual/bicultural medical staffmembers. Research suggests that thebest way to provide medical services tonewcomers is through bilingual medicalproviders who are familiar with the culture of their patients. Foundation-supported projects in this area include(1) language and cultural training toexisting medical staff; (2) resources torecruit bilingual health workers, nurses,and physicians; and (3) programs totrain immigrants to become healthworkers.30

• Increasing interpretationresources. In recent years, a number ofthird-party interpretation models haveemerged, including (1) dedicated staffinterpreters at a specific hospital orclinic; (2) private or non-profit in-person contract interpreters; and (3)remote, third-party interpretation.Support for research in using innovativenew technologies has helped makeremote interpretation services—tele-phonic, videoconferencing,31 and remotesimultaneous medical interpreting usingwireless technology32—increasinglyviable. Initial research suggests thatthese approaches can enhance access tomedical interpretation because there isno wait for interpreters to be physicallypresent, and they may be more cost-efficient than in-person interpretation.

• Supporting translation of writtendocuments. Written materials are criti-cal to communicating health-relatedinformation. Patient care instructions,consent forms, medical history forms,and health education materials are allvital documents that should be language-accessible. Health care organizationsneed to identify and prioritize the mostimportant documents for translationinto languages commonly spoken by

patient populations. Ideally, translatedwritten materials should reflect the cul-tural nuances of the target populationand be at the appropriate educationaland literacy levels.

• Promoting advocacy and policyreform. As with efforts to expand immi-grant eligibility for state public healthprograms, advocacy is important indeveloping policies that lessen languageand cultural barriers to health care.Foundation-funded advocacy effortshave included projects to urge federalagencies to enforce existing languageaccess laws, advocate that states seekfederal reimbursement for languageservice costs, educate policymakers onthe importance of language access, andnegotiate with state or local healthagencies to develop effective accessplans. In some communities, founda-tions can also play a convening role inbringing various stakeholders together toaddress language and cultural barriers.

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29. See examples discussed in Grantmakers InHealth, 2003.30. See profiles of the International Institute ofMinnesota’s Medical Careers Project in the“Promising Practices in English Acquisition” sectionand the Welcome Back Initiative in the “PromisingPractices in Economic Mobility” section.31. Health Access. 2002. Videoconferencing MedicalInterpretation: The Result of Clinical Trials. Oakland,CA: Health Access.32. Youdelman, Mara and Jane Perkins. 2002.Providing Language Interpretation Services in theHealth Care Settings: Examples from the Field. LosAngeles, CA: National Health Law Program.

Watch the DVDHold Your Breath:The Doctor’s Office

Health care is a challenge for manyAmericans, and particularly problematic for

immigrants who may lack English skills, accessto care, and familiarity with Western medicine.

Hear from both “sides,” as an immigrant family faces confusing, possibly devastating

information, about their cancer-strickenfather, and as their American-born physician struggles with his own

cultural limitations.

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telephonic interpretation for doctors,dentists, nurses, and other medicalstaff. In 2004-05, its staff providedinterpretation for approximately 5,150medical appointments.

By all accounts, El Puente provides acritical service to both the local Latinocommunity and health agencies.Although providers have increased hir-ing of bilingual personnel and use ofcontract interpreters, El Puente contin-ues to play a major role in makinghealth services accessible. “The interpre-tation services provided by El Puente forour non-English speaking patients areextremely important for safe and effec-tive patient care,” explains BeckyKimmel, executive director of St. JohnMedical Center. “Both patients andthe medical community benefit from

increased understanding, which enablesus to deliver efficient and compassion-ate care.”

El Puente’s success suggests that itcould serve as a model for other immi-grant communities located in regionswhere bilingual medical resources arescarce and health care providers havelittle experience serving newcomers. Theproject has also played a role in easingpotential tensions between native-bornresidents and the growing Latino com-munity. According to El Puente execu-tive director Vida Day, the rapid growthin the Latino population had causedsome residents to perceive new immi-grants as a “drain” on the local healthcare system. “The nonprofit modelallows us to demonstrate the Latinocommunity’s commitment to finding asolution to this challenge, while alsodrawing resources from local foundationsand individuals.” As of 2005, El Puentereceived about half its revenues fromover 10 local foundations, with the remaining coming from individualdonors. “Funders should understand thattheir support is absolutely critical inrural communities,” says Day, “whereresources are scarce and their contribu-tions can make a tremendous differencein improving the health of immigrants.”

EFFECTIVE HEALTH INTERPRETATION SYSTEMS

Cambridge Health AllianceCambridge, Massachusettswww.challiance.org

Providing language access in large hospital settings requires more thanqualified interpreters. Well-designed systems are needed to enable providersand patients to utilize interpretersquickly and effectively. Research indi-cates that patient and provider satisfac-tion with language services depends inpart on how easily interpreters areavailable. When requests for interpreta-tion lead to delays, providers and LEPpatients often try to communicatewithout assistance, and over the long-term may be discouraged from request-ing interpreters altogether.

Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), whichoperates three large hospitals and 20primary care sites in the area north ofBoston, has developed an innovativesystem of language services. Key elementsinclude (1) development of a centralizeddispatch system; (2) training of medicalstaff on how to best utilize interpreters;(3) outreach to hospitalized LEP patients;and (4) ongoing monitoring and evalua-tion of the program.

In May 2005, almost three decadesafter it first started providing languageassistance to LEP patients, CHA adoptednew “one number calling” for all inter-pretation requests. Providers canrequest face-to-face or telephonic inter-pretation in the three languages pro-vided by CHA staff (Portuguese,Spanish, and Haitian Creole), as well asin over 40 languages that are providedby “per diem” interpreters.34 If staff orper diems are unavailable, the systemrefers providers to the telephonic inter-pretation services of a third party con-tractor. Prior to this system, CHA med-ical staff had to call different numbers

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33. All of the demographic information was provided by El Puente.

HEALTH INTERPRETATION SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS

El Puente (The Bridge) Jackson, Wyoming

Like many rural communities, TetonCounty, located on the Wyoming-Idahoborder, is undergoing dramatic demo-graphic changes. The availability ofagricultural and service jobs has drawnnewcomers to the region, and themostly Latino immigrant population hasgrown fourfold since 1995, to 2700 resi-dents. And these newcomers are seekingservices from the local health care sys-tem. In 1990, the primary local hospi-tal—St. John Medical Center—did notdeliver a single Latino baby. By 2005,over 24 percent of the babies born therewere Latino.33 Local health care providershave struggled to make their servicesaccessible to this fast growing population.

El Puente was started in October 2003to help address these challenges by pro-viding interpreter services and healthcare education for immigrants. El Puenteoffers medical interpreting services athospitals and medical offices free ofcharge to both patients and health careproviders. It also works with individualpatients to help them navigate the localhealth care system, enroll in insuranceprograms, and receive care as needed.With an annual budget of only $200,000and a staff of four full-time trainedmedical interpreters and six part-timeinterpreters, El Puente provides almost400 hours per month of in-person and

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based on their location and the lan-guage needed. The new system, whichutilizes automatic call distributionqueues staffed by Portuguese, Spanish,and Creole interpreters at 10 sites, notonly makes it easier for providers torequest assistance, it also helps CHAutilize its interpreter staff more effi-ciently. Interpreters at the three hospi-tals and seven health centers providetelephone interpreting to all 23 CHAsites, as well as face-to-face interpret-ing at their own sites. The new systemautomatically connects a caller to anavailable interpreter. These changeshave resulted in significantly less wait-ing time for LEP patients and more efficient use of CHA’s resources.

To implement the new system, CHA hasprovided orientation and training to itsmedical personnel. Equally important,CHA’s interpretation unit and the nurs-ing staff have worked to identify situa-tions in which interpretation is under-utilized. For instance, requests for inter-preters are less likely to occur for hospi-talized patients, who may then have dif-ficulty communicating discomfort, symp-toms, or other important information toinpatient care providers.

With support from the Blue Cross BlueShield of Massachusetts Foundation,CHA is installing dual handset speakerphones in its inpatient facilities neareach patient bed. CHA will train nursingstaff to identify situations that requireinterpretation, address the reluctance of some staff to utilize telephonic inter-pretation, and provide orientation topatients on how and when to request aninterpreter. Staff interpreters will alsoconduct daily visits to each inpatient-care facility, speak directly with LEPpatients, and record relevant informa-tion in the individual’s medical records.

According to Director of MultilingualInterpreting Loretta Saint-Louis, thenew system’s centralized nature allowsmanagers to monitor performance andidentify and respond to problems.“Overall,” says Saint-Louis, “the changeshave made the system easier to use andhave maximized our productivity.” Theaverage wait time for interpreter serv-ices in the three most common non-English languages is now less than oneminute. CHA’s interpreting volume grewby 14 percent in the first six months of

the program, while expendituresincreased by less than half that amount.Telephonic interpretation expanded byan astounding 82 percent, suggestingthat providers were becoming more com-fortable with the service. “While we stillhave a lot to learn and evaluate,” Saint-Louis notes, “the bottom line is thatthese changes have made it easier for LEPpatients to obtain accessible health care.”

INCREASING WORKFORCEDIVERSITY

Welcome Back InitiativeSan Francisco, Californiawww.e-welcomback.org

Providing accessible medical services tonewcomers requires hiring providers withrelevant cultural backgrounds and lan-guage skills. An innovative approach isthe Welcome Back Initiative, whichbuilds on the skills of internationallytrained immigrant health professionals.This California-wide project has helpedthousands of immigrant health workersbecome oriented to the U.S. health caresystem, enroll in English classes andhealth care courses, obtain requiredlicenses and credentials, and find jobsin the health field. The project is help-ing immigrants improve their economicsituations, while also making healthservices more accessible to newcomers.The Welcome Back Initiative is describedin detail in the “Promising Practices inEconomic Mobility” section.

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34. “Per diem” staff members are on-call employeeswho only come in when there is need for their services.

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Opened in 1913 in East Los Angeles bythe Seventh Day Adventist Church,White Memorial Medical Center startedas a medical clinic and slowly grew intoa major teaching hospital. Today, it isthe flagship facility for Adventist Health,a nonprofit that operates a number ofhealth facilities on the West Coast.

More importantly, White Memorial hasemerged as a powerful example forhow integrating newcomers into thehealth care system—as patients, healthprofessionals, vendors, leaders, andstakeholders—can reap enormous ben-efits for the receiving community.

White Memorial, says Ignatius Bau, aprogram director at The CaliforniaEndowment, is a story of “how an insti-tution that was increasingly becomingirrelevant in the neighborhood trans-formed itself by reaching out to theimmigrants and refugees that are nowthere. The way indigenous leadershipemerged to broker relationships betweenthe hospital and the community in alldifferent kinds of ways could be appliedto integration strategies beyond thehealth arena.”

Over the course of its history, WhiteMemorial experienced both lean timesand periods of expansion. In the decadesafter World War II, the hospital flour-ished as a pioneer in open-heart surgery

and other specialty procedures. But bythe 1980s, White Memorial, like othersafety-net hospitals that provided a sizableamount of uncompensated care, was facing a financial crisis and the possibilityof closure.

One reason for the hospital’s financialdecline was its slowness to adjust to thearea’s changing demographics. BeforeWorld War II, East Los Angeles was pre-dominantly home to immigrants ofJapanese and European descent. But bythe 1980s, working-poor Latino immi-grants, most of whom spoke Spanish astheir primary language, made up the vastmajority of the area’s population. Largelyuninsured patients began using the hospi-tal primarily for emergency services, leav-ing its specialty service underutilized. Anddespite the increase in Latino patients, thehospital had very few Latino or Spanish-speaking staff who could effectively serveits new patient population.

A STRATEGY FOR SURVIVAL

In the wake of its financial crisis, WhiteMemorial recognized that its future exis-tence depended on its ability to adapt tothis new demographic reality. It devised astrategy to build a closer relationship withthe growing Latino community by becom-ing a community-based hospital focusedon the area’s most critical health need: thesevere shortage of primary care providers,especially for Spanish-speaking patients.

White Memorial eliminated several of its specialized residency programs andshifted its focus to building the capacityto provide culturally competent primarycare to Latino patients. Over time, thehospital recruited a diverse professionalstaff, instituted effective training andretention programs, and learned how toincorporate neighborhood residents intoall aspects of the medical center’s activi-ties—as patients, employees, vendors,board members, and future health profes-sionals. In developing this successful strat-egy, White Memorial transformed itselfinto an invaluable community healthresource whose services and contributionsgo well beyond providing traditionalmedical services.

DIVERSIFYING THE HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE

Developing a diverse workforce, WhiteMemorial recognized, would be criticalto meeting the area’s health care needs.To increase the number of qualifiedhealth professionals, the hospital estab-lished the Family Medicine Residencyprogram to (1) recruit medical residentsfrom East Los Angeles, as well as otherswho plan to practice in underservedareas; (2) provide them with the skillsand understanding to be successful inworking with the health problems theyencounter in underserved areas; and(3) equip them with the knowledgeand networking needed to have a successful practice.

Developing local talent is a top priorityfor the residency program. Four of theseven founding members of the privatefamily practice group, who also serveas faculty for the Family MedicineResidency program, grew up uninsuredin East Los Angeles. With their leader-ship, White Memorial developed amulti-faceted strategy to prepare andrecruit neighborhood residents to workat the hospital. By expanding primarycare services to meet local needs, forexample, the hospital also created anopportunity to hire a number of newphysicians who were local residents orhad the necessary language and cul-tural skills to serve Latino patients.

According to Dr. Hector Flores, co-director of Family Medicine Residency,these changes “immediately increasedthe hospital’s opportunity to connectwith the community. It opened thedoor to the immigrant population.They began to feel that not only was[White Memorial] a good place to go if you needed emergency care, but itwas also a good place to go for all yourmedical needs, for keeping yourselfwell, managing a chronic condition,and so on.”

As part of its long-term strategy, theprivate family practice group also sup-ports pipeline programs to providementoring and increase interest inhigher education, especially the health

RESPONDING TO DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE, DRIVEN BY COMMUNITY NEEDS

WHITE MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER WWW.WHITEMEMORIAL.COM

White Memorial is a story of

how an institution that was

increasingly becoming irrelevant

in the neighborhood transformed

itself by reaching out to the

immigrants and refugees that are

now there. The way indigenous

leadership emerged to broker

relationships between the hospital

and the community in all different

kinds of ways could be applied

to integration strategies beyond

the health arena.”

–Ignatius Bau, Program DirectorThe California Endowment

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professions, among local high schoolstudents. It also developed partnershipswith two science magnet schools thatbring students and residence stafftogether regularly. Cultivating the inter-est of area students serves multiplegoals: It increases the number of physi-cians interested in working in under-served areas; creates career paths andexpands economic opportunity foryoung people in the community; andincreases minority representation andcultural and linguistic competency inthe health field over the long term.

As of early 2006, the Family MedicineResidency Program had 86 graduates:70 percent are working in underservedareas, and 40 percent have remained inEast Los Angeles.

BUILDING CULTURAL COMPETENCE

Although many young physicians havea personal commitment to serving low-income communities, they may shyaway from the work because they arenot trained in the skills those environ-ments require. With funding from TheCalifornia Endowment, White Memorial’sFamily Practice Residency program cre-ated the Cultural Competence Initiativeto broaden the understanding of cul-tural competence beyond languageand ethnicity. Through the initiative,medical residents learn about cultural,gender, educational, and economicissues that have an influence on patients’health and the challenges the residentsmay face in delivering care to suchpatients. White Memorial’s family medi-cine clinic has served as a “living labo-ratory” for developing this curriculum,drawing on the real-life challenges thathealth professionals experience on adaily basis.

Significantly, all hospital departments arenow easily accessible to Spanish speakersonsite, via telephone, and on the Web. Allhospital staff receive training in cross-cul-tural interaction; many more communityresidents are on staff; and the hospital hasincreased community representation onits governing board.

RESPONDING TO COMMUNITY NEEDS

In the same spirit of responsiveness,White Memorial has looked to communityneeds to drive its service priorities. Forexample, it expanded its maternal andchild health care facilities and services toreflect the needs of the area’s demograph-ics, even though some of these services,like neonatal care, are very expensive. Thehospital also put in place other programsthat provide community members withinformation about how to access healthand related services that may be availableto them. Such programs, delivered inSpanish, demystify an otherwise compli-cated medical system for both immigrantand U.S.-born Latinos.

THE HEALTH INDUSTRY AS AN ECONOMIC ENGINE

The family medicine practitioners at WhiteMemorial understand that the health careindustry can be an engine for neighbor-hood economic growth, and they striveto benefit the community when they hireemployees and contract out services.

For example, local residents account forover half of hospital’s 1500-person work-force—from physicians and health educa-tors to clerks and janitors. Within the fam-ily practice group, which serves 45,000patients annually, about 95 percent of theemployees are women, many of whomare from immigrant backgrounds andabout half of whom are single heads ofhouseholds. For many nonprofessionalemployees, working for the family prac-tice group is their first job, and the groupis deliberate about providing support tohelp them achieve financial stability. Forexample, it provides training in financialliteracy and offers access to interest-freeloans that employees have used to pay offdebt, purchase homes, or send their chil-dren to college. As the practice has grown,it has also offered educational scholar-ships to employees and their family mem-bers who want to improve their careers.

Beyond their work within their practicegroup, family practitioners also haveworked to direct the $100 million thatWhite Memorial contracts with vendorsto businesses in East Los Angeles. Notlong ago, the hospital did no businesswith any East Los Angeles vendors, butas of 2004, between $22 and $25 mil-lion a year of White Memorial contractswas staying in East Los Angeles. This hashad an unexpected positive impact onincreasing health coverage for commu-nity residents. As local businesses thrive,they began to offer employees healthcare benefits, and increasing numbersof local employees are going to WhiteMemorial for their health care needs.

A VALUED COMMUNITY RESOURCE

Nearly 20 years ago, White Memorialchanged with its patient population.The choice has required the disman-tling of barriers, active outreach, andan infusion of ingenuity. Today, WhiteMemorial is thriving in the midst of theimmigrant community it serves. ForIgnatius Bau of The California Endowment,this success was due to “a prettyunique confluence of factors, but thelesson for others is how the organiza-tional transformation happened.”

On April 9, 2006, White Memorial celebrated the opening of a brand-new$200 million state-of-the-art facility. Amongthose celebrating the event were themayor of Los Angeles, a congressionalrepresentative, a city councilmember, theconsul general of Mexico, and a numberof local celebrities. They had gathered tocelebrate not just a hospital but thelifeblood of the community itself.

The beautiful $200-million

state-of-the-art building we

now have makes a statement to

the community that they are

welcome and that they deserve

the best of care, even if they are

poor. It is also a tribute to the

physicians who work here. And

it is all about this community

and its demographics.”

—Dr. Hector Flores, Co-DirectorFamily Medicine Residency

White Memorial Medical Center

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EVALUATING HEALTH PROGRAMS

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Family health and well-being play animportant part in the successful inte-gration of immigrants. However, it issometimes difficult to achieve dueboth to the structural barriers dis-cussed in this section and the stresscaused by the migration and the inte-gration process itself.

Therefore, evaluating efforts to pro-mote health and well-being shouldfocus both on program design andimplementation and the physical andmental health outcomes for immigrantfamilies.

In order to determine if a health initia-tive leads to outcomes illustrated in thechart below, foundations can collectthe following data:

• Number and percent of immigrantadults and children participating in benefitprograms (e.g., Food Stamps, SCHIP,Medicaid, other publicly funded healthinsurance programs).

• Number and percent of immigrantswho get regular blood pressure and cho-lesterol screenings, mammograms, Papsmears, and dental check-ups. Such datacan be obtained at health fairs and/orfrom local clinics.

• Number and frequency of visits to theemergency room. Data can be obtainedfrom the Agency for Healthcare Researchand Quality’s Medical Expenditure PanelSurvey and the National Health InterviewSurvey.

• Recruitment and retention of staffand/or volunteers who are familiar withthe immigrant’s culture and language.

OUTPUTS

• Analysis of health-relatedpolicies.

• Community-based advocacy for improvedhealth access and services.

• Increased allocation of localand state funds for healthprograms.

• Culturally and linguisticallyappropriate outreach, education, and services forimmigrant families.

OUTCOMES

Newcomers:

• Increased access to effectivehealth education and services.

• Increased food security.

• Improved physical and mentalhealth outcomes.

• Improved child well-being.

• Improved familial relationships(e.g., reduced intergenerationaltensions).

• Increased economic security.

Receiving community:

• Culturally and linguistically com-petent services.

• Accessible, affordable, qualitysystems and services.

• Healthier communities.

• Increased benefit from the contributions of immigrants.

These outputs leadto the followingoutcomes, which in turn encouragethese outputs tobecome morewidespread.


SOURCE:

Annie E. Casey Foundation. “Family EconomicSuccess: Building Strong Financial Futures forFamilies and Communities.” Retrieved from www.aecf.org/initiatives/fes/fes/ on March17, 2006.

• Number of agencies and servicesthat provide translation and interpreta-tion assistance. Samples of assessmentquestionnaires are available from:

• Andrulis, D., Delbanco, R.,Avakian, L., Shaw-Taylor, Y.“Conducting a Cultural CompetencySelf-assessment.”

• Dana, R.H., Behn, J.D. &Gonwa, T. 1992. “A Checklist forthe Examination of CulturalCompetence in Social ServiceAgencies.” Research on Social WorkPractice, 2, 220-233.

• Goode, T.D. 2005. PromotingCultural and Linguistic Competency:Self-assessment Checklist for PersonnelProviding Services and Supports inEarly Intervention and Early ChildhoodSettings. Washington, D.C.:Georgetown University NationalCenter for Cultural Competence.

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IGRANT IN

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Promising Practices in Promoting Economic Mobility

…[F]ull economic integration of immigrants requires that they have access not only to the informal financial sector but also to the formal one,including banking, insurance, pension funds, and other institutions. Onlyby using such institutions will immigrants successfully expand their rangeas entrepreneurs, become homeowners, build credit histories, save forretirement, and insure against financial and other risks.”

—Ben Bernanke, Chairman, Board of Governors of the United StatesFederal Reserve, “Financial Access for Immigrants: Learning from

Diverse Perspectives” Conference, April 16, 2004

INTRODUCTION 127

IMPROVING IMMIGRANTS’ EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS 129Challenges and Funding OpportunitiesProviding Accessible Workforce Development ServicesHelping Immigrants Use Previous Training and ExperienceMounting Public Campaigns to Improve Wages and Work Conditions

SUPPORTING IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSHIP 133Newcomers as Engines for Community DevelopmentCooperatives: Economic Mobility Strategy for Immigrant Women

INCREASING IMMIGRANTS’ ACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICES 138ChallengesElements of Promising PracticesDiversifying the Workforce of Financial Institutions Developing Immigrant-Serving Financial Institutions

USING TAX SERVICES AND CREDITS TO INCREASE FAMILY INCOME 143

EVALUATION 145

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INTRODUCTION

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1. Schmidley, Diane. Profile of the Foreign-BornPopulation in the United States: 2000. U.S. CensusBureau, Current Population Reports, Special StudiesNo. P23-206. December 2001.2. National Academy of Sciences. 1997. The NewAmericans: Economic, Demographic, and FiscalEffects of Immigration. Washington, D.C.: NationalAcademy of Sciences. The same study also foundthat immigrants’ contributions will play a huge rolein keeping the Social Security system viable for allAmericans. The net benefit to the Social Securitysystem if immigration levels remain constant isexpected to be $500 billion between 1998 through2022 and nearly $2 trillion through 2072. A morerecent study found that undocumented immigrants,alone, contribute at least seven billion dollarsannually to the social security system even thoughthey are not entitled to collect benefits. SeeRosenbaum, David and Robin Toner. 2005. “ToSocial Security Debate, Add Variable: Immigration,”The New York Times, February 16.3. Moran, Tyler and Daranee Petsod. 2003.Newcomers in the American Workplace: ImprovingEmployment Outcomes for Low-Wage Immigrants andRefugees. Sebastopol, CA: Grantmakers Concernedwith Immigrants and Refugees and NeighborhoodFunders Group.

Most newcomers, whether they voluntarily left their native countries

or were forced to migrate, come toAmerica in search of economic opportu-nities and the chance to build a betterlife. While the prospect of higher wagesand better educational opportunitieshas drawn many immigrants to theUnited States, their ability to realizethese aspirations depends on a combi-nation of their own skills, experience,and determination as well as the oppor-tunities and services offered by receivingcommunities.

Economic success and mobility are notonly motivators for immigrants, but theyare also key benchmarks of how wellimmigrant integration is occurring inreceiving communities. Higher wages andfinancial stability are often required beforeimmigrants can develop stronger ties tothe broader community. Moreover, eco-nomic success for newcomers is usuallyaccompanied by other indicia of integra-

tion, such asEnglish acquisition,higher educationattainment, citi-zenship, and civicengagement.

Newcomers’ economic motivations, combined with U.S. employers’ strongdemand for foreign workers, have madeimmigrants an increasingly importantforce within the U.S. economy. Immigrantsmake up one in eight workers in theUnited States1 and are expected toaccount for most of the nation’s workforcegrowth between 2006 and 2035. Buttheir economic contributions reach beyondthe workforce. In many urban areas,small businesses operated by immigrantshave played an important role in revital-izing neighborhoods and providing jobsand stability for local residents. Immigrantworkers also provide critical support tothe U.S. tax base. For instance, a 1997study by the National Academy ofSciences found that immigrants paidmore than $50 billion of taxes annuallyto all levels of government.2

The growth of the immigrant populationhas been accompanied by numerous stories of individual success, consistentwith the American folklore of how new-comers can achieve financial successthrough hard work and ingenuity.

Indeed, because the U.S. immigrationsystem favors legal migration by highlyskilled individuals, nearly one-quarter ofthe foreign-born population holds pro-fessional or managerial jobs,3 and someethnic groups have household incomesthat are significantly higher than thenational average.

However, these success stories cannothide the economic challenges faced bythe fastest-growing segment of thenewcomer population, which includesindividuals with relatively limited edu-cation or English skills and large num-bers of undocumented immigrants. Forthese immigrants, most of whom workin low-wage industries, current eco-nomic trends and existing governmentpolicies present numerous barriers thatimpede their economic mobility.

In many urban areas, small businesses operated by immigrants have played an important role in

revitalizing neighborhoods and providing jobs andstability to local residents.

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4. Fix, Michael E. and Jeffrey S. Passel. 2002.Immigrants and Welfare Reform. Washington, D.C.:Urban Institute.5.Capps, Randy, et. al. 2003. A Profile of Low-WageImmigrant Workforce. Washington, D.C.: UrbanInstitute.6. Schmidley, 2001.

Traditionally, immigrants achieveupward economic mobility in two ways.First, individual immigrants improvetheir wages over their lifetime as theygain training and experience in the U.S.job market. Second, each succeedinggeneration earns more than their parents,so that, over time, they come to resem-ble their native-born counterparts.Through high rates of workforce partici-pation and the formation of new busi-nesses, immigrants support their familiesas well the communities where they liveby generating tax revenues.

But for recently arrived immigrants withlimited English skills and educationalattainment, working long hours is notenough to stave off poverty. Forty-threepercent of immigrant families with atleast one full-time worker have incomesbelow 200 percent of the federal povertylevel compared to 26 percent of native-born workers.4

Having access mostly to low-paying jobsis a primary reason many immigrantslive in working poverty. Nearly half ofimmigrant workers earn less than twicethe federal minimum wage,5 and 63 per-cent of foreign-born workers, primarilyfrom Mexico and Latin America, work inservice, manufacturing, and agriculturaloccupations.6 These industries not onlypay low wages, but the jobs are oftenpart-time or seasonal and generally donot provide health insurance or otherbenefits. Consequently, only 26 percentof foreign-born workers receive job-basedhealth insurance compared to 42 percentfor U.S. citizens. As discussed below,the lack of employer-based health insur-ance is an especially difficult barrier forlow-income families to overcome.

In addition, federal policies that severelyrestrict access to critical health andsocial services such as Medicaid or FoodStamps impede the ability of immigrantfamilies to achieve economic mobility.As detailed below, when Congresspassed welfare legislation in 1996, itmade virtually all immigrants arriving inthe United States after August 22, 1996ineligible for major federal public bene-fits programs for at least their first five

years in the United States. Congress has since made some exceptions to thisrule, and a growing number of states,recognizing that such restrictive policies are harmful and costly, haveenacted their own immigrant-specifichealth and social services programs.Nevertheless, low-income immigrantsgenerally have less access to publicresources, such as health care, that are critical for achieving economic self-sufficiency. They also have few familymembers or social networks that canhelp cushion an economic blow such as job loss.

In response tothe unique chal-lenges facingimmigrants withlimited Englishskills and low educational attainment,foundations can play an important rolein supporting programs that help increasethis population’s economic mobility.

This section describes how funders canimprove immigrants’ economic mobilityby supporting programs that strengthenimmigrants’ ability to successfully enterand advance in the labor market;increase their knowledge of financialplanning and how to obtain affordableservices, including credit, from banksand other financial institutions; andencourage their participation in taxcredit programs intended to supportworking poor families.

Nearly half of immigrant workers earn less thantwice the federal minimum wage, and only 26 percent receive job-based health insurance, compared to 42 percent of U.S.-born workers.

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IMPROVING IMMIGRANTS’

EMPLOYMENTPROSPECTS

CHALLENGES AND FUNDINGOPPORTUNITIES

Despite their pivotal role in the U.S.economy, many immigrant workers faceenormous challenges in the labor force.Nearly half earn less than the minimumwage, compared to about one-third ofnative-born workers. For example, theaverage low-wage immigrant workerearned $14,400 in 2001.7 Many of theissues facing low-wage immigrant work-ers are discussed in other sections ofthe toolkit; therefore, this section pro-vides only a brief summary of criticalemployment barriers and how funderscan support employment mobility fornewcomer populations.8

• Many immigrants have limitedEnglish proficiency, vocational skills,and education. Consequently, theiraccess to good jobs that pay family-sustaining wages and provide opportu-nities for advancement are severely lim-ited. To address these challenges, fun-ders can support innovative Englishacquisition, adult education, and voca-tional training programs, as well as policyefforts to increase resources available tohelp immigrants improve their skills.9

• Many job training and placementprograms are not accessible to ormeet the unique needs of immigrantand other limited English proficient(LEP) workers. Funders can expand thesupply of programs that provide linguis-tically and culturally competent vocationaland other training programs specificallydesigned to help newcomers. See the“Promising Practices in EnglishAcquisition” section of the toolkit foreffective program models.

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• Low-wage immigrant workers arethe least likely among all workers toreceive job-based benefits. To increasehealth coverage, funders can supportstrategies that expand immigrants’ eligi-bility for and access to public healthinsurance programs and health services.See the “Promising Practices in PromotingHealth and Well-Being” section fordetails on successful program and policy strategies.

• Many low-wage immigrants sufferdiscrimination and exploitation in theworkplace. Common realities include lowwages, long hours, poor working condi-tions, and denial of labor rights, such asunion representation and collective bargaining. Strategies for addressing dis-crimination and exploitation of immigrantworkers are described in the “PromisingPractices in Equal Treatment andOpportunity” section of this publication.

• Undocumented workers, due totheir lack of work authorization, havelimited options for moving out oflow-wage jobs. Funders interested inimproving economic outcomes for thispopulation can consider funding worker-owned cooperatives, as well as policyadvocacy efforts to expand legal immi-gration channels for low-skilled workers,including guestworker programs andprograms that offer pathways to perma-nent residency status and citizenship.

• Many skilled immigrants cannotuse their previous training, education,or work experience to secure employ-ment in their field in the UnitedStates. This is due to their limitedEnglish skills, lack of familiarity withAmerican workplace culture and norms,the tendency of U.S. employers to dis-count foreign work experience, and/ordifferent credentialing requirements.The Welcome Back Initiative in this section offers one promising practice tohelp skilled immigrants find employ-ment in their field.

7. Capps, Randy, Michael Fix, Jeffrey S. Passel,Jason Ost, and Dan Perez-Lopez. 2003. A Profile ofthe Low-Wage Immigrant Workforce. Washington,D.C.: Urban Institute.8. See also Moran and Petsod, 2003.9. Wrigley, Heide Spruck, Elise Richer, KarinMartinson, Hitomi Kubo, and Julie Strawn. 2003.The Language of Opportunity: Expanding EmploymentProspects for Adults with Limited English Skills.Washington, D.C.: Center for Law and Social Policy.

Watch the DVDRain in a Dry Land:Affordable Housing

Safe, affordable housing can make a critical difference in gaining an economic foothold for immigrant

families. Visit the subsidized apartmentthat brought optimism and a sense of

genuine possibility into the difficult lives of one

refugee family.

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PROVIDING ACCESSIBLEWORKFORCE DEVELOPMENTSERVICES

New Iowan CentersDes Moines, Iowawww.iowaworkforce.org/centers/newiowan

Recognizing the growing importance of immigrant workers to their localeconomies, some state and local gov-ernments have begun to coordinateworkforce development services to new-comers to help them achieve economicself-sufficiency. A good example is theNew Iowan Centers (NICs) started byIowa’s Workforce Development Agency in2001. Based at existing state WorkforceDevelopment Centers in eight locationsthroughout the state, NICs provide“one-stop” services to immigrant workers,including assistance with immigrationforms, job counseling and placementservices, and referrals for housing, childcare, interpretation, and legal services.

Through a partnership with local com-munity colleges, several NICs offer ESL

and basic adult education courses. NICsalso try to protect immigrant workersagainst exploitation: They provide bilin-gual (Spanish/English) information

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HELPING IMMIGRANTS USE PREVIOUS TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE

Welcome Back InitiativeSan Francisco, Californiawww.e-welcomeback.org

Many immigrants arrive in the UnitedStates with substantial vocational skillsand employment experience. However,they often have difficulty putting theirexperience to work due to unfamiliaritywith the U.S. workplace, the tendencyof employers to discount foreign workexperience, and the need to obtain newcredentials for professional work. TheWelcome Back Initiative, a California-wide project, has successfully helpedthousands of health professionalstrained outside of the United States toenter the health workforce, while infusingthe health care system with culturallyand linguistically competent workers toserve the state’s growing immigrantpopulation.

With centers located in San Francisco,Los Angeles, and San Diego, theWelcome Back Initiative helps immigranthealth professionals gain familiaritywith the U.S. health care system,improve their vocational English, obtainrequired licenses and credentials, andfind jobs through the centers’ well-developed relationships with employers.The centers’ services, available to allforeign-trained health workers whoreside in California, include:

about their workplace rights and assistworkers in filing complaints with laborenforcement agencies. All NICs havebilingual staff who can communicatewith Spanish-speaking workers.

NICs also offer services and trainings to employers to help them understandthe benefits, responsibilities, and challenges of hiring immigrant workers.These human resource services cover awide range of issues, including therecruitment of new employees, immigra-tion laws that apply to the workplace,non-discrimination and labor enforce-

ment laws, culturaldiversity issues,and the challengesof communicatingwith and trainingSpanish-speakingemployees. “Our

goal,” says Barbara Bobb, bureau chiefof the agency’s Targeted Services, “is tohelp immigrants, employers, and thecommunity work together to achievetheir goals so they all benefit from theenergy and productivity that this newpopulation brings to the state.”

Watch the DVDRain in a Dry Land:Goodwill Industries

Many immigrants, particularly thosefrom rural countries, come to the

United States lacking the skills necessaryto secure even basic employment. Get

some on-the-job training with anindustrious single mother, andexperience the triumph of her

first pay day.

“Our goal is to help immigrants, employers, and thecommunity work together to achieve their goals so

they all benefit from the energy and productivitythat this new population brings to the state.”

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• Career assessment and plan.A case manager conducts an assessmentof each individual’s educational back-ground, English proficiency, vocationalgoals, and work history, both in theUnited States and the country of origin,in order to develop a career path planto facilitate entry into a health careprofession in the United States.

• Case management and counseling.The centers help newcomers secure transcripts and school records fromabroad, obtain licensing information,connect with agencies that help vali-date credentials, enroll in specific ESLor training programs, as well as obtainfinancial aid and job counseling andplacement services. Case managers meetregularly with participants to problemsolve, develop short-terms plans, andprovide support and motivation.

• Education and training. The centersoffer various educational programs,including courses that provide an intro-duction to the U.S. health care systemand licensing preparation courses innursing and other health occupations.The centers have also partnered withcommunity colleges and universities todevelop specific training programs tohelp foreign-trained health professionalstransition into the U.S. workforce. Forexample, recognizing that many of itsparticipants need to improve theirEnglish skills and learn health-relatedvocabulary, the San Francisco WelcomeBack Center, in partnership with CityCollege of San Francisco, has developedan innovative one-year vocational ESLcurriculum that teaches language and

communication skills needed for inter-acting with patients, patients’ families,and co-workers. In addition to offeringcourses, the centers refer participantsto other institutions that provide ESLand vocational training.

• Group support activities. The centers offer various support groups andworkshops to help participants learnmore about specific professions withinthe health care sector. Group activitiesare also intended to motivate partici-pants and create a peer network thathelps them become health professionalsin the United States.

Between 2002 and 2005, the centersserved more than 5,900 participantsfrom more than 100 countries. The par-ticipants previously worked abroad asphysicians, nurses, dentists, and otherhealth professionals. Approximately 70percent of them are women, and themedian age is slightly above 40. Manyparticipants are still studying or trainingto re-enter their previous professions,but the program has already helped over1,300 participants to validate their pro-fessional credentials. Almost half of itsclientele, approximately 2,800 individu-als, hold health care jobs and are play-ing a critical role in making California’shealth care system more accessible to immigrants.

The program’s success can also bedescribed in more personal terms. AsMaria, a physician from Morocco, saidupon completing the program, “I haveimproved my English, I learned a lotabout the health care workplace, but

Watch the DVDThe New Americans:The Nwidors at Work

The American food, hospitality, andother service industries rely heavily onan immigrant workforce. Go behind theswinging hotel doors with one refugee

couple: a chemical engineer whowashes dishes and his wife, a chambermaid who will soon

enter nursing school.

above all, I regained self-confidence.Now I know what I want to do. I haveno doubt I can work in this country,pursue my education, and be successful.”

With funding from The CaliforniaEndowment, The California WellnessFoundation, The San Francisco Foundation,and Kaiser Permanente, among others,the Welcome Back Initiative plans toexpand its work. Beyond providingdirect services, the centers have alreadybegun to engage policymakers on howto reduce barriers that prevent skilledhealth workers from entering their pro-fessions in the United States. The centersalso plan to help other groups acrossthe country start similar programs, withone such program launched in Boston in2005 and other projects in the planningstages in New York City and MontgomeryCounty, Maryland.

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MOUNTING PUBLIC CAMPAIGNSTO IMPROVE WAGES AND WORK CONDITIONS

Los Angeles Alliance for a New EconomyLos Angeles, Californiawww.laane.org

Immigrants with limited education orEnglish skills often hold jobs that arelow-paying, lack health benefits, and donot have unions or other institutionsthrough which they can address poorwork conditions. But in recent years,community organizations have improvedlow-wage employment sectors throughinnovative community organizing andadvocacy. These efforts have led to thepassage of numerous living-wage laws,as well as the creation of neighborhooddevelopment projects. In localities whereimmigrants make up an increasinglylarge portion of the working poor, thesestrategies have the potential to benefitlarge numbers of newcomers. They alsooffer opportunities for immigrants towork with other low-income residentsand communities of color to organizetowards a shared goal.10

Founded in 1993, the Los AngelesAlliance for a New Economy (LAANE)has been a national leader in developingmodel campaigns to improve conditionsfor the working poor. Its model combinesresearch, community organizing, com-munications, and policy advocacy.

“We often partner with low-wage workerswho are organizing in their workplace,”says Vivian Rothstein, LAANE’s deputydirector. “Our strategy is to connectthem with allies and resources, mobilizecommunity engagement in their efforts,and change policies to improve work-places over the long run.”

LAANE has helped win living wages for tens of thousands of workers andnegotiated development agreementsthat have created economic benefits toresidents throughout Los Angeles. Itsvictories to date include successful cam-paigns in the late-1990s that enacted aliving-wage law in Los Angeles, whichraised wages for 15,000 municipal workers,improved wages and work conditions for

thousands of employees at Los AngelesInternational Airport (LAX), and passeda Los Angeles Superstore Ordinance thatgives communities more control overthe construction of large retail stores.

LANNE is currently working with a coalition of community, religious, labor,and education leaders to improve work-place conditions and build a bettereconomy for thousands of workers andresidents along the Century Corridor areanear LAX. The area has 13 major hotelsthat employ more than 4,000 workers,mostly immigrants who receive signifi-cantly lower wages and benefits thanthose of hospitality workers in other partsof Los Angeles County. None of the hotelsare unionized, and past organizing effortshave not succeeded. LAANE has beenbuilding a coalition to unite workersacross various hotels with communitymembers who are concerned that theselow-wage jobs contribute to poverty andother problems in their neighborhood.

As part of its effort to improve conditionsfor local hospitality workers, LAANE hasproposed an economic developmentplan to increasebusiness at thehotels over thelong term so theywill be in betterposition to raisewages and provide benefits. Its proposalasks the city to upgrade the Corridorthrough the creation of shops, restau-rants, a mini conference center, andother tourist sites. To build support forthis idea, LAANE and community alliesconvened a blue-ribbon commissionconsisting of community leaders andelected officials, which issued a reportin February 2006 detailing recommenda-tions for creating a “win-win” solutionfor workers, the tourism industry, andlocal residents.11

LAANE has also done similarly innovativework in helping immigrant communitiesshape neighborhood development proj-ects to generate living-wage jobs andaddress community needs. The group,since 2003, has been working with res-idents of the Adams La Brea neighbor-hood, a low-income community with apredominately Latino and African-American population.

LAANE initially helped residents halt a major commercial development thatwould have displaced over 70 familiesand is now working with LA Voice PICOto organize residents and help themreach consensus on possible criteria forfuture development projects.

“The goal is have publicly subsidizeddevelopment be revitalizing rather than have a damaging effect on theneighborhood,” explains Roxana Tynan,project director for AccountableDevelopment at LAANE.

The strong neighborhood coalition that formed persuaded the Los AngelesCommunity Redevelopment Agency toinclude community-benefit requirementsin future proposed neighborhooddevelopments. Specifically, any newdevelopment must generate a minimumof 250 living-wage jobs, provide jobtraining to facilitate the hiring of localresidents, make affordable at least 20percent of any new housing and payrelocation benefits to displaced tenantsand property owners. Critics who arguedthat these requirements would drive

developers away were silenced whenfive solid proposals were received.

The ability of neighborhood leaders tofacilitate cooperation and respectfuldialogue among Latino and African-American residents has been critical tothe project’s success.

“The community residents demonstratedthat when they joined together andorganized themselves,” says Tynan,“they could have a powerful voice indecisions that affect their community.”

10. In addition to the organization described inthis section, other examples of this type of advocacycan be found in the description of Workers Centersin the “Promising Practices in Equal Treatment andOpportunity” section of this publication.11. The report is available at www.centurycommission.net.

“The community residents demonstrated that when they joined together and organized themselvesthey could have a powerful voice in decisions thataffect their community.”

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NEWCOMERS AS ENGINES FORCOMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

The Role of Ethnic-BasedCommunity DevelopmentCorporations

Whether paying taxes, buying goods,starting businesses, or revitalizing oldneighborhoods, immigrants contributesignificantly to the U.S. economy. Andimmigrant-based community organiza-tions play a central role in promotingmuch of this immigrant enterprise.

In recent years, ethnic-based communitydevelopment corporations (CDCs) haveplayed a critical role in facilitatingimmigrants’ economic integration. Tappinginto immigrants’ entrepreneurial spirit,these CDCs help newcomers developsmall businesses and improve their economic mobility.

Thai CDC in Los Angeles, the VietnameseAmerican Initiative for Development(Viet-AID) in Boston, and the LatinoEconomic Development Center (LEDC) inMinneapolis are three ethnic-based CDCswhose work illustrates promising strate-gies that improve economic mobility forimmigrants in ways that also strengtheneconomic outcomes for the broadercommunity.

Thai CDC’s program educates entrepreneurson financial literacy, wage-and-hourlaws, taxes, business structure, siteselection, and other topics while alsoproviding technical assistance andcounseling. Through Thai CDC’s help, a new entrepreneur with $1,000 canobtain a 2:1 federal match and triplethat amount. Since its founding, ThaiCDC has helped start more than 150small businesses.

Viet-AID has a similar Small BusinessAssistance Program that has providedassistance to over 40 businesses in thepast three years, helped start seven newbusinesses, and assisted in helping fivebusinesses secure loans and grantstotaling over $400,000.

“The rate of entrepreneurship is extremelyhigh among immigrants, especially Asianimmigrants,” says Chanchanit Martorell,the executive director of Thai CDC. “Thefact that we use anti-immigrant sentimentand bias to deny them an opportunity is denying ourselves economic growthcontributed by immigrants who own andoperate their own small business.”

LEDC holds a micro-entrepreneur trainingcourse in which students write businessplans and then learn about bookkeeping,marketing, obtaining licenses and permits,and making various economic projections.LEDC, like Thai CDC and Viet-AID, haveconsultants who work with would-bebusiness owners and provide ongoingsupport and advice. In addition, LEDCholds English-Spanish workshops on taxes,labor laws, and other business issues.

One strategy employed by each of theseCDCs is creating a commercial area wheresmall immigrant-owned businesses havethe opportunity to establish presence,fulfill a need in the neighborhood, andthrive. These areas are generally in low-income parts of the city that havebecome rundown over the years; newbusinesses and economic activity act torevitalize the community for everyone,not just immigrants but long-term residents as well.

SUPPORTING IMMIGRANT

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

www.thaicdc.org www.ledc-mn.org

www.vietaid.org

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Watch the DVDMaid in America:

Dynamic Workers, LLC Despite their limited skills and work

experience, some newcomers are lookingto entrepreneurship as a pathway to

achieve economic mobility. Attend a busi-ness meeting of a collective of mostlySpanish-speaking domestic workers,who are reaching for the American

Dream by starting a house-cleaning cooperative.

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When Thai CDC was established in 1994,it had long-term economic mobility forThais as a core mission. Its first stepwas to create a Thai Town in decayingEast Hollywood, which, according to the2000 census, has a poverty rate of 31percent compared to California’s rate of14 percent.

“Given that the historical port of entryfor Thais is the East Hollywood area, wedecided we could use that as a launch-ing pad to begin a campaign to basi-cally address all of the needs within theEast Hollywood area,” Martorell explains.“The whole Thai Town idea was toimprove the amenities, the public infra-structure, and create services and reallygenerate some capital and investmentsin the area.”

After years of campaigning and promotingthis would-be cultural and tourist center,Thai CDC in 1999 won official designa-tion from the City of Los Angeles for anofficial Thai Town in East Hollywood.

“With Thai Town, there’s a lot more foottraffic in East Hollywood, more touristsand pedestrians,” Martorell says. “We’veput the Thai community on the map.This is the first and only Thai Town inthe world.”

Viet-AID has pursued community devel-opment in Fields Corner, a low-incomeneighborhood in Boston’s Dorchesterarea, where over 70 percent of residentsare minorities. An estimated 10,000Vietnamese newcomers live inDorchester, giving it the largest concen-tration of Vietnamese in Greater Boston.Today, Vietnamese-owned businesses,many of which started with help fromViet-AID, comprise 50 percent of thetotal businesses in Fields Corner andSavin Hill (another Dorchester neighbor-hood). Viet-AID has also created theWin-Win Cleaning Cooperative, a com-mercial cleaning operation, which nowgenerates more than $233,000 in annualgross revenue.

Lake Street, in Minneapolis, is anotherexample of an area that had deterioratedover the years, but thanks to efforts byLEDC and others, the street and its

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surroundings are now bustling withenergy. Starting with a recognition of thedemand for ethnic goods and services inthe area, LEDC helped start MercadoCentral, a business cooperative in a three-story building that currently includes 47businesses. Much is particular to Latinoresidents, such as Latino videos, itemsfor first communion, specialized groceryoptions, and planning for “quinceañeras,”a traditional fifteenth birthday celebra-tion for Latina girls.

“I think that the developers of MercadoCentral really came together andbelieved that they could do it. Theylooked at and built on their assetsrather than focusing on the barriers.They saw what they could bring to thecommunity, not just the Latino commu-nity but the larger community,” saysRuby Lee, a program officer at The SaintPaul Foundation.

As the MercadoCentral flourished rapidly, a snowballeffect took place:The formerly life-less Lake Street became an economiccorridor lined with restaurants, markets,flower shops, and specialty stores.

“Many of these businesses are alsoinvolved in their neighborhood and business associations, which is some-thing I’m proud to say,” notes RamónLeón, executive director of LEDC.“Creating this corridor was intended tohelp fully integrate immigrants into thesystem, making business something thatis socially responsible.”

Affordable housing development by theCDCs has also revitalized the area. In1997, Thai CDC completed a $5 millionrenovation of the Halifax Apartments,creating 46 units of affordable housing.After its completion, Thai CDC began thedevelopment of Palm Village Apartments,a $9 million project that will generate60 units of affordable housing for seniors.Thai CDC is also working to developanother 100-plus units of affordablesenior housing in the Westlake area ofLos Angeles.

“Because low-income families are onlypaying 30 percent for rent [in theserental units], 70 percent of their incomecan be spent on children, education, and so on. That’s critical to stabilizingfamilies,” Martorell says.

Chanchanit Martorell of Thai CDC

“Business development is one way for people to get integrated and accepted into society by financially contributing.”

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In Fields Corner, a former drug househas been converted by Viet-AID intothree affordable housing units. Work likethis clearly reflects Viet-AID’s aim inhousing development: creating affordablehousing for low-income immigrant fami-lies that also strengthens the communityand improves upon the physical envi-ronment of the neighborhood. Viet-AIDhas just begun work on its largest prop-erty development task to date: developinga mixed-use commercial and residentialproperty. Besides building, Viet-AID alsoprovides informational resources, home-buying classes, and referral services tothose searching for an affordable placeto live.

In addition to developing affordablehousing and promoting community eco-nomic development, ethnic-based CDCsutilize other strategies to help immi-grants gain financial footing in theirnew community. Each CDC has a varietyof different such projects, including:

• Thai CDC’s Community HealthLeadership Program. Thai CDC identifiedthe health care industry as fast-growingand in high demand for workers, so itlaunched workforce development thatspecifically prepares Thais for jobs inhealth care.

• Thai CDC’s Summer ActivistTraining. This training provides anopportunity for Asian Pacific collegestudents to gain grassroots organizingskills.

• Viet-AID’s Youth LeadershipDevelopment. The program buildsfuture leadership by giving high schooland college students the opportunity tofundraise, work with residents, and participate in other organizing work.

• Viet-AID’s Comprehensive ChildCare Initiative. Viet-AID is currentlyworking to expand and develop itsFamily Childcare Program and Au Co Pre-School. The child care programtrains women to be family child careproviders to low-income and ethnicallydiverse families. Viet-AID runs the Au

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Co Pre-School, which ensures high-quality,culturally competent early education.

• LEDC’s Latino ScholarshipProgram. Scholarships are offered eachyear to two students from Minnesotawho have demonstrated financial need,academic achievement, and leadershipin the Latino community.

These CDCs believe that the most effective way newcomers can improvetheir quality of life is to integrate eco-nomically and make concrete contribu-tions to the broader community.

“We felt that, in the long run, generatingwealth and building community assetwould have the most impact,” Martorellsays. “Affordable housing, job develop-ment, financial literacy, entrepreneur

training, and neighborhood develop-ment emerged as priorities [for us].”

In addition to promoting self-suffi-ciency and better living standard forimmigrants, economic developmenthelps immigrant communities gainrespect. As Jocelyn Ancheta, a programofficer at the Blue Cross and BlueShield of Minnesota Foundation, puts it:

“Mainstream Americans see that as longas the refugees and immigrants are con-tributing to the system rather than taking money out of it, it’s okay forthem to be here. Business developmentis one way for people to get integratedand accepted into society by financiallycontributing.”

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COOPERATIVES: ECONOMICMOBILITY STRATEGY FORIMMIGRANT WOMEN

WAGES: Women’s Action to Gain Economic SecuritySan Francisco, Californiawww.wagescooperatives.org

Formed in 1995, WAGES seeks toimprove the economic mobility of low-income immigrant women in the SanFrancisco Bay Area by helping themstart up eco-friendly housecleaningcooperatives. The cooperatives, struc-tured as limited liability corporations,are owned by the women who do thehousecleaning, and all profits belong tothem. These worker-owners also play akey role in managing and running thecooperatives.

As a cooperative is formed and thenbegins to operate, WAGES offers a com-prehensive package of support:

• Technical assistance. WAGES pro-vides advice on legal structure andworks with the women to secure loans,create business plans, prepare tax filings, etc.

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• Governance training. Each cooperative has a board of directorsthat includes worker-owners. WAGESoffers training to educate boards on theirlegal responsibilities and to assist themin operating smoothly and effectively.

• Management services. WAGES provides a professional manager to eachcooperative for the first three years ofoperation. In addition to managing thecooperative, the manager helps coopera-tive members develop business skills.

• Education. WAGES trains cooperativemembers in areas such as the use ofeco-friendly products, housecleaningtechniques, communication, financialliteracy, decision making, customer satisfaction, and marketing.

WAGES has developed five cooperativesin all and is preparing to launch a sixth.The three cooperatives currently operat-ing independently are Emma’s Eco-Clean,Eco-Care Professional Housecleaning,and Natural Home Cleaning Professionals.Each cooperative has approximately 15members, the majority of whom areimmigrant women from Mexico andCentral America. Each cooperativeboasts gross revenues ranging from$300,000 to more than $600,000. Theirsuccess is especially remarkable giventhe fact that very few of the membersspeak English, and some are recentimmigrants.

Hilary Abell, executive director of WAGES,sees many benefits to the cooperativemodel. First, of course, is an economicbenefit: On average, the cooperativesincrease household incomes by 40 per-cent since all profits are shared equallyamong the members. WAGES estimatesthat members, making $11 to $14 perhour, earn 50 to 100 percent more thanthey would working at a conventionalcleaning company. In addition, theyreceive fringe benefits, such as paidholidays and health insurance.

A portion of the profits are kept in thecooperative under each member’s name,and when a member leaves, the money isgiven to her.

There is also a social benefit. Eachwoman has a voice in the workplaceand participates in decision making thataffects her business. The cooperativeallows the women to develop leadershipabilities and provides them emotionalsupport.

“Being the owners gives them a power-ful sense of pride in the work. They seecleaning as a profession and somethingto be valued. It’s nothing to be ashamedof, even though it is sometimes lookeddown on in our society,” Abell explains.

Although being a worker-owner is oneof the advantages of a cooperative, itsimultaneously presents significantchallenges for the women.

“They don’t have a direct supervisor onthe job, so it requires a lot of maturityto work with each other to make busi-ness decisions. They’ve never had theopportunity before to do this, so weprovide a lot of education and they do a great job of rising to the occasion,”Abell observes.

The women do grassroots fundraising,like selling tamales, to raise start-upfunding. Once the cooperatives are upand running, operating costs are coveredthrough sales, membership fees ($400per person over a period of time), and asmall business loan. The support servicesoffered by WAGES, free to the coopera-tives, are funded by grants from founda-tions and individuals. Supporters ofWAGES include the Zellerbach FamilyFoundation, The California WellnessFoundation, the Levi Strauss Foundation,and the F.B. Heron Foundation.

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Abell believes the WAGES model ishighly replicable and can benefit com-munities outside the Bay Area in placeslike Los Angeles, Texas, and New Yorkthat have expressed interest. However,growth will only be possible with morefunding.

“What we do is unique and I think thathas helped us,” Abell notes. “Fundersunderstand that the economic impact isvery real, and they really support whatwe do.”

Another goal is the creation of an association of eco-friendly cleaningcooperatives through which WAGES canprovide ongoing technical assistanceand training. Currently, cooperativesbecome independent of WAGES when the cooperative has achieved financial stability, typically after three years ofoperation. All cooperatives still partici-pate in a peer leadership program, butthey are otherwise quite independent.

The existing cooperatives have continuedto thrive as demand for environmentallyfriendly housecleaning services grows.Especially successful is Emma’s Eco-Clean,which opened inRedwood City in1999 and hasgrown to amembership of18 women. In2005, it grossedmore than $600,000, and its membersenjoy health and dental insurance andthree weeks of paid vacation annually.

“Emma’s,” says Abell, “is our shiningexample of what’s possible.”

“Being the owners gives them a powerful sense ofpride in the work. They see cleaning as a professionand something to be valued. It’s nothing to beashamed of, even though it is sometimes looked down on in our society.”

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12. While these generalizations apply to immigrantsas a group, there are significant variations amongtheir use of financial services. Their access to theseservices differs based on a number of factors,including their education level, income, length ofresidency in the United States, immigration status,and financial practices in their native countries.See generally Singer, Audrey, and Anna Paulson.2004. Financial Access for Immigrants: LearningFrom Diverse Perspectives. Washington,D.C.:Brookings Institution.

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CHALLENGES

Immigrants are significantly less likelythan native-born residents to use finan-cial services and have regular contactwith banks and other formal financialinstitutions. Research by the BrookingsInstitution shows that immigrants areabout 20 percent less likely than U.S.-born residents to have a saving orchecking account, and that they alsohave less access to home mortgages,business loans, and other banking serv-ices that support economic mobility.12

For low-incomeimmigrants,gaining accessto affordablefinancial servicesrepresents an

important step towards achieving self-sufficiency and economic integration.Without access to mainstream banks,immigrant families often turn to checkcashers, predatory lenders, and other“fringe” financial service providerswhose high costs can easily drain thesefamilies’ limited income and savings.Opening a bank account is also the first

INCREASING IMMIGRANTS’ ACCESS

TO FINANCIAL SERVICES


In recent years, banks, government regulators, and community organizationshave paid increasing attention to thegrowing immigrant population in theircommunities. In many cities, collaborativeefforts are underway to expand newcom-ers’ access to mainstream financial serv-ices. These efforts seek to increase thecapacity and responsiveness of financialinstitutions to immigrants and educatethem about available financial services.Activities include:

• Developing financial institutions’language capacity and cultural familiar-ity with immigrant communities so thatthey can provide accessible services.

• Helping financial institutionsdevelop products and services that willmeet the needs of immigrant customers.

• Urging financial institutions todevelop appropriate loan criteria forimmigrants who have relatively littleformal credit history but can oftendemonstrate credit worthiness in other ways.

For low-income immigrants, gaining access to affordable financial services represents an

important step towards achieving self-sufficiency and economic integration.

step toward establishing credit andgaining access to other important serv-ices, such as inexpensive wire transfersfor sending money to family membersabroad.

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SOURCE:

Paulson, Anna, Audrey Singer,Robin Newberger and JeremySmith. 2006. Financial Access for Immigrants: Learning fromDiverse Perspectives. Chicago andWashington, D.C.: ChicagoFederal Reserve Bank and TheBrookings Institution.

• Educating financial institutionsabout acceptable forms of alternativeidentification documents for openingnew accounts. Many undocumentedimmigrants and some legal immigrantshave difficulty opening bank accountsbecause they do not have traditionallyrequired identification documents, i.e.,driver’s license and a Social Securitynumber (see box below).

• Educating immigrants about U.S.financial services (e.g., the servicesoffered by banks and credit unions), aswell as helping them develop financialplanning skills that can lead to homepurchases, college savings, and otherfinancial goals.

The promising practices described belowrange from modest efforts—helpingbanks develop multilingual workforcesand providing immigrants with basicinformation about financial services—tomore ambitious, multi-sector efforts tochange the behavior of both new immi-grants and financial institutions so thatthey can develop mutually beneficialrelationships.

Under the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act, banks must collect certain identifyinginformation from their customers(e.g., name, address, and tax identifi-cation number) and verify their identity.Typically, banks require their customersto provide a Social Security numberto be used for reporting interest andother financial information to the fed-eral government. But for non-U.S. cit-izens, federal regulations specificallyallow banks to rely upon an InternalRevenue Service-issued individual tax-payer identification number (ITIN).The ITIN allows people who are noteligible for a Social Security numberto file tax returns. While many peoplewho use an ITIN are undocumented,the identification number is also usedby individuals who are in the process

of applying for legal status and haveyet to obtain authorization to work inthe U.S.

To verify identity, most banks requirecustomers to provide a state-issueddriver’s license or identification card.However, PATRIOT Act regulationsalso allow banks to rely on photoidentification documents issued byforeign governments. The most well-known of these documents is theMexican “matricula consular” cardwhich is issued by Mexican consulatesto individuals of Mexican nationalitywho live abroad. According to theMexican government, as of 2005,more than 400 banks allowed the use of the matricula card to open bank accounts.

ALTERNATIVE IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS FOR

ESTABLISHING BANK ACCOUNTS

Immigrants

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DIVERSIFYING THE WORKFORCEOF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Minneapolis Community and TechnicalCollege’s Financial Careers InstituteMinneapolis, Minnesotawww.minneapolis.edu/cect/financialcareers.cfm

In 2003, Minneapolis Community andTechnical College (MCTC), U.S. Bank,and two community organizations—Goodwill Easter Seals and Project forPride in Living—formed a partnership to help financial institutions develop a more diverse workforce to serve thecommunity’s growing immigrant popula-tion. The partnership has two programcomponents: (1) an associate degreeprogram to train low-income residentsand immigrants who are interested inbecoming financial professionals, and(2) a model program to help existing bankemployees learn cultural and languageskills to improve their communicationwith immigrant customers.

To support these programs, MCTC formedthe Financial Career Institute within thecollege to offer a certificate or associ-ate degree in banking and financial

services. The Institute is designed toprepare students for a career path andadvance into management positions.Students who complete an associatedegree can then pursue a BA and anMBA at Metropolitan State University.Although open to the public, theInstitute targets newcomers from theLatino, Somali, and Hmong communities,and many of the referrals come from thetwo community partners. As a result,the partnership has increased workforcediversity at local banks, while givingnewcomers and other residents the skillsneeded to begin or advance careers infinancial services.

With funding from the Minnesota JobSkills Partnership, MCTC also providestraining to U.S. Bank employees on cul-tural diversity, banking principles, andSpanish. As of early 2006, 38 U.S. Bankemployees had participated in this pro-gram and learned Spanish vocabularythat is commonly used in the bankingindustry, e.g., basic greetings and help-ing customers open bank accounts andconduct other simple transactions.Participants who have completed theprogram are now successfully servingSpanish-speaking customers.

INCREASING IMMIGRANTS’ACCESS TO MAINSTREAMFINANCIAL SERVICES

FDIC’s New Alliance Task ForceChicago, Illinois

More and more banks have begun torecognize the financial benefits of work-ing with the rapidly growing immigrantmarket. The New Alliance Task Force(NATF) of the Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporation (FDIC) has successfullytapped into this interest by helpingnumerous banks open their doors toimmigrants through financial educationprograms, effective outreach, and finan-cial services that meet immigrants’unique needs. Many of the innovativepractices developed by NATF have beenadopted by financial institutions acrossthe country.

Originally started by the Chicago officeof the FDIC and the Consulate Generalof Mexico, NATF eventually became abroad coalition of over 60 banks, com-munity organizations, and governmentagencies interested in increasing immi-grants’ access to financial services. TheTask Force has a two-pronged educationgoal: (1) to inform immigrants of theworkings and benefits of utilizing theU.S. banking system, and (2) to providefinancial institutions with information onhow they can serve immigrant customers.

With so many immigrants in Chicagoand the Midwest without the identifica-tion documents typically required bybanks, one of the first efforts under-takenby NATF was to educate its membersabout documents acceptable under theU.S.A. PATRIOT Act for opening bankaccounts.13 Some of the members, forinstance, were surprised to learn thatfederal laws do not prohibit banks fromproviding services to undocumentedimmigrants. As the U.S. Office of theComptroller of Currency stated: “Banksare not an arm of the immigrationdepartment. As long as those getting[services] meet the requirements of being authorized bank customers,including proper ID, it would be dis-criminatory not to service them.”14

13. See “Alternative Identification Documents”sidebar on page 139.14. Bergsman, Steve. 2005. “Banks are QuietlyWooing Undocumented Immigrants.” US Banker, June.

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When NATF was first formed, manyfinancial institutions were unfamiliarwith both ITINs and the matricula iden-tification card issued by the Mexicangovernment.15 But the presence of fed-eral regulators on the Task Force helpedreassure banks that they could indeedrely on such documents to meet federalbanking requirements.

Recognizing that banks could be moti-vated to provide financial services toimmigrants, some NATF members helpeddevelop model bank products to attractnew immigrant customers. For example,two members of the Task Force—SecondFederal Savings and Loan and First Bankof the Americas—were among the firstcommunity banks in the country toaccept the matricula card and todevelop low-fee remittance servicesusing dual-use ATM cards that allowedboth immigrants in the United Statesand their family members abroad towithdraw money directly from a U.S.bank account. In addition, 18 NATFmember banks in the Midwest currentlyparticipate in “Directo a México,” apilot program of the Federal ReserveBank of Atlanta and the Banco deMéxico to provide a cost-effective alter-native to expensive wire transfers to

Mexico. NATF also developed a modelloan product that could be used byindividuals who pay taxes with an ITIN,along with specific guidance on howbanks should evaluate the credit worthi-ness of people without a Social Securitynumber or traditional credit history.

At the same time that they worked withbanks, Task Force members also under-took campaigns to educate the new-comer community about using financialservices. In collaboration with commu-nity organizations, churches, communitycolleges, and financial institutions, theFDIC created Money Smart, a Spanish-language adult financial education cur-riculum made available to 10,000 immi-grants in Illinois. The Mexican Consulate

15. Ibid.16. Grow, Brian. 2005. “Embracing Illegals.”Business Week, July 18, 56-64.17. Frias, Michael. 2004. “Linking InternationalRemittance Flows to Financial Services: Tapping the Latino Immigrant Market.” Supervisory Insights.Volume 1, Issue 2, Winter. Washington, D.C.:Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.18. Interview by Ted Wang with Michael Frias, FDICCommunity Affairs Officer, Chicago Region. Mar. 29,2006. The eight states are Illinois, Wisconsin,Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas.19. Reynolds Lewis, Katherine. 2005. “Banks FindMortgage Clientele in Undocumented Immigrants.”Newhouse News Service, March 14.

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of Chicago also launched its own finan-cial education program in Spanish,using ATMs donated by local banks totrain immigrants on banking technolo-gies.

The combination of educating banks andimmigrant communities about themutual benefits of working together has

significantlyincreased new-comers’ accessto mainstreambanks in theMidwest. Forexample, out of

approximately 400 banks nationally thataccept the matricula,16 a high numberare in this region, resulting in numerousnew accounts opened by immigrants.17 Asurvey undertaken by the FDIC foundthat, since 2003, at least 185,000 bankaccounts with deposits totaling over$300 million have been opened in eightMidwestern states by customers usingalternate forms of identification.18 TheTask Force’s model mortgage producthas also been widely adopted by a num-ber of banks, with newspaper accountssuggesting that it has generated hun-dreds of millions of dollars in new loans

to families who were previously shut outof the home-buying market.19

Michael Frias, NATF national coordinator,attributes the project’s success to itstimeliness and its ability to bring abroad cross section of the communitytogether to address shared interests.“Market forces—a large and rapidlygrowing immigrant population andbanks’ need to expand their markets—provided strong incentives for busi-nesses to participate,” says Frias. “Butthe broad range of participants gave usthe capacity to bring banks and differ-ent immigrant communities together inmutually beneficial ways.” The TaskForce’s success has led to the creationof similar FDIC-led projects in New YorkCity, Boston, Austin, Los Angeles,Kansas City, as well as in the new immi-grant destination states of Iowa andNorth Carolina.

The combination of educating banks and immigrantcommunities about the mutual benefits of working

together has significantly increased newcomers’access to mainstream banks.

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DEVELOPING IMMIGRANT-SERVING FINANCIALINSTITUTIONS

Cooperativa Comunitaria Latina de CreditoThe Latino Community Credit UnionDurham, North Carolinawww.cooperativalatina.org

Established in 2000, the LatinoCommunity Credit Union has become a national model for developing full-service, immigrant-based financial insti-tutions. In 2006, it had over $31 mil-lion in assets, offices in five cities, andmore than 43,000 members, making itthe fastest-growing credit union in theUnited States.

The credit union’s CEO, Luis Pastor,attributes its success to a number offactors: the rapid population growth ofLatinos in North Carolina, many ofwhom were unable to open accounts attraditional banks; the vision of thecredit union’s founders to build a finan-cial institution whose mission includesproviding community services; andfinancial and in-kind help provided bynumerous local institutions that valuethe contributions of newcomers to the state.

“Our initial supporters,” says Pastor,“understood that access to bankingservices is a critical step to integrating

immigrants into their new communities.”Key supporters that helped the creditunion open its doors included theCenter for Community Self-Help, a lead-ing community lender that has histori-cally focused on African-American andlow-income communities, the StateEmployees Credit Union, the NorthCarolina Minority Support Center, and a number of foundations.20

From the start, the credit union recog-nized that the largest barrier to servingLatino newcomers was their lack ofaccess to identification documents, i.e.,a Social Security number and a driver’slicense, which are required by almost allbanks. To succeed, the credit unionneeded to identify alternative docu-ments that were both acceptable tofederal regulators and could be easilyobtained by immigrants, includingundocumented individuals. With cooper-ation from federal regulators, the creditunion became a regional leader indemonstrating how ITINs and matriculacards can be utilized in opening accountsfor newcomers. At all five branch offices,the cooperative’s staff spends consider-able time explaining to new membershow to apply for and utilize ITINs andthe responsibilities of this decision,including paying taxes and filing yearly returns.

The cooperative also has been anational leader among credit unions indeveloping alternative criteria for evalu-ating the credit worthiness of individu-als who do not have traditional credithistories. It provides a range of con-sumer loan products as well mortgagesto people who do not have SocialSecurity numbers but do have ITINs.

In addition to traditional banking services,the credit union provides low-fee remit-tance services and emphasizes communityeducation. It offers bi-monthly financial

education classeson how to writechecks, managebank accounts,use ATMs, develop”Its members

also have access to free financial coun-seling services on topics such as creditproblems and taxes. Its English-Spanishfinancial education curriculum is widelyused by local community organizationsand adult education schools servingimmigrants.

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Although the credit union was originallystarted with grants and assistance fromother institutions, it has developed astrong financial track record. State regulators have recognized it as amongthe most reliable credit unions in thestate.21 Its bad-loan rates are betterthan comparable credit unions that donot serve undocumented immigrants.22

As of 2005, only about 10 percent of itsrevenues came from grants, and thecredit union expects that its programsand services will soon be completelysupported by business revenues.

“We have demonstrated that helpingimmigrants access financial services isnot only good for the community, but italso makes good business sense,” saysPastor. To help other communities benefit from its experience, the LatinoCommunity Credit Union is working withemerging credit unions in Tennessee,Oregon, and California to provide similarservices to new immigrants.

20. Foundation supporters have included TheStewards Fund, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation,National Credit Union Foundation, Carolinas CreditUnion Foundation, Community DevelopmentFinancial Institutions Fund, National Endowment forFinancial Education, American Express Foundation,and Ford Foundation.21. Perez, Evan. 2003. “Banking on Immigrants.”The Wall Street Journal, May 9.22. Interview by Ted Wang with Luis Pastor.December 18, 2005.

“We have demonstrated that helping immigrantsaccess financial services is not only good for the

community, but it also makes good business sense.”

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23. Berube, Alan. 2005. ¿Tienes EITC? A Study of the Earned Income Tax Credit in ImmigrantCommunities. Washington, D.C.: BrookingsInstitution. For instance, workers with two or morechildren and earning below the federally definedlevels ($35,263 for single parents and $37,263 formarried parents in 2005) are eligible for a credit ofup to $4,400.24. Immigrant workers may qualify for the CTC ifthey earned more than $11,000 in 2005. Unlike theEITC, which requires that the person and his or herdependents claiming the credit have a valid SocialSecurity number, the CTC can be claimed by usingan Individual Taxpayer Identification Number,thereby allowing newcomers of various immigrationstatuses to benefit from the program. 25. Phillips, Katherin Ross. 2001. Who Knows aboutthe Earned Income Tax Credit? Washington, D.C.:Urban Institute.26. With over 500 affiliates, the coalition providespolicy advocacy and technical assistance to pro-mote tax credit opportunities that benefit low- andmoderate-income taxpayers, including tools for freetax preparation and financial service programs thattarget immigrants.

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USING TAX SERVICESAND CREDITS TO

INCREASE FAMILYINCOME


Helping eligible immigrant familiesproperly complete their tax returns andclaim two common tax credits—theEarned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and theChild Tax Credit (CTC)—can substantiallyboost their household income. EITC isthe largest federal program that helpsboost income for working-poor families.In 2003, about one quarter of the morethan 20 million taxpayers who claimedthis credit were lifted above the povertyline.23

Many legal immigrants can qualify forEITC if they work and meet the incomerequirements. In addition, U.S. resi-dents, regardless of their immigrationstatus, are eligible to claim the ChildTax Credit24 if their children live in theUnited States and are claimed asdependents. However, studies suggestthat eligible immigrants utilize taxcredits at a much lower rate thannative-born residents.25 There are manypossible reasons for their low participa-tion, including trouble understandingcomplex tax rules and fear that claiminga tax credit could affect their immigra-tion status or their ability to becomecitizens in the future.

In recent years, a number of immigrantand community development organiza-tions have developed effective outreachand tax preparation programs toincrease immigrants’ understanding oftax credit programs and how they canbenefit. Two organizations—the Centerfor Economic Progress’ NationalCommunity Tax Coalition26 and theCenter on Budget and Policy Priorities—have developed written materialsdescribing promising practices as wellas kits to help local groups increaseimmigrants’ participation in EITC andCTC programs. Some of the key elementsfound in successful outreach programsinclude:

• Promoting public awareness of taxcredits through the ethnic media.

• Providing tax information to vari-ous community organizations that servenewcomers.

• Developing multilingual materialsto inform immigrants of their rights andresponsibilities as taxpayers.

• Offering financial and tax work-shops to help newcomers understandthe tax filing process.

• Providing free tax-preparation services to low-income immigrants.

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EHCDC programs include:

• Outreach through the Spanish-language media and community organi-zations about tax requirements andavailable services.

• Tax workshops in Spanish to helpLatino immigrants learn how to accu-rately file tax returns using both SSNsand ITINs, understand EITC and CTC eli-gibility, and avoid predatory tax prepar-ers.

• Free tax-preparation services bybilingual accountants and IRS-certifiedvolunteers who are supervised by expe-rienced staff.

In 2006, EHCDC helped more than 200Spanish-speaking families file taxreturns and obtained ITINs for over halfof these families. In actively encourag-ing immigrant families to file taxreturns, regardless of their immigrationstatus, EHCDC not only emphasizesimmigrants’ responsibilities but helps toput hundreds of thousands of tax-creditdollars back into the local community.

A PROMISING PRACTICE

East Harbor Community DevelopmentCorporationBaltimore, Marylandwww.ehcdc.org

East Harbor Community DevelopmentCorporation (EHCDC) provides a range ofpromising programs to assist low-incomeimmigrant families. Supported by grantsfrom the Annie E. Casey Foundation,Goldseker Foundation, and the InternalRevenue Service, EHCDC has developed aproject that increases community aware-ness of tax laws among low-income,Spanish-speaking residents.

According to Lourdes Montes, managerof EHCDC’s Latino Services, “The goal isnot only to provide tax preparation serv-ices but also to empower these familiesby helping them learn about the taxprocess so that they can eventually filereturns by themselves.” Montes notesthat there are few tax-preparationresources available to newcomers, andmany existing services are operated byunscrupulous proprietors who have lim-ited knowledge of tax laws and oftenexploit immigrants through high feesand predatory practices.

EVALUATION

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In order for immigrants to integrateinto their new environment, it isimportant for them to have decent-paying jobs, understand the U.S. eco-nomic system and how to navigate it,and gain access to opportunities thatimprove their economic stability andmobility.

As this section described, there aremany ways to improve immigrants’economic mobility, from enhancingtheir employment prospects toincreasing their access to financialservices and tax credits. Such effortscan result in a wide range of out-comes within both the immigrant andthe receiving community.

The following indicators, associatedwith outcomes above, can help deter-mine if your efforts to improve theeconomic mobility of immigrants aresucceeding:

• Number and percent of immi-grant-owned businesses (data can beobtained from the Small BusinessAdministration and the U.S. CensusBureau).

• Percent of qualifying immigrantswho purchase cars and homes (see forexample “Moving to America-Movingto Homeownership 1994-1996” reportby the U.S. Census Bureau).

• Number and percent of immi-grants who are aware of and claimEITC and CTC each year.

• Percent of immigrant clientsserved by banks and real estate agen-cies (data can be obtained through anarrangement with local banks, creditunions, and real estate agencies).

• Numbers of immigrants participat-ing in policy advocacy campaigns thatpursue “win-win” solutions for immi-grant and receiving community mem-bers.

• Positive attitudes about immi-grants and their contributions to thelocal economy, as indicated by presscoverage or opinion polling.

• Percent of immigrant businessowners who belong to the local orethnic chamber of commerce or mer-chant association (e.g., HispanicChamber of Commerce, AsianAmerican Hotel Owners Associations).

• Extent of economically revitalizedareas due to new immigrant-ownedbusinesses.

• Number of jobs created by immi-grant-owned businesses for bothimmigrants and non-immigrants (datacan be obtained from the SmallBusiness Administration).

• Number and percent of immi-grants who open savings and check-ing accounts (data can be obtainedthrough an arrangement with localbanks and credit unions).

• Distribution of immigrants acrossoccupations (e.g., construction,accommodation and food services,professional and technical services,agriculture) and levels (administrativesupport, middle management, topmanagement).

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OUTPUTS

• More financial educationprograms for immigrants(e.g., tax credits, mortgage,small business loans, bankaccounts, direct deposits).

• More loan programs forimmigrants.

• More organizations, such as CDCs, supportingimmigrant entrepreneursand cooperatives, economicdevelopment, and affordablehousing development.

• More advocacy efforts, e.g.,litigation and organizing,to win policy changes.Increased number anddiversity of vocationaltraining and job placementprograms for immigrants.

• Language training programslinked to employmentopportunities and offeredby more employers.

• Improved enforcement offair practices in lendingand real estate.

OUTCOMES

For immigrants:

• Improved understanding andnavigation of economic system.

• Increased use of mainstreamfinancial institutions.

• Less dependence on predatoryvendors (e.g., payday lenders,check cashers).

• Increased small business ownership among immigrants.

• Representation of immigrants ina wider variety of occupations.

• Increased car ownership.

• Increased home ownership.

• Increased employability of immigrants (better prepared and skilled for jobs).

For receiving community:

• Improved perceptions of immigrant contribution to localeconomy and community.

• Non-discriminatory practices inlending and real estate practices.

• Expanded economic contributionsof immigrants-as workers, consumers, taxpayers, andentrepreneurs-to the localeconomies.

• Increased economic vitality ofblighted neighborhoods, withgreater availability of resourcesto all residents.

These outputs leadto the followingoutcomes, which inturn encouragethese outputs tobecome morewidespread.

These outcomesencourage integration, and as integrationgradually occurs,these outcomeswill also becomemore widespread.

EVALUATION

SOURCES:

Annie E. Casey Foundation. 2003. FamilyEconomic Success: Building Strong FinancialFutures for Families and Communities. Baltimore,MD: Annie E. Casey Foundation. Retrieved fromhttp://www.aecf.org/initiatives/fes/fes/ onMarch 17, 2006.

Maytree Foundation. 2002. IntegratingImmigrant Skills into the Canadian Economy.Toronto, Canada: Maytree Foundation. Retrievedfrom http://www.maytree.com/PDF_Files/FulfillingPromise.pdf in March 13, 2006.

IMM

IGRANT IN

TEGRATION

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Promising Practices in Equal Treatment and Opportunity

True opportunity requires that we all have equal access to the benefits,burdens, and responsibilities of our society regardless of race, gender,

class, religion, sexual orientation, or other aspects of what we look like orwhere we come from. Ensuring equal opportunity means not only endingovert and intentional discrimination, but also rooting out subconsciousbias and reforming systems that unintentionally perpetuate exclusion. Itrequires proactive efforts to remake our institutions in ways that ensure

fairness and inclusion.”—The State of Opportunity in America: Immigrants and Opportunity

The Opportunity Agenda, New York, New York

INTRODUCTION 149

CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT TO PROMOTE INTEGRATION 150

EXPANDING ACCESS TO THE U.S. LEGAL SYSTEM 152Legal Services to Low-Income ImmigrantsLanguage Access to the Judicial SystemProviding Interpreters in Less Frequently Spoken Indigenous Languages

ADVOCATING FOR EQUAL TREATMENT AND OPPORTUNITY 156Challenging Anti-Immigrant Housing LawsBuilding Black-Brown Alliances to Fight Discrimination

PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF LOW-WAGE WORKERS 159Multiracial, Multi-sector Worker OrganizingGeography-Based Worker Organizing

PROMOTING FAIR AND HUMANE LAWS AND POLICIES 162National Advocacy Campaigns Connecting Local, State, and National Advocacy

ADDRESSING RACIAL STEREOTYPES AND BACKLASH 166

EVALUATION 168

“

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INTRODUCTION

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The concept that equal treatment and opportunity should be provided

to everyone is widely accepted in theUnited States. Yet this concept hasbeen always more of an ideal than areality. Americans, at best, have beenconsistently ambivalent about immi-grants. While proud of the country’simmigrant heritage, they are often sus-

picious of newimmigrants anduneasy aboutimmigration.

Like immigrantswho came before

them, today’s newcomers face numerouschallenges in securing equal treatmentand opportunity. Concerns about immi-gration levels and national securityhave led the federal government toadopt policies that are inconsistentwith core American values of equality,freedom, and opportunity. For instance,1996 federal laws bar most legal immi-grants from federal benefits such asFood Stamps, Supplemental SecurityIncome, and Medicaid. Federal law alsoprohibits federally funded legal servicesorganizations from serving a significantsegment of the immigrant community,severely limiting these individuals’access to the judicial system and theirability to protect their rights. In theaftermath of the September 11, 2001terrorist attacks, specific immigrantcommunities—primarily Arab Americans,Muslims, and South Asians—have comeunder intense public scrutiny andattack. Racial stereotypes, reinforced bygovernment policies, have led to dis-crimination and even hate crimesagainst these community members.

Laws and public policies can have considerable influence on the ability of immigrants and their receiving com-munity to engage in an integrationprocess. They can promote opportunityor place barriers in the way of aspira-tions. They can bring communitiestogether or reinforce people’s fears,stereotypes, and isolation.

Policies that promote equal treatmentand opportunity, however, can helpfacilitate integration because theyinstill a sense of fairness in the rela-tionship between newcomers and thereceiving community. They also makeimmigrants feel welcomed and inspireconfidence that they will eventuallybecome full members of their new community.

This section describes funding strategiesand promising practices that help immi-grants secure equal treatment andopportunity. They include:

• Creating an environment to promoteintegration and community building.

• Increasing immigrants’ access tolegal and judicial resources.

• Challenging discriminatory practicesand promoting fair laws and policies.

• Protecting the rights of low-wageworkers.

• Promoting fair and humane lawsand policies.

• Addressing racial stereotypes andhate violence.

Policies that promote equal treatment and opportunitycan help facilitate integration because they instill a

sense of fairness in the relationship between newcomers and the receiving community.

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CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT TO

PROMOTE INTEGRATION

NEBRASKA APPLESEED CENTERFOR LAW IN THE PUBLICINTEREST

Lincoln, Nebraskawww.neappleseed.org

Creating an environment that promotesintegration, including developing poli-cies that emphasize shared values andinterests, is an important way to ensurefair treatment of immigrants. An unlikelyplace where this has occurred is Nebraska,whose recent population growth hasbeen driven by immigration.

Newcomers have been drawn toNebraska largely because of employmentopportunities, primarily in the meat-packing and food-processing industries.Between 1990 and 2000, the state’sLatino population increased by 155 percent and the Asian population by 86 percent.1 As immigrants became alarger part of the state’s workforce,Nebraskan leaders developed policies tofacilitate their integration, providingincreased access to education and otherprograms that enable immigrants topursue their dreams and crafting otherinitiatives to build stronger, more inte-grated communities. These policies andprograms include:

• A legislature-initiated Task Force on the Productive Integration of theImmigrant Workforce Population. Withparticipation by business, law enforce-ment, labor, and government, the TaskForce made recommendations for devel-oping policies to facilitate newcomers’participation in the state’s workforce.Its report, released in 2002, found thatthe state’s economy had greatly bene-fited from immigrants’ contributionsand made a series of recommendationsto address the challenges of integratingnewcomers into Nebraska’s communities.

• State-funded health insurance tomost low-income, legal immigrantswhose immigration status makes themineligible for federally funded healthprograms.2 In addition, all pregnantwomen in Nebraska are eligible for

outpatient, prenatal care regardless ofimmigration status.

• State-funded cash and food assistance programs for most legalimmigrants who are ineligible for federalpublic benefits.3 Nebraska is one of asmall group of states that offer compre-hensive, state-funded health and socialservice benefits to legal immigrants.

• A Meatpacking Workers Bill ofRights in response to well-documentedproblems with unsafe work conditions.The Nebraska legislature passed a law,initiated by Governor Johanns in 2000,to increase state monitoring of meat-packing plants.

• Allowing undocumented studentswho have lived in the state for threeyears and graduated from a Nebraskahigh school to pay in-state tuition ratesat public higher education institutions.

• A Minority Justice Task Force thatworks to ensure equal access to thecourts, beginning with an assessment of the current system.

Nebraska Appleseed has been instrumentalin developing many of these initiatives,including co-chairing the immigrantworkforce task force, helping to developthe Meatpacking Workers Bill of Rights,and working with other allies to passthe in-state tuition law. Its success hasbeen due to a combination of favorabledemographic and economic trends, aswell as strategic advocacy to buildbroad-based support for newcomers.

Nebraska’s shrinking rural populationand its need for new workers created anopportunity for immigrant advocates tofind common ground with businesses,community leaders, and others who recognized that immigrants could play an important role in economic and com-munity revitalization. The challenge,according to Appleseed’s executivedirector, Milo Mumgaard, has been to“get people to think of immigrants notjust as temporary workers for entry-leveljobs, but as long-term residents and

1. Census 2000 data as compiled by GrantmakersConcerned with Immigrants and Refugees, availableat www.gcir.org. 2. See the “Promising Practices to ImproveImmigrant Health and Well-Being” section of thetoolkit for details on immigrants’ eligibility forpublicly funded health programs.3. Ibid.

The challenge has been to get people to think of immigrantsnot just as temporary workers for entry-level jobs, but aslong-term residents and neighbors… Only then do peoplestart thinking of how to invest in this community and tocreate programs that help integrate them into the state.

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neighbors… Only then do people startthinking of how to invest in this com-munity and to create programs that helpintegrate them into the state.”

Appleseed’s strategies to promote immigrant-welcoming policies include:

• Public messages that highlightthe contributions of immigrants.“We made a conscious decision not toemphasize ’immigrant rights’ in our pub-lic messages because the term does notalways resonate in the state,” saysMumgaard. “Instead, we stress the simi-larities between recent immigrants andEuropean immigrants who settled andbuilt Nebraska over the years. We alsotry to demonstrate how expandingopportunities for newcomers boostsopportunities for everyone.” Appleseed’spublic messages consistently underscoreimmigrant workers’ economic contributionsto the local economy. Its advocacy forprograms that improve immigrants’ edu-cation, skills, and well-being are framedas investments that can lead to greaterprosperity for the broader community.

• Relationships with mainstreaminstitutions and “nontraditionalallies.” Appleseed’s public messages,focusing on the mutual benefits ofimmigrant integration, made it easier todevelop support for immigrants frommainstream institutions and leaders,including businesses, law enforcementagencies, unions, physicians, politicalleaders, and educators. These groupsand leaders are more likely to helpimmigrants when they understand thelong-term benefits for their own institu-tions or constituencies. According toAppleseed, mobilizing support fromthese different sectors has been criticalto building support of legislative andother initiatives that benefit newcomers.

• Advocacy projects that emphasizeimmigrants as hard-working individu-als who want to integrate into thecommunity. These projects aim to protectimmigrant workers from exploitation anddangerous work conditions, increasetheir access to higher education, connectthem to mainstream financial systems,and ensure their access to the judicialsystem. In addition, Appleseed is work-ing with other organizations to estab-lish a regional presence through theImmigrant Rights Network of Iowa and Nebraska.

Appleseed’s successful advocacy in a politically conservative state with relatively little recent experience withimmigration suggests that its strategiescan be used in other new gateways tocreate policies that integrate and sup-port the fair treatment of immigrants.

Watch the DVDCalifornians

for Healthy KidsMost of us agree that all children,

regarless of their immigration status,deserve to be healthy. Be inspired by anenergetic and wide cross-section of grass-

roots and grass-tops stakeholders asthey raise the long-term implica-

tions—and the short-term urgencyof universal health care for

every child.

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Enhancing immigrants’ understandingof their legal rights and responsibili-

ties, as well as their access to the U.S.justice system, is essential in achievingimmigrant integration. Immigrants’ lackof familiarity with U.S. customs andlaws, as well as their limited Englishskills, makes them especially vulnerableto exploitation as workers and consumers.Yet federal laws bar many government-funded legal service providers from serving a large and growing segment oflow-income immigrants (see sidebar).Foundation funding in this area is especially important to ensure that low-income newcomers have access toinformation about their rights andresponsibilities, as well as legal repre-sentation to protect these rights.

Increasing new-comers’ access toadministrative andlegal bodies thatadjudicate immi-gration issues is

especially important. Over the pastdecade, the federal government hasmade numerous changes to immigrationlaws and policies. These changes, com-bined with an emphasis on enforcement,have made it significantly more difficultfor immigrants to reunify with familymembers or apply for citizenship. Thepassage of the Illegal ImmigrationReform and Immigrant ResponsibilityAct of 1996—with its mandate to deportnon-citizens who are found guilty of evenminor criminal infractions and to placemany immigrants in detention duringtheir removal proceedings—has beenespecially challenging for newcomers.4

In response, foundations can support (1) programs that provide accurate legalinformation to help immigrants under-stand their options when facing immi-gration or other legal problems; (2)expand the availability of free legalservices to low-income newcomers,including those in detention or facingdeportation who are not entitled to freecounsel; (3) efforts to make the judicialsystem more responsive and accessible to limited English proficient (LEP) immigrants.

EXPANDING ACCESSTO THE U.S. LEGAL

SYSTEM

Programs that receive funding fromthe Legal Services Corporation (LSC),the primary source of federal fundingfor providing legal services to low-income individuals, are allowed toserve only the following categories of non-citizens:

• Lawful permanent residents (LPRs)

• Refugees

• Asylees

• Persons granted withholding ofdeportation

• Conditional entrants

• Trafficking victims

• Lawful temporary residents underthe SAW program of the ImmigrationReform and Control Act of 1986

• Temporary agricultural workers (H-2A workers), but only with respectto issues concerning their employment

• Individuals who have applied foradjustment to LPR status and whohave a citizen spouse, parent, or child

• Domestic violence victims who donot meet the criteria above, providedthat such services are supported bynon-LSC funds

Because of these restrictions, numerousimmigrants are ineligible for federallyfunded legal service programs, includingthose who are undocumented, personswith temporary protected status, andthose paroled into the United Statesfor humanitarian reasons.

SOURCE:

National Immigration Law Center.

FEDERAL

RESTRICTIONS ON

LEGAL SERVICES FOR

LOW-INCOME

IMMIGRANTS

4. As this publication went to press, Congress was debating various provisions that would furtherexpand criminal convictions that can lead to depor-tation as well as mandatory detention for immi-grants in deportation proceedings. See, e.g., HR 4437.

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Foundation funding is important to ensure thatlow-income newcomers have access to informationabout their rights and responsibilities, as well as

legal representation to protect these rights.

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LEGAL SERVICES TO LOW-INCOME IMMIGRANTS

The Fund for New Citizens’Community Legal ServicesInitiativeNew York, New Yorkwww.nycommunitytrust.org

A collaboration of local and nationalfoundations, the Fund for New Citizensat the New York Community Trust has aninitiative to increase the availability oflegal services to immigrants in New YorkCity. Its strategy is to encourage part-nerships between legal service organiza-tions and community-based, immigrantserving groups. The model increases thecapacity of immigrant organization toprovide reliable information and adviceon basic immigration issues throughtraining and technical assistance fromlegal groups, which also provide directclient representation as needed.Components of this model include:

• Effective outreach. Immigrant-serving organizations have the capacityto provide timely information to targetednewcomers about changing laws, policies,and other important issues. Helpingimmigrants become informed of thesechanges not only empowers them totake advantage of their rights but canalso help them avoid situations that canresult in adverse consequences.

• Counsel from a familiar, trustedorganization. Immigrants often do notknow where to go for reliable legaladvice, and many turn to immigrantorganizations when faced with legal difficulties. These collaborations allowcommunity groups to respond directlyto such individuals and only refer themto legal services organizations if situa-tions are complicated and may requirelegal representation.

• Linguistically and culturally appropriate services. Immigrant-servingorganizations have the linguistic andcultural skills to serve newcomers andcan work with partnering legal serviceorganizations to ensure that they cancommunicate effectively with LEP clients.

The Fund for New Citizens currentlyfunds three projects that have partner-ships between legal services groups andimmigrant community organizations.

The first project is a collaborationformed in 2002 among the Legal AidSociety and three community groups:Asian Americans for Equality (servingthe Chinatown and Lower East Side),Forest Hills Community House (servingNorthwestern Queens), and the NorthernManhattan Coalition for ImmigrantsRights (mostly serving the Dominicanpopulation of Washington Heights). ALegal Aid Society staff attorney over-sees the project, providing ongoingtraining and technical assistance, twice-monthly case consultations to staff ofthe partner organizations, and monthlylegal clinics at community sites forclients whose cases require an attorney’sexpertise. Although the project focuseson immigration services, clients canalso access other Legal Aid Societyattorneys for assistance with otherissues, such as housing assistance andaccess to public benefits.

“This is a tremendous service modelthat makes good use of limited legalresources and helps community organi-zations respond to critical needs,” saysJojo Annobil, staff attorney with theLegal Aid Society. With the equivalentof one full-time staff attorney and threepart-time community staff members, theproject provided advice and representa-tion to over 1,800 clients in 2005.

Building on the success of this initialproject, the Fund has supported severaladditional partnerships. It recentlymade a grant to a joint project betweenthe Asian American Legal Defense andEducation Fund and the Young KoreanAmerican Service and Education Centerto provide immigration, housing, andother civil legal services for low-incomeKorean and other Asian immigrant popu-lations in Flushing, Queens.

The Fund also made a grant to theBronx Defenders, which provides freecriminal defense, civil legal, and socialservices to indigent residents. While not a formal collaboration, the BronxDefenders is working closely with com-munity and immigrant organizations,such as Families for Freedom andNorthwest Bronx Community and ClergyCoalition. It provides both immigrationlegal assistance and criminal defense tominimize the immigration consequencesthat can result even from minor charges.Typically, an immigration lawyer, a crim-inal defense lawyer, and the client worktogether so that the disposition of anycriminal charges is framed to protectthe client as much as possible fromdeportation. For those clients who cannotbe insulated from immigration conse-quences, the immigration lawyer continuesto represent the client in any deporta-tion proceedings.

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William, an unaccompanied minor who fled Ecuador, receivedlegal assistance that helped him established a new life inthe United States.

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INCREASING LANGUAGE ACCESSTO THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Oregon Judicial Department Salem, Oregonwww.ojd.state.or.us

The State of Oregon is a leader in pro-viding LEP residents with access to itscourts. Oregon law requires that courts

provide spoken-language interpreters forany LEP person who is party to a caseor who needs assistance in communicat-ing with court staff. Interpreters areprovided in both criminal and civilcases. In a typical year, Oregon’s courtsystem handles more than 25,000requests for interpretation in almost150 languages.

The Oregon Judicial Department (OJD)makes interpreter services availableboth inside and outside the courtroom.The program’s effectiveness can beattributable to:

• Centralized interpreter services.Centralization allows OJD to set high

quality standards that apply to courtsacross the state, monitor practices, andhelp specific courts improve their lan-guage access when problems arise. Italso creates an economy of scale thatincreases fiscal and programmatic effi-ciency. OJD hires staff interpreters forthe most commonly requested languages(Spanish and American Sign Language)and makes these individuals available to

courts in differentcounties. The cen-tral office also hasaccess to over 200pre-screened con-tract interpreters.Individual courtsthat need inter-preters for lesscommonly spoken

languages can simply call the centralizedschedulers rather than try to identify aninterpreter on their own.

• High standards for interpreterservices. These standards require:

• Judges to use a certified inter-preter if one is available. If a qualifiedinterpreter is not available locally, OJD’spolicy is to hire interpreters from out-of-town or even out-of-state if needed.

• In-person interpretation for courthearings. Telephonic interpreters can beused only in non-evidentiary hearingsthat are expected to take less than 30minutes.

• Multiple interpreters for extendedhearings. OJD’s policy requires that two

• Community advocacy to providecourt interpreters and language assis-tance to LEP immigrants.

• Education projects to increaseimmigrants’ understanding of thelocal judicial system and how to useit to protect rights.

• Efforts to train judges and othercourt personnel about immigrant com-munities and how courts can increaseaccess for newcomers.

• Programs to recruit and train immi-grants to become court interpreters,especially in less frequently spokenlanguages.

• Development of new plans or proce-dures for serving immigrants in thejudicial system.

• Documentation and disseminationof promising practices.

Efforts that engage communitygroups, legal services providers, judi-cial agencies, and other governmententities are especially promising inexpanding immigrants’ access to thecourts.

FUNDERS CAN INCREASE IMMIGRANTS’ ACCESS TO THE

COURTS BY SUPPORTING:

interpreters be available in any hearingthat is expected to last more than 2hours so that the interpreters can rotate,remain fresh, and avoid mistakes due to fatigue.

• Training for all court staff whohave contact with the public, fromjudges to administrative clerks. Themulti-faceted trainings provide informa-tion about how to best communicatewith LEP individuals and how to utilizeinterpreters. OJD also offers trainings toattorneys through the state bar’s con-tinuing education program.

• Monitoring and Assessment. TheCourt Interpreter Services Office at OJDmonitors LEP individuals’ access to thecourt system and makes modificationsto improve this access, as needed. Inaddition, OJD’s Access to Justice for AllCommittee—consisting of departmentstaff, judges, attorneys, and communityadvocates—is charged with ongoingassessment of OJD programs to improveracial, ethnic, and gender equity, aswell as language access, in the courtsystem.

• Collaboration with communityand legal service organizations. OJDworks with community organizations topublicize the availability of languageservices, recruit new interpreters, andprovide training to court staff on LEPcommunities.

If interpreters are not available, certain civil casescannot be pursued, criminal cases cannot be

prosecuted, and LEP victims will not be able toseek resolution. All of us benefit when our

judiciary operates smoothly and fairly—that’s thereason why courts need to be accessible.

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An estimated 40,000 indigenous peoplefrom Mexico and Central America livein Oregon. Many of these individualsare LEP and speak a number of differ-ent indigenous languages in whichthere are few, if any, qualified legalinterpreters. To address this challenge,Oregon Judicial Department (OJD) isundertaking several pilot projects.

The first involves a partnership withthe Oregon Law Center, a legal servicesorganization, to train indigenous residents to become interpreters.

When qualified interpreters areunavailable, OJD uses a “relay” systemto provide interpretation to peoplewho speak an indigenous languages.It is developing a cadre of interpreterswho can initially interpret from theindigenous language into Spanish. ASpanish-English interpreter then actsas a “relay” and interprets the infor-mation into English. Recognizing thecomplexity of using two sets of inter-preters, OJD provides extensive trainingto the indigenous language interpreterson legal terminology and court

protocols. It also has trained Spanish-English interpreters, judges, andattorneys to ensure that they under-stand how to make the best use ofthis system in court.

Although the relay project was stillrelatively new as of 2006, OJD officialsreport that it has produced somepromising results and has made thecourt system more accessible to people who speak Mixteco, Trqui,Zapoteco, Nahautl, Tarasco, Akateco,and Kanjobal.

PROVIDING INTERPRETERS IN LESS FREQUENTLY SPOKEN

INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES

• Commitment from the judicialleaders to make the courts accessible.The scope of work described in this section would not be possible withoutsupport from Oregon’s judicial leaders,including Supreme Court justices. OJDcurrently allocates almost $1.7 millionannually on its interpreter program.This level of investment has increasedthe efficiency of Oregon’s court system.

“The primary benefit of providing inter-preter service,” says James Comstock,

program manger of OJD’s CourtInterpreter Services, “is that it makes itpossible for courts to administer justice.If interpreters are not available, certaincivil cases cannot be pursued, criminalcases cannot be prosecuted, and LEPvictims will not be able to seek resolu-tion for crimes or other unlawful actions.All of us benefit when our judiciaryoperates smoothly and fairly—that’s thereason why courts need to be accessible.”

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Ensuring equal treatment of immigrantsoften requires more than providing

newcomers with access to legal servicesor the court system. In situations wheregovernment agencies or private businessesmistreat large groups of newcomers,class-action or impact litigation becomesan effective tool. It can protect immi-grants in many different settings andaddress a wide range of issues, including:abusive workplace conditions, unpaidwages, racial or ethnic discrimination,denial of access to education and otherpublic services, unfair immigrationenforcement or detention practices, andprohibitions on day labor centers,among many others.

The two examples in this section illustrate several characteristics of legal

advocacy that arebecoming increas-ingly common.Lawyers for immi-grants frequentlycoordinate withcommunity advo-

cates to maximize their effectiveness byworking in both the legal and politicalcontexts. In addition, immigrant legaladvocates are increasingly addressingconditions that affect other disadvantagedcommunities, including African-Americans.Bringing these communities togetherthrough litigation or other activities canhelp them learn from each other’s expe-riences in fighting for equal opportunity.

CHALLENGING ANTI-IMMIGRANT HOUSING LAWS

ACLU of VirginiaRichmond, Virginiawww.acluva.org

In December 2005, the City of Manassas,a Northern Virginia suburb, enacted anordinance that made it illegal forextended relatives-aunts, uncles, andcousins-to live together as a family.Although city officials originally claimedthe new law was intended to addressovercrowding, several city council mem-bers also stated that they hoped todeter certain newcomers from residingin the city by addressing “problemsassociated with people assumed to beillegal immigrants.”5

The American Civil Liberties Union ofVirginia publicly questioned the legalityof this law and quickly began exploringwhether it could be overturned throughlitigation. The ACLU had previously represented day laborers who had beenharassed by Manassas’ police force.“Given the context,” says Kent Willis,executive director of the ACLU ofVirginia, “it was fairly easy to seethrough the city council’s justificationfor the law. This was about targetingthe Latino community, not aboutaddressing overcrowding.”

As it researched possible legal options,the ACLU worked with local housing andimmigrant groups to mobilize publicopposition to the ordinance. Twogroups—the Equal Rights Center andTenants and Workers United-helped edu-cate Spanish-speaking residents of theirrights and distributed fliers describinghow they could fight the ordinance byputting pressure on the city to repealthe law. On January 4, 2006, shortlyafter the ACLU announced plans to filea lawsuit challenging the constitution-ality of the ordinance, Manassas sus-pended enforcement of the ordinance.Citing a 1977 Supreme Court decision,the ACLU convinced the city that theordinance was an unconstitutionalintrusion on the privacy rights of

ADVOCATING FOREQUAL TREATMENTAND OPPORTUNITY

5. Stephanie McCrummen. 2006. “Virginia City Suspends’Family’ Rule,” The Washington Post, January 5.

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In many instances, we can stop unlawful policieswithout litigation. But to do so, we need to havethe resources to pursue litigation in situations in

which public agencies refuse to follow the law.

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families. Community observers initiallyfeared the city would try to enact a narrower law. But as public oppositiongrew, the city council ultimatelyrepealed the entire ordinance.

The ACLU’s role in successfully challengingthe Manassas ordinance highlights howlitigation can go hand-in-hand withcommunity advocacy in protecting therights of immigrants. The ACLU’s plannedlawsuit gave community advocates anopportunity to mobilize opposition tothe law and was the first step in con-vincing the city to change its policy. Italso provides an example of how thethreat of litigation from a crediblesource can help overturn discriminatorypolicies.

“In many instances, we can stop unlaw-ful policies without litigation,” explainsWillis. “But to do so, we need to havethe resources to pursue litigation in sit-uations in which public agencies refuseto follow the law.” In the Manassascase, anticipated litigation from theACLU combined with mounting publicpressure led the city to reverse a dis-criminatory policy aimed at discouragingimmigrants from becoming residents.

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BUILDING BLACK-BROWNALLIANCES TO FIGHTDISCRIMINATION

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil RightsSan Francisco, California www.lccr.org

University of North Carolina Centerfor Civil RightsChapel Hill, North Carolinawww.law.unc.edu/centers/

About 2,800 miles separate Latinos inModesto, California and African-Americansin Moore County, North Carolina, but acommon struggle for civil rights isbridging this divide.

Using the common cause of discriminationin the allocation of municipal services,civil rights organizations have broughttogether the two groups to share ideas,build relationships, and develop solu-tions to the shared struggles they face.Their story may be one of the mostlong-distance efforts to foster positive

race relations, and it demonstrates that,with good leadership, newcomers and thenative-born can come together aroundshared concerns despite seemingly formidable barriers.

The organizers of this transcontinentalcollaboration include the Lawyers’Committee for Civil Rights, based in San Francisco, California Rural LegalAssistance with offices throughout thestate, and the University of NorthCarolina Center for Civil Rights in ChapelHill. A number of local grassrootsorganizations were also involved.

In both Moore County and Modesto,according to the civil rights activists,local governments have manipulatedtheir boundaries in discriminatory ways,choosing to annex wealthier white sub-divisions, where developers have some-times paid for infrastructure. Adjacentminority communities have been left asunincorporated areas, in some instancesexisting as islands within the geographicalboundaries of the city.

Technically outside the city’s legal jurisdiction and under county control,the unincorporated areas are deniedbasic services such as sewage, side-walks, street lights, and police and fireprotection. Unable to vote in municipalelections, residents of these areas cannot hold elected officials directlyaccountable. Yet they remain subject toland use and zoning laws of the adja-cent municipalities.

The impacts are profound, and the disparities dramatic. Moore County,according to the New York Times, ishome to 43 golf courses. The 2005United States Open, played on one ofthese courses, was estimated to generate$124 million for the state.6

Many of the African-Americans living in Moore County’s unincorporated areashelped to build and provide services forthe golf courses and the upscale hotelsfor which their county is famous. Butthey live in homes—though withinmiles of such affluence—where septictanks leak and contaminate wells thatserve as local water supply. In one case,a natural water supply was dammed tocreate a lake for a development in theadjacent city.

Recognition of these common disparitiesprompted the cross-country dialoguebetween North Carolina and Californiathat began with advocacy at the locallevel. In Modesto, residents representedby the Lawyers’ Committee filed a vot-ing rights lawsuit seeking, among otherthings, greater political empowermentfor the Latino community. Moore Countyresidents began by organizing theAfrican-American community aroundadvocacy with local officials.

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The California and North Carolina civilrights groups encouraged discussionsbetween the two communities. The residents decided to meet, and the FordFoundation made a modest travel grantto make the meetings happen. Followingan exploratory session in North Carolina,the groups held two meetings, one inModesto and one in Moore County,where they gathered to discuss theissues and develop joint strategies.

Both meetings were marked by productivepublic attention and strong relationshipbuilding. Following a tour of theaffected Latino neighborhoods inModesto, a front-page article appearedin the Modesto Bee describing thetranscontinental meeting and detailingthe residents’ concerns. Before she left

for home, Moore County resident CarolFrye Henry stood before the group andexplained how she felt her path wasintertwined with the Latinos’ strugglefor justice. Language barriers existed,she acknowledged, but “I couldn’t sleeplast night; I kept thinking about theproblems you confront. We may speakdifferent languages, but I see you and I know you now.”

The second meeting, two months laterin Moore County, generated the front-page article in The New York Times citedabove, describing the conditions thatcounty residents live under and thepractice, known as “municipal under-bounding,” that had brought the

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6. Dewan, Shaila. 2005. “In County Made Rich byGolf, Some Enclaves Are Left Behind,” The New YorkTimes, June 5, sec. A.

African-Americans and Latinos together.In a joint press conference and a meetingwith public representatives, residents ofthe two communities urged local officialsto provide essential municipal servicesand not wait to be sued-as had happenedin Modesto.

“The sense of empowerment that theModesto residents felt while advocatingthe interests of their colleagues fromNorth Carolina was palpable and quiteoverwhelming to witness,” says RobertRubin, legal director for the Lawyers’Committee for Civil Rights. The empow-erment was moving for both groups.

Their lawyers deserve credit for recog-nizing that common conditions couldbridge a vast cultural and geographicdivide: newcomers and native-bornAmericans, Latinos and African-Americans,Californians and North Carolinians.Working together, these two communi-ties have succeeded in attracting localand national press attention, motivatingone another to maintain their relation-ships and sustain their advocacy. Theirjoint efforts have provided an inspiringexample of immigrants and African-Americans bridging their differenceswhile building their communities.

I couldn’t sleep last night; I kept

thinking about the problems you

confront. We may speak different

languages, but I see you and I know

you now.”

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The recent growth of immigrants inthe U.S. workforce has occurred pri-

marily in low-wage industries in whichworker protections and opportunities forcareer advancement are limited. Immigrantworkers who hold low-wage jobs areespecially susceptible to exploitationsince most have limited English skillsand a growing number are undocumented.Adding to their challenges is the declineof institutions that have historicallyplayed important roles in integratingand protecting immigrant workers, suchas fraternal organizations and settlementhouses. Moreover, many immigrantswork in sectors, such as day labor anddomestic work, that currently lack unionrepresentation.

Over the past decade, a new type oforganization known as “worker centers”has emerged to specifically address theneeds of the growing population of low-wage workers in the United States.Reflecting the growth of this population,the number of centers has increasedfrom approximately 25 in the mid-1990sto more than 140 as of early 2006.7

Worker centers can be ethnic-based,faith-based, or industry-based. Accordingto a recent survey,8 most centers engagein a variety of activities to help theirconstituents:

PROTECTING THERIGHTS OF LOW-WAGE

WORKERS

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• Services to help low-wage andimmigrant workers become self-sufficient, including legal services tohelp workers collect unpaid wages oraddress unsafe work conditions, ESLand citizenship classes, job counseling,

health information or services, andassistance with identification docu-ments and opening bank accounts.

• Advocacy to change employerbehavior or public policies. Thisincludes campaigns to raise wages orimprove working conditions by specificemployers or in an entire industrythrough public education, legislativeadvocacy, pickets, economic boycotts,and other advocacy activities. Workercenters also organize against anti-immigrant activities at the local leveland in support of immigration policyreform at the national level. And theyadvocate on a wide range of issues thataffect immigrant integration, fromaccess to education, housing, and healthcare to addressing discrimination.

• Organizing and leadership development. Worker centers supportthe development of development so thatworkers can take action on their ownbehalf to improve economic conditionsor engage in community advocacy.Through organizing and leadershipdevelopment, immigrant workers havesuccessfully mounted, for example,union organizing drivers and economicboycotts to improve wages and workconditions.

By engaging in these wide-rangingactivities, workers centers help ensurethat low-income immigrants are treatedfairly by government, employers, andother institutions, and that they havethe opportunity to contribute and participate in their communities.

7. Steven Greenhouse. 2006. “Immigrant WorkersFind Support in Growing Network of AssistanceCenters,” The New York Times, April 23, sec. A.8. Janice Fine. 2005. Worker Centers: OrganizingCommunities at the Edge of the Dream. Washington,D.C.: Neighborhood Funders Group.

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MULTIRACIAL, MULTI-SECTORWORKER ORGANIZING

Tenants & Workers United Alexandria, Virginiawww.twsc.org

Tenants & Workers United (TWU), formerly the Tenants’ & Workers’ SupportCommittee, seeks to build the power oflow-income people of Northern Virginiafor racial and economic justice. Usingboth geography- and sector-basedorganizing strategies, TWU primarilyorganizes African-American workers andimmigrant workers from Central andSouth America, East Africa, and SouthAsia. It provides organizational support,leadership development, and financialresources for these workers to carry outeffective organizing campaigns thathave led to:

• The enactment of the first living-wage law in Virginia in 2000. In 2003,the broad-based coalition led by TWUwon additional living-wage laws cover-ing all county and school employees,along with hundreds of private employeesin Arlington County.

• An increase of 70 percent in thewages of several hundred publiclyfunded contract child care workers inthe City of Alexandria.

• A revision of taxi regulations in theCity of Alexandria to allow independenttaxi drivers—predominantly East Africanand South Asian immigrants—to keepmore of their fares and to change com-panies. TWU is currently helping driversform their own company.

• Public funding for day labor site inFairfax County, Virginia.

•Recovery of unpaid wages or backpay for minimum-wage violations forhundreds of workers, including daylaborers.

TWU campaigns typically involve alliesin labor unions, faith-based institu-tions, and community groups. For exam-ple, TWU jointly operates the Campaignfor Housing andWorker Justicewith the Mid-Atlantic Region ofUnite Here. Thegoal of this cam-paign is to presslocal jurisdictions to protect and expandaffordable housing and living-wage jobsin Northern Virginia.

TWU also has a nationally recognizedproject that works to increase uninsuredfamilies’ access to health care, includinglinking low-wage workers and their fam-ily members to free preventive medicalservices, such as tests for blood pres-sure, HIV, and diabetes. TWU staff helps

9. Steven Greenhouse. 2006. “Immigrant WorkersFind Support in a Growing Network of AssistanceCenters,” The New York Times, April 23, sec. A.

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low-income workers who run up largemedical bills reduce or eliminate theirdebts. To date, TWU has helped unin-sured, low-income families eliminate $1million in medical debts.

These various activities have had alarge impact in improving the lives ofimmigrant workers in Northern Virginia.

Mulugeta Yimer, a taxi driver fromEthiopia who originally came to TWU forhelp with a wage dispute, describes whyhe has remained an active member ofthe organization: “We are all from dif-ferent countries and our English is bro-ken and nobody understands us. But theworkers center was willing to listen tous. They provide us expertise. They pro-vide us a lawyer. They support us.”9

“We are all from different countries and our Englishis broken and nobody understands us. But the workerscenter was willing to listen to us. They provide usexpertise. They provide us a lawyer. They support us.”

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GEOGRAPHY-BASED WORKER ORGANIZING

Koreatown Immigrant Workers AllianceLos Angeles, Californiawww.kiwa.org

Founded in 1992, the KoreatownImmigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA)helps develop leadership and promotethe empowerment of Korean and Latinolow-wage immigrant workers in LosAngeles’ Koreatown, where 40 percentof the residents live below the federalpoverty line.

Working in a community whose economyis dominated by service jobs in restau-rants, supermarkets, garments factories,and other retail businesses, KIWA imple-ments a variety of programs and strate-gies to help low-wage immigrant work-ers advocate on their own behalf andengage in strategic coalitions to winbroad systemic change on behalf ofimmigrant workers at both the local and state levels.

• Workers’ Rights Clinic. The clinicoffers low-income workers advice, repre-sentation, and referrals on employmentissues, with a focus on wage-and-hourclaims. Over the past 13 years, KIWAhas assisted over 10,000 low-wageworkers in resolving workplace disputesand helped them claim an estimated$10,000,000 owed in unpaid wages.

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• Restaurant Workers JusticeCampaign. KIWA initiated this campaign in response to numerousworkers’ complaints about exploitativework conditions in local restaurants,including health and safety violationsand failure to pay minimum wage, over-time, and workers’ compensation. A U.S.Department of Labor investigation in1998 substantiated these claims, find-ing that 97 percent of the Koreatownrestaurants were in violation of labor laws.

To address theseproblems, KIWAtrained workersat individualrestaurants toconfront employers over abusive andillegal work conditions; filed lawsuitsagainst specific restaurants challengingegregious labor law violations; organ-ized targeted boycotts; and publicizedthese work conditions through town-hall meetings and stories in the media.After years of confrontation with anumber of Koreatown restaurants andthe Korean Restaurant OwnersAssociation (KROA), the KROA agreed to work with KIWA to change industrypractices and established a LaborMediation and Arbitration Panel—con-sisting of respected members of KoreanAmerican community—to resolve labordisputes in Koreatown restaurants.

Based on worker surveys, KIWA esti-mates that the total wages paid toKoreatown restaurant workers haveincreased by tens of millions of dollarsin the six years since reaching the set-tlement with KROA. As a follow-up toits work on wage enforcement, KIWArecently initiated a Restaurant Healthand Safety Campaign to train employersand workers on how to improve safetyin their workplace.

• Fair Share Campaign. Building uponits work with restaurant workers, KIWAhas also tried to improve the workingconditions at large Korean-owned super-markets by organizing the workers andputting public pressure on these busi-nesses to pay a decent wage. In 2005,KIWA reached an agreement with foursupermarkets that agreed to pay a minimum wage of $8.50 an hour and toraise this starting wage annually basedon the Consumer Price Index. Theagreements resulted in a $1.2 millionincrease in wages for more than 400Koreatown supermarket workers anddemonstrated how living-wage campaignscan be used in the private sector toimprove working conditions.

In addition to mounting its own campaign, KIWA works closely withother worker centers and helped foundthe Multi-Ethnic Immigrant WorkersOrganizing Network (MIWON). One ofthe first multi-ethnic networks of work-ers centers, MIWON connects KIWA andother members to legislative and policyissues at the state and national leveland mobilizes support for specific campaigns, such as changes to labor orimmigration policies. Other members of MIWON include the Garment WorkerCenter, Pilipino Worker Center, SouthernCalifornia Institute for Popular Education,and the Coalition for Humane ImmigrantRights of Los Angeles.

KIWA has assisted over 10,000 low-wage workers inresolving workplace disputes and helped them claiman estimated $10,000,000 owed in unpaid wages.

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PROMOTING FAIRAND HUMANE LAWS

AND POLICIES

NATIONAL ADVOCACYCAMPAIGNS

Immigrants of all backgrounds have per-sonal stakes in the ongoing immigrationreform debate. In 2006, their commondesire for a solution to the problems ofthe current system and for expandedpathways to full membership in Americansociety was made clear, as millions ofimmigrants across the country marchedand rallied in support of comprehensiveimmigration reform.

Notwithstanding the passage of anyimmigration reform measures, theunderlying factors that have madeimmigration a strong focus of nationaldebate, such as an aging native-bornpopulation and the need for foreign-born workers, will remain a central issuefor the United States now and in theforeseeable future. Yet concerns aboutthe high volume of immigrants, combinedwith worries about national security,will continue to create a counterforcefor restricting immigration.

In response, national and regional coalitions are adopting a variety ofapproaches to advance immigrationreform and to promote equal treatmentand opportunity for immigrants. Whilethey may differ in style and strategy,from building an immigrant youthmovement at the grassroots to buildinga political campaign in the halls ofCongress, these groups point to thecritical need to have a strong immigrantvoice in the national debate on immigration policy.

Watch the DVDSentence Home:

IntroductionCambodian refugee Many Unch grew

up in a tough Seattle neighborhood andwound up serving time in prison. Although

he paid his debt to society, he will be deported to a country he fled as a

child two decades ago. Find out what will happen to Many, his

wife, and their young children.

We are at a pivotal point in the

history of the immigrant rights

movement in the United States: a

movement that could well shape the

future of this country… Whatever bill

does or does not emerge from the

Congress, foundations can be part of

building not just a stronger immigrant

rights movement, but also a more

deeply engaged citizenry for social

justice in the U.S. and the world.”

—Taryn Higashi Deputy Director, Human Rights

Unit, Ford Foundation

Coalition for ComprehensiveImmigration Reform (CCIR)

CCIR was established in 2004 with thesingular purpose of winning comprehensiveimmigration reform. The origin of thecampaign arose from growing consensusacross the political spectrum that thecurrent immigration system is failing torespond to changing economic andsocial realities.

One fundamental problem is the lack oflegal channels for low-skilled immigrantworkers to enter the United States eventhough there is high demand for suchworkers.10 The result is a growing undoc-umented population estimated to beapproaching 12 million. While theseimmigrants are fueling the country’seconomy, many are living in the shadowsof society and are subject to exploitationin the workplace and beyond. The hugebacklog in family visas means that mostimmigrants must wait for years if theywant their family members to immigratethrough legal channels.

“The bottom line is the immigration system is broken,” says Maria Echaveste,a lecturer at the UC Berkeley Boalt HallSchool of Law who helped in the formation of CCIR.

A number of non-profit advocacy groupsinitially came together to advocate forreforms in the immigration system, butbecause they were 501(c)(3)s, their lobbying activities were limited. CCIRwas set up as a 501(c)(4) with an 18-

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month, $3-million grant from AtlanticPhilanthropies, which is based inBermuda and therefore not subject tothe restrictions of U.S. tax laws. In2005, the foundation gave a secondgrant of $4 million over two years.

“Atlantic Philanthropies was persuadedthat with some serious investment, wecould mount a legislative campaign,”Echaveste says. “Not to build an insti-tution like what others were doing, buta campaign to get something throughCongress.”

One of the legislative goals is to provideundocumented immigrants already inthe United States a path towards per-manent residency. Another goal is toclear the immigration backlog andreunite families.

CCIR’s campaign attempts to marry aconstituency-based grassroots strategywith old-fashioned inside-the-Beltwaylobbying, involving community-basedorganizations, unions, churches, andbusinesses. “The expertise required todance in the legislative halls of Congressis sorely needed,” Echaveste says. “Howwe’re able to translate that out in thefield is one of our challenges.”

For Atlantic Philanthropies, it was allquite simple. Acting on a convictionthat immigrants were a populationwithout full access to the rights theydeserve, the foundation decided thatgoing through Congress was the bestway to make change.

“It’s a federal debate,” says RebeccaRittgers, a programme executive forReconciliation and Human Rights atAtlantic Philanthropies. “To make lastingchange, you have to make legislativechanges.”

Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM)

FIRM, a project of the Center forCommunity Change, grew out of theblistering defeats immigrant advocatesexperienced in 1996 with the passageof welfare and immigration legislationthat severely eroded immigrants’ rights.

10. Rob Paral. 2005. “No Way In: U.S. ImmigrationPolicy Leave Few Legal Options for MexicanWorkers,” Immigration Policy in Focus, Volume 4,Issue 5. July.

conservative,” says Yun. “We needed tomove that constituency. The best wayto do that was through the voice of theyouth.”

Another piece of FIRM’s campaign is tobuild electoral capacity in communitygroups around the country, some ofwhich had never gotten involved inelectoral politics. This year, FIRM,through the Center for CommunityChange’s 501(c)(4) arm, plans to targetsome Congressional elections in Arizonato test immigration as a campaignissue. Arizona was chosen because it issuch a hotbed state, “where it’s in yourface all the time, and a place that hasset the stage for a lot of immigrant ini-tiatives,” Yun says.

The Center for Community Change,which houses FIRM, receives fundingfrom a diverse array of foundations forits immigration-related work, includingCarnegie Corporation of New York, theJohn S. and James L. Knight Foundation,and the Akonadi Foundation.

Role of Local and State Immigrant Organizations

Critical to both campaigns are inputfrom and involvement of regional andstate-level immigration groups aroundthe country that are fighting battles intheir own jurisdictions to protect exist-ing immigrants’ rights and win newones. With their experience in strugglesover securing, for example, driver’s

“The absence of the grassroots voice in DC was an obvious major problem,and the fact that the field wasn’t coor-dinated,” says Son Ah Yun, FIRM co-director. Many local groups, in shiftingtheir focus from services to advocacy,“were screaming to be organized,” she adds.

After a two-year planning process and a strategic decision that the campaignwould be grassroots-led, FIRM waslaunched in 2004. It was also decidedthat addressing the issue of undocumentedimmigrants was a necessary componentof the campaign.

Although national immigration reform isits ultimate goal, FIRM decided to startwith smaller, interim campaigns. “Weknew the immigration fight would be along fight, three to five years,” saysYun. “In order for us to engage in thatfight, we needed to build our base. Weneeded to have a winnable issue so thatwe can sustain the base.”

FIRM has thrown its support behind the DREAM Act, which seeks to provideundocumented high school graduateswho came to the country as minors andwho have lived here for at least fiveyears an opportunity to apply for legalstatus and eventually become permanentlegal residents if they go to college orserve in the military for a requiredamount of time.

“We decided who we needed to movewas Middle America, non-immigrantfolks, African-Americans, whites, andeven some immigrants who are pretty

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licenses, in-state tuition, and health coverage for immigrants, state immigra-tion coalitions contribute importantideas to national campaigns.

Beyond sharing strategies, immigrationcoalitions are active partners in thenational campaigns, with most partici-pating in both CCIR and FIRM. While thetwo campaigns have different approaches,“each of the networks has value,” saysMaria Rodriguez, executive director ofthe Florida Immigrant Coalition.

The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund isfunding several national organizationsto coordinate consensus-building andactivities with local groups. The goal,says Henry Der, senior program officer atHaas, is “to help make the immigrationmovement more effective.”

Looking ahead to Implementation

Der adds that very few groups havestarted to look at the nitty-gritty ofhow reform policies will be implemented.

“What will be the rights of undocumentedimmigrants if they came out of theshadows of society?” he wonders. “Whatare their rights before an administrativecourt or court of law? A lot of workremains to be undertaken. To date, thepolicy debate has been very dominant.But even if we got enlightened policiessigned into law, there’s going to be aton of work to administer and monitorhow well the new laws in this area maybe carried out.”

Implementation is where the rubber will meet the road. Regardless of theirphilosophical differences, national advocacy groups, statewide immigrantrights coalitions, and local immigrantorganizations will all need to play a significant role to ensure that the rightsof immigrants are protected.

CONNECTING LOCAL, STATE,AND NATIONAL ADVOCACY

Regional immigration coalitions haveemerged as the best-and often mostexperienced-vehicles for coordinatingadvocacy strategy. Not only do theyengage local immigrant groups and connect them to national campaigns,they also take the lead in organizingnewcomers at the local and state levels,where policies can either facilitate orhinder immigrant integration.

Given the absence of national immigrantintegration policy, state and local governments have considerable power toaffect immigrants’ ability to become partof their new community. For example, theyhave the authority to determine immi-grants’ access to health care and theavailability of ESL, citizenship classes,and education programs to support immigrant families.

In recent years, state and local debateon immigration issues has becomeincreasingly focused on hot-buttonissues: drivers’ licenses for undocumentedimmigrants, location of day labor centers,in-state college tuition for undocumentedstudents, and the enforcement of immi-gration laws by local police forces.

“We’re investing in building the capacityof immigration coalitions across thecountry because they are so crucial toprotecting the rights of immigrants,especially in today’s hostile environment,”

says Michele Lord who heads up theFour Freedoms Fund, a national fundingcollaborative. “Equal treatment andopportunity are fundamental to animmigrant’s ability to contribute fully toour society. Philanthropy has to investin organizing and advocacy to bringabout systemic change.”

State Policy Battles

With anti-immigrant sentiment gainingmomentum, much of the work is defen-sive, and it takes a substantial amountof time and resources to counter per-sistent attempts by legislators and officials to take away rights.

“I think we have to play defensively inthe short term, but we have to buildthe vehicles in the long term,” saysMaria Rodriguez of the Florida ImmigrantCoalition, founded in 2002. “We want tocreate the vehicles that can transportthe ideas and get things done. It doesn’tmatter if it’s local or state or federal.”

In a new gateway state, the TennesseeImmigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition(TIRRC), formed in 2001, is emerging asan important player, locally and nation-ally. TIRRC scored a major victory forimmigrants’ rights when it won drivers’licenses for undocumented immigrantsin 2001. But three years later, a newbill was passed essentially creating atwo-tier system, with drivers’ licenses

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available only to citizens and lawfulpermanent residents and “drivers’ cer-tificates” for others. “That bill was aturning point for many groups,” saysTIRRC director David Lubell.

“Drivers’ licenses seemed such a fundamental issue across the state,” he says. “That was the point whereTennessee moved away from just being a service provision type of atmosphereinto one in which groups started recog-nizing the need for other types of action.”

TIRRC has since gone onto numerousother legislative battles, most of themalso defensive, including fighting billsto prevent undocumented immigrantsfrom receiving any public services andone turning state officials into immigra-tion enforcers.

Even in Illinois, a “blue” state, the effortto win drivers’ licenses for undocumentedimmigrants has been a long, and so far,unsuccessful struggle. Variations of abill creating drivers’ certificates havebeen introduced in both houses of thestate legislature, but none have passed.

“National security is still a huge concern,”says Fred Tsao, policy director of theIllinois Coalition for Immigrant andRefugee Rights (ICIRR). “There’s still avery deep ambivalence with respect tothe undocumented, and what are wegoing to do with them. That did comeout in the floor debate.”

Local Policy Battles

In addition to raising awareness of undermine immigrants’ rights, immigrationcoalitions must battle municipal measures

as well. Many cities have tried, forexample, to restrict the rights of daylaborers and use housing ordinances toevict undocumented immigrants.

For example, in Nashville last year,numerous nuisance complaints led a citycouncil member to introduce a resolutionprohibiting day laborers from solicitingwork on the sidewalks. TIRCC swunginto action, mobilizing day laborers andpersuading the council member to seeka different solution. “It took months ofwork of building trust in the communityto convince the day laborers to come tomeetings and speak out,” Lubell says.Eventually, the council member reversedhis position and withdrew his bill.

Putting a Human Face on Immigration

One of the simplest yet most powerfulstrategies for winning the critical battlefor public opinion is to humanize theissue of immi-gration, some-thing that localgroups are well-positioned todo. Americanswho are farremoved fromtheir own immigrant roots are more aptto buy into the anti-immigrant rhetoricif they don’t understand who immi-grants are and how they are contribut-ing to the local community.

Perhaps the best examples of this typeof work emerge out of advocacy effortsfor the DREAM Act and in-state tuitionbills, where numerous youths have put a human face to the immigration policydebates. Their inspiring stories havemoved lawmakers and the public tosympathize with the challenges faced byyoung immigrants and to remove barriersthat prevent them from pursuing their dreams.

For example, an in-state tuition bill waseasily passed in Illinois in 2003 largelybecause students themselves took thelead. “Some were incredibly charis-matic,” says Tsao. “They put a very nice,friendly face on this whole issue.”

But Tsao is also quick to point out thatthe passage of the in-state tuition billand other immigrant-friendly legislationowes a great deal to support fromAfrican-American legislators.

“African-American elected officials, fromJacqueline Collins in the State Senate toDanny Davis and Bobby Rush in Congress,have an empathy for and solidarity withother minority groups,” he says. “Theirappreciation of the need for multi-racialcoalition building really comes across.”

In an effort to influence public opinionin a new growth state, TIRCC launched astatewide “Welcoming Tennessee” cam-paign, based partly on a similar effortin Iowa, to aggressively educate residentsabout the contributions immigrantsmake to society.

“There are a lot of misconceptions aboutimmigrants being spread by local talk

show hosts, state legislators, even theKKK,” says Lubell. “We don’t want to beplaying defense forever. The campaignin Iowa really helped change the atmosphere.”

The Tennessee campaign involves training immigrants and having themtravel throughout the state to meetwith local groups such as churches,Rotary clubs, and chambers of commerce.Lubell says they have won over numerousallies, including local business groups,and a media plan is in the works. A keypart of the education, he points out, isallowing people to meet with immi-grants themselves and see that “theyhave similar aspirations, hopes, and dreams.”

“African-American elected officials have an empathyfor and solidarity with other minority groups. Theirappreciation of the need for multi-racial coalitionbuilding really comes across.”

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Immigrants from South Asia-India,Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal,

and other countries in the region-havefaced considerable challenges since theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks. Like manyAmericans, South Asians were shockedby the attack, and many felt vulnerableand concerned about terrorism. ButSouth Asians also had to deal with thebacklash that followed the attack,including targeted federal surveillanceand immigration enforcement policies,as well as hate crimes, from harassmentand assault to murder.

Even after the initial wave of attackssubsided, South Asians continued toface suspicion and discrimination inworkplaces, schools, airports, and othersettings.11 Immigration enforcementpolicies, such as the Special Registrationprogram targeting immigrant men pri-marily from South Asian and MiddleEastern countries,12 resulted in massdetention and deportation that toremany South Asian families apart.

This section highlights the work of twoof the many South Asian organizationsthat have provided important leadershipduring this difficult period. Located onopposite coasts but with similar missions,both groups have demonstrated how relatively small, ethnic-based organiza-tions play a critical role in helping new-comers respond to discrimination andunfair treatment, as well as in dispellingstereotypes and misinformation abouttheir community.

ADDRESSING RACIALSTEREOTYPES AND

BACKLASH

South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow (SAALT)Silver Spring, Marylandwww.saalt.org

SAALT was a volunteer organization withmembers primarily on the East Coast atthe time of the September 11th attack.But its leadership anticipated the likelybacklash against South Asians andquickly formulated a response. Withinweeks of the attacks, SAALT released areport entitled “American Backlash,”which compiled bias incidents duringthe period immediately followingSeptember 11th. The report, which waswidely covered in the media, found thatover 600 incidents of bias against SouthAsians and Arab-Americans occurred inthe just the first week following theattack. These documented incidents lednumerous elected officials and otherleaders to quickly recognize the scale of the backlash and to take steps toaddress the violence.

When hate violence against SouthAsians continued to persist, SAALTlaunched a national campaign in early2002 to raise public awareness onaddressing discrimination against SouthAsians. A key component was a 26-minute documentary entitled “RaisingOur Voices: South Asian AmericansAddress Hate,” along with a companionguide. Consisting of vignettes of theexperiences of hate-crime survivors andthe response of community activists, thefilm provided an important visual toolfor understanding the impact of thepost-September 11th backlash. Thecompanion guide contained backgroundinformation on hate crimes, demographicinformation on South Asian communities,and ideas for using the film for publiceducation and action. These includedspecific suggestions for how local officials should monitor and respond to hate crimes, as well as taking steps to reduce their occurrence.

11. See National Asian Pacific American LegalConsortium. 2002. Audit of Violence Against Asian Pacific Americans: Tenth Annual Report.Washington, D.C.: National Asian Pacific AmericanLegal Consortium.12. See the “History of U.S. Immigration Law andPolicy” section under the “Additional Resources”tab of the toolkit for more information.

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The documentary has been widely usedby local South Asian community groupsand has been shown in over 150 publicvenues to students, educators, lawenforcement officials, legislators, andthe general public.

SAALT has emerged as a leading SouthAsian civil rights group that continuesto address hate crimes and discrimina-tion issues. But with increased capacity,it has also developed projects to buildcoalitions among and between SouthAsian organizations; conduct govern-mental and legislative advocacy on civiland immigrant rights issues; and facili-tate civic participation and leadershipdevelopment through its membershipand various community empowermentprograms.

South Asian Network (SAN)Artesia, Californiawww.southasiannetwork.org

SAN was originally founded in 1990with the mission of promoting health,empowerment, and solidarity of SouthAsians in Southern California. LikeSAALT, SAN also had to respond tonumerous incidents involving hatecrimes or discrimination in the monthsfollowing September 11th. SAN engagedin broad community education both toinform local South Asians of their rightsand to dispel the general public’s widelyheld stereotypes of this community.

The challenge, according to Hamid Khan,SAN’s executive director, has been tomove beyond these reactive activitiesand “organize in an affirmative way tocounter this climate of fear” in the SouthAsian community. “While fear can leadto isolation and fragmentation,” saysKhan, “there is also an opportunity forSouth Asians to recognize their commonconcerns and form coalitions amongthemselves and with other marginalizedcommunities to work on shared goals andaspirations.” SAN has launched a largeoutreach campaign to address issuesaffecting community members whilehelping these individuals become civicallyengaged in advocacy and organizing.

In 2004 and 2005, more than 10,000South Asians participated or had beenassisted by one or more of SAN’s following programs:

• Community outreach and education. Through a variety of SouthAsian cultural, religious, social, andcommercial venues, outreach and educa-tion activities inform and organize community members on issues relatedto immigration, detention/deportation,domestic violence, hate crime, civil lib-erties, employment and housing rights,police abuse, and preventive health.

• Services and advocacy. SAN providescounseling, legal advocacy, and healthcare services and referrals to assist victims of hate crime, consumer fraud,housing and employment discrimination,and domestic violence.

• Community mapping. San utilizesthis tool to assess the South Asian com-munity’s needs and to organize commu-nity members to speak out and addresstheir self-identified issues.

• Organizing and advocacy for tenants’ and workers’ rights. This workaddresses issues affecting renters, taxiworkers, gas station attendants,and domesticworkers.

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• Cultural sensitivity trainings. Thetrains target government and serviceproviders, including law enforcementand first responders, to improve theirunderstanding of the South Asian community and address racial profilingand stereotypes.

• Creation and facilitation of support groups. These groups are fordomestic violence survivors who areactively engaged in educating theircommunities about the rights of abusedwomen and defying cultural norms andvalues that limit women’s options.

Although not always related to addressingracial stereotypes and backlash, theseaffirmative activities have empowered a growing number of South Asians tospeak up, participate in communityadvocacy, and interact with other com-munity members, reducing the potentialisolation experienced by South Asianimmigrants. These collaborative effortswill strengthen relationships with othercommunities that can help South Asianschallenge and overcome unfair or dis-criminatory treatment in the long run.

While fear can lead to isolation and fragmentation,there is also an opportunity for South Asians to recognize their common concerns and form coalitionsamong themselves and with other marginalized communities to work on shared goals and aspirations.

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OUTPUTS

• Creation of advocacy organ-izations or development ofcapacity in existing efforts.

• Hiring of staff and/or consultants with relevantexpertise (e.g., legal, communityorganizing, advocacy).

• Active engagement ofimmigrants and native-born inspecific campaigns.

• Identification and mobiliza-tion of related networks andresources.

• Culturally sensitive train-ings of local officials and representatives.

• Development and publicdissemination of accurate andcredible knowledge on policymatters relating to integration.

• Strategic legislative campaigns, organizing efforts,impact litigation cases, andother advocacy initiatives.

OUTCOMES

• Increased awareness and asser-tion of rights among immigrants.

• Increased collaborative amongimmigrants and native-born alliesaround common advocacy issues.

• Increased awareness and knowledgeof opinion leaders about issuesaffecting immigrant integration.

• Increased dialogues about immigrant integration in the publicarena.

• Increased multi-sector taskforces and advocacy efforts.

• Increased public support for policiespromoting immigrant integration.

• Identification and/or consolida-tion of resources for supportingimmigrant integration.

• Introduction and passage of supportive legislative and adminis-trative policies.

• Expanded access to resources andopportunities for immigrants.

These outputs helpbring about the out-comes, and as theoutcomes occur, theseoutputs also becomemore widespread.

These outcomesencourage integration,and as integrationgradually occurs,these outcomes willalso become morewidespread.

EVALUATION

There are several ways to tell if theoutcomes have occurred, such as:

• Percent of immigrants whounderstand and have asserted theirrights (e.g., percent of immigrantemployees who know how to file acomplaint if discriminated against, orwho have participated in an advocacycampaign).

• Number and effectiveness oforganizations advocating on behalf or immigrants, including ability toengage immigrants actively in

advocacy, capacity to build coalitionsand multi-sector and multiracialalliances, strong public communicationsability, and capacity to build allianceswith organizations and elected repre-sentatives not typically interested inor supportive of immigrant-relatedissues.

• Review of media coverage on theissue (e.g., placement of article inthe newspaper, tone of the article,i.e., positive, negative, or neutralresponse to the issue).

• Amount of private and public funds allocated to efforts that promote immigrant integrationopportunities.

• Number of votes for a proposedlocal or state legislation related toimmigrant integration.

• Number, quality, and reach of policies passed that promote equal-opportunity treatment and immigrantintegration.

Equal treatment and opportunity inareas such as education, health care,employment, and housing, amongmany others are critical to immigrantintegration. Evaluation of programsthat promote equal treatment andopportunity should focus on the

outputs and outcomes shown in thefigure. Note, however, that indicatorsof these outputs and outcomes shouldbe tailored to the specific issue forwhich equal treatment and opportu-nity is required (e.g., tenant rights,worker rights, access to the courts).

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Promising Practices in Social and Cultural Interaction

Social and cultural interaction between immigrants and established residents creates the cross-cultural understanding that helps all

community members gain a level of comfort with one another and widenstheir appreciation for all cultures. It shifts everyone’s attention to commonalities that can unite, rather than differences that can divide. Thisis especially important for improving the relationship between immigrantsand African-Americans, two communities often pitted against one anotherin the perceived and real competition for jobs and other resources.”

— Sandra Smith Community Research and Grants Management Officer

The Columbus Foundation, Columbus, Ohio

INTRODUCTION 171

PORTALS IN THE TWO-WAY PROCESS 172The Role of Museums in Immigrant Integration

CREATING GREATER AWARENESS OF “INVISIBLE” COMMUNITIES 175The Central Indiana Community Foundation

BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN AFRICANS AND AFRICAN-AMERICANS 177The KIACA Gallery in Columbus, Ohio

CREATING COMMUNITY ACROSS CULTURES 179The Power of Personal Narratives

GROWING COMMUNITY ROOTS 182The Boise Community Garden Project

CULTURAL INTEGRATION THROUGH THE ARTS 184The Tamejavi Festival in California’s Central Valley

PROGRAM EVALUATION 186

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Our nation of immigrants has alwaysbeen a culture of many cultures. The

two-way integration process, in whichthe cultures of newcomers are valued as they learn the traditions of theiradopted country, is not one of dilutionor loss but one that enriches the fabricof the receiving society.

Culture plays a significant role in defining our identity and worldview. For newcomers, culture is the primaryframe that shapes their interaction withother newcomers and with establishedresidents in their new community. Thisinteraction can occur anywhere andeverywhere, such as the park, communitycenter, school, and grocery store. However,such interaction will not likely happenor be meaningful without programs thatintentionally bring people from differentcultural backgrounds together.

This section highlights diverse approachesthat promote social and cultural interac-tion. These approaches share many fea-tures that help lay the groundwork forbuilding mutual understanding and trustacross cultures, including opportunitiesfor people from different backgrounds to:

• Share accurate information aboutthe cultures involved. Accurate infor-mation, combined with frank discussions,can eliminate misunderstanding andmisperceptions that create barriers tointegration and community building.

• Get to know one another as individuals. Over time, such humanconnection is highly effective at breakingdown harmful stereotypes about particu-lar ethnic/racial groups or cultures.

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• Raise questions, share concerns,and engage in a dialogue. Ongoinghonesty and candidness, though some-times difficult, are critical to creatingauthentic relationships. Concerns aboutimmigration, race, and other toughissues should be addressed head-on.

• Build on the commonalities, butaddress the differences. The focus shouldbe on helping participants identify sharedinterests and create shared experiences.At the same time, there should alwaysbe willingness to constructively addressdifferences that arise along the way.

• Establish trust and work togetheron common issues. Effective programsnot only help build trust over time butalso help participants find commonground. The goal should be to engagestakeholders in joint problem solvingand other efforts to strengthen theoverall community.

Whether people are sharing stories,making art, or viewing performances orexhibits, these programmatic featuresare essential to facilitating meaningfulinteraction and exchange. Well-developedprograms, over time, can lead to outcomessuch as improved understanding andtrust across cultures, reduced prejudicesand misperceptions, formation of cross-cultural relationships, and collectiveaction on communitywide issues.

The case-study examples in this section—ranging from something as simple andaccessible as a community garden tomajor multi-year festivals and multi-million-dollar museums—incorporatemany of the programmatic features out-lined above. By bringing together immi-grants and native-born, they serve aspowerful vehicles to integrate newcom-ers into the social and cultural fabric oftheir communities. Foundations lookingfor integration opportunities in whichto invest should consider projects thatpromote cross-cultural interaction andexchange as a promising pathway tosuccessful immigrant integration.

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In 1863, Lucas Glockner invested$8,000 to build a tenement on a

single-family lot in Lower Manhattan’sEast Side. He moved into one of theapartments with his family, and over thenext 72 years, some 7,000 newcomers toAmerica did the same, immigrants from20 countries.

Since 1988, when Glockner’s formerhome at 97 Orchard Street became theLower East Side Tenement Museum, thestories of many of these new Americanshave been brought back to life in thesame tiny apartments they once occu-pied.

When her husband Julius left for work one morning and never returned,Nathalie Gumpertz, a Jewish immigrantfrom Prussia, bought a sewing machineand ended up supporting three daughtersby making dresses for neighbors. TheRogharshevsky family from Lithuaniafilled their three rooms with their sixchildren—girls bedded in the kitchen,boys on the front couch—while fatherAbraham worked until his death fromtuberculosis as a presser in a garmentshop. The Sicilian Baldizzi family weath-ered the Great Depression at 97 Orchard:Adolfo, who had been a fine woodworkerin Italy, walked the streets with histoolbox in search of odd jobs.

Rogarshevsky kitchen with a view of the parlor, Tenement Museum

PROMOTING TOLERANCE AND AHISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The Museum has documented suchdetails for 1,300 former residents of thetenement, bringing their stories to hun-dreds of thousands of visitors annually—both on site and online. Authenticallydecorated apartments—the look, thelighting, the clothing, even the smells—help highly trained docent educators tohumanize this American narrative, pur-suing the Museum’s mission “to promotetolerance and historical perspectivethrough the presentation of the varietyof immigrant and migrant experienceson Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a gateway to America.”

Tolerance and historical perspective arepromoted by many other Museum pro-grams. Current immigrants learn Englishin classes that use memoirs, diaries, andletters of earlier newcomers; graduatesdevelop guides for other participants.Native-born audience members areinvited to tell the stories of their immi-grant ancestors to improvisational actors,who turn anecdotes into on-the-spottheater presentations. Collaborationswith other institutions engage immi-grant youth in writing and performingoriginal plays and offer training in the museum profession for immigrantadults. The Lower East Side CommunityPreservation Project, launched by theMuseum, brings together diverse resi-dents to select, preserve, and interpretlocal historic sites.

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HEALING, CELEBRATION, ANDTHE CROSSING OF CULTURES

The Tenement Museum is a portal in thetwo-way process of immigrant integration,bringing the newly arrived together withnative-born descendants of the oncenewly arrived, animating their commonheritage, fostering dialogue and interac-tion. Guided by the vision of Ruth J.Abram, its founder and president, theMuseum has played a leading role in thedevelopment of such civic consciousnessin ethnic museums around the United States.

“Museum science has changed becauseof Ruth Abram,” says Sunny Fischer,executive director of the Chicago-basedRichard H. Driehaus Foundation. Fischervisited the Tenement Museum during a Ford Foundation event on theInternational Coalition of Historic SiteMuseums of Conscience. “The power ofthe place was palpable,” she says.“People actually lived here. The funderin me saw the intelligence, the smart-ness of connecting history to what ishappening today.”

Fischer invited Abram, who has sincebecome a friend, to speak to Chicagofunders. One of the many initiativesthat got a boost from the example ofthe Tenement Museum was Chicago’sCambodian American Heritage Museumand Killing Fields Memorial, a project ofthe Cambodian Association of Illinois.The first in the United States, theCambodian American Heritage Museumoffers cultural exhibits, arts events, and acurriculum to teach high-school studentsabout Cambodian-American history andculture. Its Killing Fields Memorial, acathartic act of communal healing, willeventually inscribe on 80 glass columnsthe names of as many as 4,000 Cambodiangenocide victims, all relatives of theCambodian families who have resettledin the Chicago area.

“A people who forget the past and whodon’t take account of their history can-not build a future,” says a prominentCambodian leader.

Cambodian-American refugees in Chicagoare building a future by bearing witnessto the stories of their horrors, sharingthose stories with the wider community.

The pride engendered in the CambodianAmerican community through itsfundraising efforts has been accompaniedby an extraordinary connection withChicago’s Jewish community. “This was aproduct of a community trying to coa-lesce and deal with its own issues,” saysNikki Stein, executive director of the PolkBros. Foundation. “But a number of Jewishfamilies and foundations participated…you just can’t look at the Cambodiancommunity and not see your own.”

The cross-cultural connection goes back30 years to the Jewish Federation’sresettlement help with newly arrivedCambodian refugees. The relationshipblossomed as fundraising for themuseum got underway. As Kompha Seth,executive director of the CambodianAssociation of Illinois, recalls, “I said I only had $300 in the bank. And aJewish donor gave me a $5,000 chal-lenge grant that started the building fund,and within two weeks, we had $30,000.”Some 70 percent of the multimilliondollar Campaign for Hope and Renewalcame from the Jewish community.1

PREJUDICE AND PRIDE,DISTINCTION AND LOYALTY

Ethnic museums have opened all acrossthe United States from California toConnecticut, including seven in Chicago,25 in New York City, three in Detroit.The newest Detroit entry, opened in2005 and also a first in the nation, isthe Arab American National Museum,developed by the Arab CommunityCenter for Economic and Social Services(ACCESS) in Dearborn, Michigan.

Similar pride in accomplishment, andsimilar story telling to cross-culturalbarriers, have accompanied this open-ing. Since September 2001, the public

Killing Fields Memorial, CambodianAmerican Heritage Museum

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1. Kushner, Aviya. 2005. “Donors Open Pockets for aCambodian Museum.” Forward, January 7.

95 Orchard, Tenement Museum

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narrative about Arab Americans hasbeen considerably distorted by stereo-typing and prejudice. The Museum’s aimis to tell the true and quite diversestory of the accomplishments and con-tributions of immigrants to Americafrom Arab countries. The $16-millioncampaign, which was accompanied by asix-month process in which a planningteam gathered ideas from Arab-Americancommunities, created 38,500 square feetof exhibits, classroom space, auditorium,and library.

Exhibits at the Arab American National Museum display the culturalcontributions of Arab nations through-out history, from the everyday life ofArab Americans to the work of famouspoliticians. In the words of New YorkTimes critic Edward Rothstein, “ likeother museums of American hyphen-ation,” it is “at once an assertion of difference and belonging, a declarationof distinction and of loyalty.”

2

“The Arab American National Museum isa door opener for southeast Michiganand the world,” adds Brenda G. Price,community liaison program officer atthe John S. and James L. KnightFoundation. “It offers insight into the Arab culture, its integration intoAmerican culture, and the valuable con-tributions made by members of the Arabcommunity over many generations. TheMuseum is a testament to the diversityin this country, and the contributionsmade by immigrants who continue toarrive on this soil.”

The dynamic integration process thatweaves America’s receiving society withits newcomer population incorporatesthe difference, the belonging, the dis-tinction, the loyalty. The country’s manyethnic and immigrant museums—portalsin the two-way process—model integra-tion as they enhance it. As the Arab

American National Museum humanizes“American hyphenation” in a war-on-terror America in which the “other” canbe so readily demonized, the TenementMuseum reminds usthat one way tocombat dehumaniza-tion is to acknowl-edge the hyphen inus all.

One of those who died on September 11 at the World Trade Center was FrankReisman, a great-great-grandson ofNathalie Gumpertz, the woman whoturned to dressmaking when her hus-band disappeared on the Lower EastSide in 1874. As part of the memorial to the family that started its Americanjourney at 97 Orchard Street, Mr. Reisman’sstory has been incorporated into theTenement Museum’s Gumpertz tour.

In the words of the DriehausFoundation’s Sunny Fischer, “How can one help but be moved.”

2. Rothstein, Edward. 2006. “A Mosaic of ArabCulture at Home in America.” The New York Times,October 24.

Watch the DVD Mohammad:

Legacy of a Prophet:The Bazzy Family

Some young second-generation immi-grants are questioning the “assimilation”of their parents, opting to openly embracetheir religious or ethnic identities. Watchwhat happens when a concerned father

learns that his teenaged daughterhas decided to don the

traditional hijab.

“The Museum is a testament to the diversity in this country, and the contributions made by immigrants who continue to arrive on this soil.”

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Arts program at the Arab American National Museum

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What makes a community great is the ability to embrace everyone

and give them the opportunities toshare the gifts, talents, and treasuresthey bring to enrich and strengthen our community.”

Ralph Taylor, program officer at theCentral Indiana Community Foundation(CICF), is passionate about this belief.In 2002, he launched the Sam H. JonesCreating Greater Awareness Forum to high-light “the issues, challenges, and con-cerns of the invisible/shadow populationsliving in the greater Indianapolis area.”

Asked why he uses the term “invisible”to describe newcomer and NativeAmerican communities, Taylor explains:“They are here, but they aren’t seen orincluded. For the most part, discussionsare about blacks and whites. Other peo-ple who make up our communities arenot part of the conversation—and theyneed to be. The conversation shouldnot take place after a group reaches acertain population size, as is usually the case.”

This inclusive vision drives Taylor’s workand the work of the Central IndianaCommunity Foundation. “Promotinginclusiveness and engaging communitymembers in ongoing dialogues is centralto one of our foundation’s vision priori-ties—Embrace Inclusiveness,” says Taylor.

Since 2002, the Forum has broughtmore than 500 community memberstogether to learn about the Asian,African, Native American, West Indian,and Arab communities. This year, thefocus will be on the eastern and centralEuropean community.

CREATING GREATERAWARENESS OF

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In bringing together people from manybackgrounds, the Forum has facilitatedcross-cultural interaction, collaboration,and integration among Indianapolis’diverse communities. Asians haveinvited Native Americans and African-Americans to participate in their events.African and West Indian leaders havebegun working on a joint venture toprovide services to their communities.Individuals from newcomer communitieshave been asked to speak to mainstreamcivic organizations about issues andconcerns facing their communities.

“As a result of our work and partnershipwith the International Center ofIndianapolis,” says Taylor, “the majoritycommunity has become aware that NativeAmericans do exist in Indiana and that ourethnic make-up is rapidly changing.”

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I don’t view myself as a leader.

I view myself as a concerned

individual who wants to make a posi-

tive difference in his community. Too

many times, we label people and put

a tag on them, but in many instances

that’s not helpful. From my perspective,

you either care about people or you

don’t. I believe that communities

are only as strong as their ability to

embrace people from various walks of

life. We should focus on opportunities

to bring communities together, not

keep them apart.”

—Ralph Taylor, Program OfficerCentral Indiana Community

Foundation Indianapolis, Indiana

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“The success of the Forum,” Taylor adds,“has helped CICF establish trust andbuild relationships with diverse commu-nities and a reputation as an immigrant-friendly foundation.”

The Foundation is working hard to liveup to that reputation. After the firstForum in 2002, CICF created the CreatingGreater Awareness Communication Networkto reach out to newcomer communitieswhich are often not in the “informationloop.” This electric network provides400 some individuals with valuableinformation—from job postings and volunteer opportunities to upcomingcultural events and funding opportunities.

Last year, CICF also launched theUncommon Common Ground series, aspin-off of the Forum. “We started thisseries to address issues and concernsthat tend to be the same for the new-comer communities, such as lack of knowledge about foundations, civicintegration, and civil rights,” Taylorexplains. The two programs in 2006 willfocus on immigrants and refugee aware-ness and the Sikh community.

Bringing community members togetherto increase awareness and eliminatestereotypes and distrust is a centralgoal for the Creating Greater AwarenessForum. It is a goal to which Taylor ispersonally committed.

“I realize that the groups I’ve beenworking with probably have negativeviews of African-American males. I thinkI may have changed their perceptionsabout me individually,” Taylor reflects.“But people will change their percep-tions about whole groups only if they are intentional about getting to know others beyond casual contactduring business hours. My acceptance by other communities is not necessarilyindicative of how they view otherAfrican-Americans, but my hope is that all of us can take the time to getto know people and make a positive difference.”

Indiana is one of the many statesthat have experienced a significantgrowth of the immigrant populationover the past 15 years. The 2000census counted nearly 200,000immigrants, who made up about threepercent of the state’s total population.

In the 1990s, census figures showthat Indianapolis experienced a 160percent increase in its immigrantpopulation, and the foreign-bornaccounted for 44 percent of the city’soverall population growth.

According to the U.S. Citizenshipand Immigration Services, nearly halfof the foreign-born in Indianapoliscomes from Latin America, butEurope and Asia are also importantsource regions. Mexico, India,Germany, China, United Kingdom,Vietnam, Philippines, Korea, Canada,and El Salvador are the top-ten countries of origin for Indianapolis’foreign-born residents.

Today, figures from the IndianaDepartment of Education indicatethat 214 languages are representedin Indiana public schools and 129languages other than English arespoken in homes of Indianapolis public school students.

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Three years ago, Bamazi Talle arrivedin Columbus, Ohio and embarked

upon his dream of sharing contemporaryAfrican art in America by establishingthe KIACA (Kaybe Impact AfricanContemporary Art) Gallery.

An artist originally from Togo, Tallecame to New York City in 1995 with$185 in his pocket and lack of legalimmigration status. Three years later, hegot married, obtained a green card, andstarted a family. After completing aMaster’s in Fine Arts in painting fromthe New York Academy of Art, Talle leftthe bustling metropolis for Columbus sothat he and his then-wife could raisetheir two children in a quieter environment.

Columbus may seem an unusual destina-tion for an African immigrant and hisfamily, but in the 1990s, according tothe U.S. Census, this metropolitan areasaw a 100 percent increase in its for-eign-born population. African immi-grants, by local estimates, now numberaround 30,000. Immigrants, overall,account for more than nine percent ofthe total population.

Talle started the KIACA Gallery primarilyto help bridge Africans and African-Americans and build a platform for theappreciation of contemporary Africanart. Although most of the world knowsof only traditional African art, Tallehopes to acquaint the community withmodern work produced by African artistsas well as the “transaction between thetraditional and contemporary.”

BUILDING BRIDGESBETWEEN AFRICANS

AND AFRICAN-AMERICANS

THE KIACA GALLERY OFCOLUMBUS, OHIO

www.kiaca.org

“Traditional art is for purposes of culture,not for beauty. Statues were for religion;masks were for rituals. Today, people seeAfrica, and they only see AIDS and war.They have no idea that we paint andcreate in the contemporary,” Talleexplains.

This lack of knowledge regarding contemporary African art has resulted ingreat difficulty for Africans to showcasetheir art, and the KIACA Gallery servesto provide such artists with the chanceto share their artistic and cultural talentswith their new community.

Indeed, this goal is reflected in the very name of the gallery: “Kaybe” is thename of a West African ethnic groupfamed for growing crops in unfriendly,mountainous terrain by building a wallthat supports a level planting field.Talle envisions KIACA as this metaphori-cal wall that will help African immigrantand refugee artists thrive and gainwidespread appreciation of their work in the United States.

The gallery displays Talle’s personalwork, which he describes as both tradi-tional and contemporary with strongcultural undertones. A key recurringimage in his art is the woman form,depicted to emphasize the importanceof women in African society. Otherartists from countries such as Nigeria,Cameroon, Ghana, and Senegal are alsoexhibited in the gallery.

While the KIACA Gallery serves to sharecontemporary African art with the entirecommunity, Talle has a special interestin helping Africans and African-Americansconnect. This is especially important ina city like Columbus where competitionover jobs and other resources, alongwith cultural and social differences, hascreated some tensions.

“Africans aren’t warmly welcomed by the African-Americans here. There’s nodiscussion; it’s like we are two separatepeoples.” Talle observes. “I want to useart as a tool to bridge Africans andAfrican-Americans.”

To this end, Talle ensures that there is also work by at least one African-American artist at each show in additionto that of the featured African artists.©

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Watch the DVD Maid in America:

Intergroup RelationsMeet a dedicated nanny who has

worked in several African-American house-holds since immigrating to this country.

Hear from the African-American couple shenow works for as they poignantly recounttheir own family’s working-class begin-

nings and see parallels in today’simmigrant experience.

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“When these artists come in, they startsupporting each other, mingling, andcommunicating. This way they have achance to talk and try to understandeach other,” Talle explains.

In addition to showing art, the gallerygives back to the broader communitythrough weekly art classes for childrenwho have experienced drug and alcoholabuse. Other classes focusing on tradi-tional and contemporary African art,taught by Talle and a few volunteers,are offered to both adults and children.

“KIACA also reaches out to young people from various cultures, allowingthem to explore their perceptions andperspectives,” says Sandra Smith, acommunity research and grants management officer at The ColumbusFoundation. “Being surrounded by artand artists from different ethnicities,cultures, and continents is important totheir gaining a comfort level with peo-ple who are different. It widens theirappreciation for all cultures.”

With plenty of local coverage and visitors, the gallery has successfullyachieved its original goal and is now aprominent landmark on Columbus’ artand cultural landscape. Still, Talle hasambitious plans for growth: He wouldlike to see this gallery grow into amuseum that has a permanent exhibi-tion and a number of educational oppor-tunities such as seminars and lectures.

When he first dreamt of this gallery,Bamazi invested all his savings to makeit a reality. During its first three years,KIACA was entirely funded by Talle’ssavings and income from selling hispieces. “Even now, any time I sell myart, all the money just goes to thegallery. I really, really believe in whatwe are doing to make our art known and documented,” Talle asserts.

However, as the gallery has expanded,so too has the funding. The CapacityBuilding Initiative: Immigrant andRefugee Organizations, a collaborative ofeight local funding entities, contributeda two-year grant of $20,000 to help thegallery strengthen its effectiveness.

“KIACA is a wonderful cultural asset tothe Columbus community,” says RachelMcIntosh, project director of the fund-ing collaborative. “It is a resource thatcan help those concerned with rapidlychanging demographics understand thesignificant contributions that immi-grants and refugees can make to enrichour community.”

The Greater Columbus Art Councilgranted $2,000 for a showcase featuring

Bamazi Talle

the work of a Somali photographer whospent a year documenting the lives ofseveral Somali refugees who had justarrived in America after spending 15years in refugee camps in Africa. Theexhibit aims to increase communityunderstanding of the refugee experience.

The Columbus Foundation also made a$1,700 grant to KIACA, specifically forits commitment to art for people ofcolor and to providing access to art andculture for the overall community,according to Smith.

Smith stresses the unique opportunitiesthat this gallery presents: “I think thisgallery is a tool for promoting immi-grant integration and cross-culturalunderstanding. It can be a social oppor-tunity, an opportunity to examine vari-ous cultures. It is an opportunity forpeople to come together not around anyspecific issues, but in a very relaxedenvironment. People come to thisgallery to really explore their curiosityand share their perspectives, which isdifferent than people gathering becauseof a crisis, when tensions are high.”

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FUNDERS IN COLUMBUS, OHIO

RESPOND TO DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE

The Capacity Building Initiative: Immigrant and Refugee Organizations (CBI) wasestablished to build the effectiveness of the growing number of organizationsfounded and led by immigrants and refugees to serve their communities. Thistwo-year funding collaborative provides grants, training, and technical assistanceto grantee organizations.

With leadership from The Columbus Foundation, local funders, in 2003, begandiscussing the needs of newcomer organizations and how they can respond. CBI was formed in 2005, after raising more than $800,000 from six local publicand private sources: Columbus Medical Association Foundation, City of ColumbusCommunity Relations Commission, Fifth Third Bank, Franklin County Board ofCommissioners, The Columbus Foundation, and United Way of Central Ohio,which houses CBI. In addition to these funding partners, Ohio State BarFoundation and a number of community representatives serve on the CBI steering committee.

KIACA Gallery is among nine organizations participating in CBI; these groupsprovide a wide array of services to help newcomers from Latin America, Africa, and Asia establish a social and economic foothold and integrate into their new community.

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CREATINGCOMMUNITY

ACROSS CULTURES

THE POWER OFPERSONAL NARRATIVES

by Amy E. SkillmanInstitute for Cultural Partnerships

www.culturalpartnerships.org

WAn unlikely group of women sitcomfortably in chairs around the

rehearsal studio of a local theater. Forseveral months they have been gather-ing regularly to share stories and createa performance piece about their experi-ences of coming to America from Vietnam,Colombia, China, India, Ecuador, Guinea,Cambodia, Turkey, and Trinidad. Whatbrings them together now is their strug-gle to make a new life and their desireto share their stories with new neigh-bors in central Pennsylvania.

The artistic director jumps up and says,“Okay, I am going to leave the roomand I want you to create the Statue ofLiberty with your bodies.” The womendiscuss how do to this. Should theystand side by side, each one in the poseof the Lady? Or, can they create a singleliving statue using all of their bodiestogether?

After short deliberations and a few practices, they take their positions andcall the director back into the room. She walks through the door and stopsin her tracks, hand to her mouth, a single breath caught in her throat. Tears fill her eyes as she begins tounderstand what Lady Liberty means to these women.

This camaraderie wasn’t always there.While the play was created and stagedin a mere six months, the trust andcommunity that made the play so suc-cessful were four years in the making.

Since 1992, over 30,000 refugees andimmigrants have made Pennsylvaniatheir home, resulting in dramatic demo-graphic shifts. Unfortunately, thesechanges have given rise to unprece-dented levels of prejudice and hatecrimes. It is hard to hear newcomerstalk about the prejudice, misunderstand-ing, and stereotyping they face hereafter many had made such difficult jour-neys to escape that very experience intheir homelands.

At the Institute for Cultural Partnerships(ICP), we believe that attention to new-comers’ stories and traditions mightease their resettlement and build betterawareness and tolerance among thegeneral public. To that end, I soughtrefugee and immigrant women to collab-orate on a project with ICP and found aperfect partner in the PennsylvaniaImmigrant and Refugee Women’sNetwork (PAIRWN).

Led by Ho-Thanh Nguyen, herself aVietnamese refugee, PAIRWN works withrefugee women to develop leadershipskills, self-confidence, and fellowship to help one another make a successfultransition to a new life. Since 2001, ICP and PAIRWN have worked closelytogether on many projects. The first, a cookbook, gathered over 100 recipesas well as stories from each contributorabout the meaning of food in her lifeand family.

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The interest in stories associated withfood paved the way for the Story Circle Project.

Around 30 women with a diverse rangeof experiences, histories, and culturesparticipated in individual interviews,and many also attended monthly StoryCircles where they had the opportunity

to practice theirEnglish and share commonexperiences.

Each month, we picked a topic, includingthe role of women in community lifeand the changing roles of women indiaspora; the ways women recreate theirmaterial culture and artistic traditionsin a new world; their experiences ofemigration and resettlement; and theirperspectives on diversity in Pennsylvania.One story led to another, as this circleof women drew closer in friendship andunderstanding. Eventually, we invited a

licensed therapist to be on hand ateach meeting to handle any especiallydifficult situations that might arisewhen the women talk about leavingtheir homeland, facing prejudice in theworkplace, or losing control of theirchildren.

As the women read transcripts of eachother’s interviews, they identifiedimportant themes and explored howbest to present what they were learn-ing. A curator, filmmaker, and theatereducator offered recommendationsabout how the stories might be pre-sented in their respective media. Thewomen became particularly excitedabout doing an exhibit and a theaterpiece—so we did both!

The women titled the exhibit, “OurVoices: Refugee and Immigrant WomenTell Their Stories.” The exhibit openedat the State Museum of Pennsylvania on September 11, 2005—a date whosesignificance was not lost on thesewomen. Blending artistic sensibilities,oral history, and ethnographic perspec-tives, Our Voices offered an understand-ing of the ways that refugee and immi-grant women have rebuilt their lives inPennsylvania. The exhibit put a face onnewcomers through their stories, whichdrew on several themes:

• Humor: especially stories aboutlanguage and confusing behavior patterns.

• Acculturation: getting used to theway that Americans do things.

• Personal transformation: adjustingto changing roles as women.

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“This project is making me feel important for thefirst time since arriving in the U.S. two years ago.”

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• Courage: overcoming incrediblebarriers in order to escape terror.

• Motherhood: having babies withoutthe usual extended family to help out,becoming invisible in their children’slives.

• The act of leaving everythingbehind: the things they miss most.

An artistic quality portrait photographcomplemented each woman’s story. Acase of personal artifacts (e.g., amother’s rosary, a cookbook, a familyphotograph) made a powerful statementabout what was most important in thesewomen’s lives. There was a circle ofchairs, each one hand-painted by thewomen with motifs and colors that sheselected. A twenty-foot-long, life-sizedgroup photograph hung along one wallwith a quote from one of the participantsoverhead: “Even from all our diversebackgrounds, we still find it easy to sitdown woman to woman and just talk toeach other.” The women’s real voiceswere brought into the room through aDVD, capturing the feel of the StoryCircles. More than 750 people attendedthe opening.

At the same time, we worked togetheron a script for the performance whiletaking diction and improvisation work-shops with a theater educator. Thosewho chose not to act learned sound,lighting, and stage management. StoryCircle: Coming to America in the 21stCentury re-created the Story Circle set-ting with women sitting around a tabletalking. Through music, movement,visual art, and spoken word, Story Circledramatized the courage, heartbreak, and dreams of immigrant and refugeewomen. Created and performed by thewomen themselves, the play depictedthe challenges and triumphs that new-comers to America have conquered andcelebrated. Story Circle was presentedfor three nights to sold-out audiencesas part of the local community theater’sWomenSpeak celebration of women play-wrights and women-centered theater,and again six months later to accom-pany the exhibit.

The play and the curatorial process ofcreating an exhibit together provided asafe place for participants to practicetheir English and struggle with ways to

Watch the DVD The New Americans:Support Networks

Social networks are a foundation of immigrant integration, but that

doesn't mean that they always need tobe constructed. Drop in on an

impromptu meeting and a surpriseparty as co-workers celebrate

success and new beginnings.

present their feelings. They understandthe challenges of expressing importantideas in a second language and oftenhelp each other find the right words.During a planning meeting, one womanhelped me understand when she said,“This project is making me feel impor-tant for the first time since arriving inthe U.S. two years ago.”

The Story Circles have created an almostsacred space where these women, whohave to hold back in all other aspects oftheir lives, can say what is on theirminds to other women who understand,who share the experience. Whetherrefugees or immigrants, they havemourned their losses together, laughedat their mistakes, and shared ideas fordealing with insensitive attitudes inothers. They have created new traditionsand a new sense of community. Somehave said that the PAIRWN communityis even more important to them thantheir national or ethnic community. The daughter of one of the women inthe play told us that the play “...savedmy mother’s life, at a time when shewas struggling every day just to get out of bed.”

This project has been about much morethan the exhibit or the play. It has alsobeen about the process of telling storiesto understand one’s own experience and translating personal narratives into powerful tools for social and per-sonal change.

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GROWINGCOMMUNITY ROOTS

THE BOISE REFUGEECOMMUNITY GARDEN

PROJECT

www.mtnstatesgroup.org/community

Corn, cabbage, tomato, squash, pepper, and onion. These are essen-

tial ingredients to integrate refugees intocommunity life, according to the BoiseRefugee Community Garden Project.

Launched in 2004, the Boise RefugeeCommunity Garden Project views com-munity gardens as a way to reduce iso-lation, teach English skills, and improvethe physical and mental health ofrefugee seniors. This collaborative effortinvolves four refugee-serving organiza-tions: the Idaho Office of Refugees,Agency for New Americans, EnglishLanguage Center, and World Relief.

Now in its third season, the projectsupports two organic gardens, with athird in the works. The gardens serve 40 intergenerational refugee families,including members from Afghanistan,Somalia, Liberia, Ukraine, Bosnia, andSudan. None of the participants wouldotherwise have the opportunity to gar-den, as all live in apartments.

Without existing community gardens inBoise to serve as a model, the fourpartner organizations had to work fromscratch. But other community institu-tions quickly stepped in to lend support.The Ahavath Beth Israel Congregationand the Girl Scouts of the Silver Sagedonated the use of the land. More than60 volunteers came on board, doingeverything from providing gardeningadvice to repairing the irrigation system.

In its first year, the project receivedcash and in-kind donations totalingover $7,000 from the Retired SeniorVolunteer Program, local agribusinesses,building contractors, greenhouses,schools, and master gardeners.

With this strong and diverse communitysupport—including grants from Fund forIdaho, Edwards Mother Earth Foundation,and Rotary—the Boise Refugee CommunityGarden Project was able to hire a part-time coordinator to oversee the gar-dens. But getting monetary and commu-nity support turned out to be easierthan dealing with Mother Nature.

“The most difficult challenges we facedwere related to soil, water, and weeds,”recalls Patty Haller, assistant director ofthe Idaho Office for Refugees. “Asrefugee service agencies, we don’t haveexpertise in this area. The need formanual labor and materials to maintainthe garden spaces consumed a greatdeal of time and energy as well.”

Reflecting back on the planningprocess, Haller says, “Both the chal-lenges and the benefits of communitygardens far exceeded our original under-standing.” The challenges turned out tobe “a major unforeseen benefit,” creat-ing an opportunity to involve othercommunity stakeholders.

Another challenge was adapting therefugees, many of whom had gardenedor farmed in their home country, tolocal crops, climate, and soil conditions.During the first season, many of thecrops went to waste on the vine, sincethe refugees were unfamiliar with theplant varieties. By the third season,however, they were comfortable enoughto request vegetables from their homecountry. Now, gardeners take leadershipin organizing work days, gardenimprovement projects, and celebrations.

The gardens are reaping considerablebenefits for the refugee participants.Many spend hours each day in the gar-den, working in their plots but alsosocializing, knitting, crocheting, sharingfood, and reading in the shade. Otherswork in the garden with their entirefamily, strengthening bonds among chil-dren, parents, grandparents. Many gar-deners share the fruits of their laborwith other refugee families, often bring-ing bags and boxes of produce to theEnglish Language Center for distribution.

While the mental health benefits of gar-dening are well-documented in research,the degree to which these benefits wererealized by the refugee gardeners sur-prised the partner organizations.

“The gardeners truly blossomed withtheir plants,” says Haller. “People whocomplained daily of ailments andexpressed little hope for the futurebecame lively, strong, hopeful, and even outgoing.”

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esWhen asked about their garden experience,the gardeners express the importance of the gardens to them, focusing onfriendships, fresh air, hope, beauty, tradition, and the importance of con-necting to the land. They talk about lifebefore they were refugees. They talkabout regaining a sense of control intheir lives. And they share their exper-tise—be it composting, hose-repair, orgardening tips—with their fellow gar-deners, each eager to learn from others.

Aliya Ghafar-Khan from Afghanistanechoes the sentiments of many, “Thetime in the garden is as important asthe vegetables.”

When staff of the partner organizationstalk about the benefits of the gardens,they mention the gardeners’ newfoundand greater willingness to speak English,to use the bus system, to attend otherevents and activities, and to mentormore timid refugees. They say the gar-dens have provided them an opportunityto relate to the refugees on a new leveland to learn about the refugees’ interests,traditions, and cultural perspectives. Thepower of being viewed as “gardener”rather than “refugee” is very strong,they point out, both in terms of howthe gardeners see themselves and howthe community sees them.

“Bantu individuals and families were initially very reluctant to discuss or par-ticipate in promoting or preserving theirculture. The phrase ‘we left that behindwhen we came to America’ was heardfrequently in English classes. Now thatphrase has been replaced by an excite-ment and pride in being Bantu,” saysSteve Rainey, director of the English

Language Center. “I believe that garden-ing has played a significant role as anexpression that Bantu culture is valued here.”

Yet, the community gardens are not justa source of pride for the refugees—members of the Boise community arealso enthusiastic.

“The garden adds so much color and lifeto our neighborhood!” says one long-time Boise resident and neighbor to theproject. “The gardeners give me a friendlysmile whenever I walk past and I thinkto myself, what a great place to live.”

“I don’t think any of us could haveenvisioned the reward, each day, of driving onto our site and seeing plantsgrowing and families laboring togetherin what was once bare soil,” saysSherrill Livingston, a member of theAhavath Beth Israel Congregation whichsponsors one of the gardens.

But more importantly, she adds, “Thegarden has been a tool for teaching.The children participated in a Jewishnature camp… The teens built raisedbeds for senior and handicapped gar-deners. Synagogue members joined com-munity work days to help refugees tillthe soil. Even into the winter, we havebegun a tutoring program with therefugees. Each part of the congregation,from day camp to senior volunteers, hasbenefited from working the soil withand welcoming these new Americans.”

The gardens have given the refugees anopportunity to reach out to the largerBoise community. The gardeners regu-larly speak at meetings and conferences,educating community members aboutrefugees while building their own lead-ership skills. With heightened awareness,community organizations and individu-als have stepped forward to offer valu-able resources to assist refugee families,including tutoring, access to Girl Scoutcamps, internships at commercialorganic gardens, and opportunities toparticipate in community cultural events.Local funders have also expressed interestin helping to fund the gardens andother refugee projects.

“The refugee garden project has helpedto promote mutual understanding amongrefugees and between refugees and thebroader community,” says Haller.

“People in Boise now view refugees asmulti-dimensional individuals who haveneeds but who also make an importantcontribution to the quality of life in our community.”

Inspired by the Boise Refugee CommunityGarden Project, Community Gardens ofBoise was established in 2005 through agrant to the Idaho Office for Refugees.This new endeavor aims to expand theavailability of community gardens tolow-income and other disadvantagedpopulations, including refugees.

The hope is that they, too, will share a garden experience similar to Saliha, a refugee from Afghanistan, who said,“I went to the garden to grow my food;instead I grew a friend.”

Watch the DVD Rain in a Dry Land:

Taco BellNew immigrants and native-born

Americans have many different kindsof encounters. For a familiar snapshotof cultural clash and mutual frustra-tion, follow an immigrant motherand her son into a Taco Bell in

search of a suitablechicken.

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When the stage lights dimmed on theplay “Promise of a Love Song,” the

audience that rose to applaud in thehistoric Tower Theater of Fresno,California represented an even greatercultural spectrum than the play itself.

Hmong refugees and middle-classwhites, migrant workers from Oaxacaand Pakistani business owners had sattogether to experience a drama set inthree distinct locales: a home in ruralAppalachia, a Puerto Rican tenement inNew York, and a shotgun house in NewOrleans. The performance was given byensemble actors from New Orleans’African-American Junebug Productions,the Puerto Rican Pregones Theater inthe Bronx, and Roadside Theater fromthe coalfields of eastern Kentucky.

A mosaic of intergenerational love, theplay used music and theme to weavetogether three seemingly disparate stories—each infused with the voice ofits culture—into a coherent whole. Forthe greatly diverse audience, the playillustrated how art can be a tool tostrengthen cultural identity and bridgecultural chasms.

The same message of unity through artanimated the three-day, spring 2002Tamejavi Festival that featured “Promiseof a Love Song,” along with dance, comedy, music, photography, art, theater, crafts, food, and more from themany newcomer groups that populateCalifornia’s Central Valley, perhaps themost diverse rural region in the world.An estimated 1,500 people participatedin the festival.

CULTURALINTEGRATION

THROUGH THE ARTS

THE TAMEJAVI FESTIVAL

www.tamejavi.org

“Promise” and Tamejavi share a similarback story as well. The three theatercompanies—Pregonis, Junebug, andRoadside—had deliberately built theircollaborative effort, first taking time tovisit one another’s theaters with theirown work, then engaging in dialogue.

“When we took a play about Appalachiato the Bronx,” says Roadside’s directorDudley Cocke, “people connected withthe mountain culture of Puerto Rico. It put them in mind of their own sto-ries. The next time we visited, it was their story.”

CULTURAL EXCHANGE AS ACONTINUOUS PROCESS

During the planning stages of Tamejavi(the name is an amalgam of theSpanish, Mixtec, and Hmong words forcultural marketplace), a series of work-shops, story circles, and study groupsbrought diverse participants together inshared space, building trust and rela-tionships among the group members.But the festival was a milestone, not aculmination, in their cultural exchange.

Following the festival, meetings forreflection and evaluation helped partici-pants recognize the great value of cultural exchange and reinforced theimportance of continuing such culturallearning opportunities.

In the words of Myrna Martinez-Nateras,director of the American Friends ServiceCommittee’s Pan Valley Institute (PVI),the lead organization for Tamejavi, peo-ple felt that “to promote understandingand respect for differences, more spacesfor cultural learning were needed. So anidea was proposed to visit other com-munities during the celebration of theirtraditions, learn about their beliefs andhow they are or are not adapting to anew society.”

With foundation support and activecommunity involvement, this ideaquickly became reality. Latinos, Southand Southeast Asians, indigenousMexicans and Americans, blacks, andwhites began a nine-month, round-robinseries of participation in one another’straditions:

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All of us, no matter our place of

birth, carry a deep-seated longing

to know ourselves through cultural

roots. All of us, whatever our innate

artistic talent, have an impulse to

reach out through cultural expression.

Such longing and impulse propel us

to reach across cultural boundaries,

bridging differences and finding

common ground.”

—Craig McGarvey, who supportedthe Tamejavi Festival in

California’s Central Valley whileprogram director at

The James Irvine Foundation

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Hmong New Year. Martin Luther Kingcandlelight vigil. Bear Dance Ceremony.Music and dance of the P’urhepechas.Lao New Year. Juneteenth Celebration.Cultural poetry exchange. La Guelaguetzacelebration. Dialogue on black reparations.

Each visit was designed as a learningopportunity, facilitated and guided bypeople from the community being visited, with pre- and post-dialogues.Approximately 300 people participatedin some way.

“To result in meaningful learning experiences, it was important to havean understanding and promote respectfor each community’s cultural protocols…for establishing cultural awareness andfor dealing with and beginning toembrace ethnic differences,” Martinez-Nateras explains. “Otherwise, peopletend to interpret others from their owncultural perspectives, which can makethem judge unfairly and react disre-spectfully when they see a cultural prac-tice that might not be accepted in theirown cultural values.”

CREATING A NEW CULTURAL TRADITION

From the visits emerged several workinggroups: Women, Youth, IndigenousPeoples, Outdoor Marketplace, andDocumentation. These groups engagedin an interactive process of culturalexchange, led by “cultural organizers”who used various techniques to bringthose from unlike backgrounds togetherto develop cultural products.

One of these products was Tamejavi II.In fall of 2004, some 2,000 of theValley’s demographic medley gatheredfor the three-day festival that blendedaudience with performers, amateurs withprofessionals. This time, the featuredtheatrical piece was completely home-grown. Developed from oral history pro-jects from within their respective com-munities, “Diary of an Endless Journey:Towards a New Dawn,” with a cast of40, told the migration stories of refugeeHmong and migrant Mixtec families.

“I was very moved by the comingtogether of the multiple communities,”says Joan Shigekawa, program officer

in Arts and Culture at The RockefellerFoundation, one of the foundations thatprovided support for the festival. “These were community members com-ing together in the crucible of makingart. They created a piece full of feelingand theater craft that helped us under-stand their shared experiences, tri-umphs, and challenges.”

PROMOTING COMMUNITYWIDECULTURAL EXCHANGE

The working groups are, of course, look-ing ahead to a third festival. In theinterim, they are creating opportunitiesfor cultural exchange for the broadercommunity. Their plans include a seriesof interactive dialogues and “mobileexchanges” in community centers andlibraries, doing outreach through localmedia in rural settings to draw the gen-eral public. And the broader communityhas been responding. Academic institu-tions and community-based serviceproviders are turning to Tamejavi’s parentorganization, PVI, to learn more abouttechniques to promote cultural diversity.

These techniques include “participatoryaction research,” which Tamejavi’s work-ing groups are using to actively engagein answering the questions that interestand motivate them. As expressed byPVI’s Martinez-Nateras, these questionsgo to the heart of immigrant integra-tion: “What is the role of cultural iden-tity for immigrants’ social inclusion andparticipation in building democracy?

What role does the freedom to exerciseone’s own cultural traditions and cre-ativities play in the process of develop-ing a sense of belonging in a new andculturally diverse society? In theprocess of integration, which culturaltraditions must be kept and which onesmust be changed?”

Seeking answers to these questions,Tamejavi’s participants are planning todevelop curricular materials that theywill make available to other educatorsand practitioners through their website.They also have aspirations to convenepolicymakers to discuss cultural aspectsof the integration experience.

The Tamejavi festivals are much morethan occasional celebrations of diver-sity. They have laid the groundwork forlong-term, ongoing cultural exchangethat is vitally important to newcomerintegration. Not every cultural interac-tion program can be as extensive as theTamejavi Festival experience. But theactivities that the festival encourages—artistic expression, support for nativeculture, facilitated cultural exchange,guided learning, leadership develop-ment, and engagement of the broadercommunity—carry powerful lessons thatcan be applied to individual grants aswell as major funding initiatives.

PROGRAM EVALUATION

As case examples in this section illustrate, social and cultural interactionamong people of different backgroundscan take many forms, including com-munity forums, visual and performancearts, historical exhibits, among others.Well-developed and -executed efforts,as shown in the figure below, willresult in outputs which, in turn, can lead to outcomes that facilitateintegration. One way to assess thequality of the outputs is to examinethe extent to which the featuresmentioned in the introduction sectionare present.

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To determine if the outcomes belowoccurred, foundations might consider collecting the following information:

• Knowledge of traditions and basicbehaviors during cross-cultural interaction(e.g., how to properly greet the other person, religious holidays).

• Understanding and acceptance ofsimilarities and differences in culture andexperience.

• Perceptions about people from other groups (e.g., using the Bogardus scale, available onwww.csudh.edu/dearhabermas/bogardus02.htm, which asks questions about how aperson feels about having people from

another group as a family member,friend, work colleague, neighbor, visitor,and fellow citizen).

• Frequency and quality of interactionwith people from different cultures(e.g., average number of visits to homesof people over a year and purpose of visits).

• Participation in activities that bringpeople of diverse backgrounds together(e.g., number of times people attendblock club meetings and communityfestivals).

• Establishment of multicultural part-nerships, coalitions, and teams to workon communitywide issues.

OUTPUTS

• Number and quality ofactivities and events (e.g.,cultural festivals) for peopleto get to know each otheras individuals.

• Number and quality ofopportunities (e.g., policycampaigns) for people towork together on commonissues.

OUTCOMES

• More relationships across cultures.

• Improved understandingabout different cultures.

• Reduced prejudices and misperceptions about peoplefrom different cultures.

• Increased collective actionacross cultures.

These outputsencourage socialand cultural interaction, and as interactionincreases, theseoutputs will alsobecome morewidespread.


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Promising Practices in Civic Participation and Citizenship

Immigrants come along, they create their institutions of faith, theyengage in their kids’ education, they focus on their economic advance-

ment, they create care and feeding service institutions. Then there comes apoint where you cannot resolve the problems of your community withoutgetting serious about civic engagement. It has become clearer with theferocity of the anti-immigrant backlash that you are going to have to dothat or your communities are going to be badly hurt. In the face of that,we have to ask what are our moral and ethical responsibilities to buildcivic infrastructure that supports that engagement in a sustained way.”

—Joshua Hoyt, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Chicago, Illinois

INTRODUCTION 189

CIVIC PARTICIPATION AND IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION 190Active Engagement in the Community and the Democracy

CIVIC PARTICIPATION AND NEW LABOR ORGANIZING 194

YOUTH ACTIVISM 196Infusing New Energy into Immigrant Organizing

BUILDING A MOVEMENT THROUGH ELECTORAL ORGANIZING 199Mobilize the Immigrant Vote

SUPPORTING THE CITIZENSHIP PROCESS 201

EVALUATING CIVIC PARTICIPATION EFFORTS 202

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Akey pathway to integration, civicparticipation actively engages new-

comers in community problem solving,leadership development, and democraticpractice. Participation for an immigrant orrefugee often begins with a collectiveeffort among neighbors to reduce crime,improve schools, increase access tohealth care, or develop affordable hous-ing. Artistic and cultural exchange mightalso be a starting point. Participation caneventually expand to policy advocacy andelectoral work—testifying before theirrepresentatives and helping to registerand motivate voters—but is not limitedto these highly visible forms of politicalinvolvement. And for naturalized immi-grants, voting and running for electedoffice can become further expressions oftheir civic integration.

Most newcomers, however, do not becomeinvolved in community life until they haveestablished a relatively solid foothold inU.S. society. Despite enormous work andfamily responsibilities, many immigrantsand refugees do make time to become civically involved. Most often, they are initially drawn into action with othersaround issues that affect the well-being oftheir families. Such issues need to be vitalenough to attract immigrants, broadenough to bring together people from different backgrounds (other ethnicitiesand particularly the native-born), andmanageable enough to achieve some success, creating momentum for furtheractivity together.

The stories highlighted in this section all share the common characteristics necessary to promote high-quality civicparticipation as a strategy for immigrantintegration.

• Strong community-based institu-tions are essential to engage newcomersin the community and the democracy.Such organizations serve as networks ofrecruitment into civic life. They are mem-bership-based and democratically gov-erned, with leadership ladders that engagenewcomers more deeply in civic action andmove them into positions of greaterresponsibility and authority.

• Civic participation is a vehicle forthe education and integration of immi-grants. Intentional learning guides civicactivity, from the collective selection ofissues through the development and

implementation of strategic action. Best-practice civic participation providesimmigrants the opportunities to exerciseresponsibility, take initiative, and engagein the two-way process of communitybuilding. In so doing, newcomers developskills (how to speak in public, how tobuild an agenda and run a meeting),knowledge (how local government works,how to become a citizen), attitudes (tolerance and understanding of peoplefrom different backgrounds, openness tofeedback and self-improvement), andbehaviors (becoming more informedthrough news media, making healthy andpositive life choices). The development ofimmigrant leaders ultimately benefits thebroader community.

• Networks of trusting relationshipsare developed, both with people fromlike and unlike backgrounds. Such networks create one of civic participation’smost powerful contributions to immigrantintegration. Harvard sociologist RobertPutnam calls these networks of relation-ships “social capital,” arguing that allaspects of community, including intergrouprelations, are strengthened when socialcapital is strong. Indeed, people who know one another through shared work are far less capable of stereotyping, offearing, and of characterizing people asthe “other.”

• Newcomers and the native-borncontribute together to positive outcomes. Civic participation among new-comers builds communities and revitalizesdemocratic tradition in the United States.New neighborhood parks, increased language access to public services, higherrates of naturalization and voter participa-tion, and reduced intergroup tensions areamong these outcomes.

It is our hope that the following storieswill encourage you to deepen your explo-ration and understanding of this importantintegration strategy. “Pursuing Democracy’sPromise: Newcomer Civic Participation inAmerica,” published by GCIR in 2004,offers a more expansive discussion of civicparticipation as a strategy for newcomerintegration, as well as profiles of numerouspromising practices. We invite you to visitwww.gcir.org or contact the GCIR officefor a copy of this report.

INTRODUCTION

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OF NECKTIES, NOT BASEBALL BATS

Gloria and Adon, Mexican-Americanleaders and board members of the IdahoCommunity Action Network (ICAN),sought the meeting with the administra-tor of the State’s Department of Healthand Welfare (DHW) to discuss how theDepartment was planning to notify theimmigrant community of recent stateand federal changes in benefit systems.The leaders were well-informed aboutchanges in Food Stamp eligibility, andthey brought constructive suggestionsfor simplifying applications and doingoutreach to immigrants. “We hope youlook at us as partners,” said Adon, “not someone coming with a baseballbat.” The administrator welcomed thepartnership.

In contrast, ICAN’s earlier four-yearstruggle to pass Idaho’s minimum-wagelaw for farmworkers, though eventuallysuccessful, was not always as amicable.But it laid the foundation for a workingrelationship with DHW that made thenegotiations on Food Stamps possible.It also contributed to the self-educationof hundreds of immigrants who had participated in the campaign—and produced positive community change forthousands more.

Adon and Gloria have devoted countlessvolunteer hours promoting immigrantcivic participation of this sort.

CIVIC PARTICIPATIONAND IMMIGRANT

INTEGRATION

ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT IN THE COMMUNITY

AND THE DEMOCRACY

“Immigrants have experienced the problems,” explains Adon, and in help-ing to solve them “they are participat-ing in self-improvement. To make change,one thing you have to learn is how thesystem works and how the other per-son—the guy in the necktie—thinks.”

“Immigrants need to speak for them-selves,” says Gloria. “Another cultureadds to the United States, it doesn’ttake anything away. We need to learnone another’s cultures.”

Such participation in civic life—identifying and solving problemstogether, educating one another, devel-oping relationships with people fromunlike backgrounds, including govern-ment officials—is part of the process ofimmigrants integrating into their newcountry. Some would argue it is theprocess of integration, drawing newcom-ers into active engagement in theircommunities and the democracy.

LEARNING HOW INSTITUTIONSAND GOVERNMENT WORK

Experience is our best teacher, and civicparticipation is experiential educationfor immigrants and refugees in theirnew country. Drawn by a common desireto improve conditions for their familiesand communities, newcomers engagewith community institutions and, in sodoing, learn how government and civicprocesses work and ways to influencethem.

For example, immigrants who participatedin Florida’s successful 2004 campaign to raise the minimum wage, sponsoredby the Association of CommunityOrganizations for Reform Now (ACORN),learned how the initiative process worksin the state. Newcomers who were partof the Cross City Campaign for UrbanSchool Reform1 learned how to improveinner-city schools. Hmong refugees,members of People Acting in CommunityTogether in Stockton, California, workedwith the local police to address rising

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1. Members include the Alliance Organizing Projectin Philadelphia, New York ACORN, OaklandCommunity Organizations in California’s Bay Area,Austin Interfaith in Texas, and Chicago’s LoganSquare Neighborhood Association. See the “PromisingPractices in Education” section for details on LoganSquare’s work.

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violence among their youth; as a result,the force hired Hmong liaisons to helpthem better serve the community.

When immigrant women in Arlandia,Virginia, realized that they shared aconcern about the lack of children’srecreational space in their working-classneighborhood, their membership in theWomen’s Leadership Group of the Tenants’and Workers’ Support Committee helpedthem to advocate effectively with the Alexandria Parks and RecreationDepartment. They started by mappingthe number of parks in Arlandia and itssurrounding middle-class neighborhoods,documenting the dramatic differences infacilities. Then they researched theParks and Recreation budget, uncoveringunused funds that had been set asidefor tennis courts. Their research, advo-cacy, and relationship with Parks andRecreation led to more than $100,000in new recreational facilities in Arlandia.

STORIES OF HUMANDEVELOPMENT

Each of these examples of newcomercivic engagement is a story of humandevelopment. Skills and knowledgebuilding—as well as attitude andbehavior change—are vitally importantcomponents of immigrant integration.

Change can be dramatic for newcomersas they develop into civic leaders.Fadumo, who with her husband and 11children fled the civil war in Somalia,eventually settled in Minneapolis.Although she found working with immi-grant elders and families rewarding, itwas civic participation that made thegreatest difference in her life. With theassistance of VOICE for CommunityPower and the Organizing ApprenticeshipProject, Fadumo led a voter participa-tion campaign in the Somali refugeecommunity during the 2002 Senatorialelections. When the candidates met with the Somali community, incumbentSenator Paul Wellstone was introducedby Fadumo. “Before I was shy andscared,” she says, “but this helped meto build my own voice. I can go every-where now. We Somali women are hungry to bring Somali power to the community.”

A similar transformation took place for Margarita and other mothers withchildren in the public schools of unin-corporated Lost Hills, California. Ninety-seven percent of the population in thisrural community in Kern County is work-ing-poor Latinos, and 88 percent of thechildren qualify for the free-lunch program.An unresponsive school board motivatedcivic participation by Margarita and herneighbors. “They said it was not for usto come with concerns to the school,”says Margarita. “But that is exactly whatwe should be doing.” The mothersbegan their effort by collecting signa-tures to change the scheduled time forschool board meetings from 12 noonwhen most parents are at work to 6 PMwhen more parents can attend.

With the help of Valley CatholicCharities, these immigrant parents con-tinued their involvement in the schoolsystem. Later efforts led to a Grand Juryinvestigation that contributed to theearly retirement of the school superin-tendent, and also ensured parentalinput on the search for a new superin-tendent. After two school board memberswere discovered to live illegally outsidethe district, three Latina mothers wereelected to serve on the Board.

STORIES OF HUMANRELATIONSHIPS

By working collectively to solve problems and improve community conditions, immigrants and refugeesalso develop strong relationships acrosslines of class, race, and ethnicity amongthose with whom they work. Adons ofIdaho and the DHW “guys in the neck-ties”—and the moms from Arlandia andthe Parks and Recreation administra-tors—illustrate the importance of such relationships.

The best civic participation organiza-tions attend carefully and strategicallyto the process of bringing people fromdifferent backgrounds into relationshipwith one another. For example, whenFlorida ACORN wanted to encourage

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of-life issues they share.”

—Karen Bass, Founding ExecutiveDirector, Community Coalition

for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment

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Haitian, Honduran, and Jamaican immigrants to work with the native-born, they held a barbeque. First, thechildren began playing with one another;then the parents began to mix. Jointcivic participation followed, resulting inthe registration of 15,000 people for the2000 election. In Washington, DC, theTellin’ Stories Project brings immigrantand African-American parents togetherat local schools, getting them to sharestories through making books andstitching quilts. Relationships developin the school setting, as does comfort;guided by the Project, the parentsbecame increasingly involved in schoolparticipation.

Karen Bass, founding executive directorof the Community Coalition in South LosAngeles and now a California AssemblyMember for the 47th District, sees civicparticipation as the best way to buildintergroup relationships. While manytraditional intergroup programs get people talking about what makes themdifferent, Bass takes a different tact.“To build relationships,” she says, “youwant to focus on what’s common, getpeople working to improve quality-of-life issues they share.”

For example, the Gamaliel Foundationbrought newly arrived Latino immigrantsand African-Americans together inMilwaukee around the issue of housing.The Pacific Institute for CommunityOrganization, in its California Project,identified health care as a common con-cern shared by middle-class whites andnewcomers. And the issue of humanrights brought immigrants and membersof the LGBT community into commoncause through CAUSA, Oregon’sstatewide immigrant rights coalition.

The first quality-of-life issue that Bass’Community Coalition tackled was closingdown “nuisance” liquor stores andmotels. In working for this goal, theextraordinary diversity of the Coalition’sneighborhood presented a challenge,bringing some community memberstogether while separating others.

The divide was not only between newcomers and African-Americans. Thenewcomers—black and Latino immigrantsfrom the Caribbean, Central America,and Mexico—held different viewpointsabout their identities and experiences.For example, Latinos and black Caribbeansdon’t necessarily self-identify alongtheir shared experience as immigrants.Similarly, African-Americans andCaribbeans don’t necessarily share identity as blacks. Negative stereotypesabout one another also widened thedivide. Some blacks felt the Koreanstore owners were heartless; someLatinos felt Pakistani motel owners were exploitive.

The strategy that the Coalition brings to bear on such potential divisiveness iseducation, possibly the most importantcomponent of any civic participationprogram. Coalition members study thehistory of their changing neighborhood,learning of the systemic economic andsocial forces that can lead newcomermerchants, many of whom also live onthe economic margins, to rent rooms bythe hour, underpay their workforce, oremphasize the sale of liquor. To success-fully work together, says Bass, peopleneed to be informed about the systemicforces at work, “to learn the facts aboutrace, racism, and demographics.” Suchlearning is a key dimension as newcom-ers and the native-born develop rela-tionships through civic participation.

THE ORGANIZATIONS THATMAKE IT POSSIBLE

Many institutions have been mentionedhere that draw newcomers into civic life.Thousands exist across the country, andtheir numbers are growing with thenewcomer population. They include congregation- and neighborhood-basednetworks, worker centers, hometownassociations, locally based groups, ethnic-specific volunteer efforts, new labor initiatives, youth organizinginstitutions, voter registration and participation projects, and more. Thebest of them approach integration withsimilar principles. Mentioned in theintroduction to this section, these principles bear repeating:

• Newcomers are encouraged to takeresponsibility and engage in all aspectsof community problem-solving.

• Programs start where the newcom-ers start, involving them with issuesthat affect their daily lives and leadingthem toward deeper analyses and moreeffective strategies to address theseissues.

• Newcomer learning and growth—learning by doing—is at the heart of allprogram design.

• Building relationships with peoplefrom unlike backgrounds is an importantgoal.

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Several regional organizations are helping traditional immigrant service-delivery groups learn such strategies. All of these institutions have built deeprelationships with scores of local organi-zations, providing training programs,tested curricular materials, and train-the-trainer approaches.

A particularly promising coalition of fivesuch organizations—the Collaborativefor Immigrant Empowerment Leadershipand Organizing (CIELO)—has begun toemerge as a potential national network.CIELO’s membership includes theWestern States Center in the Northwest;Partnership for Immigrant Leadershipand Action in California; the Coalition of African, Asian, European, and LatinoImmigrants of Illinois; the Center toSupport Immigrant Organizing inBoston; and Highlander Research andEducation Center, which works through-out the Southeast. Together, thesegroups have a network of at least 150organizations working with diverse new-comer communities in 24 states.

As the CIELO collaboration continues todevelop, its member organizations aredeepening their practice regionally,bringing civic participation strategies totheir locally networked groups. They arehelping other institutions with long his-tories of promoting civic participationincorporate newcomers in non-traditionalgateway states. All of the groups arecritical players in the active engagementof immigrants and refugees in communityand civic life, itself a critical strategy ofnewcomer integration.

Watch the DVDGrassroots Rising:

Workplace ImprovementMore than 140 worker centers across

the country are helping to improve wagesand working conditions for immigrant andother low-wage workers. Learn about this

burgeoning movement and how it isempowering newcomers to stand up for

their rights, join forces with native-born workers, and speak with

one voice.

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As unions turn their attention toorganizing the growing number of

immigrants in America, they are spon-soring and supporting numerous civicparticipation projects, often in partner-ship with community organizations.

The AFL-CIO’s decision to reverse itsposition on immigration in 2000 laidthe groundwork for strong union supportof immigrant rights, including the his-toric Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride of2003. Twenty buses from ten cities car-ried 1,000 riders across the country tojoin with thousands of union, commu-nity, and faith-based leaders in NewYork and other cities to promote a plat-form of immigrant rights and citizen-ship. The Freedom Ride was a milestonein the commitment of organized laborto fight for the rights of immigrants.

Many unions—including those in theAFL-CIO and ones in the newly formedChange to Win federation2—are organiz-ing in sectors of the economy with astrong immigrant presence. They aresupporting leadership development, ESL,voter engagement, and other programsto advance immigrant rights. As thenational debate over immigration policyheats up, these unions are mobilizing

CIVIC PARTICIPATION

AND NEW LABORORGANIZING

their members and lobbying intensivelyfor legislation that includes a clear pathtoward legalization and citizenship formillions of immigrant workers.

Increasingly, at the local level, unionsrecognize that community support fororganizing drives among immigrants iscrucial to their success—and that unioninvolvement in issues of vital concernto immigrant communities (e.g., healthcare, education, affordable housing,access to drivers’ licenses) is key tobuilding strong partnerships. Organizingdrives among janitors, hotel and indus-trial laundry workers, and poultry andmeat-processing workers offer recentexamples of such collaboration.

Foundations have supported, and continue to support, labor-communitycollaborations by funding independentresearch into the conditions of work inindustries notorious for exploiting immigrant workers and by supportingcommunity and faith-based efforts toexpose and correct these abuses.

• Organizing in the South—theregion with the highest percentageincrease of newly arrived immigrantsand the weakest union presence—isincreasingly drawing the attention of thelabor movement, national community-organizing networks, and foundations.

• Unions have been actively establish-ing and/or supporting worker centerssuch as the Voice and Future Fund createdby SEIU Local 615 in Boston, (theJustice for Janitors local). Immigrantmembers of this union have the oppor-tunity to improve their English, honecomputer skills, develop leadershipskills, and forge new relationships withother community-based organizations.

• In New York City, a collaborationamong SEIU Local 32BJ, Make the RoadBy Walking, AFSCME DC 37, HERE Local100, and the National Employment LawProject has created the New York CivicParticipation Project. This effort organ-izes immigrant union members aroundissues important to their families in

2. This new federation includes the ServiceEmployees International Union, United Food andCommercial Workers, UNITE/HERE, Teamster,Carpenters, Laborers, and Farmworkers.

Organized labor is playing a vital

role in supporting low-wage

immigrant workers and their families

to achieve basic human rights and a

decent standard of living. Whether

through workplace organizing cam-

paigns—or in collaboration with

community and faith-based organiza-

tions working on immigrant rights,

affordable housing, health care, or

child care, among others—unions are

mobilizing their members and

resources to achieve greater social

and economic justice for immigrants.

Philanthropic investment in these

efforts can help advance the integra-

tion of low-wage immigrant workers

into our society.”

—Henry Allen, Executive DirectorDiscount Foundation

Boston, Massachusetts

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their home neighborhoods of WashingtonHeights, Bushwick, the South Bronx,and Queens.

• In Miami, Unite for Dignity, anindependent non-profit affiliated withSEIU Local 1199, offers leadershipclasses to low-wage immigrant workers.

• In Oregon, the union of tree plantersand farmworkers, Pineros y CampesinosUnidos del Noroeste (PCUN), promotesvoter education, youth leadership, housingdevelopment, micro-enterprise amongwomen, and immigrant rights.

• The Front Range Economic StrategyCenter (FRESC) has become the hub for accountable development policycampaigns serving low-income commu-nities in metro Denver. It is an allianceof over fifty community, labor, inter-faith, immigrant, and environmentalgroups. In 2004-2005, it expanded itsvoter education and outreach activitiesin immigrant communities and launchedthe Civic Leadership Institute, with afocus on immigrant rights issues andopposing Proposition 200, an anti-immigrant state ballot initiative.

These efforts and others like themacross the country are increasinglydrawing support from foundations seek-ing to promote civic participation andeffect policy change.

Although unions are not as powerful asthey once were, they still bring to thetable the voices of 14 million workers,including more and more newcomers.They also have national infrastructure,financial resources, political clout onpolicy issues, seasoned organizers andresearch staff, and the ability to effectchange on a national scale.

Foundations seeking to leverage theimpact of their grants can support non-profit organizations directly affiliatedwith unions and community organiza-tions with strong ties to labor. With theexercise of expenditure responsibilitythey can make grants directly to unionsthemselves.

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The student population at HorlickHigh School in Racine closely mirrors

the ethnic breakdown of this smallWisconsin city. Fifty-six percent of thestudents are Caucasian, 24 percentAfrican-American, 18 percent Latino,and two percent Asian.

The Latino population at the school,like that of the community, comprisesboth American-born Chicanos and foreign-born Latinos. Tensions between thesetwo groups are a fixture in communitiesacross the country, and Racine is noexception. At Horlick, however, the for-mation of a student group, StudentsUnited for Immigrant Rights (SUIR), hasbegun to break down these long-heldanimosities.

Prior to the formation of SUIR, many of the immigrant students at Horlickbelieved the Chicano students wereashamed of their heritage because theyspoke little or no Spanish and oftenseemed culturally more American thanLatino. For their part, the Chicanosprobably felt stung by suggestions thatthey were no longer ‘true’ Latinos. Thetwo groups seldom communicated.Sometimes, the simmering tensions

YOUTH ACTIVISM

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IMMIGRANTORGANIZING

erupted in school-yard fights. But thisdynamic has improved since the forma-tion of SUIR.

“We have seen a dramatic reduction inthe Latino suspension rate,” said NolaStarling-Ratliff, Horlick directing princi-pal. “[The students’ activism] has brokendown divisions among students and elevated the level of thinking.”

The lead-up to the creation of SUIR is astory of students discovering and exer-cising their civic rights. It is also thestory of a schism between two groups,the immigrants and the Chicanos, beingbridged. It begins in 2003 in a Latino-American history course at Horlick.

After watching the PBS series Matters ofRace, which includes a segment aboutthe increase in Mexican immigrant work-ers in a small town in the South, AlLevie’s Latin-American history class dis-cussed racism and the immigrant experi-ence in America. Spurred by the talk,students who were going to a local rallyorganized by Voces de la Frontera, acommunity organizing group working in both Milwaukee and Racine, invitedtheir history teacher to accompanythem. News coverage of the rally pro-voked a spat of anti-immigrant lettersthat were published in the local news-paper. In response, the students wrotegroup and individual rebuttals in classwhich were also published in the paper,engaging the community in a discussionof immigrant issues.

Around this time, Christine Neumann-Ortiz, director of Voces de la Frontera,contacted Levie, the history teacher, tolet him know that Representative PedroColón of Milwaukee had introduced a billin the Wisconsin Assembly that would

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bonds among students, families, the

school, and the community.”

—Ryan Knudson and Al Levie,Teachers, Horlick High School,

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allow undocumented immigrant studentsto attend state institutions of highereducation at resident tuition rates. Levieinvited representatives from Voces todirectly address the mostly ChicanoLatino-American history class about theissue and the legislation. Another teacherin the school, Ryan Knudson, broughthis ESL class—mostly immigrants—tothe discussion as well. Prompted by thediscussion, the students arranged for afield trip to Madison, the state’s capital,to attend a hearing on the bill. Theyprepared testimony on the bill, includ-ing a statement from an undocumentedstudent at Horlick about her situation.

Shortly after the students gave testimonyat the state capitol, Voces invited sevenof the students and one of their sponsorsto go to Washington, D.C. to advocatefor the DREAM Act. Students receivedtraining from the Center for CommunityChange and spent a day lobbyingelected officials.

Upon their return from Washington, the students organized a large Cinco deMayo party—partly as a fundraiser tohelp pay the expenses for the trip.Hundreds of Latino students (bothimmigrants and Chicanos), their familymembers, community members, andschool officials came together for thefirst time. Students spoke to the gather-ing about their participation in thepolitical process.

Publicity about the student participationin Madison and Washington and aboutthe Cinco de Mayo celebration sparkedcriticism from a group of communitymembers at the next Racine Board ofEducation meeting. The group demandedthe Board dismiss Levie, the historyteacher who had sponsored the field trips.

In response, Voces called a meeting ofthe parents of students who had partici-pated, and at the next meeting thoseparents and students—Chicano andimmigrant—made a presentation thank-ing the Board for giving their childrenthe opportunity to participate in thefield trips and to learn first-hand aboutthe democratic process. This saved Leviefrom dismissal and generated even greaterinterest among other students at theschool. It was then that SUIR was formed.

“It has made Latino kids feel like theyhave a voice,” said Mark Zanin, the sub-school principal. “The impact of [SUIR]and the issues they’ve taken on hasdemonstrated to them, and to the com-munity, that they do have a voice, andthat people will listen to them.”

Since its formation, SUIR has worked tobring together students and communityin pushing for social change. In the fallof 2004, in one of its first major efforts,SUIR joined with Voces and the NAACPto plan a nonpartisan election-day get-out-the-vote campaign. One aspectinvolved specially trained Horlick stu-dents doing door-to-door campaigning.The school approved the event andpromised to waive the absences of thosestudents who wished to participate.

However, a few days before the election,community members associated with ananti-immigrant website asserted thatthe mobilization drive, aimed in particu-lar at low-income neighborhoods inRacine with a concentration of African-Americans and Latinos, was partisan innature and that it was inappropriate forthe school to allow such activities. Onthe Monday before the elections, theschool administration withdrew its sup-port of the event and announced thatstudents who did not attend classes onTuesday would be disciplined.

Despite the reversal, over 250 Horlickstudents chose to face the school’spenalties—and the rain and coldweather—in order to encourage othersto vote. Students—from freshmen toseniors—chose to walk neighborhoodsfor the drive, according to the localnewspaper.

“I feel really disappointed in the schooldistrict for withdrawing their support inour effort to get people to vote,” said16-year-old Xavier Marques, first presi-dent of SUIR, in comments to the paper.“For them to fold just because of a littlebit of pressure from an outside group iswrong. From the beginning we havebeen nonpartisan. We are just focusedon getting out the vote.”

In 2005, there was a referendum in theRacine school district to add a smallamount to property tax for the school to

be able to maintain athletic and artsprogram and to keep the full schoolmaintenance staff employed. With lowvoter turnout in low-income precincts,the property tax measure failed, and thedistrict was forced to implement cuts inprograms.

When students realized what happened,they were outraged. Students from severalschools in the district, with Horlick students playing a key role, formed adiverse coalition that called itself SaveOur Schools. This student-led coalitionturned out a 1,500-person protest for aschool board hearing, winning a newvote on the referendum.

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For the second referendum, SUIR was incharge of the GOTV effort for the City ofRacine—the same kind of effort as forthe 2004 election. Other student groupsworked in the suburban areas. Altogether,there was a 10 percent increase in voterturnout for the second election, andthis time the property tax increasepassed. Christine Neumann-Ortiz ofVoces de la Frontera says, “The studentswere leading the adults—and most ofthem can’t vote, but they were able totake the initiative for change.”

Students like Xavier have becomeactivists in response to the racism andthe unfairness they see that immigrantsface. At Horlick, confronting these issuestogether has allowed students to reachout to each other across the schismthat exists so often between American-born Chicanos and newcomer Latinos.Friendships have formed across a previ-ously impassable divide, and there isincreasing collaboration between students in the two factions.

“Giving students opportunities to organize and become active around theissue of immigrant rights has helpedchange the culture of our school andcreated and strengthened bonds amongstudents, families, the school, and thecommunity,” wrote Ryan Knudson and AlLevie, the school sponsors of SUIR, inan article published last fall. “It hasalso helped students from marginalizedgroups become actively engaged, academically successful, and to rise topositions of leadership in the schooland the community.”

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The statewide Mobilize the ImmigrantVote (MIV) campaign in California

focused on bringing a growing butunderrepresented segment of the popu-lation more fully into the politicalprocess. Although increasing voterturnout among immigrants was a primegoal of the effort, MIV’s election workwas conceptualized as part of a largerand ongoing movement for social change.A cornerstone of the MIV approach isbuilding capacity of existing organiza-tions to participate effectively in boththe short- and long-term goals of the campaign.

The MIV campaign was led by Partnershipfor Immigrant Leadership and Action(PILA) in collaboration with Bay AreaImmigrant Rights Coalition (BAIRC);California Partnership (CAP); Coalitionfor Humane Immigrant Rights of LosAngeles (CHIRLA); National Network forImmigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR);and Services, Immigrant Rights, andEducation Network (SIREN). The first ofits kind in California, this statewide collaboration was funded by AkonadiFoundation, Four Freedoms Fund, JamesIrvine Foundation, Liberty Hill Foundation,and The San Francisco Foundation.

MIV views community-based organiza-tions (CBOs) as a critical infrastructurefor catalyzing and sustaining civic andpolitical participation in local communi-ties. Their ongoing presence and rela-tionships in the community positionthem to educate and mobilize their

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constituents for elections. However,many lack the skills, tools, and supportto do so effectively.

In the 2004 campaign, MIV linked 112diverse, immigrant-focused CBOs acrossthe state in an electoral organizingeffort, mobilizing well over 1,200 volun-teers. Not only had many of these CBOsnever engaged in elections work before,but nearly a third reported that theywould not have done any elections workwithout MIV support. MIV provided them

with voter education materials in a num-ber of languages, workshops in electoralbasics and issue analysis, media advocacytraining, and ongoing technical assistance.

In their work with CBOs, MIV encour-aged a movement-building approach toelections as a way to both increase thevoices of immigrants in the 2004 elec-tions and build capacity in immigrantcommunities for effecting long-termchange. The emphasis was on employingstrategies that would lead to both ofthese outcomes.

BUILDING AMOVEMENT

THROUGHELECTORAL

ORGANIZING

MOBILIZE THEIMMIGRANT VOTE

www.immigrantvoice.org

The training that I took with

PILA, as part of the MIV effort,

was very interesting. I learned a lot

and it was a great opportunity to get

to know other organizations and see

how we can work together.”

—Maria Carrillo, member Mujeres Unidas y Activas

“

Watch the DVDThe New Los Angeles: Voting

Participation in the electoral processis an ultimate marker of immigrant

integration. See how Latino and African-American labor, faith, and community

leaders in Los Angeles launched an unprece-dented grassroots get-out-the-vote

campaign. Their citywide, multi-ethnic coalition helped elect a Latino mayor

focused on the entire city “growing and prospering

together.”

200

The differences between a traditionalelectoral campaign and a movement-building campaign are illustratedthrough four contrasts:

1. Instead of ending a campaignafter the election, the movement-buildingapproach makes elections a part of along-term strategy for making change in communities. This includes ongoingcivic participation and organizingefforts between elections.

2. Instead of viewing the campaignas won or lost depending on electionresults, a movement-building strategyunderstands that the electoral work buildsrelationships and energizes communitiesregardless of election outcomes.

3. Instead of focusing on likely voters,the movement-building approach viewsvoting as one of many ways to shiftpower and make change, and it under-stands that there is a place in electoralwork for everyone, whether they are eligible to vote or not.

4. Instead of focusing solely on thenumber of contacts made in the cam-paign, the movement-building approachalso looks to strengthen organizationsand communities by increasing visibil-ity, forging new alliances, developing astronger base of community leaders andvolunteers, and linking election issuesto ongoing organizing.

Movement-building is a systemicapproach that creates opportunities forfuller engagement and builds lastingcapacity in communities. For example,the MIV collaborative did not develop aplatform for the campaign but led a

community-based process that engagedpartner organizations and immigrantcommunity members in discussingissues on the November 2004 ballot.These issue forums encouraged directcommunity participation, providing amodel of a process that both educatesvoters and builds community capacityto analyze policy issues. In this “bot-tom-up” approach, these discussionsdirectly informed the development ofthe voter guide that was distributed toover 21,000 community members. Anumber of participating organizationsreplicated the discussion forums in theirown communities, building the capacityof those constituencies to debate anddetermine policy positions on their own.

To facilitate the participation of limitedEnglish proficient immigrants, MIV pro-vided translation services in a number of languages at the public forums andtraining sessions. The campaign alsodeveloped and disseminated crucial multilingual voter education materialsdesigned to be specifically relevant tolow-income immigrant communities.These voter information materials reachedtens of thousands of immigrant voters

in California and eliminated the need forindividual community organizations todevelop their own.

The MIV collaborative was committed toevaluating its work and to disseminatinglessons learned from the campaign.From the earliest planning stages of thecampaign, a framework for collectingand assessing information was developed,activities were documented, and a post-election evaluation was conducted. Adetailed report, Democracy at Stake? A Report on Outcomes and Lessons fromthe Mobilize the Immigrant Vote 2004California Campaign was published in2005. In addition, the MIV collaborativenow has sample work plans and exten-sive tools that have proven useful andhave documented lessons on which tobuild in the future.

The impact of MIV went well beyondengaging immigrants in the 2004 elections. MIV laid the groundwork for a multi-ethnic, statewide movementthrough building relationships and trustamong grassroots organizations. Fifty-nine percent of organizations that participated in the campaign were col-laborating with other organizations theyhad never worked with before to carryout electoral activities, and 95 percentaffirmed that they want to be part offuture MIV campaigns. MIV plans tocontinue to strengthen the capacity ofthis network to raise immigrant voicesin the electoral process and beyond.

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201

Naturalization is one of the ultimatemarkers of immigrant integration. In a2003 national survey, two out of threeimmigrants indicated that “show[ing] acommitment and pride in being anAmerican” is a major reason to naturalize.3

Reflecting this commitment to becomefull members of society, increasingnumbers of immigrants became citizensin the 1990s. As of 2004, 35 percent,or about 12.4 million, of the total for-eign-born population in the UnitedStates were naturalized citizens.4

Today, at least another eight millionimmigrants are eligible for citizenship.5

Low levels of English proficiency, formaleducation, and income level characterizea significant share of this population.For example, an estimated 60 percentare limited English proficient. Lack ofinformation about citizenship presentsanother hurdle to naturalization. A2005 study commissioned by the IllinoisCoalition of Immigrant and RefugeeRights found that most immigrants findout about naturalization through anacquaintance or on their own initiative.6

Eighty percent did not know the applica-tion cost, currently $320 and soon to rise.

Immigrants will face additional barriersto naturalization, including higher fees.But the redesign of the citizenship testpresents a more worrisome obstacle.The new test, to be launched in 2007possibly in a format similar to the SAT,would put those with limited English ata greater disadvantage than the currentconversation-based examination.

Foundations wishing to address currentand future barriers and promote natu-ralization among eligible immigrantscan support programs that incorporatethe following promising practices:

• Active outreach to educate new-comers about the naturalizationprocess. Citizenship fairs, promotionthrough the ethnic media, and outreachto service providers are some of the bestways to inform immigrants.

• High-quality, multi-media Englishlanguage instruction materials toincrease citizenship candidates’ under-standing of the history and governmentof the United States. Such instruction is already an essential part of preparingimmigrants to naturalize, but it will becomeeven more important once changes to thecitizenship test are instituted.

• Bilingual English tutors, includingthose who are recently naturalized.Having peer tutors, especially ones with afirst-hand understanding of the naturaliza-tion process, can enhance the learningand improve outcomes.

• Conveniently scheduled classes and programs for working immigrants.Citizenship classes, English courses, andoutreach events offered in the evenings,on weekends, and in the workplace, ideallyin partnership with employers, are muchmore accessible to newcomers, many ofwhom work long hours and multiple jobs.

• Legal consultation for citizenshipapplicants. Application-assistance pro-grams must have legal expertise to helpprospective applicants identify “red flags”in their backgrounds that could put themat risk by entering the naturalizationprocess. A minor criminal conviction in thedistant past, for example, can place animmigrant in deportation proceedings.Therefore, funders should support onlyprograms that give every application care-ful legal review.

• Engagement of naturalizing immi-grants in community problem solvingand civic life. The immigrant integration

framework envisions citizenship as afully active endeavor. Civic participationduring the naturalization process notonly helps prepare students for the exam,but it also encourages active civic involve-ment to which all citizens, native-bornor naturalized, should aspire.

• Integrated voter education, registration, and participation.Naturalization programs with this component can improve the citizenshippreparation process by helping natural-izing immigrants understand theirresponsibilities as U.S. citizens.

• Advocacy, organizing, andresearch to ensure that the new citizenship examination strengthensthe process, the immigrant, and thecommunity. Funders can support arange of local and national efforts, suchas an independent task force, to moni-tor policy development and implemen-tation and to facilitate communicationbetween citizenship stakeholders andthe U.S. Citizenship and ImmigrationServices, the bureau within theDepartment of Homeland Security thatsucceeded the INS. Foundations canalso support research on denials of citi-zenship and on the experience of par-ticularly vulnerable subgroups under anew examination regime.

SUPPORTING THE CITIZENSHIP PROCESS

©

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3. This new federation includes the ServiceEmployees International Union, United Foodand Commercial Workers, UNITE/HERE, Teamster,Carpenters, Laborers, and Farmworkers.4. Passel, Jeffery S. 2005. UnauthorizedMigrants: Numbers and Characteristics.Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center. June.5. Ibid.6. Metro Chicago Information Center. 2005.“Preliminary Research Findings: New AmericansSurvey.” Chicago, IL: Illinois Coalition forImmigrant and Refugee Rights. June.

T he way I look at it is I want

to become a citizen to vote

because I wanted to make a

difference. It’s as simple as that.” –A Jordanian immigrant

living in Virginia

“

I became a citizen because

this is my country; I have no

other. I’m going to live here. My

kids are going to live here. With

all of us, we can make it a great

country.” –A Salvadoran immigrant

living in Los Angeles

“

202

Civic participation among immigrantscan take many forms, from improving aneighborhood park, a civic activity inwhich non-naturalized citizens can par-ticipate, to voting and running foroffice, once they are naturalized.Participation in communitywide plan-ning processes for social change is alsoan important form of civic participation(see section on communitywide planning).

To promote these forms of participa-tion, foundations can support initiativesand institutions that help immigrantsdevelop the ability to influence deci-sions that affect their lives, understandhow systems are organized in theUnited States, enhance the skills toexpress their concerns to decision mak-ers and others, and gain access to aninfrastructure that will provide themwith the necessary support for becom-ing civically engaged.

These initiatives will result in outputswhich, in turn, can lead to activitiessuch as voting, collective action toimprove their communities, and servingon governing or advisory boards. In the process of doing so, immigrantsconsciously become stronger leaders,capable of bringing about more changeby mobilizing other people to do thesame. Civic institutions in the receivingcommunity will also be transformed inthe process, becoming more inclusiveand democratic.

Foundations can determine if outcomesoccurred by collecting information such asthe following:

• Amount of time spent attendingmeetings or volunteering in activitiesand/or money contributed to varioustypes of civic and community organizations, such as cultural and linguistic associations, religious institutions, and hometown associations.

• Number of contacts with local andfederal officials on a community ornational concern.

• Percentage of immigrants who participate in the following civic acts andthe frequency of these acts:

• Attending community meetings todiscuss and solve community problems.

• Organizing groups, ideally working both with other newcomersand established residents, to solve community problems.

• Voting in local, state, and national elections.

• Participating in non-partisan voterregistration drives.

• Persuading others to register to vote (e.g., nonpartisan voter registration drives).

• Organizing nonpartisan candidate forums.

On the part of the receiving community, foundations can observechanges made by civic organizationsand government entities in the following areas:

• Change in meeting times and locations to make it easier for immigrants to participate.

• Improved knowledge about incentives and barriers to immigrantparticipation.

• Allocation of time to listening toeach person’s views and for individualand collective reflection.

• Active outreach to and inclusion of newcomers in their work, e.g., diversifying their boards, staff, and volunteers, providing interpretation at meetings.

• Creation of additional opportuni-ties for newcomers to participate incommunity problem solving.

EVALUATING CIVIC PARTICIPATION EFFORTS

203

SOURCES:

McGarvey, Craig. 2004. Pursuing Democracy’sPromise. Sebastopol, CA: Grantmakers Concernedwith Immigrants and Refugees in collaborationwith Funders’ Committee on Civic Participation.

Parachini Larry and Sally Covington. 2001. TheCommunity Organizing Toolbox: A Funder’s Guideto Community Organizing. Washington, D.C.:Neighborhood Funders Group. April.

Prestby, J.E., Wandersman, A., Florin, P., Rich,R., & Chavis, D. 1990. Benefits, costs, incentivemanagement and participation in voluntaryorganizations: A means to understanding andpromoting empowerment. American Journal ofCommunity Psychology, 18 (1), pp. 117-149.

EVALUATING CIVIC PARTICIPATION EFFORTS

OUTPUTS

• Belief that one can make a difference.

• Understand benefits of participation.

• Stronger communicationand interpersonal skills(e.g., active listening, public speaking).

• More informed about U.S. systems and what ishappening in the commu-nity, state, and nation.

• Infrastructure for civic participation (e.g., establishment of forums,training, and support).

OUTCOMES

For all immigrants, regardless ofimmigration status:

• Community voluntarism.

• Participation in collective actionand advocacy efforts.

• Contact with elected representatives at all levels ofgovernment.

• Broader and more diverse relationships.

• Stronger civic and political leadership.

• Serve on governing or advisorybodies.

For naturalized immigrants:

• Voter participation in local,state, and national elections.

• Running for elected positions.

For receiving community:

• Stronger, more diverse leaders.

• More inclusive and democratic institutions.

These outputsencourage civicparticipation, andas participationincreases, theseoutputs will alsobecome morewidespread.


IMM

IGRANT IN

TEGRATION

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Films about the Experiences of Newcomers in America

In these films, released in the past several years, immigrant families—and those with whom they work, go to school, and interact—describe

their experiences in their own words. To help the readers consider ways toutilize documentaries as educational tools, we’ve included some commentsfrom grantmakers about how they are using these films at their foundationsand in their communities.

INTRODUCTION 207

IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION: THE NEWCOMER’S PERSPECTIVE 208

JOURNEY TO HOMELAND 213

PROFILES 215

NEW & COMING ATTRACTIONS 216

207

Independent filmmakers have beencapturing the stories of immigrants

in the United States for decades, butthe exponential growth of the immigrantpopulation over the past 15 years hasgenerated a surge of high-quality docu-mentaries in recent years.

Putting a human face on complex immigration issues, these films are powerful tools to educate foundations,policymakers, business and civic leaders,and the general public. They bring today’srich and varied immigrant integrationexperiences to life and illustrate thehuman consequences of policy decisionsin a way that statistics and words alonecan never do.

This filmography, curated by the talentedstaff of Active Voice, highlights nearly40 films that can open the hearts andminds and set the stage for productivediscussions on immigration and immigrantintegration. This list is, by no means,comprehensive, and we invite you to letus know about other high-quality titlesthat can inform community discussionson immigrant issues.

Clips from many of these films, alongwith discussion questions, are availableon the enclosed DVD-ROM to help youengage foundation colleagues and othersin your communities in productive discussions. And if you agree that theseclips help build understanding, we stronglyencourage you to consider acquiring thefull-length documentaries. All the distribution information is available in this filmography.

As your foundation considers immigrantissues, let us know how we at GCIR andActive Voice can help you use these film and video resources to inform yourdiscussions and deliberations. We inviteyou to tell us what you’re learning andwhether and how these resources aremaking a difference in your foundation’sresponse to the immigration-drivendemographic, social, and economic changestaking place in your communities.

SPECIAL THANKS

Active Voice played the lead role in producing the filmography, and we extendour deepest appreciation to its entirestaff but especially to Ellen Schneider,Grace Eng, and Steve Bartz. We alsothank Grantmakers in Film and ElectronicMedia (GFEM) and David Haas for theirearly support of the filmography and forsharing their expertise with us. We lookforward to partnering with both ActiveVoice and GFEM in the future!

Our thanks go to all the curators, distributors, and funders who broughtmany of these films to our attentionand who share our excitement for thisbody of work. Finally, we salute all ofthe filmmakers working on immigrant-related issues—whether or not theirworks appear in this filmography—fortheir creativity and for bringing thesepowerful stories of today’s immigrantsto the public’s attention.

ABOUT ACTIVE VOICEWWW.ACTIVEVOICE.NET

Active Voice is a team of strategic communication specialists who put powerful media to work for personaland institutional change in communities,workplaces, and campuses across America.Through its practical guides, hands-onworkshops, stimulating events, and part-nerships nationwide, Active Voice movespeople from thought to action. By high-lighting compelling personal stories andperspectives seldom found in mainstreammedia, Active Voice offers a much-neededoutlet to people across America to speakout, listen up, and take the initiativefor positive change.

2601 Mariposa Street San Francisco, CA 94110Tel: 415.553.2841 Fax: 415.553.2848

INTRODUCTION

208

DISTRIBUTED BYBerkeley Media 510-486-9900www.berkeleymedia.com

FUNDED BYThe Corporation for Public Broadcasting

PBS

The Ford Foundation

The Independent Television Service (ITVS)

Native American Public Telecommunications

The Skirball Foundation

Latino Public Broadcasting

Center for Asian American Media

The California Council for the Humanities

CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE:ARAB-AMERICANS IN WARTIME

Directors: David Van Taylor and Brad Lichtenstein

www.pbs.org/itvs/caughtinthecrossfire/

Before 9/11, Arab-Americans were animmigrant group like any other. Now,many feel as if their “Arab” and“American” identities are at war. Caughtin the Crossfire chronicles three diverseArab New Yorkers—a beat cop, a minis-ter, and a high-level diplomatic corre-spondent—as they wrestle with theirplace in wartime America.

“In its acute eye and ear for quotidiandetail, and in its compassion for innocents,the film proves undeniably affecting.”

— The New York Times

CALIFORNIA AND THE AMERICAN DREAM

Producers/Directors: Paul Espinosaand Lyn Goldfarb

www.beyondthedream.org

The Price of Renewal, produced anddirected by Paul Espinosa, examinescommunity development, philanthropy, andcivic engagement as an inner-city neigh-borhood is redeveloped through a public-private partnership. Set in City Heights, theEllis Island of San Diego, the film exploresthe challenges of creating a vibrant urbanvillage from an ethnically, culturally,and economically diverse population.

The New Los Angeles, produced anddirected by Lyn Goldfarb, explores thecomplexities of inclusion in America’slargest majority-minority city and thenew political empowerment of Latinosand immigrants. This portrait of a cityin transition, begins with the multiracialcoalition which elected Tom Bradley asMayor in 1973 and ends with the 2005election of Antonio Villaraigosa, the firstLatino Mayor in more than 130 years.

“…a coming of age story, where theintersection of electoral politics, grass-roots organizing and coalitions havetransformed a city… foreshadows thechoices that cities across the nation willface when increased immigration, theproliferation of low-wage jobs, and ashrinking middle class force city leadersto rethink their priorities. It is a hopefulstory about ordinary people changingtheir lives and their city…”

— Peter Dreier, Director Urban & Environmental Policy program

Occidental College

IMMIGRANTINTEGRATION:

THE NEWCOMER’SPERSPECTIVE

In these films, released inthe past several years,

immigrant families—and thosewith whom they work, go toschool, and interact—describetheir experiences in their ownwords. We’ve included somecomments from grantmakersabout how they are using thesefilms at their foundations andin their communities.

209

DISTRIBUTED BYFirst Run/Icarus Films www.frif.com/new2002/cau.html

FUNDED BYIndependent Television ServiceJohn D. and Catherine T. MacArthur

FoundationPublic Broadcasting ServiceCorporation for Public BroadcastingCenter for Asian American MediaEvangelical Lutheran Church in AmericaMetropolitan New York Synod

DESTINATION AMERICA

Producers: David Grubin Productions

www.pbs.org/destinationamerica/index.html

They left all that they knew to makeperilous journeys to a country shroudedin myth and legend. Some came toescape religious persecution and politi-cal tyranny. Some came to escapepoverty, to make a new beginning, toprovide support for families they leftbehind. They have come for two hundredyears, and they still come today, formany reasons, but with one commonbond: their destination… America…Destination America explores thisremarkable mass migration from through-out the world in four one-hour episodes.

“…takes in, among many others,migrant workers from south of the bor-der; modern dancers from Taiwan; andwomen who flee second-class citizenshipor servitude in Guatemala, the MiddleEast, and even Italy. This is the sort oftelevision that puts faces on stats, butit’s also almost elegiac: these are thedoors we are bolting behind us.”— John Leonard, New York Magazine

DISTRIBUTED BYPBSwww.ShopPBS.org

FUNDED BYThe Corporation for Public BroadcastingPBS

FARMINGVILLE

Producers/Directors: Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini

www.pbs.org/pov/pov2004/farmingville/www.FarmingvilleTheMovie.com

The shocking hate-based attemptedmurders of two Mexican day laborerscatapult a small Long Island town intonational headlines, unmasking a newfrontline in the border wars: suburbia.For nearly a year, the filmmakers livedand worked in Farmingville, New York,so they could capture first-hand thestories of residents, day laborers, andactivists on all sides of the debate.

“Farmingville is a primer for anyone—whether lawmaker or citizen—who caresto better understand the usually unseencost of America’s appetite for cheaplabor.” — Carolyn Curiel, The New York Times

DISTRIBUTED BYDocurama 212-206-8600www.docurama.com

In Mexico:Cineteca Nacional www.cinetecanacional.net

FUNDED BYITVSThe John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur

FoundationThe Sundance Institute Documentary Fund

Latino Public BroadcastingThe Horace and Amy Hagedorn FoundationNew York State Council for the ArtsThe Bishop John R. McGann FundThe Soros Documentary FundThe Long Island Community FoundationThe Mary Duke Biddle FoundationAvid TechnologiesGenerous individual donors

HOLD YOUR BREATH

Director: Maren Grainger-Monsen

http://medethicsfilms.stanford.edu

Hold Your Breath follows the dramaticjourney of Mohammad Kochi, a refugeefrom Afghanistan. An intensely religiousman with a limited understanding ofEnglish, Mr. Kochi is diagnosed withcancer in his late fifties. As he strugglesto cope with his progressing illness, hemust navigate his way through the col-liding cultures of Islam, with its deepfaith in Allah, and western medicine, withits steadfast belief in science. Throughthe intimate emotional experiences ofthe Kochi family and the well-inten-tioned efforts of the medical practition-ers, Hold Your Breath illuminates thepivotal role of cross-cultural communi-cation in one man’s battle with cancer.

“…a lovely and moving meditation onthe clash between religion, culture, andmodern medicine. I was touched as anAfghan. And as a physician, I was remindedonce again of the difficulties of bridgingcultural chasm.”

— Khaled HosseiniAuthor of best-selling novel,

The Kite Runners

DISTRIBUTED BYTransit Media1-800-343-5540

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FUNDED IN PART BYThe California EndowmentThe Commonwealth FundThe Greenwall FoundationThe Arthur Vining Davis Foundation

LOST BOYS OF SUDAN

Producers/Directors: Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk

www.LostBoysFilm.com

Lost Boys of Sudan follows two Sudaneserefugees on their journey from Africa toAmerica. Orphaned in one of Africa’scruelest civil wars, Peter Dut and SantinoChuor survived lion attacks and militiagunfire to reach a refugee camp in Kenya.From there, they were chosen to cometo America. Safe at last from physicaldanger and hunger, they confront theabundance and alienation of America.

“Fascinating! Getting an audience socaught up is no small feat; it is a tributeto the directors’ storytelling.” — Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times

DISTRIBUTED BYActual Film/Principe [email protected]

FUNDED BYSundance Documentary FundPacific Pioneer FundFleishacker FoundationDen-Mat, Inc.Nu Lambda Trust

Produced in association with AmericanDocumentary, Inc. and ITVS with fundingprovided by the Corporation for PublicBroadcasting

MAID IN AMERICA

Producers: Kevin Leadingham and Anayansi Prado Director: Anayansi Prado

www.impactofilms.com

They clean other people’s homes andraise other families’ children, often leav-ing their own families behind. Maid inAmerica offers an intimate look into thelives of three Latina immigrants workingas nannies and housekeepers in LosAngeles—three of the nearly 100,000 domestic workers living in that citytoday. A rare view into an increasinglycommon scenario, this film explores theglobalization of motherhood and offersinsight into the immigrant experience.

“They might mostly be invisible people in our society but not underappreciated(and not overpaid at about $5 an hour).What’s vital to know is that they, too,keep their eyes on that elusive prizecalled the American Dream.”

— Irv Letofsky, Hollywood Reporter

DISTRIBUTED BYWomen Make Movies212-925-0606www.wmm.com

FUNDED BYThe John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur

Foundation

THE DIVIDE (FROM MATTERS OF RACE SERIES)

Executive Producer: Orlando BagwellProgram Producer: John Valadez

www.pbs.org/mattersofrace/prog1.shtml

Ten years ago, Siler City, North Carolinawas a black and white town of segre-gated communities with a shared geog-raphy and an unsettled history. Thisquiet, rural southern town is a “labora-tory” for the national transformation

that is fundamentally altering America’ssense of itself. What happens whenwhite people and white culture no longerdominate? This film explores power andidentity in small-town America.

“The questions raised are powerful; theanswers provided are few. The only rem-edy is an ongoing discussion. Clearly, thisis the American story: It’s what we weretalking about before 9-11, it’s what we’llbe talking about long after.”

—The Sun-Sentinel

DISTRIBUTED BYPBSwww.ShopPBS.org

FUNDED BYNational Black Programming ConsortiumLatino Public BroadcastingPacific Islanders in CommunicationsCenter for Asian American MediaNative American Public

Telecommunications, Inc.Corporation of Public Broadcasting

Minority FundCPB Challenge FundPBSThe Fannie Mae FoundationThe John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur

FoundationThe Ford FoundationThe Annie E. Casey FoundationThe Nathan Cummings FoundationThe Independent Television Service

MUHAMMAD: LEGACY OF A PROPHET

Producers: Kikim Media and UnityProductions Foundation

www.kikim.com/xml/projects.php?projectId=4

www.upf.tv/projects/muhammad.php

Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet tellsthe story of the seventh-century prophetwho changed the world history in 23years and continues to shape the live ofmore than 1.2 billion people. The film

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takes viewers not only to ancient MiddleEastern sites where Muhammad’s storyunfolds, but into the homes, mosques,and workplaces of some of America’sestimated seven million Muslims to discover the many ways in which theyfollow Muhammad’s example.

“…the documentary is well worth watch-ing both as the first serious attempt totell the story of Muhammad on televisionand also as a testimony to the hypersen-sitivity of our times.”— Alessandra Stanley, The New York Times

DISTRIBUTED BYKikim Media/Unity Productions888-786-0444

FUNDED BYThe Corporation for Public BroadcastingThe David and Lucile Packard FoundationArabian Bulk TradeSabadia Family FoundationThe El-Hibri FoundationThe Irfan Kathwari FoundationMir Imran

Additional funding was provided by manyother organizations and individuals.

RECALLING ORANGE COUNTY

Producer/Director: Mylène Moreno

Reflecting on her experience growing up as the daughter of immigrants inCalifornia’s Orange County, documentaryfilmmaker Mylène Moreno follows afierce battle against a controversialimmigrant rights activist there. She discovers as much division within theLatino community as between the tradi-tional establishment and the county’sincreasingly vocal newcomers.

“…stimulates a lot of rich discussionabout how structure shapes agency orwho has the power to determine educa-tional policy and, more importantly, whatit means to be American in our coun-try… Very provocative…”

— Gordon Suzuki, Ed.D.Graduate School of Education

and Information StudiesUniversity of California, Los Angeles

DISTRIBUTED BYSouvenir Pictures, Inc.323-512-4677info@souvenirpictures.comwww.souvenirpictures.com

FUNDED BYIndependent Television ServiceLatino Public Broadcasting

TEENS IN BETWEEN

Producer/Director: Debbie Brodsky

www.mhznetworks.org/teensinbetween/

Teens in Between takes an intimatelook at the challenges and triumphs ofrecent immigrant teens. This documen-tary follows the stories of five studentsfrom Somalia, Honduras, Egypt, andVietnam, as they struggle to make itthrough a year of high school in America.

“A fascinating and candid look atAmerica’s newest teens.”

— Patricia Brennan, Washington Post TV Week

DISTRIBUTED BYMHz NETWORKS800-343-5540 www.mhznetworks.org

FUNDED IN PART BYThe Verizon Foundation

THE NEW AMERICANS

Executive Producers: Steve James and Gordon Quinn Series Producer: Gita Saedi

www.pbs.org/independentlens/newamericans/newamericans.html

The New Americans follows four yearsin the lives of a diverse group of con-temporary immigrants and refugees asthey journey to start new lives in

America. The detailed portraits—woventogether in the seven-hour miniseries—present a kaleidoscopic picture of immi-grant life and a personal view of thenew America.

“Always compelling and frequently heart-wrenching…”— Jabari Asim, The Washington Post

SERIES DISTRIBUTED BYPBSwww.ShopPBS.org

Image Entertainment818-407-9100

ENGAGEMENT MODULES DISTRIBUTED BYwww.activevoice.net

FUNDED BYThe John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur

Foundation ITVS CPB PBS BBC Annie E. Casey Foundation VPRO - The Netherlands Television Woods Foundation SBS - Austrailia Television Asian Women United Fund/NAATA Soros Documentary Fund Sundance Documentary Fund Latino Public Broadcasting Illinois Humanities Council Kansas Humanities Council California Council on the Humanities Individual Donors

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RAIN IN A DRY LAND

Producer/Director: Anne Makepeace

Rain in a Dry Land is a portrait of tworemarkable families, refugees fromSomalia, who find new homes in urbanAmerica. The film captures their strug-gles, their triumphs, their poetry, theirhumor, and their amazing resilience asthey show us our world through neweyes. It was nominated for the SocialJustice Award at the 2006 Santa BarbaraInternational Film Festival.

”Rigorously intimate and disarminglyaffectionate, Rain in a Dry Land is in the forefront of the current crop ofimmigration chronicles... Makepeacenever reduces [the families] to devicesor symbols or anything less than humanbeings caught in the cross-hairs of global politics.”

— John Anderson, VARIETY

FOR MORE INFORMATIONAnne MakepeaceMakepeace Productions917-674-1933

[email protected]

FUNDED BYThe Ceil and Michael Pulitzer FoundationSundance Documentary FundITVS/CPBFord FoundationP.O.V.

THE SIXTH SECTION

Producer/Director: Alex Rivera

www.sixthsection.com

The Sixth Section tells the story of howimmigrants in America are organizing—and finding political and economicpower in the places they’ve left behind.The Sixth Section is the first film todepict the transnational “hometownassociation” movement.

“This is a deftly choreographed, startlinglypersonal film...an important first look ata whole world that is still too invisible tothose outside it.”

— Angela Jamison, UCLA Labor Center

DISTRIBUTED [email protected]

FUNDED BYP.O.V.The John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur

FoundationThe Rockefeller Foundation

WORLDS APART

Producers: Maren Grainger-Monsen, M.D. and Julia Haslett

http://medethicsfilms.stanford.edu/

Worlds Apart is a series of four shortfilms that explore cultural conflicts overmedical treatment. Each film followsone patient and his or her family—Afghan, Laotian, African-American, andPuerto Rican—faced with critical med-ical decisions as they navigate their waythrough the U.S. health care system.

“Worlds Apart is unique among films oncross-cultural health because it is a filmshowing real people. Real people are somuch more powerful than actors; it ismuch more believable and emotionallycharged.”

— Suganya Sockalingam, National Center of Cultural Competence

DISTRIBUTED BYFanlight Productions800-937-4113www.fanlight.com

FUNDED IN PART BYThe California EndowmentThe Commonwealth FundThe Greenwall FoundationThe Arthur Vining Davis Foundation

213

JOURNEY TO THE HOMELAND

These films, which followimmigrants or the children

of immigrants back to theirhomelands, can be wonderfulcatalysts for exploring issuesof identity, transnationalism,and our increasingly globallives. They can help connectU.S. immigration to the international phenomenon of migration.

DAUGHTER FROM DANANG

Producer: Gail DolginDirectors: Gail Dolgin and Vicente Franco

www.daughterfromdanang.com

In 1975, as the Vietnam War was end-ing, thousands of orphans andAmerasian children were brought to theUnited States as part of “OperationBabylift.” Daughter from Danang tellsthe story of one of these children andher Vietnamese mother, reunited after22 years.

“Quite simply one of the best and mostprofound documentaries I have seen inyears.…splendid!”

— John Petrakis, Chicago Tribune

DISTRIBUTED BYBalcony Releasing781-209-2030www.ShopPBS.org

FUNDED IN PART BYThe Corporation for Public BroadcastingOpen Society InstituteZellerbach Family FundWallace Alexander Gerbode FoundationFilm Arts Foundation

DISCOVERING DOMINGA

Producer/Director: Patricia FlynnCo-producer: Mary Jo McConahay

www.discoveringdominga.com

Living in Iowa, Denese Becker washaunted by memories of her Mayanchildhood. A quest for her lost identityin Guatemala turns into a journey ofpolitical awakening that reveals a geno-cidal crime and the still-unmet cry forjustice from the survivors.

“History can be especially compellingwhen it’s personal. Witness the latestfilm in the P.O.V. series, the story of anIowa woman’s return to the scene of a1982 Guatemalan massacre that claimedher parents.”— Josh Friedman, Los Angeles Times

DISTRIBUTED BYBerkeley Media510-486-9900www.berkeleymedia.com

FUNDED BYMajor Funding provided by:Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Additional Funding Provided by: Wallace Alexandra Gerbode FoundationHumanities IowaHannah KranzbergMaya MillerKit MillerCarol Bernstein FerryPamela KrasneyUnitarian Universalist Services CommitteeM. Brinton Lykes

THE FLUTE PLAYER

Producers: Jocelyn Glatzer and Christine CourtneyDirector: Jocelyn Glatzer

www.thefluteplayer.net

Arn Chorn-Pond was just a boy when theKhmer Rouge regime overran Cambodiaand turned his country into a ghastlyland of “killing fields.” Now, after livingin the United States for 20 years, Arnjourneys back to Cambodia as he seeksout surviving master musicians andfaces his war-torn past.

DISTRIBUTED BYCenter for Asian American Media 415-552-9550www.centerforasianamericanmedia.org

FUNDED BYIndependent Television ServiceCenter for Asian American MediaThe Corporation for Public BroadcastingSundance Documentary FundRoy W. Dean FundThe Wellspring FoundationThe LEF FoundationThe Peter S. Reed FoundationThe Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund

214

DISTRIBUTED BYCenter for Asian American Media 415-552-9550www.centerforasianamericanmedia.org

FUNDED BYITVSCenter for Asian American MediaRockefeller FoundationFilm/Video/Multimedia FellowshipCreative CapitalSan Francisco Art Commission Cultural

Equity Grant

SENTENCED HOME

Producers/Directors: David Grabias and Nicole Newnham

Sentenced Home tells the personal stories behind the ongoing deportationsof Cambodian-Americans as a result ofpost-9/11 U.S. immigration policy. Thedocumentary follows three deportees’sagas full-circle—from birth in theKilling Fields, to their youth on America’smean streets, to an unwilling returndecades later—while exploring the social,cultural, and historical reasons for thedeportees’ fate.

“…a bracing account of three CambodianAmericans—”children of the KhmerRouge”—who came to this country asrefugees and have now, under new rulesenforced by the callous ImmigrantResponsibility Act of 1996, been deportedto a nation they do not remember.” —Anthony Kaufman, The Village Voice

DISTRIBUTED BYSentenced Home Productions323-661-4700 [email protected]

FUNDED BYCenter for Asian American MediaThe Sundance Documentary FundITVS Generous individual donors

DISTRIBUTED BYLCMAC510-233-8015www.pasajero.info

FUNDED BYThe James Irvine FoundationCultural Contact

REFUGEE

Producer/Director: Spencer Nakasako

www.refugeethemovie.com

For Mike Siv, the trip begins innocentlyenough. “Me and my homies, David andPaul, we’re going to Cambodia. We’ll seethe sights, visit family, have some fun.”These three young refugees, raised onthe streets of San Francisco’s toughTenderloin district, head back toCambodia for the first time, and theywill never be the same.

“…a vivid sense of personal adventure .. . sports considerable dynamism, narra-tive oomph and emotional directness.”

— Dennis Harvey, VARIETY

MY JOURNEY HOME

Executive Producers: Jeff Bieber and Renee Tajima-PenaProducers: Renee Tajima-Pena andLourdes Portillo

www.pbs.org/weta/myjourneyhome/journey/

My Journey Home traverses the conflicted,cultural landscape of the United Statesthrough the perspective of newAmerican voices known and unknown.Traveling back to Nigeria, Vietnam,Mexico, and the American Southwest,they delve into their personal historiesof buried pasts, a missing father, andmixed heritages.

“Journey looks at more than culturalidentities; it’s interested in personal andfamily ones as well. This all-encompass-ing approach is what gives it its bite.”

— TV Guide

DISTRIBUTED BYWETA703-998-2802

FUNDED BYCorporate funding provided by FarmersInsurance

Additional funding was also provided by: The Corporation for Public BroadcastingLatino Public BroadcastingThe Rockefeller FoundationCharles Stewart Mott Foundation

PASAJERO, A JOURNEY OF TIME AND MEMORY

Producer: Eugene RodriguezDirector: Ricardo Braojos

www.pasajero.info

Pasajero, A Journey of Time andMemory is the story of a group of youngMexican-American musicians who accom-pany their mariachi maestro on hishomecoming to Mexico. Together theyperform a forgotten style of roots mari-achi music and dance and meet peoplewho embody the spirit of old Mexico.

“Pasajero successfully combines musicwith storytelling, creating a tale of a for-gotten Mexican tradition told by the folkswho lived it and the young people strug-gling to reclaim their heritage.” — Les Blank, documentary filmmaker

215

PROFILES

We asked colleagues in themedia field to recommend

other films about the contem-porary immigrant experience.This section contains many oftheir suggestions—new storiesabout the contributions, challenges, and individual journeys of immigrants to theUnited States.

90 MILES

Producer/Director: Juan Carlos Zaldívar

90 Miles is a feature documentary abouthow the relationships within a Cubanfamily are shaped by the rift betweenthe United States and Cuba and theimmigration process. It is a film aboutthe effects of immigration, a strugglefor identity, and what happens to peoplearound the world because of politics.

DISTRIBUTED BYFrameline415-703-8650www.frameline.org

FUNDED IN PART BYJerome FoundationThe Lucius and Eva Eastman FundThe New York Foundation for the ArtsThe Cuban Artist FundNew York State Council on the ArtsPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Corporation for Public BroadcastingNational Endowment for the Arts

MAI’S AMERICA

Producer/Director: Marlo Poras

A spunky, mini-skirted daughter of HoChi Minh’s revolution leaves cosmopoli-tan Hanoi on a high-school exchangeprogram and finds an America she neverdreamt existed when she lands in ruralMississippi.

DISTRIBUTED BYWomen Make Movies212-925-0606www.wmm.com

FUNDED BYThe Corporation for Public BroadcastingThe Lef FoundationThe Women in Film Foundation FilmFinishing Fund/Dockers Khakis for

Women Independent Vision Grant

LOS TRABAJADORES

Producer/Director: Heather Courtney

Through the stories of two men, Ramonand Juan, and through the controversysurrounding the relocation of a day-laborsite from downtown to a residentialneighborhood, Los Trabajadores examinesthe misconceptions and contradictionsinherent in America’s paradoxical historyof both dependence on and discriminationagainst immigrant workers.

DISTRIBUTED BYNew Day Films888-367-9154www.newday.com

FUNDED BYTexas Filmmakers Production FundTexas Council for the HumanitiesCity of Austin Cultural Contracts

SEARCHING FOR ASIAN AMERICA

Series Producer: Donald Young

www.pbs.org/searching/

Through intimate profiles of individualsand communities from across the country,this 90-minute program serves up a tasteof what it’s like to be Asian American intoday’s ever-changing United States.Hosted by popular Today show host Ann Curry.

DISTRIBUTED BYCenter for Asian American Media415-552-9550www.centerforasianamericanmedia.org

FUNDED BYThe Corporation for Public Broadcasting

216

A DREAM IN DOUBT

Producer: Tami Yeager

A Dream in Doubt is a one-hour docu-mentary about post 9/11 hate crimesagainst Sikhs in Phoenix. Balbir SinghSodhi was the first American killed inthe backlash against “Arab-looking”Americans after 9/11. This program tellsthe story of his murder and other recenthate crimes.

For more information:[email protected]

CROSSING ARIZONA

Executive Producer: Joel Pomeroy

Crossing Arizona is an up-to-the-moment look at the hotly debatedissues of illegal immigration and bordersecurity on the U.S.-Mexico border.

For more information:Rainlake Productions212-343-0777joel@rainlake.comwww.rainlake.comwww.crossingaz.com

DASTAAR

Producer/Director: Kevin Lee

Dastaar: Defending Sikh Identity presentsthe struggle of the Sikh American community against discrimination andviolence caused by ignorance of the dastaar, the turban which is an essentialsymbol of the Sikh faith.

For more information:[email protected]/Filminformation/dastaar.html

FRUITS OF WAR

Director: Josiah Hooper

Fruits of War tells the story of threeyoung men—Alex, Bullet, and Weazel—who were deported to El Salvador forcrimes committed while involved in LosAngeles street gangs. The film chronicles

their lives as child refugees fleeing aviolent civil war and as social pariahsafter they are sent back to El Salvador.They find acceptance among poorSalvadoran youth who idolize them andform new branches of Los Angeles’ twomost violent gangs. Alex, Bullet, andWeazel reform their lives and try to helphalt the spread of gang violence inCentral America, but this work putsthem in the line of fire of warring gangmembers and reemerging death squads.


GOLDEN VENTURE

Producer: Peter Cohn

Golden Venture tells the story of fourChinese immigrants who came to theUnited States on the freighter GoldenVenture, which ran aground off New YorkCity in 1993. The INS rounded up thesurvivors and locked them in prisonswhere some languished for four years.Golden Venture is a global epic playedout in the shadow of national politics.

For more information:Hillcrest [email protected]

GRASSROOTS RISING

Executive Producer: Linda MabalotProducers: Leslie A. Ito & Robert C. Winn

Grassroots Rising is an evocative explo-ration of Asian Pacific Islander workingfamilies in Los Angeles. The film weavestogether powerful interviews, live-actionfootage, and the voices of low-wageAsian immigrants at the forefront ofworker-led movements to build a justcommunity in Los Angeles.


NEW & COMINGATTRACTIONS

In this section, we identifydocumentaries currently

in production that tackle wide-ranging immigration and immi-grant integration issues. Keepan eye out for these works-in-progress suggested by colleagues in immigration, filmmaking, and philanthropy.

217

LETTERS FROM THE OTHER SIDE

Producer/Director: Heather Courtney

Letters from the Other Side interweavesvideo letters carried across the U.S.-Mexico border by the film’s director withthe personal stories of women leftbehind in post-NAFTA Mexico. The film-maker speaks directly with her subjectsthrough her unobtrusive camera, provid-ing a look at the lives of the peoplewho are most affected by today’s immi-gration and trade policies.

For more information: [email protected]

MADE IN L.A.

Producers: Almudena Carracedo and Robert BaharDirector: Almudena Carracedo

Made in L.A. documents the lives,struggle, and personal transformation ofthree Latina immigrants working in gar-ment factories in Los Angeles. Throughtheir stories, filmed over three years,Made in L.A. artfully reveals the chal-lenges facing immigrants and exploresthe ever-changing impact of globaliza-tion on their lives.


MAQUILAPOLIS

Producer/Director: Vicky Funari

Maquilapolis is a documentary by andabout workers in Tijuana’s assembly fac-tories, the maquiladoras. The project isa collaboration among the filmmaker,artist Sergio De La Torre, and Tijuanawomen’s organization Grupo Factor X.

For more information:[email protected]/project_eng.html

MY AMERICAN DREAM

Producers/Directors: Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson

Demographics, globalization, and globalterrorism all have turned the process ofshaping U.S. immigration policy into aunique, and in many ways profound,national drama. My American Dreamwill be a multipart television series fol-lowing a wide-ranging group of partici-pants in the struggle to reshape immi-gration policy in post-9/11 America.

For more information:The Epidavros Project, [email protected]

NEW YEAR BABY

Producer/Director: Socheata Poeuv

Born in a Thai refugee camp onCambodian New Year, Socheata grew upin the United States never knowing thather family had survived the KhmerRouge genocide. In New Year Baby, sheembarks on a journey to Cambodia insearch of the truth and why her historyhad been buried in secrecy for so long.

For more information:917-538-9644 [email protected]

STRUGGLE & FLOW: IN NINE TRACKS

Producer/Director: Mike Siv

The film portrays Prach Ly’s life from his birth in a concentration camp inCambodia, to his escape to Thailand, tohis growing up in the housing projectsof Long Beach, and ultimately, to histrying to make it as a Cambodian rapper.


WHOSE CHILDREN ARE THESE?

Producer/Director: Theresa Thanjan

Whose Children Are These? provides aglimpse into the post 9/11 world ofthree youngsters affected by the federalpolicy of Special Registration and preju-dice. The film tells the stories of threeMuslim youth: an honors student whosefather was put into a detention center,a popular high-school athlete who con-fronts pending deportation, and ayoungster who finds a new life’s callingto combat bias crimes in New York Cityas a youth activist.

For more information:NYC Maharani Productions917-549-3481T_thanjan@yahoo.comwww.nycmaharanifilms.com

THE GUESTWORKER

Producers/Directors: Cynthia Hilland Charles Thompson

The Guestworker profiles 66-year-oldCandelario Gonzales Moreno who hasbeen coming to the United States fromMexico for 40 years to harvest our cropsand provide for his family. Without ben-efits, without retirement, he battlesagainst the elements, his own age, andthe backbreaking work, returning to thesame farm year after year as TheGuestworker.


219

History of U.S. Immigration Law and Policy

The history of U.S. immigration reflects the social, economic, and political climate of the time. It also illustrates the nation’s ongoing

ambivalence about immigration, as well as offers insights on the role ofrace, prejudice, fear, and nativism in shaping U.S. immigration policy. Thissection provides a quick overview of U.S. immigration law and policy fromthe 1700s to May 2006.

Yes, we need to control our borders. No one argues with that… But wedon’t need ballot initiatives that make people think we want them to

abandon their hopes because some of us don’t believe the American Dreamis big enough to share anymore.”

—Senator John McCain, R-AZ, 2005

“

We can’t strenthen our nation’s borders by strangling our nation’s economy.”

—Representative John Boehner, R-OHDecember 2005

“

1790: Congress passed a law allowing naturalization for “free white persons.”This racial requirement remained ineffect until 1952, although naturaliza-tion was opened to immigrants fromcertain Asian countries in the 1940s.

1798: The passage of the Aliens andSedition Acts authorized the Presidentto deport any foreigner deemed to bedangerous.

1882: Passage of the Chinese ExclusionAct codified racism into federal law,denying citizenship for Chinese immi-grants and suspending their entry intothe United States. It was not repealeduntil 1943.

1906: The ability to speak and under-stand English became a requirementfor naturalization.

1917: Congress designated Asia as “abarred zone,” prohibiting immigrationfrom all Asian countries except Japanand the Philippines.

1919: The Palmer Raids resulted in the deportation of 10,000 labor and immigrant activists.

1921-1930: Thousands of Mexican workers, including many U.S. citizens,were deported.

1924: The Johnson-Reed Act created anew national-origins quota systemfavoring immigrants from northernEurope and banning immigration bypersons “ineligible to citizenship,” aprovision that primarily affected theJapanese.

1942-1945: The United States interned120,000 Japanese Americans.

1942-1964: The “Bracero” guestworkerprogram, begun to meet wartime laborshortages, brought close to five millionfarmworkers, predominantly Mexicans,to the United States.

1954: Operation Wetback deported morethan 1.1 million Mexican immigrants.

1965: Thanks to the Civil RightsMovement of the 1960s, the 1965Immigration Act eliminated race-basedadmission criteria and instituted onesbased on the would-be immigrant’sskills, profession, or relationship tofamily in the United States.

1975: Congress passes legislation to permit the resettlement of SoutheastAsian refugees in the aftermath of theVietnam War.

1986: The Immigration Reform andControl Act granted amnesty to aboutthree million undocumented immigrantsand instituted sanctions for employerswho hire undocumented workers.

1995: California voters approvedProposition 187 to prohibit undocu-mented immigrants from accessing publicly funded education, welfare, andhealth services. The proposition waslater found to be unconstitutional.

1996: Three acts of Congress—welfarereform, immigration reform, and anti-terrorism legislation—significantlyreduced immigrants’ access to socialsafety-net programs, toughened borderenforcement, closed opportunities forundocumented immigrants to legalizetheir status, made it difficult to gainasylum, stripped many due-processrights, reduced access to the courts,and greatly expanded grounds fordeportation.

2001: Shortly after the attacks ofSeptember 11, 2001, Congress passedthe USA PATRIOT Act, giving the federalgovernment, among other things, broadpowers to indefinitely detain suspectedterrorists. At least 1,200 South Asianand Middle Eastern men were swept upin government dragnets, detained with-out charge, and denied due-processrights. Few, if any, of these detaineeswere charged with involvement in terrorist activities.

221

HISTORY OF U.S. IMMIGRATION

LAW AND POLICY

2002: The Department of HomelandSecurity put in place “SpecialRegistration” which required all non-immigrant males age 16 and older from24 countries to report in person, regis-ter, and be fingerprinted. All but one ofthe countries targeted by this programwere those with large Muslim popula-tions. An estimated 13,000 men wereplaced in deportation proceedings during the first year of this program.Although it was terminated, SpecialRegistration was the most visible andsystematic government-instituted pro-gram to detain members of specific ethnic groups in the United Statessince the internment of JapaneseAmericans during World War II.

2005: Congress passed the REAL ID Act,raising the standard for political asylumseekers, creating additional grounds fordeporting immigrants, and restrictingthe issuance of driver’s license andstate ID documents to certain cate-gories of immigrants. More than 150anti-immigrant bills were introduced in 30 states, although few bills were eventually enacted into law. Arizona,Virginia, and Arkansas adopted anti-immigrant laws that target vulnerablepopulations, including undocumentedimmigrants, day laborers, and low-income families. Arizona’s Proposition200, approved by the state’s voters,requires state and local governmentemployees to report undocumentedimmigrants seeking publicly fundedhealth and social services to federalimmigration authorities.

2006: The State of Georgia passed theGeorgia Security and ImmigrationCompliance Act. Under this state law,effective July 1, 2007, Georgia employ-ers must use a federal database to verify their workers’ immigration status;recipients of most state benefits,including welfare and Medicaid, mustprove their legal status; workers whocannot provide a Social Security numberor other taxpayer identification arerequired to pay a six percent statewithholding tax; corrections officialsmust report incarcerated undocumentedimmigrants to federal authorities; andlocal authorities are authorized to seek training to enforce federal immigration laws.

In spring 2006, as this report was being finalized, Congress debated immigrationreform legislation. Some proposalsfocused strictly on strengthening borderand other immigration enforcement,while others called for guestworker pro-grams, opportunities for undocumentedimmigrants to earn legal status, andprovisions to address the family-visabacklogs. Depending on the outcome ofthis debate, the political environmentfor immigrants could change dramatical-ly in the upcoming years, possibly driving some immigrants deeper in theshadows or giving those who couldbenefit from any new laws the opportu-nity to become fully integrated intoU.S. society.

SOURCES:

National Immigration Forum. 2005. Immigration Basics2005. Washington, D.C.: National Immigration Forum.

National Immigration Forum. 2002. Immigration PolicyHandbook 2002. Washington, D.C.: NationalImmigration Forum.

Cho, Eunice Hyunhye, et al. 2004. BRIDGE: BuildingRace and Immigration Dialogue in the Global Economy.Oakland, CA: National Network for Immigrant andRefugee Rights.

222

223

Fast Facts

DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS 225

PATTERNS OF IMMIGRATION STATUS 228

IMMIGRANTS IN THE U.S. ECONOMY 229

IMMIGRANT CHILDREN AND EDUCATION 230

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 231

IMMIGRANTS’ ACCESS TO INSURANCE AND HEALTH CARE 232

My conception of what it means to be an immigrant rights activist isthat one must also be involved in the integration side of the debate,

in the huge question of whether there is economic and social mobility fortoday’s immigrants. The issues I care most about are what kind of lifeimmigrants are going to be able to achieve in this country… I feel it isimperative that more people conceptualize their role in being pro immigrantas being pro school reform, pro health care access, and pro labor rightsenforcement, among other things we need to think about to make strong,vibrant, healthy communities. When so many are struggling to move up, to provide for their families, how do we design policies that truly provideopportunity and a level playing field for everyone?”

—Margie McHugh, Senior AdvisorMigration Policy Institute, Washington, DC

“

225

Immigrant numbers and growth ratesare significant.1

• The foreign-born population in theUnited States tripled in the past fourdecades and currently totals about 37million, or nearly 12 percent of thetotal population.

• By 2010, the foreign-born population is expected to increase to 43 million, or 13.5 percent of the totalpopulation.

But immigrants’ percentage of thetotal U.S. population is below thenation's historic high.

• Proportionately, the United Statesis less a nation of immigrants now thana century ago, when nearly 15 percentof the population was foreign-born.2

• Many other countries have propor-tionately larger immigrant populations.For example, 17 percent of Canada’stotal population is foreign-born, as is24 percent of Australia’s.3

Immigrant settlement is shifting fromtraditional to new gateway states andfrom central cities to suburbs.

• In 2000, two-thirds of all the foreign-born lived in the traditional“big six” immigrant states (California,New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois, andNew Jersey), down from three-quartersin the decades before 1995.4

• From 1990 to 2000, the foreign-born population grew by 145 percent in22 “new growth” states, compared to 57percent average growth nationwide.5

• The biggest growth between 1990and 2000 occurred in the Southeast,Mountain, and Plains states, led byNorth Carolina (274 percent), Georgia(233 percent), Nevada (202 percent),Arkansas (196 percent), and Utah (171percent).6

• The foreign-born averaged 25 percent of the population in centralcities in 2000, with the highest per-centages in Miami (60 percent), LosAngeles (40 percent), and San Francisco,San Jose, and New York (all above 35percent).7

• More immigrants now live in suburbs (12.8 million) than in centralcities (9.8 million).8

Fewer immigrants are from Europe;more are from Latin America andAsia.

• Sixty-six percent of legal immigrants were from Europe andCanada before the 1965 ImmigrationAct eliminated national origin quotasthat favored European countries.9

• By 2004, European and Canadianimmigrants had declined to 16 percentof all foreign-born, while a larger percentage of immigrants were fromother countries: Mexico (31 percent),other Latin American countries (23 percent), Asia (26 percent), and Africa,the Middle East, and other regions (4 percent).10

DEMOGRAPHICTRENDS

226

SNAPSHOT OF THE FOREIGN-BORN IN THE UNITED STATES

TOTAL NUMBER % OF ANNUAL IMMIGRATION STATUS (2005) TOTAL (Federal fiscal year 2003)

FOREIGN-BORN RESIDENTS

Naturalized citizens: Lawful permanentresidents in U.S. at least 3-5 years who have completed naturalization process.

Lawful permanent residents (LPRs):Persons legally admitted to reside and work permanently in U.S.; most visas are granted through family relationships to relatives of citizens and LPRs (about 74% of total) and employment skills (12% of total).

Refugees: Persons unable or unwilling to return to their country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution; refugees are admitted overseas, and asylees apply in the U.S. Both may apply to become LPR after one year. Of the post-1980 refugee arrivals, 1.3 million are now LPRs, and 1.3 million are now naturalized citizens.

Temporary legal residents: Persons legallyadmitted for a specified purpose and a

temporary period.

Undocumented immigrants: Persons residing in the U.S. without legal permission. Estimated numbers:

• 50-65% entered without inspection.• 25-40% overstayed visa.• 10% quasi-legal (e.g., Temporary

Protected Status, asylum applicants, persons awaiting green card).

TOTAL FOREIGN-BORN RESIDENTS

VISITORS TO THE UNITED STATESTouristsVisitors for business

TOTAL ANNUAL VISITORS

SOURCES:

Total numbers and percent foreign-born for 2005 and data on undocumented immigrants from Passel, Jeffrey S. 2006. The Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S. Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center. March.

Naturalization data for FY 2003 from Migration Policy Institute. 2005. Backlogs in Immigration Processing Persist. Washington, D.C.: Migration Policy Institute. June.

Legal admission data for FY 2003 from Capps, Randy and Jeffrey S. Passel. 2004. Describing Immigrant Communities. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute. December.

11.5 million

10.5 million

2.6 million

1.3 million

11.1 million

37 million

31%

28%

7%

3%

30%

100%

555,000 LPRs became citizens

651,000 LPR visas granted• 333,000 immediate relatives of U.S. citizens • 159,000 other relatives of citizens & LPRs • 87,000 other legal admissions, such as

diversity visas • 82,000 employment visas

45,000 refugee/asylee visas granted

1.46 million temporary resident visas, including662,000 students and dependents, and 798,000temporary workers and dependents

An estimated 500,000 undocumented immigrantshave entered the United States per year since 2000

2.6 million resident arrivals annually

24.4 million4.2 million

28.6 million

227

TOP-TEN IMMIGRANT-SENDING COUNTRIES TO THE UNITED STATES

2004 1960

1. Mexico 1. Mexico2. India 2. Germany3. Philippines 3. Canada4. China,-People’s-Republic 4. United Kingdom5. Vietnam 5. Italy6. Dominican-Republic 6. Cuba7. El Salvador 7. Poland8. Cuba 8. Ireland9. Korea 9. Hungary10. Colombia 10. Portugal

TOP-TEN REFUGEE-SENDINGCOUNTRIES TO THE UNITED

STATES IN 2004

1. Somalia 2. Liberia 3. Laos 4. Sudan 5. Ukraine 6. Caribbean 7. Cuba 8. Ethiopia 9. Iran 10. Moldova

TOP SOURCES OFUNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

TO THE UNITED STATES

1. Mexico (57%)2. Other Latin American countries (24%)3. Asia (9%)4. Europe and Canada (6%)5. Africa and other (4%)

SOURCES:

United States. Department of Homeland Security.2006. Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2004.Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of HomelandSecurity, Office of Immigration Statistics.

Passel, Jeffrey S. 2006. Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center. March.

228

Immigrants with legal status make up70 percent of the U.S. foreign-bornpopulation.11

Demographers estimate that in 2005:12

• Legal permanent residents were 32 percent of the foreign-born (11.8million, including 1.3 million whoarrived as refugees).

• Naturalized citizens were 35 percent(12.8 million, including 1.3 million whoarrived as refugees).

• Temporary legal residents (such asstudents and temporary workers) were 3 percent (1.3 million).

• Unauthorized migrants were 30 percent (11.1 million).

Many immigrants are becoming citi-zens, but many more who are eligibleface barriers to naturalization.

• The number of naturalized citizensalmost doubled between the mid-1990sand 2002, from 6.5 to 11 million.13

• Although naturalization numbersand rates have increased, at least eightmillion immigrants are eligible to naturalize but have not.14

• Language is a major barrier: 60 percentof naturalization-eligible immigrantshave limited proficiency in English.15

• Delays in immigration processinghave increased waiting times for natural-ization and green cards: Between 1990 and2003, the number of applications pend-ing approval increased by more than 1,000percent, from 540,688 to 6.08 million.16

• Nevertheless, immigrants’ interestin becoming U.S. citizens remains high.

• In the first three months of 2006, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security received more than 185,000 naturalization applications, representinga 19 percent increase over the same period last year.17

• In March 2006, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services received a record 6.6 million hits on its website. The website received 2.2 million requests to download forms, including the N-400 for naturaliza-tion—a leap from 1.8 million requests in February.18

The undocumented population hasincreased since the mid-1990s.

• Annual arrivals of undocumentedimmigrants have exceeded legal admis-sions since the mid-1990s. Since 2000,legal admissions have averaged 610,000a year and unauthorized entries haveaveraged 700,000 a year. In contrast, inthe 1980s, legal admissions averaged650,000 a year and unauthorized entriesaveraged 140,000.19

• As of March 2006, between 11.5 and12 million undocumented immigrantsresided in the United States, constitut-ing 30 percent of all immigrants.20

• Although the number of undocu-mented immigrants in the U.S. hasgrown, the rate of undocumented migra-tion from Mexico has remained steady,as a percentage of the Mexico popula-tion, since 1980.21

Immigrants, regardless of their immi-gration status, are thoroughly woveninto the fabric of American familiesand communities.

• Eighty-five percent of all immigrantfamilies with children are mixed-statusfamilies, with at least one immigrantparent and one U.S. citizen child.22

• Three-quarters of children in immigrant families are U.S. citizens.23

• Two-thirds of the 4.9 million children with undocumented parents are U.S. citizens.24

PATTERNS OF IMMIGRATION

STATUS

229

Immigrants are a significant, increas-ing percentage of the U.S. labor forcegrowth.25

• Immigrants constituted more than50 percent of the overall growth in thelabor force in the last decade.

• Between 1994 and 2004, thenative-born labor force grew by 7 percent(118 million to 126 million), while theimmigrant labor force grew by 66 percent (12.9 million to 21.4 million).

• Between 2000 and 2050, new immi-grants and their children will accountfor 83 percent of the growth in theworking-age population and 60 percentof total U.S. population growth.

Immigrants will fill workforce gapscreated by aging native-born workers.

• By 2030, the percentage of the U.S.population over 65 will more than dou-ble, from over 12 to almost 20 percent,while the working-age and child popula-tion will shrink by 8 percent.26

• Eighty percent of immigrants areworking age, compared to 60 percent ofthe native-born.27

Immigrants bring skills that meet theneeds of the U.S. “hour-glass” econ-omy, filling jobs at the high and lowends of the labor market.

• In 2000, the foreign-bornaccounted for 38 percent of scientistsand engineers with doctorates and 29percent of those with master’s degrees.28

• Among computer scientists andmathematicians, half of all doctorateholders and one-third of master’s degreeholders were foreign-born.29

• From 1996 to 2002, the foreign-born constituted 27 percent of the growthin doctors, scientists, and teachers.30

• Immigrants from countries outsideof Mexico and Central America are morelikely to have completed college orgraduate school (43 percent) thannative-born workers (32 percent).31

IMMIGRANTS IN THE U.S. ECONOMY

• The foreign-born in lower-skilledoccupations include:32

• 41 percent of workers in farming, fishing, and forestry.

• 33 percent of building and maintenance workers.

• 22 percent of workers in food preparation/serving and construction/ mining.

• Immigrants from Mexico or CentralAmerica are more likely than native-born workers to have less than a highschool education (59 percent versus 6percent).33

• Nearly half of all immigrant workersearn less than 200 percent of the mini-mum wage, compared to one-third ofnative workers. The average low-wageimmigrant worker earned $14,400 in2001.34

• From 2004 to 2014, the greatestgrowth in U.S. jobs, in both numbersand percentage, will be at the upperand lower ends of the workforce.Professional occupations will gain 6 million jobs, representing a 21 percentincrease. Service jobs will increase by5.2 million, or 19 percent.35

Immigration is stimulating growth inAsian-American and Latino businessesand buying power.

• Between 1997 and 2002, the num-ber of Asian-American businesses grew24 percent, and Latino businesses grew31 percent, compared to 10 percentgrowth for all U.S. firms.36

• Between 1990 and 2009, bothAsian-American and Latino buyingpower will grow 347 percent, comparedto a 158 percent increase in total U.S.buying power.37

• By 2009, Asian-Americans andLatinos are projected to total 20 per-cent of the population and commandalmost 14 percent of U.S. buyingpower.38

230

Children of immigrants are one in fiveschool-age children.39

• From 1970 to 2000, children ofimmigrants increased from 6 percent to19 percent of all school-age children,constituting 11 million of 58 milliontotal U.S. children. About 75 percent of the children of immigrants are U.S. citizens.

• In 2000, 16 percent of all studentsin pre-kindergarten were children ofimmigrants, but only 2 percent were foreign-born. In the upper grades (6 to12), children of immigrants were 19 percent of the total student population,while the foreign-born were 7 percent of the total.

Like immigrants overall, children ofimmigrants are concentrated in tradi-tional gateway states, but theirgrowth rates are highest in the newgateway states.40

• In 2000, almost 70 percent ofschool-age children of immigrants livedin the six states with the largest immi-grant populations: California, Texas, NewYork, Florida, Illinois, and New Jersey.

• In 2000, nearly half (47 percent) ofCalifornia’s students in PK to fifth gradewere children of immigrants. Nine otherstates had percentages above the nationalaverage of 19 percent: Nevada, NewYork, Hawaii, Texas, Florida, Arizona,New Jersey, Rhode Island, and New Mexico.

• The highest growth in school enroll-ment of immigrant children was in newgateway states in the Southeast, Midwest,and interior West. Between 1990 and2000, children of immigrants in PK tofifth grade grew most rapidly in Nevada(206 percent), followed by NorthCarolina (153 percent), Georgia (148percent), and Nebraska (125 percent).

Many Latino and Asian-American children of immigrants are EnglishLanguage Learners (ELL) and low-income.41

• In 2000, 53 percent of the childrenof immigrants were Latino, and 18 percent were Asian-American.

• Seventy-one percent of ELL childrenin elementary school were Latino, and14 percent were Asian-American.

• Half of children of immigrants and two-thirds of ELL children are low-income.

Most ELL children are U.S.-born, butlive in linguistically isolated familiesand attend linguistically segregatedschools.42

• In 2000, only about 3.5 millionchildren of immigrants were ELL, out ofa total 11 million.

• More than half of ELL students in2000 were born in the United States.

• In 2000, six out of seven ELL children in grades one to five lived inlinguistically isolated households; insecondary school, two out of three did so.

• ELL students are highly concentratedin linguistically segregated schools,with half attending schools where 30percent or more of their fellow studentsare also ELL.

• Seventy percent of ELL students areenrolled in only 10 percent of thenation’s schools.43

IMMIGRANT CHILDREN

AND EDUCATION

231

English acquisition rates are highamong immigrants who come to theUnited States as children and riseacross the generations.44

• Almost 80 percent of first-generation(foreign-born) children from Mexico and88 percent from China speak English“well” or “very well.”

• Among the second generation, 92percent of Latinos and 96 percent ofAsians are English proficient and manyare bilingual in their mother tongue (85percent of second-generation Latinosand 61 percent of second-generationAsians).

• By the third generation, 72 percentof Latinos and 92 percent of Asiansspeak English only.

High rates of immigration haveincreased the number of recentlyarrived, first-generation adults withlimited English skills.

• In 2002, among adults aged 18 to64, over 17 million immigrants spokeEnglish very well, over 7 million spokeit well, close to 6 million did not speakit well, and more than 2.5 million didnot speak English at all.45

• Many limited English proficient(LEP) adults are relatively recent immi-grants, with 60 percent arriving in theUnited States over the past ten years.46

• In 2000, about 2 out of 3 working-age adults (ages 18-55) who did notspeak English at home were foreign-born (19 million of 29.4 million).47

• In 2000, about 9 out of 10 work-ing-age adults who were very limitedEnglish proficient10 were foreign-born(6.5 million of 7.4 million).48

• In 2000, among the LEP immigrants:49

• One-third arrived in the United States since 1995, and 59 percent arrived since 1990.

• More than half (57 percent) were from Mexico.

• Three-quarters spoke Spanish at home. Fourteen percent spoke Asian languages.

• Half had a ninth-grade education or less.

• Sixty-two percent had children, compared to 36 percent of all U.S. households.

English ability is linked to higherwages and economic opportunities.

• Nearly two-thirds of low-wageimmigrant workers do not speak Englishproficiently.50

• Immigrants who speak English fluently may earn 17 percent more thanthose who do not, after adjusting forsocioeconomic factors such as educationand work experience.51

• In 1999, only 26 percent ofrefugees who did not speak Englishwere employed, compared with 77 percent of those who spoke English well or fluently.52

LEP speakers face additional barriersto economic mobility and integration.

• Almost half of LEP adults have nineyears or less of education, and 64 per-cent do not have a high school degree.53

• LEP workers in Los Angeles andNew York were twice as likely as otherimmigrant workers to lack legal status.54

• About 60 percent of permanent residents eligible to become citizensmay have difficulty taking the natural-ization exam because they are limitedin English.55

The demand for English classes farexceeds the supply.

• In 2002-2003, nearly 1.2 millionadults attended English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classes, representing 43 percent of all enrollees in adult education.56

• Shortages of ESL courses exist inmany other communities.57 For example,Massachusetts has more than 180,000residents on waiting lists for ESLclasses, with an average wait of sixmonths to two years.58

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

232

Significant numbers of immigrantsare uninsured.

• In 2003, between 43 to 52 percentof all non-citizens were uninsured, compared with only 15 percent ofnative-born citizens and 21 percent ofnaturalized citizens.59

• Low-income non-citizens are themost likely to be uninsured: Amonglow-income adults, 70 percent of Latinonon-citizens lacked insurance in 1999,compared to 34 percent of low-incomeLatino citizens and 28 percent of low-income white citizens.60

• Children’s insurance rates areaffected by their own status as well as that of their parents: Among low-income Latinos, 74 percent of non-citizen children lacked health insurancein 1999, compared to 30 percent of citizen Latino children with non-citizenparents and 17 percent of citizen Latinochildren with citizen parents.61

• Approximately 4.5 million legalimmigrants who have arrived in theUnited States after the 1996 welfarelaw are effectively barred from receivingfederally funded health insurance untilthey become citizens.62

Immigrants have limited access tohealth care.

• In 1997, 37 percent of low-incomenon-citizens reported not having ausual source of care, compared to 19percent of the low-income native-born.63

• Non-citizens are more likely to bewithout a usual source of care and lesslikely to go to emergency rooms thancitizens. On average, non-citizen childrenhad fewer medical, dental, and mentalhealth visits than citizen children.64

• In 2000, over 25 percent of adultMexican immigrants had not seen adoctor in the previous two years, aboutfour times the rate for non-Hispanicwhites.65

• In 2000, 48 percent of Mexicanimmigrants ages 18-64 had no usualsource of health care, and 58 percenthad no health insurance. In contrast,

14 percent of U.S.-born, non-Hispanicwhites had no usual source of care, and14 percent were uninsured.66

• In 2000, half of adult Mexicanimmigrants with no usual source of careand no health insurance had not seen adoctor in the previous two years.67

Language presents a significant barrier to health care.

• Immigrants who lack English proficiency are less likely to be insured:Among low-income adults, 72 percent ofnon-citizen Latinos who spoke primarilySpanish lacked insurance, compared to55 percent of non-citizen Latinos whospoke primarily English and 28 percentof white citizens.68

• Federal law requires states, counties,and private health providers that receivefederal funds to make reasonable effortsto provide language assistance to LEPindividuals.69

• Only eleven states have takenadvantage of federal reimbursement o pay for language services for theirMedicaid and State Children’s HealthInsurance Programs (SCHIP), thoughsome states are in the process of devel-oping pilot projects.70

States vary in their use of state funding to cover immigrants and theirchildren.71

• As of 2004, 22 states and theDistrict of Columbia were using statefunds to provide health coverage tosome or all of the low-income documentedimmigrant children and pregnant womenwho lost federal coverage in the 1996welfare law.

• About two-thirds of these statesalso cover seniors, people with disabili-ties, and the parents of immigrant children.

• Seven states also use federal SCHIPfunds to cover prenatal care for allwomen, regardless of immigration status.

IMMIGRANTS’ ACCESSTO INSURANCE AND

HEALTH CARE

233

ENDNOTES 1. Capps, Randy, Michael Fix, Julie Murray, JasonOst, Jeffrey S. Passel, and Shinta Herwantoro. 2005.The New Demography of America’s Schools:Immigration and the No Child Left Behind Act.Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute.

2. Schmidley, Dianne. 2001. Profile of the Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2000 (CurrentPopulation Reports, U.S. Census Bureau.

3. Capps, Fix, Murray, Ost, et al., 2005.

4. Capps, Randolph, Michael E. Fix, and Jeffrey S.Passel. 2002. “The Dispersal of Immigrants in the1990s,” Immigrant Families and Workers: Facts andPerspectives, Brief No. 2. Washington, D.C.: TheUrban Institute. http://www.urban.org/publications/410589.html. Accessed May 2, 2006.

5. Ibid.

6. Passel, Jeffrey S. and Wendy Zimmermann. 2001.Are Immigrants Leaving California? Washington, D.C.:Urban Institute.

7. Singer, Audrey. 2004. The Rise of New ImmigrantGateways. Washington, D.C.: Brookings InstitutionCenter on Urban and Metropolitan Policy.

8. Ibid.

9. Fix, Michael, Wendy Zimmerman, and Jeffrey S.Passel. 2001. The Integration of Immigrant Familiesin the U.S. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute.

10. Capps, Randy, and Jeffrey S. Passel. 2004.Describing Immigrant Communities. Washington,D.C.: The Urban Institute.

11. Passel, Jeffery S. 2006. The Size andCharacteristics of the Unauthorized MigrantPopulation: Estimates Based on the March 2005Current Population Survey. Washington, D.C.: PewHispanic Center.

12. Ibid.

13. Fix, Michael E., Jeffrey S. Passel, and KennethSucher. 2003. Trends in Naturalization. Washington,D.C.: Urban Institute.

14. Ibid.

15. Ibid.

16. Jernegan, Kevin. 2005. “MPI Fact Sheet:Backlogs in Immigration Processing Persist.”Washington D.C.: Migration Policy Institute.http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/Jernegan_Fact_Sheet_June_2005.pdf. Accessed May 2, 2006.

17. Ataiyero, Kayce T. 2006. “Citizenship in theSpotlight, 154 New Americans Sworn in as U.S. SeesSpike in Applications.” Chicago Tribune. May 11.

18. Jordan, Miriam. 2006. “Immigrant IssueProduces Push for Citizenship.” The Wall StreetJournal. April 10.

19. Passel, 2005.

20. Passel, Jeffrey S. 2006. Size and Characteristicsof the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center. March.

21. Massey, Douglas S., Jorge Durand, and Nolan J.Malone. 2003. Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: MexicanImmigration in an Age of Economic Integration. NewYork, NY: Russell Sage Foundation Publications.

22. Capps, Fix, Murray, et al., 2005.

23. Capps, et al., New Demography of America’sSchools, 2005.

24. Passel, 2006.

25. Congressional Budget Office. 2005. The Role ofImmigrants in the U.S. Labor Market. Washington,D.C.: Congressional Budget Office.

26. Calculation from Table 2a, U.S. Census Bureau.2004. Interim Projections by Age, Sex, Race, andHispanic Origin. Washington, D.C.: U.S. CensusBureau.

27. Larsen, Luke J. 2004. The Foreign-BornPopulation in the United States: 2003. CurrentPopulation Reports P20-551. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Census Bureau.

28. National Science Board. 2004. Science andEngineering Indicators 2004. Arlington, VA:National Science Foundation.

29. Ibid.

30. Council of Economic Advisors. Economic Reportof the President 2005. Washington, D.C.: U.S.Government Printing Office.

31. Calculation from Table 4, Congressional BudgetOffice. 2003. The Role of Immigrants in the U.S.Labor Market. Washington, D.C.: CongressionalBudget Office.

32. Ewing, Walter A. 2005. “The Economics ofNecessity: Economic Report of the PresidentUnderscores the Importance of Immigration,”Immigration Policy in Focus, Vol. 4, Issue 3.American Immigration Law Foundation.

33. Calculation from Table 4, Congressional BudgetOffice. 2003. The Role of Immigrants in the U.S.Labor Market. Washington, D.C.: CongressionalBudget Office.

34. Capps, Randy, Michael Fix, Jeffrey S. Passel,Jason Ost, and Dan Perez-Lopez. 2003. A Profile ofthe Low-Wage Immigrant Workforce. Washington,D.C.: Urban Institute.

35. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “2004-2014Projections, Occupational Employment,”Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Winter 2005-06.Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

36. Minority Business Development Agency. 2005.State of Minority Business Enterprises. Washington,D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce.

37. Humphreys, Jeffrey M. 2004. “The MulticulturalEconomy 2004: America’s Minority Buying Power.”Georgia Business and Economic Conditions, Vol. 64,No. 3, Third Quarter 2004. Athens, GA: University ofGeorgia Selig Center for Economic Growth.

38. Ibid.

39. Capps, Randy, Michael Fix, Julie Murray, JasonOst, Jeffrey S. Passel, and Shinta Herwantoro. 2005.The New Demography of America’s Schools:Immigration and the No Child Left Behind Act.Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute.

40. Ibid.

41. Ibid.

42. Ibid.

43. De Cohen, Clemencia, Nicole Deterding, andBeatriz Chu Clewell. 2005. Who’s Left Behind?Immigrant Children in High and Low LEP Schools.Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute.

44. Alba, Richard. 2005. “Bilingualism Persists, ButEnglish Still Dominates.” Washington, D.C.:Migration Policy Institute, Migration InformationSource.

45. Wrigley, Heide Spruck, Elise Richer, KarinMartinson, Hitomi Kubo, & Julie Strawn. 2003. TheLanguage of Opportunity: Expanding EmploymentProspects for Adults with Limited English Skills.Washington, D.C.: Center for Law and Social Policy.

234

46. Richer, Elise. 2003. “Expanding EmploymentProspects for Adults with Limited English Skills,”presentation to National Association for WelfareResearch and Statistics Conference, July 15, 2003.www.clasp.org/publications/LEP_presentation.pdf.Accessed May 2, 2006.

47. Ibid.

48. Ibid.

49. Wrigley, Heidi, Spruce, et al, 2003.

50. Capps, Randy, et al. 2003. A Profile of the LowWage Immigrants Workforce. Washington, D.C.: TheUrban Institute.

51. Gonzalez, Libertad. 2004. “NonparametricBounds on the Returns to Language Skills.” IZADiscussion Paper No. 1098.http://ssrn.com/abstract=527122 (accessed Apr.29, 2005); Richer, 2003.

52. Fremstad, Shawn. 2003. Immigrants, Personswith Limited Proficiency in English, and the TANFProgram: What Do We Know? Washington, D.C.:Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

53. Ibid.

54. Wrigley, Spruck, Richer et al, 2003.

55. Fix, Michael, et al. 2003. Trends inNaturalization. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute.

56. Fix, Michael, et al. 2005. Leaving Too Much toChance: A Roundtable on Immigrant IntegrationPolicy. Washington, D.C.: Migration Policy Institute.

57. Gozdziak, Elzbieta and Susan Martin. 2005.Beyond the Gateway: Immigrants in a ChangingAmerica. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

58. Redell, Peter. 2005. “Study: ESL Funding BadlyNeeded.” MetroWest Daily News, June 20, 2005.

59. Fremstad, Shawn and Laura Cox. 2004. CoveringNew Americans: A Review of Federal and StatePolicies Related to immigrants’ Eligibility and Accessto Publicly Funded Health Insurance. Washington,D.C.: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

60. Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants andRefugees. Immigration-Employment Fact Sheet.http://www.gcir.org/about_immigration/fact_sheets/health.htm. Accessed May 2, 2006.

61. Kaiser Commission on Medicare and theUninsured. 2003. “Medicaid and the Uninsured.”http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/Immigrants-Health-Care-Coverage-and-Access-fact-sheet.pdf.Accessed May 2, 2006.

62. Ibid.

63. For more detailed explanation of the impact ofthe 1996 laws and immigrant eligibility for variousfederal health and social service programs, seeNational Immigration Law Center. 2004. Guide toImmigrant Eligibility for Federal Programs. LosAngeles, CA: National Immigration Law Center.

64. Kaiser Commission on Medicare and theUninsured, 2003. “Medicaid and the Uninsured.”http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/Immigrants-Health-Care-Coverage-and-Access-PDF.pdf. AccessedMay 2, 2006.

64. Ibid.

66. Wallace, Steven P. and Veronica F. Gutierrez.2004. “Mexican Immigrants Lack Health Services inthe U.S. October.”http://www.healthpolicy.ucla.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pubID=101#download. AccessedMay 2, 2006.

67. Ibid.

68. Ibid.

69. Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

70. According to the National Health Law Program,these eleven states are Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas,Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, NewHampshire, Utah, Vermont and Washington State. Inaddition, Virginia and Texas plan to implement pilotprograms in 2006. National Health Law Program.2005. Medicaid/SCHIP Reimbursement Models forLanguage Services. Los Angeles, CA: National HealthLaw Program.

71. Fremstad, Shawn, and Laura Cox. 2004. CoveringNew Americans: A Review of Federal and StatePolicies Related to Immigrants’ Eligibility and Accessto Publicly Funded Health Insurance. Washington,D.C.: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and theUninsured.

235

Glossary of Terms

This section provides a brief explanation of major immigration and immigrant integration terms utilized in this report and in the field.

The terms are organized in alphabetical order for easy reference.

1.5 generation

Acculturation

Alien

Americanization

Assimilation

Asylee

Bicultural

Bilingual

Citizen

ELL

English Plus

English-Only

ESL

First generation

Foreign-born

Gateway

Globalization

Guestworker

Human capital

Immigrant

Inclusion

Incorporation

Integration

Language access

Lawful Permanent Resident

LEP

Melting Pot

Migrant

Nativism

Newcomer

Newcomer program

Non-Immigrant

Receiving country

Refugee

Second generation

Segmented assimilation

Sending country

Social capital

Transnational

Undocumented immigrant

Vocational English as a

Second Language (VESL)

Workforce development

TERMS

237

1.5 generation. Children born abroadbut brought to the receiving societybefore adolescence; sometimes treatedas “second generation” in sociologicalstudies because these immigrants’ lan-guage proficiency, educational levels,and other characteristics resemblethose of the second generation.

Acculturation. Process through whichimmigrants are expected to learn thecultural patterns of the country ofimmigration, e.g., its language, culturalvalues, and practices. Some observerscriticize the concept for assumingthat the receiving society is culturallyhomogenous and that immigrantsmust relinquish their own ethnic groupculture to integrate successfully.

Alien. Any person not a citizen ornational of the United States.

Americanization. A movement of oftenforced adoption of U.S. cultural prac-tices and the English language thatflourished in the United States duringand immediately after World War I;equated assimilation with accultura-tion in the Anglo-conformity mode.Contrast with “melting pot.”

Assimilation. Incorporating immigrantsand refugees into the receiving societythrough an often multi-generationalprocess of adaptation. The initial for-mulation of assimilation posited thatboth immigrants and host societyadapt to each other, but the term hascome to be associated with immi-grants’ relinquishing their linguisticand cultural characteristics in order to become part of the economic andsocial structure of mainstream society.

Asylee. Person admitted to the UnitedStates because they are unable orunwilling to return to their country of nationality due to persecution or a well-founded fear of persecutionbased on their race, religion, member-ship in a social group, political opin-ion, or national origin. Asylees applywhen already in the United States orat a point of entry. They may applyfor permanent resident status one yearafter being granted asylee status. Inthis report, the more general term“immigrant” is used to encompassasylees unless the term “asylee” is moreappropriate to a particular context.

Bicultural. Identifying with the cultures of two different language groups. Tobe bicultural is not necessarily thesame as being bilingual.

Bilingual education. An educationalprogram in which two languages areused to provide content matterinstruction.

Bilingual. The ability to use two languages; bilingual persons may havevarying proficiency across the fourlanguage dimensions (listening, speak-ing, reading, and writing). People maybecome bilingual either by acquiringtwo languages at the same time inchildhood or by learning a secondlanguage sometime after acquiringtheir first language.

Citizen. Person who owes allegiance toa nation state and is entitled to itsprotection and to exercise rights ofmembership, such as voting. UnderU.S. law, citizens include persons bornin the United States or its territories,certain persons born abroad to a U.S.citizen, and non-citizens who becomecitizens through naturalization.

ELL. English language learners (ELLs)are children whose first language isnot English and who are in the processof learning English; sometimes referredto as English learners (EL). Also seelimited English proficient (LEP).

English plus. A movement based on thebelief that all U.S. residents shouldhave the opportunity to become proficient in English plus one or moreother languages.

English only. An umbrella term that isused to refer to different federal andstate legislative initiatives and variousnational, state, and local organiza-tions, all of which involve the effortto make English the official languageof the United States. The initiativesand organizations vary in the degreeto which they promote the suppres-sion of non-English languages.

GLOSSARY

238

ESL. English as a second language (ESL)is an educational approach to teachnon-English speakers in the use of the English language. For primary andsecondary students, ESL instruction is based on a special curriculum thattypically involves little or no use ofthe native language, focuses on lan-guage (as opposed to content), and isusually taught during specific schoolperiods. For the rest of the school day,students may be placed in mainstreamclassrooms, an immersion program, ora bilingual education program.

First generation. Immigrants who areborn outside of the receiving country(e.g., who are foreign-born). See also“1.5 generation” (immigrants bornabroad but brought to the UnitedStates while still children).

Foreign-born. The Census considers anyone not born a U.S. citizen to beforeign-born. The foreign-born includeimmigrants who have become citizens(through naturalization) or who haveany of the variety of immigration statuses (e.g., legal permanent resident,refugees/asylees, temporary legal residents, or undocumented).

Gateway. The place of immigrants’ firstsettlement. Historically, immigrantssettled in major port cities, such asNew York, Boston, Chicago, and SanFrancisco; these major settlementareas are referred to as “traditionalgateways” or “historic gateways.” Inthe 1990s, immigrants dispersed tonew settlement areas such as NorthCarolina, Georgia, Nevada, and Utah;such states are often referred to as“new gateways” or “new immigrantdestinations.”

Globalization. Increased global interde-pendence among peoples and countries,globalization is characterized byincreased international trade, invest-ment, and migration as well as greatertechnological and cultural interchange.The first era of globalization occurredin the nineteenth century with rapidincreases in international flows ofgoods, capital, and labor. Afterretrenchment during World War I andthe Great Depression, the second era

of globalization is considered tohave begun with the rise of tradeand other elements of internationalexchange after World War II.

Guestworker. A person legally admittedto work for a temporary period oftime, usually to fill labor shortagesand without options to remainlegally. U.S. immigration law containsseveral numerically limited non-immigrant temporary worker cate-gories, including agricultural workers,nurses, and persons of extraordinaryability or achievement in the sciences,arts, education, business, or athletics.

Human capital. A person’s knowledgeand abilities, such as educationallevel, literacy, and work experience;human capital is correlated withsocio-economic position and mobility.

Immigrant. A person who leaves his orher country to settle permanently inanother country. In U.S. immigrationlaw, immigrant refers to all aliens inthe United States who have not beenadmitted under one of the law’s non-immigrant categories. In this report,“immigrant” is the general term usedto describe persons born abroad whohave come to settle in the UnitedStates, regardless of their immigra-tion status or whether they havebecome U.S. citizens.

Inclusion. Process by which immigrantsbecome participants in particularsub-sectors of society, such as edu-cation, labor market, or political representation. Emphasizes activeand conscious efforts by both publicagencies and employers as well asimmigrants themselves; meant tocontrast with exclusion or socialexclusion.

Incorporation. Used by some socialscientists seeking a neutral term torefer to the process by which immi-grants become part of a society, inan attempt to avoid normative impli-cation sometimes associated withterms such as “assimilation.”

Integration. A dynamic, two-wayprocess in which newcomers and thereceiving society work together tobuild secure, vibrant, and cohesivecommunities. Emphasis on the two-way process of change by both immigrants and members of receivingsociety contrasts with alternative use ofterm “integration” to signify one-wayprocess of adaptation by immigrantsto fit in with a dominant culture.

Language access. Signifies efforts bypublic agencies and the private sectorto make their programs, services, andproducts more accessible to personswho are not proficient in English,through use of translated materials,bilingual personnel, interpreters, andother means. Federal agencies andrecipients of federal funds are obli-gated to take reasonable steps toprovide meaningful language accessto their programs and activities topersons who are limited EnglishProficient, or risk violating the pro-hibition against national origin discrimination under Title VI of the1964 Civil Rights Act and other laws.

Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR). Analien who has been legally admitted toreside and work permanently in theUnited States; the LPR visa is oftencalled a “green card” (even thoughthe cards are no longer green).

Limited English Proficient (LEP). Aterm used to describe people whoare not fluent in English. Definitionsof this term are not always consistentacross different contexts. The Census,government agencies, and manyexperts define LEP individuals toinclude anyone over the age of fivewho speaks English less than “verywell”. LEP is also the term used bythe federal government and moststates and local school districts toidentify those students who haveinsufficient English to succeed inEnglish-only classrooms. In the K-12school context, English languagelearner (ELL) or English learner (EL)is used increasingly in place of LEP.

239

Melting Pot. Metaphor for concept thattraits of immigrants of different back-grounds and ethnicities converge withthose of the native-born to forge anew, unified American identity. Theterm was popularized by Israel Zangwill,an English author and Jewish leader,whose 1908 play The Melting Pot fea-tured a Russian Jewish immigrant whosurvived a pogrom and looked forwardto a life in America free of ethnicdivisions and hatred. Melting pot issometimes contrasted with the cul-tural mosaic or “salad bowl” concept,where each “ingredient” retains itsdistinction while contributing to asuccessful final product.

Migrant. In the broadest sense, a person who leaves his or her countryof origin to seek residence in anothercountry. Often used in the UnitedStates to refer to migrant farmworkersand their families, who follow theseasonal harvest of crops for employment in agriculture.

Nativism. Nativism is a hostile reactionto immigrants, associated in Americanhistory with fears that new immigrantswould inject political and cultural values at odds with the American wayof life.

Newcomer program. In the public education system, a program thataddresses the specific needs of recentimmigrant students, most often at themiddle and high school level, espe-cially those with limited or interruptedschooling in their home countries.Major goals of newcomer programs areto acquire beginning English languageskills along with core academic skillsand to acculturate to the U.S. schoolsystem.

Newcomer. An immigrant in the initialyears after arrival; in this publicationoften used interchangeably withimmigrant.

Non-immigrant. Under U.S. immigrationlaw, a foreign citizen legally admittedto the United States for a specifiedpurpose and a temporary period;includes both legal temporary residents(e.g., diplomats, foreign students,tourists, and temporary workers) andvisitors (e.g., tourists and businessvisitors).

Receiving country. A country in which immigrants settle. Alternate termsinclude “receiving community,” “hostsociety,” or “host community.”

Refugee. A person admitted to theUnited States because s/he is unableor unwilling to return to the countryof nationality due to persecution or a well-founded fear of persecutionbased on race, religion, membershipin a social group, political opinion,or national origin. Refugees apply foradmission at a facility overseas andmay apply for permanent residentstatus one year after being grantedadmission. In this report, the moregeneral term “immigrant” is used toencompass refugees unless the term“refugee” is more appropriate to aparticular context.

Second generation. In the Census, thesecond generation consists of native-born children of foreign-born parents.In some sociological research, secondgeneration may also include foreign-born children brought to the U.S.before adolescence (the 1.5 generation).

Segmented assimilation. Conceptdeveloped by sociologists AlejandroPortes, Rubén Rumbaut, and MinZhou in the 1990s to explain thevarying patterns of assimilationexperienced by members of differentethnic groups. Focuses on the secondgeneration, and posits that whilemany immigrants will find differentpaths to mainstream success, otherswill find their pathways blocked bysegmented labor markets and racialdiscrimination and experience negative assimilation.

Sending country. A country whose citizens emigrate, either permanentlyor temporarily; in classical migrationtheory, typically used to refer tocounties whose natives migrateabroad in search of employment.

Social capital. The ability to gainaccess to resources by virtue of mem-bership in social networks and othersocial structures.

Transnational. Persons, commercial, or non-profit enterprises, or otherdevelopments with ties to more than one country. Increasingly, “transnational” is used to refer torelationships between and amongindividuals and other entities, while“international” is used to refer torelationships between and amongnation states.

Undocumented immigrant. A personresiding in the United States withoutlegal immigration status; includesboth persons who entered withoutinspection and those who entered with a legal visa that is no longervalid. Also referred to as unautho-rized or illegal immigrants.

Vocational English as a SecondLanguage (VESL). VESL programsfocus on teaching English skills thatare used in the workplace or in aparticular occupation or vocationalarea. Many VESL programs also com-bine language education withinstruction in job-specific skills.

Workforce development. A range ofprograms and approaches used toprepare people for jobs; workforcedevelopment programs may providejob training, higher education,English language training, and otherskills. At the federal level, workforcedevelopment programs are spreadacross a number of departments,including the Department of Labor(Workforce Investment Act, or WIA,and other job training programs), theDepartment of Health and HumanServices (Temporary Assistance toNeedy Families, or TANF, among others), and the Department ofEducation (Perkins Vocational andTechnical Education Program and theAdult Education and Family LiteracyProgram, among others).

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SOURCES

Integration and Migration Terms

Alba, Richard and Victor Nee. 2003.Remaking the American Mainstream:Assimilation and ContemporaryImmigration. Cambridge, MA: HarvardUniversity Press.

Bean, Frank D. and Gillian Stevens.2003. America’s Newcomers and theDynamics of Diversity. New York, NY:Russell Sage Foundation.

Castles, Stephen, et al. 2002.Integration: Mapping the Field. Oxford,NY: University of Oxford Centre forMigration and Refugee Studies.December.

Legal-Status Terms

U.S. Census Bureau. 2003. The Foreign-Born Population: 2000. Washington,D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau. December.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security,Office of Statistics, “Data Standardsand Definitions,” www.uscisgov/graph-ics/shared/statistics/standards/stddef.

Language & Education Terms

Glossary of Education Terms, NationalClearinghouse for English LanguageAcquisition and Language InstructionEducational Programs, GeorgeWashington University, GraduateSchool of Education and HumanDevelopment. www.ncela.gwu.edu“Ask an Expert.”

Smith, Rebecca, Amy Sugimori, LunaYasui, and Sarah Massey. 2002. LowPay, High Risk: State Models forAdvancing Immigrant Workers’ Rights.New York, NY: National Employment LawProject.

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Recommended Readings

IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION 243

DEMOGRAPHICS 244

IMMIGRATION POLICY 244

UNDOCUMENTED MIGRATION 245

RECEIVING COMMUNITIES: IMPACT & RESPONSE 246

LANGUAGE 247

EDUCATION 247

WORKFORCE & ECONOMIC MOBILITY 249

FAMILY WELL-BEING & SOCIAL PROGRAMS 250

HEALTH 251

CITIZENSHIP & CIVIC PARTICIPATION 251

RACE, INTERETHNIC RELATIONS, & NATIVISM 252

EQUAL TREATMENT & OPPORTUNITY 253

This section provides an annotated list of recommended books, reports,and other publications. Organized by issue area, it is readily accessible

to readers wishing to dig deeper on a wide range of immigration and integration topics.

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IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION

Alba, Richard and Victor Nee. 2003.Remaking the American Mainstream:Assimilation and ContemporaryImmigration. Cambridge, MA: HarvardUniversity Press. Analyzes competingmodels of how immigrants assimilateand assesses evidence showing that“new” immigrants are achievingupward economic and social mobilitydespite changing economic structuresand persistent racial barriers. Thisacademic synthesis argues that,although assimilation is not a panaceafor eliminating racism, the ethnicdiversity of new immigrant streamsmay change the mainstream and helpblur racial boundaries.

Bean, Frank D. and Gillian Stevens.2003. America’s Newcomers and theDynamics of Diversity. New York, NY:Russell Sage Foundation. Providesinsightful discussion of why migrationoccurs and assesses major theories of how immigrants incorporate intoreceiving society. Analyzes detailedevidence on successful economic, linguistic, and social incorporationamong contemporary immigrantgroups; discusses how increased racialand ethnic diversity created by immi-gration may blur the racial divide,transforming the United States into amulti-ethnic, multi-racial society.www.russellsage.org.

Fix, Michael, Wendy Zimmerman, and Jeffrey S. Passel. 2001. TheIntegration of Immigrant Families.Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute.Assesses demographic trends indicat-ing how well immigrant families arefaring and explores conceptual andpolicy design issues that should informan immigrant integration agenda.Reviews federal spending on immigrantsin areas key to integration, such aseducation, and outlines policy issuesaffecting future directions in safetynet, education, employment, andhousing programs. www.urban.org.

Fix, Michael, Demetrios G.Papademetriou, and Betsy Cooper.2005. Leaving Too Much to Chance:A Roundtable on ImmigrantIntegration Policy. Washington, D.C.:Migration Policy Institute. November.

Reports the results of a roundtable onopportunities and risks to immigrantintegration in three policy domains:pre-kindergarten to12 education; workand work supports; and naturalizationand the redesign of the citizenshiptest. Suggests areas for futureresearch and program development.www.migrationpolicy.org.

Jacoby, Tamar, ed. 2004. Reinventingthe Melting Pot: The New Immigrantsand What It Means to Be American.New York, NY: Basic Books. Introducescontemporary immigration controver-sies with articles representing thespectrum of political opinion, fromprogressive to conservative. Academicsand policy analysts discuss immigra-tion in historical and contemporarycontexts; the immigrant bargain; howassimilation works; economics, poli-tics, and race; and what it means tobe American.

Joppke, Christian and Ewa Morawska,eds., 2003. Toward Assimilation andCitizenship: Immigrants in LiberalNation-States. New York, NY:Palgrave Macmillan. Scholars addresschanging concepts of immigrant integration in the United States andEurope; essays examine changingstate policies toward multiculturalismand assimilation and variety of waysimmigrants move between transna-tionalism and assimilation.

Perlmann, Joel. 2005. Italians Then,Mexicans Now: Immigrant Originsand Second-Generation Progress,1890 to 2000. New York, NY: RussellSage Foundation. Uses a century ofCensus data and other research topresent comprehensive comparison of contemporary Mexican immigrantswith progress of Italians who came atthe beginning of the last century.Examines wages, schooling, and eco-nomic outcomes to show that Mexicansecond-generation progress, thoughslowed, is better in several respectsthan earlier Italian generations. Keyrecommendations to boosting progressinclude reversing growing wageinequality in United States, legalizingundocumented Mexican immigrants,and improving high school graduationrates. www.russellsage.org.

RECOMMENDEDREADINGS

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Portes, Alejandro and Ruben G.Rumbaut. 2001. Legacies: The Storyof the Immigrant Second Generation.Berkeley, CA: University of CaliforniaPress. Landmark analysis of risingimmigrant second generation exam-ines their patterns of acculturation,family and school life, language, iden-tity, experiences of discrimination,self-esteem, ambition, and achieve-ment. Findings from longitudinalstudy of more than 5,000 immigrantchildren and parents of multiplenationalities in Miami/Ft. Lauderdaleand San Diego are tested againsthypothesis of segmented assimilationtheory that immigrant parents facingnegative government reception, socialprejudice, and weak support from co-ethnic community will have greaterdifficulties guiding their children tomainstream success.

Reitz, Jeffrey G. 1998. Warmth of the Welcome: The Social Causes ofEconomic Success for Immigrants inDifferent Nations and Cities.Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Examineswith extensive data how the economicperformance of immigrants with similarskills is shaped by differing nationaland urban social institutions inreceiving societies. Finds that immi-grant-origin groups in United Stateshave lower earnings than their simi-larly skilled counterparts in Canada orAustralia due to greater potential forinequality in American labor market,education, and social welfare systems.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Asian American Justice Center andAsian Pacific American LegalCenter. 2006. A Community ofContrasts: Asian Americans andPacific Islanders in the UnitedStates. Washington, D.C.: AsianAmerican Justice and Asian PacificAmerican Legal Center. Profilesgrowth and settlement patterns ofmajor Asian-American groups, alongwith tables on their ethnicity, educa-tion, age, housing, language, poverty,language, and immigration and citi-zenship status. Supplements national

data with information on diverseAsian-American groups in major set-tlement areas, including California,Hawaii, Atlanta, Minneapolis-St.Paul,Houston, Las Vegas, and Seattle. www.advancingequality.org.

Congressional Budget Office. 2004.A Description of the ImmigrantPopulation. Washington, D.C.:Congressional Budget Office. Presentsconcise portrait of immigration popu-lation with 2002-03 data on sourcesand types of immigrants, their geo-graphic concentrations, and educational,occupational, and income distribution.www.cbo.gov.

Eissa, Salih Omar. 2005. “Diversity andTransformation: African Americansand African Immigration to theUnited States,” Immigration PolicyBrief, March. American ImmigrationLaw Foundation: Washington, D.C.Describes history of African migrationto the United States and how signifi-cant increases in contemporary migra-tion from Africa are helping re-shapemakeup of U.S. blacks. www.ailf.org.

Larsen, Luke J. 2003. The ForeignBorn Population in the UnitedStates: March 2003. Washington,D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau. Updates2000 Census information with datafrom March 2002 Current PopulationSurvey; charts portray information on foreign-born by region of birth,residence in United States, age, citi-zenship, educational attainment,household income by nativity, andpoverty levels. www.census.gov.

Malone, Nolan, Kaari F. Baluja, JosephM. Costanzo, and Cynthia J. Davis.2003. The Foreign-Born Population:2000. Washington, D.C.: U.S. CensusBureau. Portrays foreign-born from2000 Census, with tables on numberand distribution by state of citizen-ship status and regions of origin; alsomaps distribution by county and givesdata on age profiles and percent foreign-born by race and Hispanic origin. www.census.gov.

Martin, Philip and Elizabeth Midgley.2003. “Immigration: Shaping andReshaping America,” PopulationBulletin 58, no. 2. Washington, D.C.:Population Reference Bureau. Putscontemporary demographic changeinto historical context by synthesizingdata and research on immigrationpatterns and policies since 1820. Alsocovers economic effects, naturaliza-tion, and migration from Mexicounder NAFTA. www.prb.org.

Singer, Audrey. 2004. The Rise of NewImmigrant Gateways. Washington,D.C.: Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy.Documents dramatic shift of immi-grant settlement to new gatewayareas in the 1990s, with detailedanalysis of 2000 Census data on metropolitan settlement patterns.Compares and contrasts recent immi-grant settlement in 45 metropolitanareas, ranging from historic centers to emerging gateways. www.brookings.edu/urban.

IMMIGRATION POLICY

Carnegie Endowment for InternationalPeace and Instituto TecnológicoAutónomo de México U.S.-MexicoMigration Panel. 2001. Mexico-U.S.Migration: A Shared Responsibility.Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowmentfor International Peace. Urges recog-nition that increased bilateral trademust be matched by bilateral effortsto manage flow of workers. Proposesfour principles fundamental to long-term stabilization of U.S.-Mexicanmigration: 1) improve the treatmentof Mexican migrants by making legalvisas and legal status more widelyavailable; 2) reduce volume anddeaths from unauthorized migrationby cooperative enforcement againstcriminal smuggling and preventingdangerous border crossings; 3) jointlybuild a viable border region; and 4)reduce emigration pressures by focusingdevelopment initiatives on areas ofhigh out-migration and strengtheningthe Mexican economy.www.carnegieendowment.org.

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Chisti, Muzaffar A., Doris Meissner,Demetrios G. Papademetriou, JayPeterzell, Michael J. Wishnie, andStephen W. Yale-Loehr. 2003.America’s Challenge: DomesticSecurity, Civil Liberties, andNational Unity after September 11.Washington, D.C.: Migration PolicyInstitute. Documents ineffectivenessof the government’s efforts to improvesecurity after September 11 and theeffect of these domestic security actionson civil liberties and national unity.Proposes alternative framework toenhance immigration enforcement anddomestic security based on mobilizingintelligence and information capabili-ties, protecting borders, supportinglaw enforcement, and engaging Araband Muslim American communities.www.migrationpolicy.org.

Massey, Douglas S. 2005. “Five Mythsabout Immigration: CommonMisconceptions Underlying U.S.Border—Enforcement Policy,”Immigration Policy in Focus, Vol. 4,No. 6, August. Washington, D.C.:American Immigration Law FoundationImmigration Policy Center. Contendsthat roots of undocumented immi-grant crisis lie in policymakers’ funda-mental misunderstanding of thecauses of migration and migrants’motivations. Uses data to rebut basicmisconceptions: that migration iscaused by lack of economic develop-ment and rapid population growth inhome countries; that migrants areattracted mainly by wage differentialsor public benefits; and that mostintend to settle permanently in theUnited States. www.ailf.org.

Massey, Douglas S. 2005. “Beyond the Border Buildup: Towards a NewApproach to Mexico-U.S. Migration.”Immigration Policy in Focus, Vol. 4,No. 7, September. Washington, D.C.:American Immigration Law FoundationImmigration Policy Center. Shows how punitive immigration and borderenforcement policies have backfired,resulting in higher numbers of undoc-umented spread across larger areas ofUnited States. Recommends 1) regu-lating border on binational basis byincreasing annual quotas, establishinga flexible temporary labor program,

and regularizing status of migrants inU.S.; 2) reducing incentives to hireundocumented workers throughenforcing tax, labor, and worker-safetylaws; and 3) developing strategies tohelp migrants better use earnings forsavings and investment in Mexicancommunities. www.ailf.org.

National Immigration Forum. 2005.Immigration Backlogs Are SeparatingAmerican Families. Washington, DC:National Immigration Forum. Explainshow severe increases in visa backlogs(due to inadequate numbers of visasand administrative delays) force rela-tives to wait up to 4 to 12 years tojoin family members. Recommendsimprovements to expand and expeditelegal channels for family reunifica-tion. www.immigrationforum.org.

National Immigration Forum.Immigration Basics 2005. Washington,D.C.: National Immigration Forum.Introduces the basics of U.S. immi-gration system by explaining differentvisa categories and how U.S. immigra-tion system works. Gives brief overviewof naturalization process and whichimmigrants are eligible for publicbenefits. www.immigrationforum.org.

Rosenblum, Marc R. 2006.“‘Comprehensive’ Legislation v.Fundamental Reform: The Limits ofCurrent Immigration Proposals,”MPI Policy Brief No. 13, January.Washington, D.C.: Migration PolicyInstitute. Explains four key areaswhere 2006 Congressional immigra-tion reform proposals fall short ofcomprehensive reform: 1) the visasupply is not well targeted to meetdemand; 2) labor needs are overlyreliant on temporary non-immigrants;3) labor-protection policies are cum-bersome and ineffective; and 4) sizeof unauthorized population may notdecrease. Recommends criteria foralternative policies that would bal-ance visa demands, prevent negativeeconomic and social impacts, andreduce unauthorized flows.www.migrationpolicy.org.

UNDOCUMENTED MIGRATION

Massey, Douglas S., Jorge Durand, and Nolan J. Malone. 2003. BeyondSmoke and Mirrors: MexicanImmigration in an Era of EconomicIntegration. New York, NY: RussellSage Foundation. Analyses howMexico-U.S. migration functioned his-torically and how U.S. militarizationof the border and restrictive policiesof immigrant disenfranchisementadopted after 1986 have led to nega-tive, unintended consequences for theUnited States and Mexico as well asthe migrants themselves. Contendsthat U.S. policy of promoting greaterintegration of North American marketsfor goods, capital, and informationbut attempting to deny the reality oflabor integration is destined to fail,and proposes policies to bring labormigration aboveboard and acceptedas part of the emerging transnationaleconomy. www.russellsage.org.

Mehta, Chirag, Nik Theodore, IlinaMora, and Jennifer Wade. 2002.Chicago's Undocumented Immigrants:An Analysis of Wages, WorkingConditions, and EconomicContributions. Chicago, IL: Universityof Illinois at Chicago Center for UrbanEconomic Development. Paints detailedpicture of penalties on wages and living conditions imposed on undocu-mented workers by their lack of legalstatus, with results relevant to otherlarge urban areas where undocumentedare concentrated. Survey of 1,323immigrant workers found LatinAmerican workers earned less thanother comparable workers (22 percentfor men and 36 percent for women)and reported higher levels of unsafeworking conditions, wage-and-hourviolations, and lack of health insur-ance. www.uic.edu/cuppa/uicued.

Passel, Jeffrey S. 2006. The Size andCharacteristics of the UnauthorizedMigrant Population in the U.S.:Estimates Based on the March 2005Current Population Survey.Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center.lllustrates key features of the size,family composition, and employment

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of the estimated 11.5 to 12 millionundocumented in the U.S. in 2006.Clear graphics show numbers, legalstatus, and migration trends, “mixed”family status, and concentration byindustry and occupation.www.pewhispanic.org.

Passel, Jeffrey S. 2005. UnauthorizedMigrants: Numbers and Characteristics.Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center.Describes undocumented population,with many graphics based on March2004 Current Population Survey. Inaddition to migration trends andemployment, reports on dispersal todifferent areas of United States, andgives detail on family composition,children, and poverty not covered inPassel’s 2006 report on the unautho-rized population. www.pewhispanic.org.

Powers, Mary G., Ellen Percy Kraly, and William Seltzer. 2004. “IRCA:Lessons of the Last LegalizationProgram,” Migration InformationSource, July. Washington, D.C.:Migration Policy Institute. Reviewsresearch on how 1986 legalizationprogram affected the undocumented,including results of large-scale, longi-tudinal study conducted in 1989 and1992 with 4,000 immigrants wholegalized. Although many arrived withlow skill levels and took low-wagejobs, by 1992 the majority had movedup to better jobs as a result of legal-ization. www.migrationpolicy.org.

RECEIVING COMMUNITIES: IMPACT AND RESPONSES

Applied Research Center. 2002.Mapping the Immigrant Infrastructure.Oakland, CA: Applied Research Center.Examines models of immigrant andrefugee organizations by evaluatingdata from interviews with over 120key leaders and case studies of sixlocal organizations; assesses theeffect of the post-September 11 polit-ical environment on immigrant andrefugee communities. www.arc.org.

Brooks Masters, Suzette and TedPermutter. 2001. Networking theNetworks: Improving InformationFlows in the Immigration Field. NewYork, NY: New School UniversityInternational Center for Migration,Ethnicity and Citizenship. Analyzesinformation needs of over 120 immi-grant advocacy and service organiza-tions around the country, as well asthe methods used by these groups to obtain and impart information.Compiles the most popular listservsand websites and identifies key unmetinformation needs. Recommendsgreater collaboration among informa-tion providers, education initiativesto improve technology use, new infor-mation products to address unmetneeds, and creation of greatlyexpanded communication and information networks.

Capps, Randy, Jeffrey S. Passel, DanielPerez-Lopez, and Michael Fix. 2003.The New Neighbors: A User’s Guideto Data on Immigrants in U.S.Communities. Washington, D.C.: TheUrban Institute. Designed to helplocal policy makers, program man-agers, and advocates use U.S. Censusand other data sources to identifycharacteristics, contributions, andneeds of immigrant populations intheir local communities. Identifiesnational trends that provide a contextfor understanding immigration tolocal communities; provides detailedinformation on relevant data sources,what information they contain, andhow to use them; presents sampleimmigrant profile (for Rhode Island)to show how data can inform policyoptions. www.urban.org.

Caranza, Miquel A. and LourdesGouveia. 2002. The Integration ofthe Hispanic/Latino Workforce: FinalProject Report. Lincoln, NE: NebraskaTask Force on the Productive Integrationof the Immigrant Workforce Population.Task Force commissioned by theNebraska legislature evaluates poten-tial for integrating new Latino work-ers whose numbers grew by 155 per-cent between 1990-2000 in responseto new beef- and poultry-processingjobs. Paints portrait of newcomers’economic, education, English lan-guage, and citizenship status.

Through survey of schools, churches,law enforcement, and local NGOs,identified seven challenges to inte-gration: language, lack of understand-ing of U.S. rules, cultural conflict andracism, low wages, education/trainingneeds, basic needs, and lack of accessto legal status and advice.www.unl.edu/lri.

Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.2004. Keeping the Promise:Immigration Proposals from theHeartland. Chicago, IL: The ChicagoCouncil on Foreign Relations. Reportsresults of multi-stakeholder taskforce, including key politicians andcorporate and union leaders, convenedto examine importance of immigrationto the Midwest. Documents howimmigration helps prevent populationdecline, reinvigorate economic growth,and contribute to cultural diversity.Recommends series of policy propos-als to reform immigration system,strengthen communities through anintegration agenda, and provide infrastructure to implement recom-mendations. www.ccfr.org.

Gozdziak, Elzbieta and Susan F.Martin, eds. 2005. Beyond theGateway: Immigrants in a ChangingAmerica. Lanham, MD: LexingtonBooks. Describes the growth and pop-ulation characteristics of immigrantsin new settlement states and exam-ines implications for integration ofimmigrants moving into areas that lacka tradition of receiving newcomers.Provides case studies of new immi-grant settlements in North Carolina,Atlanta, Minnesota, Virginia, Utah,and Arkansas.

Kochlar, Rakesh, Roberto Suro, andSonya Tafoya. 2005. The New LatinoSouth: The Context and Consequencesof Rapid Population Growth.Washington, D.C.: Pew HispanicCenter. Documents economic andsocial impact of rapid influx of Latinoimmigrants in response to burgeoningeconomic growth in the South.Focuses on settlement patterns, eco-nomic context, and policy impact oneducation and housing stock of immi-gration in six states with growthrates higher than rest of the UnitedStates: Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia,

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North Carolina, South Carolina, andTennessee). Finds that, although eco-nomic boom in South lowered overallpoverty rates by seven percent, Latinopoverty rates increased 30 percentbecause economic development reliedon Latino workers filling low-skilledjobs in manufacturing, construction,and services. www.pewhispanic.org.

Northwest Federation of CommunityOrganizations. 2006. In Our OwnWords: Immigrants’ Experiences inthe Northwest. Seattle, WA: NorthwestFederation of Community Organizations.Reports on immigrant experiences andability to resettle in United States,based on in-depth interviews with230 immigrants in Washington,Oregon, and Idaho, representing 19countries. Combination of data andextensive quotes portrays danger ofborder crossing, difficulty of obtain-ing legal status, workplace discrimi-nation, and lack of access to services.Recommends states and federal gov-ernment work together to createpaths to citizenship, strengthenworker protections, broaden opportu-nities for immigrants to become partof community life, and protect immigrants from discrimination.www.nwfco.org.

Santa Clara County Office of HumanRelations Immigrant ActionNetwork. 2000. Bridging Borders inSilicon Valley. Santa Clara, CA: SantaClara County Office of Human Relations.Reports results of comprehensive, 18-month community planning effort inCalifornia’s Silicon Valley, whereimmigrants and their children com-prise more than 60 percent of thepopulation. Planning effort engagedmultiple stakeholders, including immi-grants and established residents, whoidentified 16 action areas. Detailedresearch findings, analysis, and policyrecommendations cover wages andworking conditions, housing, healthaccess, mental health, criminal justice,domestic violence, food, employmenttraining, language access, child care,and legal services. www.immigrantinfo.org/borders.

State of California, Little HooverCommission. 2002. We the People:Helping Newcomers BecomeCalifornians. Sacramento, CA: LittleHoover Commission. Assessment bybi-partisan state oversight agencyconcludes that California has notcome to terms with challenge ofnation’s largest immigrant population.Recommends that state realign publicand community efforts to effectivelyintegrate immigrants and urge federalgovernment to reform failed immigra-tion policies. Proposed “CaliforniaResidency Program” would includeundocumented immigrants who com-mit to becoming responsible resi-dents, on grounds that denying serv-ices and opportunities delays integra-tion, reduces their contributions, andbloats state costs. www.lhc.ca.gov.

LANGUAGE

Alba, Richard. 2004. LanguageAssimilation Today: BilingualismPersists More Than in the Past, ButEnglish Still Dominates. Albany, NY:Lewis Mumford Center for ComparativeUrban and Regional Research, StateUniversity of New York at Albany.Analyzes 2000 Census data on lan-guages spoken at home by school-agechildren in newcomer families, andfinds that English is almost univer-sally accepted by the children andgrandchildren of the immigrants whohave come to the United States ingreat numbers since the 1960s, simi-lar to earlier generations of immi-grants. www.albany.edu/mumford.

Kubo, Hitomi, Karin Martinson, EliseRicher, Julie Strawn, and HeideSpruck Wrigley. 2003. The Languageof Opportunity: ExpandingEmployment Prospects for Adultswith Limited English Skills.Washington, DC: Center for Law andSocial Policy. Describes the demo-graphics and economic circumstancesof low-income LEP adults; profilessuccessful language and job trainingservices available to them, includinga summary of research findings onemployment programs for low-skilled

adults; and recommends policies andpractices that can help LEP adultsgain access to higher-paying jobs.www.clasp.org.

Martinez, Tia Elena and Ted Wang.2005. Supporting English LanguageAcquisition: Opportunities forFoundations to Strengthen theSocial and Economic Well-Being ofImmigrant Families. Sebastopol, CA:Grantmakers Concerned withImmigrants and Refugees and theAnnie E. Casey Foundation. Providesthorough introduction to languageacquisition through demographic por-trait and review of major issues andresearch findings on helping immi-grant adults and children learnEnglish. Recommends criteria forselecting English proficiency programsthat improve employability and helpbuild family literacy. www.gcir.org.

Shin, Hyon B. and Rosalind Bruno.2003. Language Use and English-Speaking Ability: 2000. Census2000 Brief. Washington, DC: U.S.Census Bureau. Presents data on lan-guage spoken at home and the abilityof people ages five and over to speakEnglish; describes population distri-butions and characteristics for theUnited States, as well as regions,states, counties, and selected placeswith populations of 100,000 or more.www.census.gov.

EDUCATION

Advocates for Children of New Yorkand The New York ImmigrationCoalition. 2002. Creating a Formulafor Success: Why English LanguageLearner Students Are Dropping Outof School, and How to IncreaseGraduation Rates. New York, NY:Advocates for Children of New York.June. Uses school data and studentfocus groups to assess why increasingnumbers of English language learners(ELLs) in New York City dropped outof school after the state adoptedhigher graduation standards.Recommendations include: 1) target-ing middle and high schools where

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ELLS are underperforming; 2) imple-menting new strategies to reach stu-dents at high risk because they arrivein the United States as teenagers; 3)improving instruction in both ESL andcore classes as well as increase thenumber of teachers certified for ESLand bilingual instruction; 4) imple-ment a language access policy toenable immigrant parents to partici-pate more actively in their children’sschools. www.advocatesforchildren.org.

Capps, Randy, Michael Fix, JulieMurray, Jason Ost, Jeffrey S. Passel,and Shinta Herwantoro. 2005. TheNew Demography of America’sSchools: Immigration and the NoChild Left Behind Act. Washington,D.C.: Urban Institute. Providesdetailed demographic portrait from2000 Census on rapid growth of immi-grant children, who often belong toone of the “protected classes” of theNo Child Left Behind Act becausethey are LEP, low income, and/or amember of a racial or ethnic minoritygroup. Presents information on chil-dren of immigrants, LEP children, andchildren of immigrants in low-incomefamilies; how family income andparental education interact with lin-guistic proficiency and isolation; andthe characteristics of children ofLatino, Asian, and black immigrants,with comparisons among childrenwith parents from different countries.www.urban.org.

Cosentino de Cohen, Clemencia,Nicole Deterding, and Beatriz ChuClewell. 2005. Who’s Left Behind?Immigrant Children in High and LowLEP Schools. Washington, D.C.: UrbanInstitute. Extensive analysis ofnational data on elementary schoolsidentifies risks for LEP students inboth high- and low-LEP schools. Thehigh concentration of LEP students—with more than 70 percent attendingonly 10 percent of the nation’sschools—makes provision of special-ized services more cost efficient, butputs these children at risk becausetheir predominately urban high-LEPschools have high rates of poverty,less-experienced principals, and

severe shortages of trained teachers.The 30 percent of LEP children whoattend mostly suburban ;ow-LEPschools are isolated within theirschools and have few support programsto serve their needs. www.urban.org.

Gershberg, Alan, Anne Danenberg, and Patricia Sanchez. 2004. Beyond‘Bilingual’ Education: New Immigrantsand Public School Policies.Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute.Draws lessons for other states fromthe program and policy landscape ofimmigrant education in California,which is home to 40 percent of thenation’s ELLs. Assesses national con-troversy surrounding “bilingual” ver-sus English-only education. Detailedpolicy recommendations includeaddressing significant challengesimmigrant students face aside fromlearning English: reducing stigmatiza-tion of immigrant and ELL students,fostering parental participation, deal-ing with legal and immigration-related issues, and helping childrennavigate the school system andaccess health care. www.urban.org.

Karoly, Lynn A., Rebecca M. Kilburn,and Jill S. Cannon. 2005. EarlyChildhood Interventions: ProvenResults, Future Promise. SantaMonica, CA: Rand Corporation.Comprehensive review of high-quality,early childhood intervention programsdocuments that well-designed pro-grams for disadvantaged children agefour and younger can significantlybenefit children’s academic and socialdevelopment and save money in latersocial program costs. Immigrant chil-dren are disproportionately affectedby two of the four “childhood risk”factors that intervention programs areintended to counteract: living inpoverty and having parents who donot speak English at home.www.rand.org.

Massey, Douglas S., Camille Z.Charles, Garvey F. Lundy, and MaryJ. Fischer. 2002. The Source of theRiver: The Social Origins of Freshmenat America’s Selective Colleges andUniversities. Princeton, NJ: Princeton

University Press. Comprehensive effortto understand why African Americansand Latinos earn lower grades anddrop out of college more often thanAnglos or Asians; uses new nationallongitudinal data on college freshmento examine the influence of neighbor-hood, family, peer group, and earlyschooling on who enters and succeedsin college.

Matthews, Hannah and Danielle Ewen.2006. Reaching All Children?Understanding Early Care andEducation Participation amongImmigrant Families. Washington,D.C: Center for Law and Social Policy.Examines why children of immigrantsare less likely to participate in earlyeducation programs despite value ofthese programs in enhancing schoolreadiness and integration. Analyzesparticipation by age and type of childcare arrangements, preschool/kinder-garten enrollment, and socio-demo-graphics factors affecting participation.Concludes with policy recommenda-tions for improving enrollment atstate and local level. www.clasp.org.

Olsen, Laurie, Jhumpa Bhattacharya,and Amy Scharf. 2004. Ready orNot? School Readiness andImmigrant Communities. Oakland,CA: California Tomorrow. Describeshow narrowly focused standardizedtests are being used to inappropri-ately exclude and track young childrenin immigrant families, and recom-mends how school readiness programscan be designed to support immigrantfamilies and build on the powerfulrole of culture and language in achild’s development. www.californiatomorrow.org.

Ruiz-de-Velasco, Jorge, Michael Fix,and Beatriz Chu Clewell. 2001.Overlooked and Underserved:Immigrant Children in U.S.Secondary Schools. Washington, DC:The Urban Institute. Explores theinstitutional barriers and lack ofresources that prevent secondaryschools from meeting the educationalneeds of a growing number of LEPstudents. Provides a national profile

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of LEP students, examines their edu-cational barriers, and offers educatorsand policymakers strategies to over-come those barriers. www.urban.org.

WORKFORCE & ECONOMIC MOBILITY

Appleseed. 2006. Banking ImmigrantCommunities: A Toolkit for Banksand Credit Unions. Washington, D.C.:Appleseed Network. Despite the grow-ing numbers of Latino immigrants, anestimated 40 to 60 percent do nothave a bank account, limiting theirability to obtain credit to buy a homeor finance a business and makingthem vulnerable to high fees chargedby fringe financial services providers.Toolkit educates banks on why andhow to reach immigrant communitieswith practical strategies on how tobank outside the branch, engage thecommunity, cross-sell services, deliverhome mortgages, support the EarnedIncome Tax Credit and financial education, and understand the impor-tance of remittances. www.appleseed.network.org.

Appleseed. 2006. ExpandingImmigrant Access to MainstreamFinancial Services: Positive Practicesand Emerging Opportunities fromthe Latin American ImmigrantExperience. Washington, D.C.:Appleseed Network. Outlines policiesand practices that help immigrantsaccess the banking system and buildcredit, and describes key avenues forcommunity partnerships, successfulapproaches to financial education,and alternative banking approachesthat attract immigrant customers.Profiles successful immigrant bankinginitiatives around the country andincludes useful bibliography.www.appleseed.network.org.

Capps, Randolph, Michael Fix, JasonOst, Jeffrey Passel, and Dan Perez-Lopez. 2003. A Profile of the Low-Wage Immigrant Workforce.Washington, DC: Urban Institute.Examines the size, educational attain-ment, English language ability, legal

status, wages, occupations, and gender of low-wage immigrant workers,who made up 20 percent of all low-wage workers in 2000. www.urban.org.

Congressional Budget Office. 2005.The Role of Immigrants in the U.S.Labor Market. Washington, D.C:Congressional Budget Office.Combines updated statistics, originalcalculations, and reviews of academicresearch to describe impact of immi-grants on U.S. labor market. Presentsdetailed information on educational,occupational, and wage status ofhigh- and low-wage immigrant work-ers; looks at implications for thefuture as baby boomers exit the laborforce. www.cbo.gov.

Fine, Janice. 2006. Worker Centers:Organizing Communities at the Edgeof the Dream. Ithaca, NY: CornellUniversity Press/Economic PolicyInstitute. Documents growing role ofworker centers in protecting rightsand promoting social connection forlow-wage immigrant workers.Identifies 137 worker centers in 80cities and 31 states which helprecover unpaid wages, provide Englishclasses, and other services; advocatefor enforcement and new laws; andorganize their members through lead-ership development. Assesses centers’strengths and weaknesses in helpingworkers navigate worlds of work andlegal rights in the United states.Short version available as an EconomicPolicy Institute Briefing Paper,December 2005, at www.epi.org.

Mishel, Lawrence, Jared Bernstein,and Sylvia Allegretto. 2005. TheState of Working America2004/2005. Ithaca, NY: CornellUniversity Press/Economic PolicyInstitute. Leading portrait of economicfactors facing low-wage workers,updated bi-annually by the EconomicPolicy Institute, examines trends inbenefit growth and inequality, theshift to low-paying industries, theimpact of demographic change onpoverty, and international compar-isons; includes information on Asian,Hispanic, and immigrant workers.

Moran, Tyler and Daranee Petsod.2003. Newcomers in the AmericanWorkplace: Improving EmploymentOutcomes for Low-Wage Immigrantsand Refugees. Sebastopol, CA:Grantmakers Concerned withImmigrants and Refugees and theNeighborhood Funders Group WorkingGroup on Labor and Community.Profiles conditions keeping immigrantworkers in working poverty, includinglanguage and cultural barriers,exploitative working conditions,immigration-status vulnerabilities,restrictions on access to public serv-ices and benefits, and workforcedevelopment and education systemsthat do not respond to their needs.Improving employment outcomes willrequire dual strategy of enhancing theeducation of immigrant workers tomove them out of low-wage jobs andimproving existing working condi-tions, wages and benefits. Describesinnovative approaches to addressingthese barriers and concludes with tenrecommendations for funding strate-gies. www.gcir.org.

Papademetriou, Demetrios and BrianRay. 2004. “From Homeland to aHome: Immigrants andHomeownership in Urban America,”Fannie Mae Papers, Vol. III, Issue 1,March. Examines factors influencingimmigrant homeownership rates,which helped minorities account for40 percent of the increase in home-owners between 1990 and 2000.Describes variations in immigrantownership rates across metropolitanregions (traditional urban gateways,new immigrant gateways, new fast-growing cities, and slow-growth desti-nations) and among different foreign-born groups. Reviews initiatives thatencourage ownership, including savingsprograms, underwriting flexibility, and education programs. www.fanniemae.com.

Valenzuela, Abel Jr., Nik Theodore,Edwin Melendez, and Ana LuzGonzalez. 2006. On the Corner: DayLabor in the United States. LosAngeles, CA: Center for the Study ofUrban Poverty, University of Californiaat Los Angeles. Profiles growingnational phenomenon of day laborers

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based on first national study, whichsurveyed 2,660 day laborers at 264hiring sites in 20 states. Detailedinformation on worker characteristics,type of work and wages, and workingconditions finds they are regularlydenied payment and endure hazardousworking conditions. Vast majority areimmigrant and Latino, 28 percent areU.S. citizens and 75 percent areundocumented, and almost two-thirdshave children. Policy recommenda-tions include ways to support workercenters, improve enforcement of laborand employment laws, expand work-force development opportunities, andenact realistic immigration reform.www.sscnet.ucls.edu/issr/csup.

FAMILY WELL-BEING AND SOCIAL PROGRAMS

Berube, Alan. 2005. ¿Tienes EITC? AStudy of the Earned Income TaxCredit in Immigrant Communities.Washington, D.C.: BrookingsInstitution. Estimates immigrant par-ticipation in the EITC from IRS andCensus data in light of research indi-cating immigrants overall have lowerthan average participation rates.Finds high immigrant participationrates in densely populated urban zipcodes but low rates in “moderate”immigrant zip codes, primarily sub-urbs, where 27 percent of all immi-grants live; immigrants in suburbs aremore dispersed and do not have sameaccess to NGO and tax preparergroups as those in urban areas.www.brookings.edu.

Capps, Randy. 2001. Hardship amongChildren of Immigrants: Findingsfrom the 1999 National Survey ofAmerica's Families. Washington, D.C.:Urban Institute. Documents hardshipamong children in immigrant familiesresulting from the 1996 welfare lawbenefit cuts that had a disproportion-ate impact on immigrants. Hardshipwas greater for children of immigrantsthan natives in three areas of basicneed: food, housing, and health care.Examination of eight high-immigrantstates showed hunger and lack of

access to health care higher in stateswith less generous programs to replacethe federal cuts. www.urban.org.

Capps, Randy, Michael Fix, EverettHenderson, and Jane Rearson-Anderson. 2005. A Profile of Low-Income Working Immigrant Families.Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute.Finds that although working immi-grant families were twice as likely asworking native families to be lowincome or poor, they were much lesslikely than low-income native familiesto participate in the EITC, receiveincome assistance, Food Stamps, orhousing assistance, and/or have theirchildren enrolled in child care.www.urban.org.

Capps, Randy, Michael Fix, Jason Ost,Jane Reardon-Anderson, and JeffreyS. Passel. 2004. The Health andWell-Being of Young Children ofImmigrants. Washington, D.C.: UrbanInstitute. Synthesizes national datasources to portray major factorsaffecting children in immigrant fami-lies under age six, the key years forchild development. Clear graphs por-tray poverty, family structure and parents’ work; risk factors for poorschool performance; hardship andbenefit use; health status; and childcare arrangements. Concludes withsuggestions for further research.www.urban.org.

Center on Budget and PolicyPriorities. 2005. Accomplishmentsof the Safety Net. Washington, D.C.:Center on Budget and PolicyPriorities. Synthesizes research find-ings on role of safety-net programs,which have reduced the number ofAmericans living in poverty in half,and lifted nearly one of every threeotherwise-poor children above thepoverty line in 2003. Report examinesrole of income support, food andnutrition programs, health care pro-grams, and the Earned Income TaxCredit. www.cbpp.org.

David and Lucille Packard Foundation.2004. “Children of ImmigrantFamilies.” The Future of Children,Vol. 14, No. 2, Summer. Special issue,with pieces from many contributors,profiles strengths and challenges ofchildren growing up in immigrantfamilies and the types of resourcesand supports they need to becomeengaged and productive citizens.Donald J. Hernandez describes majordemographic trends over the pasthalf-century, with wide range of dataon cultural, family, social, economic,and housing circumstances of childrenacross racial/ethnic and country-of-origin groups. Demetra SmithNighingale and Michael Fix assesshow social and economic policies thatcould support immigrant families areaffected by economic and labor mar-ket trends. Ruby Takanishi examinesservices that children from birth toage eight need, with special focus oneducation needs and barriers. CynthiaGarcia Coll and Laura A. Zalachaaddress special needs of middle child-hood, highlighting critical roles racialand cultural factors play for childrenwho are not part of mainstream soci-ety. Andrew J. Fuligni and ChristinaHardway review research on educa-tional achievement, work skills, andhealth of adolescents from immigrantfamilies. Additional articles explorechallenge of growing up Americanfrom different ethnic and racial per-spectives and assess how policymak-ers and stakeholders can respondstrategically to demographic changepropelled by immigrant families.www.futureofchildren.org.

Fix, Michael and Wendy Zimmermann.1999. All Under One Roof: Mixed-Status Families in an Era of Reform.Washington D.C.: Urban Institute.Explores why and how mixed immigra-tion status families are created andexamines how the 1996 welfare curbson noncitizens' use of public benefitsmay have the unintended effects ofreducing citizen children's use of ben-efits. www.urban.org.

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Fremstad, Shawn. 2003. Immigrants,Persons with Limited Proficiency inEnglish, and the TANF Program:What Do We Know? Washington,D.C.: Center for Budget and PolicyPriorities. Reviews data on how immi-grants fare under work-focused, time-limited TANF program; discusses pol-icy implications of research showingthat many immigrants who remain onwelfare rolls have significant barriersto employment, including limited proficiency in English and low skilllevels. www.cbpp.org.

National Immigration Law Center.2002. Guide to Immigrant Eligibilityfor Federal Programs, 4th ed. LosAngeles, CA: National ImmigrationLaw Center. Explains complexity ofimmigrant eligibility for federal bene-fit programs after 1996 welfare lawrestrictions, as well as replacementprograms enacted by states to softenimpact of federal cuts. Gives detailedinformation on eligibility for fostercare and other children’s programs aswell as programs providing cash,food, housing, employment, educa-tion, legal services, and disasterrelief. Clarifies how to identify immi-grant status; provides glossary ofterms. www.nilc.org.

HEALTH

Capps, Randy, Genevieve Kenney, and Michael Fix. 2003. “HealthInsurance Coverage of Children inMixed-Status Immigrant Families.”Snapshots of America’s Families III,No. 12. Washington, D.C.: UrbanInstitute. Finds that policies designedto reduce language barriers and legalimmigrants’ fears of receiving healthbenefits helped expand coverage forlow-income citizen children withimmigrant parents between 1999 and2002, but that coverage rates forthese children are still below childrenwith citizen parents. Very low rates of coverage offered by immigrants’employers increases significance ofwhether or not access to public cov-erage is available. www.urban.org.

Fremstad, Shawn and Laura Cox.2004. Covering New Americans: AReview of Federal and State PoliciesRelated to Immigrants’ Eligibilityand Access to Publicly FundedHealth Insurance. Washington, D.C.:Kaiser Commission on Medicaid andthe Uninsured. Reviews significantdeclines in health coverage for legalimmigrants after enactment of 1996welfare law. Examines impact of newstate replacement programs, andreviews ways to reduce enrollmentbarriers, including confusion over program eligibility, language barriers,and concerns that enrollment willjeopardize immigration status.www.cbpp.org.

Grantmakers In Health. 2005. For theBenefit of All: Ensuring ImmigrantHealth and Well-Being. Charlotte,N.C.: Grantmakers In Health IssuesBrief No. 24. Summarizes challengesimmigrants face maintaining goodhealth on arrival in United States,including lack of health care cover-age, linguistic barriers, and culturaladjustments; describes how grantmak-ers can help improve immigranthealth by building capacity in immi-grant communities, promoting immi-grant integration, expanding accessand coverage, and supporting educa-tion and outreach activities.www.gih.org.

Ku, Leighton and Timothy Waidmann.2003. How Race/Ethnicity,Immigration Status and LanguageAffect Health Insurance Coverage,Access to Care, and Quality of CareAmong the Low-Income Population.Washington, D.C.: Kaiser Commissionon Medicaid and the Uninsured.Provides detailed comparative analysisof how race/ethnicity, immigrationstatus, and language affect healthinsurance coverage, access to care,and quality of care; helpful chartsportray coverage rates and percent-ages by status and ethnicity who sawa doctor, were hospitalized, or post-poned seeking care. Policies thatcould play a key role in reducing dis-parities include restoring federal cov-erage to legal immigrants, expandingstate replacement programs, increas-ing job-related coverage, and improv-ing language access. www.kff.org.

National Immigration Law Center.2002. Immigrant-Friendly HealthCoverage Outreach and Enrollment.Los Angeles, CA: National ImmigrationLaw Center. Explains special concernsthat keep immigrant families fromparticipating in public-benefit pro-grams even when eligible. Describesconfusion about eligibility, confiden-tiality, public charge, sponsor liability,and language access, and gives step-by-step suggestions for overcomingbarriers in the application process,improving enrollment strategies, andconducting outreach to immigrantfamilies. www.nilc.org.

CITIZENSHIP & CIVIC PARTICIPATION

Bloemgaard, Irene. 2002. “The NorthAmerican Naturalization Gap: AnInstitutional Approach to CitizenshipAcquisition in the United Statesand Canada.” InternationalMigration Review, Vol. 36, No. 1,Spring. Reviews competing academictheories on why immigrant groupshave differing naturalization rates,and reports results of comparativestudy indicating that institutionalsupport for naturalization by thereceiving society can make a significantdifference. Aided by active Canadiangovernment support for communitygroups promoting citizenship,Portuguese immigrants in Torontoachieved naturalization rates twice ashigh as Portuguese immigrants withsimilar socio-economic characteristicsin Boston, where no government poli-cies or programs promoted citizen-ship. It takes immigrants in the UnitedStates 30 years to reach Canadiannaturalization rates of 73 percent.

Carnegie Corporation of New York.2003. The House We All Live In: AReport on Immigrant Civic Integration.New York, NY: Carnegie Corporation ofNew York. Describes efforts to helpimmigrants’ integrate and becomeengaged in civic activities; summa-rizes recommendations for funders onways to support civic integrationthrough policies and programs that

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help immigrants establish a solid eco-nomic and educational foothold,become citizens and vote, and protecttheir civil rights and liberties.www.carnegie.org.

Fix, Michael, Jeffrey S. Passel, andKenneth Sucher. 2003. Trends inNaturalization. Washington, DC:Urban Institute. Uses 2000 Censusand 2002 Current Population Surveydata to examine sharp increases innaturalization rates in the 1990s aswell as size and characteristics of thepool of immigrants eligible to natu-ralize. Of 11.3 million LPRs in 2002,7.9 million were eligible to naturalize,but these eligible immigrants havemore limited English skills and lowereducational levels than those whonaturalized in the 1990s.www.urban.org.

Gerstle, Gary and John Mollenkopf,eds. 2001. E Pluribus Unum?Contemporary and HistoricalPerspectives on Immigrant PoliticalIncorporation. New York, NY: RussellSage Foundation. Brings together his-torians and social scientists to com-pare contemporary immigrant politicalincorporation with dynamics of theearly twentieth century immigrantwave; articles examine politicalmachines, naturalization, transna-tional loyalties, racial exclusion, andthe role of the schools in politicalsocialization. www.russellsage.org.

McGarvey, Craig. 2004. PursuingDemocracy’s Promise: NewcomerCivic Participation in America.Sebastopol, CA: GrantmakersConcerned with Immigrants andRefugees in collaboration with Funders’Committee on Civic Participation.Describes the basics of immigrantcivic participation, portrays differentapproaches to engagement throughstories of seven successful programs,and examines various models andpathways for civic and political par-ticipation. Summarizes strategies forfunders and outlines additionalresources. www.gcir.org.

Stoll, Michael A. and Janelle S. Wong.2003. Civic Participation in aMultiracial and Multiethnic Context.Los Angeles,CA: Center for the Studyof Urban Poverty, University ofCalifornia at Los Angeles. Finds thatclassic indicators of civic participa-tion (socioeconomic status, politicalorientation, religiosity) have less pre-dictive value in a multiracial urbancontext, where recent immigration,interracial ties, and other factors helpexplain differences in participationamong Anglos, black, Latinos, anddifferent Asian immigrant groups.Extensive bibliography.www.sscnet.ucla.edu/issr/csup.

RACE, INTERETHNIC RELATIONS, & NATIVISM

Arab American Institute. 2002.Healing the Nation: The ArabAmerican Experience afterSeptember 11. Washington, D.C.:Arab American Institute. Describesresponse of the Arab-American com-munity to the September 11 attacks;examines backlash, civil rights issues,and efforts by Arab-Americans to educate and inform the larger community. www.aaiusa.rog.

Bach, Robert. 1993. ChangingRelations: Newcomers andEstablished Residents in U.S.Communities: A Report to the FordFoundation by the National Board ofthe Changing Relations Project. NewYork, NY: Ford Foundation. Exploressources of conflict and strategies topromote positive interaction amonglongtime residents and newcomers ofwidely different cultures in variety ofU.S. communities. Despite fragmenta-tion generated by economic restruc-turing and new ethnic diversity, findsthat many “community brokers,”including teachers, clergy, and police,were able to forge ties and ease ten-sions. Recommendations based onstudy of four big-city neighborhoods(Chicago, Houston, Miami, andPhiladelphia); suburban MontereyPark, California; and rural Garden City, Kansas. www.fordfound.org.

Paral, Rob. 2004. “Power andPotential: The Growing ElectoralClout of New Citizens,” ImmigrationPolicy in Focus, Vol. 3, Issue 4,October. Uses Census data from 1996and 2000 election years to describekey characteristics of immigrant vot-ers and groups in which immigrantsare a large percentage of the popula-tion, such as Latinos and Asian/PacificIslanders. New citizens drawn fromthese groups accounted for more thanhalf of the net increase in personsregistered to vote between 1996 and2000. Clear charts portray rates ofcitizenship, voter registration, andvoting by different groups; give dataon 17 states where foreign-born citi-zens number 100,000 or more.www.ailf.org.

Ramakrishnan, S. Karthick. 2005.Democracy in Immigrant America:Changing Demographics and PoliticalParticipation. Palo Alto, CA: StanfordUniversity Press. Analyzes currentnational data to test applicability oftraditional theories of political behav-ior to contemporary first- and second-generation immigrants. Assesses voting and other forms of politicalbehavior among immigrants of differ-ent ethnic and socio-economic char-acteristics and operating in differentcontexts of political threat and insti-tutional mobilization; also examinesnon-voting political behavior (e.g.,signing petitions, attending meetings,contributing to political causes)across immigrant generations andethnicities.

Rytina, Nancy F. 2006. Estimates ofthe Legal Permanent ResidentPopulation and Population Eligibleto Naturalize in 2004. Washington,D.C.: Department of Homeland SecurityOffice of Immigration Statistics.Estimates that eight million LPRswere eligible to naturalize as ofSeptember 2004; provides tables byyear admitted, country of birth, andstate of residence. www.dhs.gov/immigrationstatistics.

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Blackwell, Angela Glover, StewartKwoh, and Manuel Pastor. 2002.Searching for the Uncommon CommonGround: New Dimensions on Race inAmerica. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.Examines how changing demographicsare affecting national debate on racein five key dimensions: the black-white paradigm versus multicultural-ism; diversity versus racial and socialjustice; universal strategies versusstrategies for a particular group;national versus local responsibility;and structural factors versus individ-ual initiative. Recommends strategiesto develop leaders with multiethnic,multiracial perspectives.

Foner, Nancy and George M.Frederickson, eds. 2004. Not JustBlack and White: Historical andContemporary Perspectives onImmigration, Race, and Ethnicity inthe United States. New York, NY:Russell Sage Foundation. Analyseshow different racial and ethnic groupshave related to each other, both his-torically and today. Scholars trace thehistory of different perspectives ofrace and ethnicity, the shifting role ofstate policy, trends in intermarriageand residential segregation, andintergroup relations among Blacks,Asian-Americans, and Latinos.

Higham, John. 2002 rev. ed. Strangersin the Land: Patterns of AmericanNativism, 1860-1925. New Brunswick,N.J: Rutgers University Press. Explainssources and impact of Americannativism which flourished during thegreat cycle of immigration in the latenineteenth and early twentieth cen-tury. Higham’s analysis of the differ-ent strains of nativism, from anti-for-eign to anti-radical and anti-Catholic,is considered masterful and is reliedon by scholars today.

Lee, Jennifer. 2002. Civility in theCity: Blacks, Jews, and Koreans inUrban America. Boston, MA: HarvardUniversity Press. Examining relation-ships among African-American, Jewish,and Korean merchants and their blackcustomers in New York and Philadelphia,finds, contrary to frequent sensation-alism of media coverage, that socialorder, routine, and civility are the

norm. Illustrates how everyday civilityis negotiated and maintained in dailyinteractions between merchants andtheir customers.

Leadership Conference on Civil RightsEducation Fund. 2004. Cause forConcern: Hate Crimes in America.Washington, D.C.: LeadershipConference on Civil Rights EducationFund. Documents causes and inci-dence of hate crimes in the UnitedStates, including backlash incidentsafter September 11; profiles six dif-ferent major organized hate groups,including armed border vigilantegroups, and examines effectiveness of federal and state law enforcementefforts. www.civilrights.org.

National Asian Pacific American LegalConsortium. 2002. Hate CrimesCommunity Toolkit. Washington, D.C.:National Asian Pacific American LegalConsortium. Provides informationabout hate crimes and how to reportthem; resource sheets include fre-quently asked questions; checklistsfor hate crime victims and communityorganizations; and information onworking with law enforcement and themedia. www.advancingequality.org.

National Council of La Raza. 2004.Combating Anti-ImmigrantOpportunism Post-September 11.Washington, D.C. Examines anti-immi-grant sentiment in the United Statesprior to September 11; analyzes his-tory and goals of major restrictionistgroups and examines how they havetaken advantage of the terroristattack to promote their anti-immi-grant message. www.nclr.org.

Quiroz, Julie Teresa. 1995. Together inOur Differences: How Newcomers andEstablished Residents are RebuildingAmerican Communities. Washington,D.C: National Immigration Forum.Profiles efforts to promote collabora-tion among established residents andnew immigrants in 16 communitiesacross the country; examples includeinitiatives to create affordable hous-ing, promote economic development,improve family literacy, and engage inneighborhood and citywide advocacy.www.immigrationforum.org.

Smelser, Neil J., 2001. William JuliusWilson and Faith Mitchell, eds.America Becoming: Racial Trendsand Their Consequences. Washington,D.C. National Academy Press.Synthesizes research on key contem-porary race issues. In Volume 1, lead-ing scholars address demographicchanges, immigration trends, racialattitudes, racial and ethnic trends ineducation, and residential segrega-tion; Volume 2 covers trends in thejustice system, labor force and welfare, and health.

EQUAL TREATMENT & OPPORTUNITY

American Bar Association Commissionon Immigration and LeadershipConference on Civil RightsEducation Fund. 2004. AmericanJustice through Immigrants’ Eyes.Washington, D.C.: American BarAssociation Commission on Immigrationand Leadership Conference on CivilRights Education Fund. Shows howsharp restrictions of 1996 immigrationlaw have combined with post-September11 law and policy changes to create atwo-tiered system of justice that sin-gles out immigrants for unequal treat-ment. Combines clear description oflegal changes with stories of affectedindividuals; recommends steps torestore due process and fair treat-ment. www.abanet.org/publicserv/immigration.

De Souza Briggs, Xavier, ed. 2005. TheGeography of Opportunity: Race andHousing Choice in MetropolitanAmerica. Washington, D.C.: BrookingsInstitution. Shows how ambivalencetowards new immigrants and racialminorities has resulted in residentialsegregation by race and income, andhow this segregation undermines edu-cation and job prospects as well ashealth and safety. Outlines an agendato expand opportunity and assessesviability of movement for regionalsolutions.

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Human Rights Watch. 2004. Blood,Sweat, and Fear: Workers’ Rights inU.S. Meat and Poultry Plants. NewYork, NY: Human Rights Watch.Documents critical hazards to workerhealth and safety in the U.S. meatand poultry industry, which increas-ingly relies on immigrant workers.Explains how government failure toregulate the industry violates interna-tional human rights and labor stan-dards protections; recommends waythat federal and state governmentsand meat and poultry companies canimprove conditions and comply withinternational standards.

Jacobs, Lawrence and Theda Skocpol,eds. 2005. Inequality and AmericanDemocracy: What We Know andWhat We Need to Learn. New York,NY: Russell Sage Foundation.Examines how dramatic increase ineconomic inequality since the 1970smay have stalled or reversed gainstoward U.S. ideals of participatory,responsive democracy. Scholars mar-shall evidence that economic inequal-ity has diminished voice of middleand working class in politics, andreduced support for inclusive publicpolicies, like the G.I. Bill and SocialSecurity, that opened opportunities inthe middle of the twentieth century.

Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.2003. Assessing the New Normal:Liberty and Security for the Post-September 11 United States.Washington, D.C.: Lawyers Committeefor Human Rights. Examines impact ofpost-September 11 policies on opengovernment, personal privacy, andhuman rights, with special chapterdescribing impact on rights of immi-grants, refugees, and minorities.www.humanrightsfirst.org.

Opportunity Agenda. 2006. The State of Opportunity in America.Washington, D.C.: The OpportunityAgenda. Finds that after five decadesof progress in building a middle class,creating a safety net, and erectinglegal protections against official seg-regation and overt exclusion of mar-ginalized groups, opportunity in theU.S. is at risk. Clear charts and datameasure progress along six interre-lated dimensions: mobility, equality,participation in democracy, redemp-tion/rehabilitation, community, andsecurity. www.opportunityagenda.org.

Smith, Rebecca, Amy Sugimori, LunaYasui, and Sarah Massey. 2002. LowPay, High Risk: State Models forAdvancing Immigrant Workers'Rights. New York, NY: NationalEmployment Law Project. Shows howstate laws and agency actions canadvance the labor rights of immigrantworkers; profiles selected local cam-paigns. Describes improved policiesfor language access, government benefits and services, confidentialityprovisions, access to drivers' licenses,rights and remedies under labor andemployment law, and access to work-ers' compensation. www.nelp.org.

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