Provider Type: Media

Media

A Guide to Creating “Safe Space” Policies for Early Childhood Programs

4/19 Early childhood programs play an important role in the lives of young children and their families. But in our current immigration policy climate, families across the country are questioning whether it’s safe to attend or enroll.
Providers can take steps to protect families’ safety and privacy by implementing policies that designate their facilities as a safe space from immigration enforcement.
This guide from CLASP explains federal agency guidance related to “sensitive locations” provides information about designing and implementing “safe space” policies, and includes sample policy text that early childhood providers can adapt for their programs. Key Words:RRN

Ruling limits border agents’ ability to search cellphones

8/16/19 Border officials may examine a person’s cellphone for contraband, such as pornography, but may not search it to determine whether someone has committed a crime, a federal appeals court decided Friday.
The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to limit the ability of border agents in California and Arizona to search cellphones in the future. The decision affects the nine Western states in the 9th Circuit.

GLAAD Asian Pacific Islander Resource Kit

With this resource kit, GLAAD encourages journalists to cover API LGBT people’s lives, families, accomplishments and issues in their own right, and include their perspectives in other relevant coverage. The Communities of Asian Pacific Islander Media Kit provides guidelines for coverage, terminology and contact information for API LGBT organizations for more inclusive, fair and balanced coverage of the API LGBT community.

Journal of Muslim Mental Health

The Journal of Muslim Mental Health is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed academic journal and publishes articles exploring social, cultural, medical, theological, historical, and psychological factors affecting the mental health of Muslims in the United States and globally. The journal publishes research and clinical material, including research articles, reviews, and reflections on clinical practice.

Population of Indian-origin in U.S. grew by 40 percent between 2010 -2017

6/20/19 …There are at least 630,000 Indians who are undocumented, a 72 percent increase since 2010″ SAALT said in its report. The increase in illegal Indian Americans SAALT said can be attributed to Indian immigrants overstaying visas. Nearly 250,000 Indians overstayed their visa in 2016 therefore becoming undocumented, it said.
There are currently at least 4,300 active South Asian DACA recipients. As of August 2018, there are approximately 2,550 active Indian DACA recipients. Only 13 percent of the overall 20,000 DACA eligible Indians have applied and received DACA. Key Words: demographics, immigration

How Misinformation Fueled Anti-Immigrant Sentiment in the Tijuana Border Region

2/7/19 In the US, misinformation and fake news have plagued the immigration debate for years, fostering anti-immigrant sentiment and hostility within certain segments of the population.
A global phenomenon, misinformation has driven public debate on immigration and ethnic conflict in multiple countries”leading in a number of cases to violence. In Mexico, social media users took misleading images out of context and shared them on online platforms. The subsequent upsurge in misinformation led to anti-immigrant hostility and violent confrontations between Tijuana residents and the Central American migrant caravan. Key Words: Asylum, refugee, FAKE NEWS

Despite State of the Union rhetoric, immigrants contribute to US and deserve protection

2/7/19 Immigrants pay millions in taxes and their absence would devastate USA. Yet most don’t have legal representation. Aid groups want to change that.
Despite current administration rhetoric ” echoed Tuesday night during a State of the Union address that blamed many of the country’s problems on people attempting to cross the border ” immigrants contribute to the social and economic vitality of this nation. And the unprecedented and cruelly indiscriminate detentions and deportations of the past two years do not make us any safer or our country more stable.
Instead, those practices erode the American value of due process, contribute to a racist, fearmongering anti-immigrant agenda and bring chaos to communities.

Archive – The Trump Administration Is Closing the Door on Migrant Children

12/25/18 Because immigration law is civil, not criminal, children are not entitled to legal counsel when they go through their asylum interviews or immigration-court proceedings. The Obama administration had allocated $4.5 million annually for the legal representation of migrant children through the Justice AmeriCorps program, but in 2017, the Department of Justice under the Trump administration declined to renew the contracts with immigrant-legal-services nonprofits. Now, fewer and fewer children are getting the legal representation they need.

Archive – A Judge Has Blocked ICE From Conducting Raids On Cambodian Immigrants, For Now

1/4/19 Federal immigration officials were barred Thursday from conducting any more unannounced raids on Cambodian immigrants living in the US with deportation orders, dealing a blow to the Trump administration, which has significantly stepped up deportations of Southeast Asian immigrants.
Deportations from the US to Cambodia increased by 279% in 2018 compared to the previous year. In December, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted its largest deportation flight of Cambodian nationals with 36 people onboard. Key Words API

Growing up undocumented in Mountain View

9/28/18 In his new book, “Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen,” Jose Antonio Vargas recounts his own story of growing up in Mountain View and living for years with the fear of being outed as a non-citizen. He uses his biography to show a national paradox — a country wedded to undocumented residents in spite of a national system that refuses to recognize them as anything other than illegal.

Jose Antonio Vargas: Don’t Ignore Asian-Americans In Unauthorized Immigration Debate

10/19/18 Contrary to what’s reflected in the mainstream media, the Asian undocumented population is far from negligible. There are an estimated 1.7 million undocumented Asian-Americans living in the U.S., and they make up more than 15 percent of the total undocumented population, according to AAPI Data. Perhaps even more surprising is that within a 15-year period ? from 2000 to 2015 ? the group’s unauthorized population more than tripled, making Asian-Americans the fasting growing undocumented group in the country. Key Words: Asian, API, Legal

When Facts Don’t Matter: How to Communicate More Effectively about Immigration’s Costs and Benefits

11-18 Policymaking in democratic societies relies on the engagement of an electorate able to access and think critically about new information, and to adjust their views accordingly. This report explores why there is often a pronounced gap between what research has shown about migration trends and immigration policy outcomes and what the public believes. To do so, it explores the social psychological literature on why people embrace or reject information, as well as recent changes in the media landscape. The report concludes with a reexamination of what it takes to make the “expert consensus” on these issues resonate with skeptical publics, including recommendations for policymakers and researchers seeking to communicate more effectively the costs and benefits of immigration.

TRAC (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse)

TRAC is a data gathering, data research and data distribution organization at Syracuse University. TRAC-Immigration, deals in-depth with how our nation’s immigration laws are enforced in administrative and criminal courts by a wide variety of agencies. Reports include records of individual judges. A reference library containing government immigration studies and a glossary are also maintained.
Other TRAC Data and reporting sites include: Web sites describing the enforcement activities and staffing patterns of the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Key Words: DHS, DEA, FBI, IRS, ATF, FOIA, DEMOGRAPHICS

Immigrants as Economic Contributors: Immigrant Tax Contributions and Spending Power

9/6/18 Immigrants play an increasingly pivotal role in the U.S. economy. Every American benefits from the taxes that immigrants pay and from the money they spend on consumer goods and services. Their participation in the economy creates a demand for goods and services, thereby boosting job growth. This fact sheet is one of a series of papers examining the various roles immigrants play in our economy. It highlights research illuminating the role that immigrants play in helping cover the cost of public services at the local, state, and federal level, and how their spending contributes to the U.S. economy. These immigrant contributions are often overlooked, but they significantly benefit all Americans.

U.S. Immigration Policy under Trump: Deep Changes and Lasting Impacts

7/18 Report from the Migration Policy Institute. U.S. immigration policy has undergone a sea change since the inauguration of Donald Trump in January 2017. Although his public statements have largely focused on a few major objectives toward which he has made only limited headway”such as building a wall along the entirety of the U.S.-Mexico border”the administration has taken other steps to redefine U.S. immigration policies that are less visible but no less important.

This report examines the wide range of changes the Trump administration has set in motion, from enhanced enforcement measures and new application vetting requirements, to cuts in refugee admissions and the scaling back of temporary protections for some noncitizens.

The House and Senate speak out against charging migrant parents up to $8/min. to speak with their ki

7/27/18 Immigrants held in detention centers are being charged up to $ 8 per minute to make a phone call to talk to their children, from whom they have been separated by the authorities, under the Zero Tolerance policy.
A group of 145 legislators led by Congressmen Jared Polis and Luis Gutiérrez, as well as by Senator Patty Murray, sent a letter to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) to put an end to this practice.
Read Entire Letter

Bay Area strongly backs DACA, but still has reservations about undocumented immigrants, poll finds

6/18/18 As Congress prepares to vote this week on a measure that could decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of young, undocumented immigrants in the country, bipartisan support in the immigrant-rich Bay Area is strong for the controversial DACA program, a new poll shows.
But Bay Area voters aren’t as quick to back the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants, who over the past several months have become targets of the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation policies. Key Words: Immigration, Deferred Action, Children

In Europe, a Push to Fight Discrimination Through Living Libraries

6/22/18 …a growing citizen movement known as Living Libraries designed to smash stereotypes and prejudice through dialogue.
‘They allow you to actually speak to a black, or an Arab or a Jew, and discover what it’s like to be that person,”
Along with newer targets like Africans and Arabs, the study authored by the 47-member Council of Europe finds older prejudices also linger against Jews, Roma and the LGBT community, despite strides in some countries.
The initiative coincides with a new report by Europe’s top rights watchdog that shows rising levels of xenophobia and hate speech across the region, partly driven by populism, terrorist attacks and the massive influx of migrants, the subject of a European Union summit next week.

PanLex Translator App

The PanLex Translator app provides access to PanLex’s free multilingual dictionary. You can translate words from any language to any other language. The dictionary contains more than 5,700 of the world’s 7,000 languages. It is a support to students, translators, interpreters, new arrivals, clinicians, as well as disaster relief and refugee-support personnel. Read more about the PanLex Mission to overcome language barriers to human rights, information, and opportunities. Key Words: SCC Language Bank

How Sub-Saharan Africans Contribute to the U.S. Economy

January 2018 Report from the Partnership for a New American Economy. A detailed analysis of the most recent available demographic and socioeconomic data. Over half of the Sub-Saharan Africans living in the US come from 5 countries – Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Africa .
Our findings suggest that African immigrants measure high in many respects. They naturalize at high rates. They attain higher levels of education than the overall U.S. population, and are more likely to have earned their degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, or STEM, field. They also make meaningful contributions to several vital sectors of the economy (including healthcare) where employers have persistent challenges finding enough workers. Key Words: Research

Amid travel ban controversy, Bay Area refugees share their journeys to America

5/12/18 State Department data shows the U.S. resettled an estimated 15,500 Syrian refugees in 2016 toward the end of Obama’s presidency. As of April this year, the Trump administration had admitted only 11 Syrians, according to NPR.
But Arabian and other refugees who settled in the Bay Area are sharing their experiences in a series of intimate storytelling events known as the “Made Into America” project. On Thursday night at Palo Alto’s Mitchell Park Community Center, she described her family’s decision to flee Aleppo.

Revving Up the Deportation Machinery: Enforcement under Trump and the Pushback

This May, 2018 report caps a year-long study that took MPI researchers to 15 locations across the United States, some fully cooperating with federal immigration enforcement and others not. There they interviewed everyone from senior ICE field leaders to state and local elected officials, immigrant-rights advocates, former immigration judges, and consular officials.
The study finds that the engine that fueled ICE’s peak effectiveness- the intersection of federal immigration enforcement with state and local criminal justice systems- is being throttled by state and local policies that limit cooperation with ICE. Key Words: Research

Tarjimly Translation App

Realtime Translators for Refugees. Anytime. Anywhere. Fast. Free Over 9000 Vetted volunteer translators in 80+ languages. NGOs and nonprofits around the world use Tarjimly to effectively communicate with the people they’re trying to help. Where machine translation has failed them, Tarjimly is solving a major problem for these organizations by mobilizing the world’s bilingual speakers. Key Words: Language Access

New Vietnamese-American generation tackles deportation, poverty, more

12/15/17 The latest crisis roiling U.S. immigrant communities is the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants. This also impacts Vietnamese-Americans. More than 8,500 Vietnamese have orders for removal, meaning they could be detained and deported at any time.
The Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, estimates there are 116,000 undocumented Vietnamese in the U.S., but there seems to be a belief that there are no undocumented Vietnamese.

African Immigrants Give a Huge Boost to the American Economy

1/2018 This research brief – part of a series from New
American Economy (NAE) on the earning and
spending power of immigrants – examines
a small, yet growing segment of the US immigrant
population: The roughly 1.7 million African immigrants
from across the continent, although 5 countries – Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Africa – account for over half of the Sub-Saharan Africans living in the US in 2015. Key Findings: African immigrants contribute billions to the US economy and boast higher levels of education than the overall U.S. population, with a particular focus on Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Math.

Fake news: Recognizing and stemming misinformation

9/17 Fake news is information that is fabricated (made up) and packaged to appear as fact. Unlike satire or other forms of humor, fake news attempts to deliberately mislead or deceive its audience, often with the goal of financial, political or other type of gain. Fake news often uses attention-grabbing headlines to draw as large an audience as possible. Being able to evaluate the accuracy of what you read or hear, and refraining from spreading false stories, will help you and others avoid the repercussions of fake news. Spanish

USCIS Is Receiving a Record Number of Citizenship Applications

11/13/17 The average processing time for United States citizenship applications used to take five to seven months – already a lengthy timeline for immigrants waiting to get their citizenship vetted and approved. A spike in applications before and after the 2016 presidential election has caused that wait time to double. Yet, immigrants by and large are not deterred from applying for citizenship.
The process itself has also gotten more laborious. After the implementation of an Obama-era policy, vetting of applications heightened. The 10 page naturalization application has instead become 20 pages, consequently taking additional time and manpower for USCIS officials to sift through.

Archive – NEW SERIES LAUNCH! EYES ON ICE: DOCUMENTING IMMIGRATION ABUSES

11/17 This is Part One of our new ‘Eyes On ICE: Documenting Immigration Abuses’ series, which examines the role of video in exposing immigration abuses, holding Immigration and Customs officials accountable, and advocating for communities. Follow along each month as we create & share resources, case studies, interviews with activists and organizers, videos and more in hopes of strengthening communities in resistance

Detention Watch Network

DWN is a national coalition of organizations and individuals working to expose and challenge the injustices of the United States’ immigration detention and deportation system and advocate for profound change that promotes the rights and dignity of all persons.

Major Benefit Programs Available to CA Immigrants – Jan 2020 Update

This table lists the programs for which certain immigrants residing in California are eligible. Eligibility criteria are provided for the following categories of immigrants: (1) “qualified” immigrants who entered the U.S. before Aug. 22, 1996; (2) “qualified” immigrants who entered the U.S. on or after Aug. 22, 1996; and (3) “not qualified” immigrants.
An important feature of the table is that it provides notes about how “deeming” rules apply to immigrants who are eligible for different programs. “Deeming” refers to the fact that an immigrant’s sponsor’s s income/resources may be added to the immigrant’s when determining the immigrant’s eligibility for certain programs.

ICE Raids Toolkit

Defend Against ICE Raids and Community Arrests, the product of IDP’s and CCR’s collective work against ICE arrests under Bush and Obama, serves as the first comprehensive guide and organizing resource to fight back against the Trump administration’s efforts to criminalize communities and deport millions of people. (Updated in July 2017)

Politically Motivated ICE Hotline Turns Neighbors, Friends and Even Spouses into Informants

10/18/17 When the Trump administration launched the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) hotline in April, it billed the service as a way to help “victims of crimes committed by removable aliens” On its website, the VOICE office expressly states that it’s “not a hotline to report crime.” But internal logs show that people have used the service to snitch on strangers, neighbors, colleagues and even their own family members.

Immigrants Fleeing California Wildfires Find No Sanctuary, Fearing Deportation and Avoiding Shelters

10/20/17 As catastrophic wildfires in California kill at least 42 people and leave thousands of homes and businesses in ruins, many of the area’s 20,000 undocumented immigrants have had no sanctuary from the flames, with some sleeping on beaches in order to avoid federal agents at shelters. This comes as far-right media outlets like Breitbart are falsely reporting that an undocumented immigrant was arrested in connection to the fires. Police said there is no indication the man had anything to do with the wildfires. We speak with Alegría De La Cruz, deputy county lawyer of Sonoma County, and Juan Hernandez, executive director of the La Luz Center in Sonoma, California.

CA SB 68 Expands Eligibility for Undocumented In-State Tuition

10/5/17 SB 68 was signed into law, expanding eligibility
established under existing law for undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition at California’s public
postsecondary institutions, to students who have completed 3 or more years of attendance or earned credits equivalent to three or more years of full-time credits at an elementary school, secondary school, adult school and/or CA Community College (CCC). Key Words: Education, Allies5 Archive 7/1/19

EdSource

As we celebrate our 40th year, EdSource is proud to be hailed as a leading nonprofit source for independent, comprehensive education information, analysis and data.
Parents, practitioners and policymakers trust EdSource to synthesize complex education issues and provide them with accurate, actionable information to make school reform work throughout California and the nation. We strive to engage everyone who has a stake in our schools and our students by highlighting successes, documenting problems and shining a spotlight on key education challenges and solutions.

Former ICE Director on Immigration Battle Over Ailing Girl: “It’s Just Not Right”

10/30/17 “It’s inexplicable to me that our government would have its agents conduct this action,” he said. “Those agents should be out on the line stopping drugs, stopping gang members, protecting national security, not doing this to a 10-year-old girl who has just come out of surgery and has other medical issues.”
Hernandez’s family members said she has the mental capacity of a 5-year-old.
Hernandez has cousins who are U.S. citizens but she is not being released to them. Instead she was taken from the hospital to a government-licensed shelter in San Antonio.

Bay Area Indian Events

A Facebook Page administered by a group dedicated to keep people informed of Indian social, cultural and religious events occurring in the San Francisco Bay Area and surrounding areas. Information provided includes Asian Indian music & dance concerts, religious ceremonies and special events as well as movie screenings, interesting relevant websites and URLs.

San Francisco Bay Area Indian Associations/Non Profits

San Francisco Bay Area Desi Indian Community Portal is a community Portal for Indians living in and around San Francisco (SFO) Bay Area. We provide complete information on Indian Restaurants, Indian Grocery Stores, Indian Events, Indian Classifieds, Indian Roommates, Indian Nannies, Daycares, Babysitters, Indian Travel companion, Movies from India and a lot of other topics of relevance to San Francisco (SF) Bay Area Indian Community. Key Word: Directory

Digital Privacy at the U.S. Border PROTECTING THE DATA ON YOUR DEVICES AND IN THE CLOUD

3/10/17 Te U.S. government reported a 5-fold increase in the number of electronic media searches at the border in a single year, from 4,764 in 2015 to 23,877 in 2016. Every
one of those searches was a potential privacy violation. Our lives are minutely documented on the phones and laptops we carry, and in the cloud. Our devices carry
records of private conversations, family photos, medical documents, banking information, information about what websites we visit, and much more. Moreover, people in many professions, such as lawyers and journalists, have a heightened need to keep their electronic information confidential. How can travelers keep their digital data safe?

Archive – Speaking out against immigration raids is her duty

8/22/17 California’s Supreme Court chief justice has forcefully called on federal immigration agents to stop looking in California’s courtrooms for people they suspect are living in the country illegally… California’s Supreme Court chief justice has forcefully called on federal immigration agents to stop looking in California’s courtrooms for people they suspect are living in the country illegally,

Archive – Houston mayor promises to defend immigrants amid Harvey devastation

8/26/17 The mayor of Houston promised to personally defend undocumented immigrants who be may hesitant to seek help in the aftermath of Harvey over fears of being deported.
Mayor Sylvester Turner said he would represent any immigrant who faces deportation after seeking help during the storm relief efforts. The mayor said the city is focusing on helping those who have been stranded and displaced by historic rain and flooding that has already claimed the lives of at least six people and forced tens of thousands from their homes. Key Words: Disaster, ICE, DHS

The DREAMer Incarceration Rate

8/30/17 There is a vast body of empirical literature showing that legal and illegal immigrants do not increase local crime rates, are less likely to commit crimes than their native-born peers, and are less likely to be incarcerated than are native-born Americans. This brief
by the CATO Institute is the first that estimates the DREAMer incarceration rate. DREAMers are less likely to be incarcerated than native born Americans with the same age and education. DACA ineligible illegal immigrants and all other legal immigrants are even less likely to be incarcerated.

Map the Impact – ALLIES Report on Immigrant Contributions

In February 2017, New American Economy (NAE) released Map the Impact, an interactive tool showcasing the contributions of immigrants in all 435 Congressional districts, the 55 largest U.S. metro areas, all 50 states, and industry sectors across the economy. With information on immigrant tax contributions, spending power, entrepreneurship, workforce, homeownership, demographics, voting power, and more, Map the Impact shows that the foreign-born are helping to grow the economy everywhere. Key Words: Disaster, Mapping

1 in 8 children in California schools have an undocumented parent

4/23/17 Undocumented children as well as U.S. citizen children with undocumented relatives have experienced heightened anxieties for several years as a result of deportation policies begun under President George W. Bush and tightened ones under President Barack Obama.
But according to school officials, those anxieties have reached new heights since Donald Trump’s inauguration, with possible consequences on their ability to focus on school work, the willingness of parents to attend school events, or even to bring their children to school.

Inspired by Trump, more immigrants rush to become U.S. citizens

Since Trump took office, his policies have inspired thousands of immigrants like Radwan to apply for citizenship. Between October and December 2016, the latest data available, 238,062 people applied for naturalization, according to Citizenship and Immigration Services records, compared with 185,466 applications during the same time period in 2015 – a nearly 30 percent jump.

US: A nation of immigrants, but ambivalent about immigration

America’s self-image is forever intertwined with the melting pot. It’s a nation that welcomes the world’s wretched refuse, a nation built by immigrants, a nation whose very motto is “E Pluribus Unum” – Out of Many, One.
America’s history also is replete with efforts to shut the golden door to arrivals from China, from Eastern and Southern Europe – and most recently, from predominantly Muslim nations.
America’s relationship with immigration is … complicated.

Alzheimers ‘tsunami’ among Latinos raises concerns over costs, caregiving

3/18/17 The number of Latinos with Alzheimer’s in the U.S. is expected to rise by more than eight times by 2060, to 3.5 million, according to a report by the University of Southern California’s Institute on Aging and the Latinos Against Alzheimer’s network.
That tidal wave of Alzheimer’s cases is prompting some tough conversations in Latino families, which often pride themselves on caring for elders at home, rather than placing them in nursing homes.

Oakland police pact with ICE questioned

3/17/17 …Oakland data such as that gathered by its license-plate readers is sent to the East Bay data-sharing network ARIES, or Automated Regional Information Exchange System. That database is in turn shared with the larger Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, whose data is accessible by, as Hofer put it, “all sorts of federal agencies.”
“Maybe they’re sharing data a bit more widely than we understand. I don’t know if Oakland knows” Hofer said. “You can impose restrictions on sharing.”

How the Irish compare to other waves of immigrants in the U.S.

3/17/17 St. Patrick’s Day is March 17, when about 39 percent of Americans say they celebrate their Irish heritage. More than 4.5 million Irish immigrants arrived in the U.S. between 1820 and 1930. Between 1820 and 1860, the Irish constituted more than one-third of all immigrants to the U.S. Here is a look at many waves of immigrants coming to America over the decades. Report

Understanding Refugee Upward Mobility in the Context of Resettlement

4/2016 A 2.5 year study on refugee integration and the obstacles to self-sufficiency. The data suggests that without additional support including intensive and intentional ESL, affordable housing, skill training, or opportunities to capitalize on preexisting skills, it can take 13-15 years to reach living-wages. Moreover, these refugees often have to supplement their income with long periods of government financial support or engage in negative and potentially dangerous strategies in order to get by.

Huffington Post is Tracking Islamophobia

2016 The Huffington Post will document this deplorable wave of hate for all of 2016 using news reports and firsthand accounts. The breadth and severity of Islamophobia in America can no longer go unnoticed. Enough is enough. Email to report an anti-Muslim act for the tracker. Or tell us about those who have overcome, battled or survived Islamophobia for a possible story: islamophobia@huffingtonpost.com Key Words: Hate Crimes

My Fellow American

A project of Unity Productions Foundation (UPF), My Fellow American is an online film and social media project that calls upon concerned Americans to pledge and spread a message that Muslims are our fellow Americans. It asks people of other backgrounds to pledge, and share a real life story about a Muslim friend, neighbor, or colleague that they admire. Using the power of social media, My Fellow American seeks to change the narrative – from Muslims as the other, to Muslims as our fellow Americans. Key Words: Islam, Positive Resource

Kosmos Interview with American Muslim Voice Founder

12/15/15 Samina Faheem Sundas, a Sunni Muslim woman originally from Pakistan living in the United States, is the founder of American Muslim Voice, a grassroots organization that seeks to foster lifelong friendships between Muslims and all communities through interfaith dialogue. She has received many awards as a peacebuilder, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Prize awarded by Fellowship of Reconciliation. Key Word: Islam

San Jose Unity rally supports immigrants, decries hate speech

11/20/16 SJ Mercury News – 500 people braved the rain Sunday for a bigger cause: fighting against hate speech, protecting health care and the defending the civil rights of immigrants. Catalyzed by the volatile presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, organizers said the Unity Gathering was meant to bring the community together after the Republicans victory to spread messages of peace and hope.

San Jose residents to Muslims: “You belong here”

12/2/16 SAN JOSE As hundreds of Muslims prayed inside the Evergreen Islamic Center Friday afternoon, community members stood outside, holding signs that read, Muslims make San Jose better, Embrace diversity and Love trumps hate, in a grassroots show of solidarity.
participating in the silent demonstration to offer support following a string of anti-Muslim attacks that have been reported nationwide since the Nov. 8 election. Key Words: Post-Election, Positive, Advocacy, SCC
Archived 7/1/18

More Bay Area residents struggling than poverty statistics indicate

12/6/16 Close to 30 percent of the Bay Area’s residents aren’t able to make ends meet as they contend with high housing costs, suggesting poverty is more widespread in the region than official reports indicate, according to a study published Wednesday.
The report by JobTrain, a Menlo Park-based nonprofit organization, estimated that 29.2 percent of Bay Area residents, or roughly 1.45 million people, are not self-sufficient. Self-sufficiency, the study’s authors said, is defined as having a stable place to live and being able to cover the basics for survival.

Untapped Talent: The Costs of Brain Waste among Highly Skilled Immigrants in the US

12/16 Migration Policy Report – Nearly 2 million immigrants with college degrees in the US. 1 out of every 4 are relegated to low-skilled jobs or unable to find work. This skill underutilization (often referred to as brain waste) comes at a significant cost to families and the U.S. economy: College-educated immigrants employed in low-skilled work miss out on more than $39 billion in wages. And as a result, federal, state, and local governments lose out on more than $10 billion in unrealized tax receipts, according to this study, which offers the first-ever estimates of the economic costs of brain waste.

Nearly half a million U.S. citizens are enrolled in Mexican schools. Many of them are struggling.

Sept 2016 – Researchers find that many students struggle to integrate into Mexican schools because they can’t read or write in Spanish. Others lacked the necessary accreditations to enter school. Nearly a third had either been held back a grade or missed a year or more of school.
“These kids have enormous potential, but we’re losing them. We want to reframe these kids as bilingual, bicultural assets as opposed to problems.” Key words: Education, Deport, Immigration Reform

After lawsuit, CA pledges new support for English Learners in School

Sept 2016 – For at least a decade, according to the federal government, tens of thousands of English learners in elementary, middle and high school received no services to help them learn the language and keep up academically while they did, even though the law required that they get it. Under pressure from a lawsuit and federal authorities, California pledged Friday to make sure that all 1.4 million students who are English learners receive special academic help. Archive 12/1/17

Hmong Americans in the 2013 American Community Survey

The 2014 released American Community Survey (ACS) data do present insights into population growth, demographics, education and socioeconomic progress of Hmong Americans. The data provided in this article are from the Selected Population Profiles for the Hmong Alone Or in Any Combination category in the ACS. The U.S. California and Minnesota Hmong profiles are also included in this brief analysis. Key Words Asian, API, research

Detained, Deceived, and Deported: Experiences of Recently Deported Central American Families

May 18, 2016 Between February and May, 2016, the American Immigration Council interviewed eight individuals who were deported (or whose partners were deported) from the US after being detained in family detention facilities, during which time they came into contact with the CARA Pro Bono Project. These women (or in two of the cases, their partners) shared their experiences both describing what has happened to them and their children since returning to their country and recounting the detention and deportation process from the United States.

New American Economy (NAE)

The Partnership for a New American Economy brings together more than 500 Republican, Democratic, and Independent mayors and business leaders united in making the economic case for streamlining, modernizing, and rationalizing our immigration system. This site contains research, reports and multi-media information demonstrating the contributions of Immigrants to the US economy and the need for immigration reform. 2016 report on New Americans in San Jose and Santa Clara County Key Words: OIR, SJ, SCC, demographics, mapping, disaster

College Guide for Students With Learning Disabilities

2022Although the Americans with Disabilities Act requires every university and college to have a disability office. This page on BestColleges.com describes some of the most common accommodations that might be available, enabling students to attend classes, complete coursework, and undertake exams in a way that suits them best. While 94 percent of high school students with learning disabilities get some kind of help, just 17 percent of college students do. Key Words: Education,

Silicon Valley De-Bug

De-Bug Organizing has initiated and lead successful social justice campaigns to advance the rights of youth, workers, immigrants and those impacted by the criminal justice system. De-Bug Media produces an award-winning bi-lingual (English/Spanish) magazine. De-Bug’s media program also assists and develops communication platforms for organizations and communities across the country.

Voto Latino

Voto Latino is a pioneering civic media organization that seeks to transform America by recognizing Latinos innate leadership. Register to vote on site and also receive e-mail alerts with elections dates. We provide culturally relevant programs that engage, educate and empower Latinos to be agents of change. Together, we aim to build a stronger and more inclusive democracy. Multi-language: Spanish Key Words: Vote, voting, :

Women’sLaw.org

Plain-language legal information for victims of abuse. In 2001, the website was launched to provide state-specific legal information and resources for survivors of domestic violence.  Confidential Email Hotline to offer direct support to survivors, their advocates, friends and family members. WomensLaw is not just for women. We serve and support all survivors, no matter their sex or gender.
Multi-language: Spanish

Bridging Borders In Silicon Valley Summit On Immigrant Needs And Contributions

The findings, results, and conclusions in this final report are the product of the hundreds of participants from state, county, and local governments, from educational institutions and schools, from non-profit agencies and religious institutions, from unions and community organizations, from business owners and ethnic chambers of commerce, and from immigrants and US-born citizens. Published In 2001 by the Santa Clara County Office of Human Relations, Key Words: SCC, Research

An Analysis of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States by Country and Region of Birth

2015. This Migration Policy report describes trends in the origins of the unauthorized population since 1990, offering estimates for top states and counties of residence by country or region of origin. It also provides estimates for how many members of each origin group are potentially eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, finding application rates vary significantly across national origins. Key Word: Research, Demographics

National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV)

NNEDV offers a range of programs and initiatives to address the complex causes and far-reaching consequences of domestic violence. Through cross-sector collaborations and corporate partnerships, NNEDV offers support to victims of domestic violence who are escaping abusive relationships – and empowers survivors to build new lives. Key Words: Mental Health

San Jose Public Library System (SJPL)

All 27 SJPL branches are open again for limited services. Library resources are still available online, 24/7. Free Library Cards for Santa Clara County Residents (any immigration status). Online Application Spanish Vietnamese Chinese Multi-language books, periodicals, videos, ESL Conversation Clubs, Citizenship Resources, Tutoring, Partners in Reading, Literacy, Immigration Legal Asst. Free WiFi Hotspots to borrow Educational Videos in: Spanish | Vietnamese | Chinese | Key Words: Education, Communication

Los Gatos Library

Online services such as e-books through Cloud Library and e-magazines through Flipster are available. If you need a Library account to access these services, please email us at library@losgatosca.gov and we will happily create a new account for you.
Free Library Cards for Santa Clara County Residents (any immigration status). Multi-language books, periodicals, videos, ESL Conversation Clubs, Citizenship Resources, ProCitizen Test Practice Literacy, Immigration Legal Asst.

Sunnyvale Library

Enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks, streaming movies, music, and more – the Library’s digital collections are available 24/7 from our Downloads and Streaming and Online Databases webpages.
Ask us – Library staff are available to respond to questions by phone or via email on weekdays. Leave a voicemail at 408-730-7300
Free Library Cards for Santa Clara County Residents (any immigration status). Multi-language books, periodicals, videos, ESL Conversation Clubs, Citizenship Resources, Literacy, Immigration Legal Asst.

DCARA Deaf Multicultural Program

COVID-19 Update Videos
with Information on current county guidelines, COVID-19 testing sites, curfews, unemployment benefits, community resources, and more, DCARA will remain open to the public.
Communication Aid Card for the Deaf
Call our office (510-343-6670) for immediate services. Check our website and social media for updates
If there are any further questions, please email hotline@dcara.org
It is DCARA’s goal to enhance Deaf Culture within the Deaf ethnic communities by offering services that emphasize community education, and provide socialization opportunities that will enrich the quality of life for these individuals and their families. ASL Classes for Deaf Immigrants, Immigration Advocacy, Education, Counseling, Information & Referral Key Words: American Sign Language

National Alzheimers Association

Alzheimers Association 24-hour helpline 1.800.272.3900 info@alz.org Multi-Language: Arabic, Bosnian, Chinese , English, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, , Nepali, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Vietnamese

Tools to Avoid Scammers

The USCIS wants to combat immigration services scams by equipping applicants, legal service providers and community-based organizations with the knowledge and tools they need to detect and protect themselves from dishonest practices. Links to information about how to find authorized legal immigration help, common scams and where to report them. | Spanish |

Pew Hispanic Center

Founded in 2001, the Pew Hispanic Center is a nonpartisan research organization that seeks to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos’ growing impact on the nation. Site contains a wealth of research in the areas of Hispanic Demographics, Economics and Finances, Education, Latino Identity, Immigration, Labor, Politics, and more. Key Word: Spanish

SF Korean

Bulletin Board, resource lists, Business listings, etc. for the San Francisco Bay Area Korean community. Also links to similar sites in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., Seattle, Texas, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Colorado

Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Services (LIRS)

LIRS works with migrants and refugees and many partners in service to resettle refugees through a network of 28 local organizations in 26 states. 16 of those organizations also provide immigration legal services. Asylum seekers, survivors of torture and other migrants impacted by detention are served through 23 partners providing legal and social services including visitation ministry. In addition, we work directly with eight foster care programs at the state level to provide family reunification and foster care services for unaccompanied refugee and immigrant children.

MoneyWi$e

A national financial literacy partnership of Consumer Action and Capital One, contains free, multilingual financial education materials. It also offers curricula and teaching aids with regional meetings and roundtables to train community-based organization staff, so that consumers at all income levels and walks of life can be reached. Key Words:

211 National Directory

National 211 provides links to free and confidential information and referral. Call 2-1-1 for help with food, housing, employment, health care, counseling and more. You can call or search on line for resources in hundreds of counties across the country. Multi-language: Key Words: I&R, Info

EmbassyPages.com

EmbassyPages.com is a comprehensive worldwide directory of embassies, consulates and other international diplomatic representations, with contact details for more than 24,000 representations worldwide. (Note: Directory use is free but site also contains links to immigration forms and services that are free on US government sites.)