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Dear Friends,

"This is us," Judge Jerry Blackwell said as he looked out into the crowd of over 400 new U.S. citizens from over 70 countries at a March naturalization ceremony. I was privileged to be at this ceremony to celebrate one of those new citizens, felt privileged to know and even be part of the story of one of those new U.S. citizens, Kathy Santamaría Méndez.

Kathy met the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) at the beginning of her journey toward citizenship when ILCM assisted her family in obtaining Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Years later, I met Kathy when she was a law student at Mitchell Hamline School of Law and a summer Minnesota Justice Foundation fellow at ILCM.

During her summer with us, Kathy impressed me with her passion for the work, which was deeply personal. Throughout law school we stayed close, and I was thrilled when she joined me in testifying for Drivers' Licenses for All at the Minnesota legislature and in attending the governor's bill signing.

We at ILCM are proud to have been a part of Kathy's journey and for her to be part of ours. Other ILCM clients became citizens at the same ceremony, as our clients do throughout every year. They are the newest Minnesota citizens, following the path taken by parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents who came from Sweden, from Somalia, from all over the world.

As they have for generations, immigrant families enrich Minnesota's culture, build the economy, and play essential roles in the social, political, and economic life of our communities. Some are lawyers like Kathy, mental health practitioners like Dr. Tolulope Monisola Ola, or grocers like John Huynh. Tens of thousands of immigrant Minnesotans care for the sick, process food for our tables, build homes and highways, and contribute to every segment of our economy. [John Huynh Link: [link removed] ; Dr. Tolulope Link: [link removed] ]

My own family's immigrant journey brought my parents to Minnesota, and my own father became a citizen at a ceremony at the St. Paul Federal Courthouse only a month before I was born. Working at ILCM, I am so privileged to be part of many new immigrant journeys, and to feel the hope and energy immigrants and refugees bring to a new home. This is us--together for the future of our community, our state, and our country.

In solidarity,

Veena Iyer
ILCM Executive Director



Tips for Talking About Immigration

In this political season, we face the opportunity and challenge of conversations with family and friends about immigration. (And race. And LGBTQ rights. And all the rest of the political issues that divide us.)

Tips Link: [link removed]



Starting From the Kitchen: A Q&A With Lina "Mama Tshutshu" Nyaronge

"Mama Tshutshu is a community connector in the truest sense of the phrase. In collaboration with Sharing Our Roots, a Northfield nonprofit that provides land access to immigrant and emerging farmers, she helps fellow immigrants from Kenya and other parts of East and West Africa secure plots of land to grow produce and access organic farming tools and resources."

Q&A Link: [link removed]



St. Paul school district halts enrollment slide. The secret: listening to immigrant communities.

"The district credits its enrollment stabilization, in part, with an investment in language and cultural programs like Txuj Ci. The four schools that have added the most students in the past two years are the Txuj Ci Lower Campus and the new Upper Campus; the new East African Elementary Magnet School; and Adams Spanish Immersion School."

School Districts Link: [link removed]



Food for everyone: Fargo international market serves diversifying population

"This place is not only a place for people to come to buy groceries. It means a lot to provide to the community, especially our culture," said Huynh, who runs the supermarket with his sister Sarah. "We get a chance to see people, you know, from our community, meet new people from different cultures and then bring all of them together."

Fargo Link: [link removed]



A community-based approach to suicide prevention

"In many immigrant communities, conversation about mental health is avoided out of fear, bias or misunderstanding. "That kind of behavior can be dangerous," said Tolulope Ola, Ph.D., the founder and executive director of Restoration for All, a community-based, African-led nonprofit.

Suicide Prevention Link: [link removed]


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