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Dear John,
I hope this email finds you and your loved ones well. We know and understand that we are living through an unsettling time in our country and around the world, and yet we also hope this can be a moment for change.
Like most of you, we are grappling with the injustices caused by police brutality, racism and systemic oppression alongside a global pandemic with no end in sight. With all this in mind, we are pushing for more action and meaningful conversations with our communities, our families and our social networks.
By working alongside one another and treating each other with the dignity, fairness and justice we all deserve, we will be able to overcome the crises plaguing our country.
In this second edition of The Forum, we share several new projects and campaigns we’ve been working on that focus precisely on this theme of unity and dignity.
We hope they expose some glimmers of hope on what is possible when we all come together.
Thank you so much for everything you do to lend your voice to support our immigrant communities.
Take care,
Beth Sears
Vice President & Chief of Strategic Partnerships
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DISCUSSION: Racism, America and Immigration
Earlier this month, we held a frank discussion on racism, America and immigration with Dr. Walter Strickland, Assistant Professor of Systematic and Contextual Theology and Associate Vice President for Diversity at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Alan Cross, pastor and author of When Heaven and Earth Collide: Racism, Southern Evangelicals, and the Better Way of Jesus.
We also hosted Dr. Strickland on our Only in America podcast where he talks about how a history of racism and systemic injustice has affected Black Americans, as well as the role of the church in advocating for justice.
Tune in to watch the full webinar discussion here and listen to the podcast here.
BIG NEWS: Supreme Court’s DACA ruling
Last Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration did not provide an adequate justification for ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), allowing it to remain in place. It was a major win for DACA recipients – who are estimated to contribute an estimated $433 billion to the GDP and $12.3 billion in taxes to Social Security and Medicare. Though this decision is a big sigh of relief for hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients, the administration could still make another attempt to end the protections. Ali Noorani breaks down why Congress needs to pass a permanent solution.
Watch our explainer video on the future of DACA here and take a listen to a special episode of Only in America here.
FACT CHECK: 48 Immigration-related Executive Actions During the Pandemic
This week, the Trump administration extended and expanded its April proclamation that barred certain immigrants from the U.S. for an initial period of 60 days. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration has issued at least 48 policy changes affecting almost every facet of the immigration system. Some of these are temporary, others are reasonable changes, and others could potentially remain in place long after they are no longer necessary.
Yet for some policies, the administration has used the pandemic as pretext to implement dramatic immigration restrictions that have been part of the Trump administration’s immigration objectives since long before the spread of COVID-19.
View the full list of the policies here, read the explainer on President Trump's Proclamation here, and watch Ali Noorani's explainer video here.
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Support the National Immigration Forum
The National Immigration Forum is dedicated to bridging policy and politics to create the solutions necessary to bring about change on federal immigration policy. Be part of the grassroots movement helping to fight for the value of immigrants and immigration to our nation.
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ENGLISH AT WORK: Why English Training is Essential for Essential Workers
Earlier this month, English at Work, celebrated the graduation of four English training cohorts with our partners at Whole Foods Market in the North East region. Dozens of Whole Foods employees from 22 stores participated in retail English training. Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, we were able to retain over 70% of participants with a remote model in place. Through this model, we were able to continue remote instruction as the pandemic hit without any training disruption.
Read more about our English language training program findings during COVID-19 here.
FROM THE FIELD: “Let’s Talk Immigration”
We recently launched Let’s Talk Immigration: Conversations with the Field, a new video series from the Forum’s field mobilizers. Each episode delves deep into how immigration issues play out and affect our daily lives. In our first episode, field mobilizer Jason Leif speaks with Alex Vasquez, an area director for Young Life and DACA recipient from Iowa. Together they discuss Alex’s immigrant story and the need for legislative reform.
Watch the full episode here and then share the episode with your social networks!
ICYMI: Forum launches #AllOfUs campaign
From health care to agriculture, Americans – regardless of where we were born – are standing shoulder to shoulder during this crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us that we are all in this together – and we need to remain united as one nation, indivisible. We’re highlighting this message through the #AllOfUs campaign which launched last month in partnership with over 30 bipartisan organizations and leaders including World Relief, Emerson Collective, Chef José Andrés, among others.
Watch the #AllOfUs video here and learn more about the campaign here.
Thank you for reading The Forum. If you like what you see here, send me an email at [email protected]. Or, feel free to forward to your friends and family!
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