Dear John,

At the Forum, we have a unique approach to building a coalition of partners ready to change the narrative on American immigration and build a 21st-century approach to immigration policy. Since 2011 we have worked hard to engage new partners in the effort -- from faith leaders to law enforcement officials and business executives. The results of this endeavor have been nothing short of promising.

And yet, we continue to see disturbing changes to immigration policy, speeding through our rapid-fire news cycle.

As mentioned in Ali’s note, since 2017 we’ve seen:

Thousands of children separated from their parents; Twice as many immigrant detainee deaths this fiscal year than last; A shutdown of our asylum system; Thousands of unaccompanied children expelled from the country, with many held secretly in hotel rooms; Refugee resettlement falls to historic lows; Allegations of hysterectomies performed on detained immigrant women without their knowledge; Increased deportation of undocumented immigrants who pose no public safety threat; Massive reduction of legal immigration pathways; The El Paso massacre; Elimination of temporary protected status for 400,000 immigrants, many of whom have been in the US over 20 years; Approximately 300,000 legal immigrants unable to naturalize in time to vote; and, The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on immigrants.

Still, the promise of newcomers to our country, people who share our values of human dignity, family and giving back, continues to shine through. We hope this third installment of The Forum will help reinforce your resolve to support advocacy efforts on behalf of immigrants and immigration.

The stories we present here are just one small fraction of the work we do to shape the policies necessary to make our immigration system serve the national interest, meeting the needs of our economy, workers and families. And, we can only continue doing this work thanks to generous supporters like you, John.

We hope you enjoy this edition of our newsletter and as always, we welcome your thoughts.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Beth Sears
Vice President & Chief of Strategic Partnerships

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EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT: Leading the Way 2020

Join us for our upcoming virtual convening, Leading the Way! This annual event brings together an influential group of leaders to discuss the role of immigrants and immigration in the U.S.

This year’s convening will be held online from November 16-19th from 3-5 pm EST each day. It’s a free event, open to the public. Space is limited, so don’t miss your chance to sign-up now.

This year's discussions are critical with the ever-changing political landscape and as we grapple the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s more important than ever to highlight how we can work together to build a commonsense solution to immigration policy.

To learn more and register, follow the link here: leadingtheway.us


NEW: “Stories from the Heartland”

Stories from the Heartland is a new series of collected stories from Dreamers and community leaders across the country about why we need a permanent legislative solution.

Dreamers are our friends, families, neighbors -- and human beings worthy of dignity, respect and fair immigration laws. As Dreamers continue to live in limbo, we need to highlight their stories and advocate for a permanent legislative solution.

Read more Stories from the Heartland here: [link removed]


ADVOCACY: Faith leaders fighting for commonsense immigration

As part of our efforts with faith leaders, we recently partnered with World Relief to send a letter to Ivanka Trump, urging the administration to adhere to the provisions of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) concerning unaccompanied migrant children who cross the border. As of this writing, over 15,000 individuals have signed onto this effort.

Along these lines, we have worked with the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force and Evangelical Immigration Table -- two of our close partners -- to directly engage DHS leadership on this question and several others.

These examples are just some of the ways we’re working in tandem with our partners to advocate for immigrants and commonsense immigration policies.

To learn more about these efforts, simply click here: [link removed]


RECAP: Citizenship Day

Last Thursday, we commemorated Citizenship Day, a day to recognize new American citizens who call the U.S. home. Since 2013, the Forum’s "New American Workforce" program has helped thousands of individuals with the citizenship process.

Recently, Marvi Lou -- an immigrant from Venezuela -- used NAW's citizenship services through Walmart, her employer. As a partner, Walmart's foreign-born workforce can get the assistance they need to complete their citizenship application. Employees gain access to legal assistance, if needed, and a secure, online portal to submit their application.

Read more about Marvi Lou's story here: [link removed], and watch our Citizenship Day video here: [link removed]


TUNE IN: “How Did We Get Here?”
To understand the state of American immigration policies today, we must know the history. Our legal immigration system is complex and challenging to navigate -- and the increasing threats it faces from the Trump administration only intensifies this. In a recent series for Only in America, we ask, “How Did We Get Here?” as Ali hears from experts discussing how the past informs the moment we are in now, and what it means for the future of immigration.

You’ll hear from Jia Lynn Yang, author of “One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle Over American Immigration, 1924-1965;” Charles Kamasaki, Senior Cabinet Advisor for UnidosUS and author of “Immigration Reform: The Corpse That Will Not Die;” Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow and Director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute; Becky Tallent, former Chief of Staff for Senator John McCain and senior advisor for Speaker John Boehner; and Ainee Aithar, Immigration Program Manager at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Take a listen to the full series, then make sure to subscribe to never miss an episode: [link removed]


ICYMI: Time to Naturalize

The COVID-19 pandemic is not only impacting the U.S. naturalization process, but it’s bringing a whopping increase in price next month. If you or someone you know is planning to apply for naturalization, make sure to let them know before the application cost goes up on October 2.

To learn more, check out our infographics here: [link removed] and here: [link removed]


Thank you for reading The Forum. If you like what you see here, send us an email at [email protected]. Or, feel free to forward to your friends and family!