Welcome to This Week at LIRS!
Every week, we catch you up on what's new at LIRS—from upcoming events to media appearances, important immigration updates, and more.
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"No nation in the world has taken the leadership to address this reality...It’s not an issue that we can punt to 20, 30 years from now. Our hope is the U.S. can take strong action that will produce a domino effect on other nations.'"
– LIRS CEO Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, AP
On Earth Day, we hosted a day-long social media takeover to bring attention to one of the most pressing issues of our time: climate-induced migration.
For more than 80 years, LIRS has assisted forcibly uprooted people from around the globe. But increasingly, we are seeing an unprotected group seeking refuge: migrants who are forced to flee due to environmental changes.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), an average of 22.5 million people were displaced by climate or weather-related events between 2000-2018. The factors that cause climate-induced migration are many, from sudden, direct-impact weather events like flooding, forest fires, and storms to slow-onset events like desertification, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, air pollution, and loss of biodiversity.
Watch our Earth Day video, then learn more about climate-induced migration at our resource hub below.
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"We don't know how to solve the problems, how to fix the system. But we do know that these children are coming to this country for a better life. And we believe in that."
We invite you to listen to this fantastic interview with Bridget and Christopher, who foster immigrant children through LIRS.
Listen now.
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Earlier in the week, CEO Krish O'Mara Vignarajah spoke with Alicia Menendez of MSNBC about the presidential determination and the need for the U.S. to reclaim its humanitarian responsibility and reassume its global leadership.
Watch the interview.
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LIRS is excited to invite you to our first annual Stand Up, Speak Up. Together with interfaith communities across the country, we are lifting a unified voice to welcome and advocate for immigrants and refugees coming to the United States. Our goal is to focus less on the differences that can separate us—our faith backgrounds, ethnicities, and countries of origin—and demonstrate that our commonalities—compassion, love, and humanity—are what unify us.
Download the toolkit.
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Join LIRS’s long legacy of providing protection and welcome to unaccompanied migrant children at the border and beyond. Our Hope at the Southern Border toolkit outlines tangible ways for you, your friends and family, and your community to lend a hand at this critical time.
Download the toolkit.
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Join LIRS in calling for President Biden to keep his promises to the thousands of vulnerable children and families who seek refuge on our shores. Join us on Tuesday, April 27 at 4 p.m. to learn more about the Presidential Determination, the refugee resettlement process, and how you can raise your voice to restore welcome.
Register now.
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Welcome back to LIRS Culture Kitchen! On May 6 at 6 p.m., we're cooking with Virginia Ali, one of the founder's of Ben's Chili Bowl along with her daughter Vida. Together, we'll talk about the how the Ali family started one of the most well-known D.C. restaurants over 60 years ago while cooking tasty Trinidadian curry.
Register now.
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Join LIRS on May 23 at 4 p.m. ET for our first annual Stand Up, Speak Up Spring Vigil. Together with hundreds of interfaith communities across the country, we will examine our roles as compassionate friends and justice-seekers through prayer, reflection, and stories from migrant and refugee families.
Register today.
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