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.
|
|
|
|
"We believe that New American Cities will allow us to change the lives of its refugee participants, fundamentally shift national and local narratives related to refugees, and create an innovative, inclusive framework that will assist thousands more refugees to come."
– LIRS CEO Krish O'Mara Vignarajah
Earlier this year, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service was recognized as one of the top five finalists for the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award, a funding opportunity created to support a brighter, more durable future for refugees. The organization’s proposed project, New American Cities, would provide an opportunity to rebuild for both new Americans and the cities they call home through economic empowerment, social mobility, and the promotion of diverse, inclusive communities.
The New American Cities project recently received $1.25M in funding from donors in the ICONIQ network and beyond, allowing us to begin revolutionizing refugee resettlement. Learn more.
|
|
This week, LIRS submitted formal recommendations to the White House, urging the Biden administration to swiftly and securely evacuate over 17,000 Afghans in the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program along with their estimated 53,000 family members ahead of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan slated for September 2021.
Learn more and read the letter, then see our statement in Daily Kos.
|
|
|
"What the president sets as the refugee cap is both aspirational and inspirational for a domestic and international audience.”
LIRS CEO Krish O'Mara Vignarajah recently spoke with Vox about the decimation of the refugee resettlement system and what it will take to rebuild.
Read the article.
|
|
|
On Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 7 p.m. ET, LIRS joins Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area and the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area for a virtual Refugee Town Hall with featured guest, Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD).
Register today.
|
|
|
TAKE ACTION! This week, President Biden met with DACA recipients to discuss his immigration priorities and encourage Congress to act to protect Dreamers. You, too, can take action by contacting your Senators and asking them to pass the Dream Act of 2021, which would provide a permanent lawful status to nearly two million Dreamers and would shield them from deportation and allow them to work and support their families.
Contact your Senators.
|
|
|
|
ICYMI: Maryland's WJZ recently did a segment on LIRS's temporary foster care program for unaccompanied children featuring interviews with foster parents Catherina and Leonard and LIRS CEO Krish O'Mara Vignarajah.
Watch the segment.
|
|
|
NEXT WEEK! LIRS is excited to invite you to our first annual Stand Up, Speak Up program. 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.
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel!
|
|
|
|
|
|
