Supporting the Resilience of America’s Immigrant Communities: How Community Organizations are Responding to Federal Policy Changes

For as long as immigrants have come to the United States, immigrant-serving and immigrant-led organizations have provided them direct support, advocated for their rights and needs, and connected them to public benefits for which they are eligible. These roles are especially important during moments of strain or challenge, such as those that occur as a result of changes to federal policies affecting immigrants and their families. Because nearly one in four households with children contain an immigrant parent, researchers have documented how recent and proposed changes related to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), to refugee and asylum-seekers, persons with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and detention and deportation practices impact millions of children and adults.

Supporting the Resilience of America’s Immigrant Communities: How Community Organizations are Responding to Federal Policy Changes seeks to understand the impact of these policy changes not just on immigrants, their families, and the communities in which they live but upon the local  institutions that support them. Based on interviews with practitioners in Chicago, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and New York who serve varied ethnic neighborhoods, the brief explores how organizations have responded so as to support the resilience of immigrant communities. The paper particularly focuses on policy implications related to proposed changes to “public charge” determinations. 

Download now or view online.