The philanthropic community has the opportunity to make 2013 a historic year for immigration policy. Earlier this year, the Obama administration proposed a four-pronged approach to comprehensive immigration reform:
- Strengthening Border Security
- Cracking Down on Employers Hiring Undocumented Workers
- Implementing a Pathway to Earned Citizenship
- Streamlining Legal Immigration
These measures are meant to protect civil liberties, meet our workforce needs, and provide a pathway for immigrants to become fully-participating American citizens.
Immigration reform is of critical importance to all Americans: in 2011 there was a population of 11.5 million unauthorized immigrants residing in the United States, and tens of thousands continue to migrate each year. Additionally, Census records estimate that there were nearly 40 million foreign-born people in the United States in 2010, representing 13 percent of the population and 16 percent of the workforce. Immigrants are a crucial source of innovation: half of all entrepreneurs are immigrants, and immigrants submit patents at two to three times the rate of native-born citizens.
Several grantmakers have begun to speak out on the opportunity that immigration reform presents for the philanthropic community, encouraging others to fund advocacy initiatives and more fully involve immigrants in the philanthropic process. At CAAP, many of our grantees are social service organizations that assist immigrants and refugees with language skills, job training, and legal services, as they acclimate to their new lives in America.
Additionally, we recently partnered with NNAAC, our sister organization, to award $45,000 in civic engagement grants to three Arab American organizations to support field organizering staff positions. You can learn more about NNAAC’s campaign for comprehensive immigration reform and learn how to contact your congressional representative here.
Further reading
- Immigrant philanthropy and start-up success (Philanthropy in AAction)
- Fact sheet: Fixing immigration reform so everyone plays by the rules (The White House)