Children of Immigrants: School Readiness and Education Policy (S2)

Margie McHugh, Co-Director, MPI National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, moderates a discussion on the school readiness and education policy affecting the children of immigrants. Two experts discuss the issues of early learning and school readiness:  Robert Crosnoe, Elsie and Stanley E. (Skinny) Adams, Sr., Centennial Professor in Liberal Arts, Departments of Sociology and Psychology, University of Texas at Austin; and Linda Espinosa, Co-Principal Investigator for the Center for Early Care and Education Research—Dual Language Learners, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Professor Emeritus of Early Childhood Education, University of Missouri, Columbia.  Read the agenda and topics here.

Children of Immigrants: Health and Health Insurance Policy (S1)

Randy Capps, Senior Policy Analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, moderates a discussion on the health outcomes for the children of immigrants and health care. The following speakers present their research papers: Jennifer Van Hook, Director, Population Research Institute, and Professor of Sociology and Demography, Pennsylvania State University;  and Leighton Ku, Professor of Health Policy and Director of the Center for Health Policy Research, The George Washington University. And Ajay Chaudry, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy in the US Department of Health and Human Services, offers remarks. This session is part of a day-long MPI conference, “Critical Immigration, Health, and Education Policies Affecting Young Children of Immigrants.” Read the agenda and topics here.

Policies Affecting Young Children of Immigrants: Keynote Address by Doris Meissner

Doris Meissner, Migration Policy Institute Senior Fellow, discusses the current political environment regarding immigration policy in the United States at a day-long MPI conference on the children of immigrants in the United States, “Critical Immigration, Health, and Education Policies Affecting Young Children of Immigrants.” Read the agenda and topics here.

Critical Immigration, Health, and Education Policies Affecting Young Children of Immigrants - Intro

Michael Fix, Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at the Migration Policy Institute, gives an overview of a day-long MPI conference on critical immigration, health, and education policies affecting young children of immigrants, introducing speakers and session topics.  Deborah A. Phillips, President of the Foundation for Child Development, which provided a grant for the conference, talks about the Young Scholars Program and some of the research leading up to the conference. Read the agenda and topics here.

Young Children of Black Immigrants in America

Capping a two-year research initiative on young children in Black immigrant families from Africa and the Caribbean, this Migration Policy Institute (MPI) book launch and discussion in December 2012 features research contained in Young Children of Black Immigrants in America: Changing Flows, Changing Faces. The discussion, moderated by MPI Senior Vice President Michael Fix (book co-editor), features researchers Kevin Thomas (book co-author) of Penn State University, Randy Capps of MPI (book co-editor), Dylan Patricia Conger (book co-author) of George Washington University, and Gerald Jaynes of Yale University. Ajay Chaudry, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy in the US Department of Health and Human Services, offers a policy perspective on the research. For more on the research initiative, visit www.migrationpolicy.org/cbi.
Purchase a copy of the book
View Kevin Thomas's Power Point |  View Dylan Conger's Power Point

Rethinking National Identity in the Age of Migration

In this Migration Policy Institute event on October 24, speakers discuss the anti-immigrant political movement in Europe (particularly France and the Netherlands) and the United States, the players who contribute to this environment, an analysis on the current situation in these countries, and the implications for community cohesion and national identity. Speakers: Patrick Simon, Director of Research, Institut national d’études démographiques, and Researcher at the Center for European Studies at Sciences Po, Paris; Cas Mudde, Assistant Professor of International Affairs at the University of Georgia; National Council of La Raza Executive Vice President Charles Kamasaki; and America’s Voice Executive Director Frank Sharry. Moderated by MPI President Demetrios G. Papademetriou.
View Cas Mudde's PowerPoint Presentation |  View Patrick Simon's PowerPoint Presentation

Serving Millions: Hot Topics in Legal Service Response

At the 9th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference sponsored by the Migration Policy Institute, Georgetown University Law Center, Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. (CLINIC), and the Center for Migration Studies, CLINIC’s Training and Legal Support Attorney Jennie Guilfoyle moderates a session on charitable legal service programs with Immigrant Legal Resource Center Executive Director Eric Cohen; William Hornsby, Staff Counsel in the American Bar Association’s Division for Legal Services; and Mark O’Brien, Pro Bono Net’s Executive Director.  The session provides an overview on legal service provision, and covers new trends, best practices, challenges, and possible pitfalls in using technology for legal service provision. Panelists also discuss organizing large-scale legal service responses (like in the cases of deferred action, past legalizations, or naturalization); and other issues in organizational capacity, associated expenses, and coordination when providing charitable legal services.
For more information on the conference, click here.

A Discussion with Alejandro Mayorkas, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

At the 9th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference on October 1, 2012 sponsored by the Migration Policy Institute, Georgetown University Law Center, Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. and the Center for Migration Studies, US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas discusses the implementation of the Obama administration's Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals initiative; the pre-adjudication of waivers; the agency's promulgation of policies and public engagement efforts; possible fiscal cuts to the agency's budget; and other steps the agency is taking to respond to changing demographics, customer service needs, and national security concerns. The session was moderated by Charles Wheeler, Director of CLINIC's National Legal Center for Immigrants.
For more information on the conference, click here.

Migration Policy Institute 2012 E Pluribus Unum Prize Awardees Discuss Immigrant Integration

The winners of the Migration Policy Institute's 2012 E Pluribus Unum Prizes, honoring exceptional immigrant integration work happening in the United States, discussed their initiatives during a plenary luncheon on September 24, 2012 at the National Immigrant Integration Conference held in Baltimore, MD. During a Q&A with MPI Senior Vice President Michael Fix, leaders with ACCESS (the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services), Building Skills Partnership, Californians Together, and Citi Community Development discussed key aspects of their work. At discussion's end, the winners received their E Pluribus Unum Prizes from Brad Davidson, a trustee of the J.M. Kaplan Fund, which generously funds the prizes program.
For more information, visit www.integrationawards.org.

Making It Work: Lessons in Collaboration on Language Access Contracting

A webinar on language access contracting for federal, state, and local officials, agency administrators, and community stakeholders concerned with the oversight and implementation of language access provision. Presenters will include Neel Saxena, Grant Manager and Program Coordinator in the Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs within the District of Columbia 's Executive Office of the Mayor, and Simone Richardson, Contracting Officer in the District of Columbia’s Office of Contracting and Procurement. The webinar was moderated by MPI Policy Analyst Chhandasi Pandya.
View the PowerPoint slides |  Read DC’s citywide translation and interpretation contract and DC government’s quality assurance standards.

The New Deferred Action Program: Strategies for Success

In this Migration Policy Institute event, US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas discusses the application process and policies that his agency has announced to implement the deferred action program that will grant a two-year reprieve from deportation to as many as 1.76 million unauthorized immigrants who came to the United States as children (and are known as DREAMers). After initial comments, Director Mayorkas engages in a conversation moderated by MPI Senior Fellow Doris Meissner with panelists David A. Martin, Professor of International Law at the University of Virginia and former Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security; Muzaffar Chishti, Director, MPI Office at NYU School of Law; and Marielena Hincapié, Executive Director, National Immigration Law Center.
Download the MPI Fact Sheet with the latest estimates on the potential beneficiary population: Relief from Deportation: Demographic Profile of the DREAMers Potentially Eligible under the Deferred Action Policy.

The Role of National Governments in Promoting Immigrant Integration

Migration Policy Institute (MPI) President Demetrios G. Papademetriou leads a discussion on the complexities of managing an effective immigrant integration system and creating policies and initiatives that support the success of immigrants and their families in their new host societies. Discussants include Rosario Farmhouse, High Commissioner for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue in Portugal; Alejandro Mayorkas, Director, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, US Department of Homeland Security; Jasenko Selimovic, State Secretary to the Minister for Integration in Sweden; and Peter Sylvester, Associate Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
For immigrant integration resources from MPI, visit www.migrationpolicy.org/integration. For international migration resources, visit www.migrationpolicy.org/transatlantic.

Federal Update: A Conversation on Language Access with the US Dept. of Justice

Photo by Flickr user Greg115, Creative Commons

This MPI webinar features US Department of Justice (DOJ) officials discussing the department’s efforts to improve communications with Limited English Proficient (LEP) communities in federal and federally-funded programs and activities. Laureen Laglagaron, an Attorney-Advisor in the department’s Federal Coordination and Compliance Section of the Civil Rights Division and Christine Stoneman, Special Counsel in the Federal Coordination and Compliance Section will an update on the progress of language access compliance at the federal level and discuss how the agency is continuing to provide oversight and technical assistance to states and localities as they too attempt to meet their language access responsibilities. This webinar is moderated by Chhandasi Pandya, a policy analyst at MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy.
Download the PowerPoint |  View other webinars on MPI's Language Portal

Uyen Nguyen and James Huy Bao Accepts MPI’s Young Innovators Award

MPI Co-Founder and Director of MPI’s Migrants, Migration, and Development, and Refugee Policy Programs Kathleen Newland presents OneVietnam Network Co-Founders Uyen Nguyen and James Huy Bao for their vision and dynamism in engaging the Vietnamese diaspora in action for good through the use of new media, arts, culture, and social entrepreneurship. Their initiative is being examined as a model for other diaspora groups.
Visit www.migrationpolicy.org/celebrate10thevent

Hon. Alan K. Simpson and Hon. Romano “Ron” Mazzoli Accepts MPI’s Leadership in Public Policy Award

On the 25th anniversary of implementation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, MPI honors Senator Alan Simpson for his leadership and bipartisanship in working to enact a major immigration reform measure with the interests of the country squarely in mind. Their work serves as reminder of a time when Congress was able to set aside its divisions to accomplish big things in the immigration arena. Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow and Director of MPI’s US Immigration Policy Program, discusses with Rep. Mazzoli the implementation of IRCA.
Visit www.migrationpolicy.org/celebrate10thevent

MPI Briefing on Generational Gains Made by Immigrant-Origin Young Adults

This Migration Policy Institute briefing discusses the release of a major MPI report, Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults, which examines the educational and workforce attainment of immigrant-origin young adults between the ages of 16-26, finding significant gains in particular for second-generation Hispanic women when it comes to college enrollment. Moderating the discussion is Margie McHugh, Co-Director of MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy. Report co-authors Michael Fix, MPI Senior Vice President and Director of Studies, and Jeanne Batalova, MPI Policy Analyst, discuss the report findings. Providing comments on the report are Andrew P. Kelly, Research Fellow, Education Policy, American Enterprise Institute, and Raul González, Director of Legislative Affairs, National Council of La Raza (NCLR).
Archive of the event video available here.

Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults

During this 30-minute presentation, Migration Policy Institute Senior Vice President Michael Fix and Policy Analyst Jeanne Batalova discuss their report, Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults, which profiles the population of first- and second-generation young adults in the United States between the ages of 16 and 26. These young adults from immigrant families, numbering 11.3 million, represent one in four people in the United States between the ages of 16-26 and account for half of the growth of the young adult population between 1995 and 2010. This report, done through a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, finds substantial generational progress in terms of high school graduation, college enrollment, and ability to earn family-sustaining wages. Second-generation Hispanic women are faring particularly well, with college enrollment rates equal to those of third-generation non-Hispanic white women. However, they are not graduating from college at the same rate or on the same timeline because of family, work, or economic reasons. The report sketches how postsecondary education, workforce development, and language training programs could better meet the needs of this population, which will assume a greater role as the US workforce ages.

Language Access and Schools: Federal Requirements and School Experiences

This webinar from the Migration Policy Institute’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy (NCIIP) and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Bridging Refugee Youth & Children’s Services (BRYCS) program explores federal requirements for providing interpretation and translation in schools and how select school districts in Minnesota and Colorado have managed these requirements. Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, schools are required to provide information to parents in a “language they can understand.” In addition to this requirement, Executive Order 13166 makes clear the responsibility of all federally funded programs to uphold Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by ensuring meaningful access to programs and services for individuals regardless of their English proficiency. School districts across the country have implemented these federal requirements in a variety of ways.
This is the latest in NCIIP’s language access webinar series exploring the policy and program implementation imperatives for government and community agencies serving Limited English Proficient (LEP) populations. To access audio of previous webinars, click here. To access a toolkit for teachers and school personnel on translation and interpretation requirements developed by BRYCS, please click here.
Speakers are:
Lyn Morland, Director, Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services, US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Laura Gardner, Education Technical Assistance Specialist, Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services, US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Salvador Carrera, Director, Multicultural Outreach Office, Denver Public Schools
Alejandra Bosch, Translation Services Coordinator, Office of Communications, Marketing and Development, Saint Paul Public Schools
The call is moderated by Chhandasi Pandya, Policy Analyst/Program Coordinator, National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, Migration Policy Institute.
View the PowerPoint presentation here.
Also of interest: LEP Workers & Access to Workforce Services: Barriers & Prospects under WIA Reauthorization, Taking Limited English Proficient Adults into Account in the Federal Adult Education Funding Formula, and Immigrants and Welfare: The Impact of Welfare Reform on America’s Newcomers

LEP Workers & Access to Workforce Services: Barriers & Prospects under WIA Reauthorization

Current negotiations over reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) come at a critical moment for immigrant and Limited English Proficient (LEP) workers. They and their current and future employers have a large stake in these negotiations, given the wide range of labor supply and skill mismatches that employers rely on immigrants to meet across the United States. Further, the predominance of immigrants and their children among new, young, and future US workers and the weak response thus far of the WIA-funded training system to the needs of these increasingly diverse and multilingual workers necessitates a concerted re-examination of the WIA system. The extent to which changes to the WIA system take account of these important demographic and economic trends and address the needs of immigrant-origin and LEP workers in particular will strongly affect the law's ability to support our country's future economic success.
There is broad consensus that LEP workers of varying educational backgrounds and levels of English proficiency and vocational skills are underserved by WIA's training services as a result of the law's structure. While community-based organizations have filled some gaps in services for LEP individuals and immigrant workers, the current reauthorization debate presents an opportunity for analysts, workforce services professionals, and community stakeholders to consider how to redesign the WIA system and its investments in these important segments of the US workforce. On this webinar, experts discuss barriers immigrant and LEP individuals face in accessing the WIA system, how a revitalized WIA could address these barriers, and the extent to which the current Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee's WIA reauthorization proposal addresses these barriers.
View the PowerPoint presentation here.
This webinar is part of Migration Policy Institute's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy (NCIIP) Language Access Webinar Series.
Speakers are:
Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, Director of Outreach and Program Evaluation, Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians
Emma Oppenheim, Manager, Workforce Development Policy Initiatives, National Council of La Raza
Gabriela Lemus, Senior Advisor and Director, Office of Public Engagement, US Department of Labor
Also of interest: Taking Limited English Proficient Adults into Account in the Federal Adult Education Funding Formula, and Immigrants and Welfare: The Impact of Welfare Reform on America’s Newcomers

Proactive Engagement: Two Strategies for Providing Language Access in Workforce Development Services

Inadequate interpretation services, a lack of relevant translated materials and customer service that is not culturally competent often deter limited English proficient (LEP) individuals from accessing workforce services through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA)-funded One Stop system. This interactive language access webinar, one in a series offered by the Migration Policy Institute's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, examines how New York and Illinois have broken down some of these barriers to proactively engage LEP communities to obtain workforce services. The need to ensure meaningful access to WIA-funded employment and training services for the large share of US low- and middle-skilled LEP workers is urgent, particularly in light of the tough job market and gloomy projections for the speed of recovery from the Great Recession. These featured approaches, which have entailed policy and programmatic fixes, can serve as models as states attempt to meet the workforce needs of their LEP populations and comply with federal requirements to provide meaningful language access in their federally funded programs.
Speakers are:
Julio Rodriguez, Director of Program Services, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
Haeya Yim, Counsel, Division of Immigrant Policies and Affairs, New York Department of Labor
Kerry Douglas-Duffy, Workforce Development Program Specialist, Division of Employment and Workforce Solutions, New York Department of Labor
Chhandasi Pandya, Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Institute
Download the PowerPoint here.