In the breathtakingly beautiful surroundings of Oaxaca, Mexico, I began this year attending a culturally rich, sensitive, and stimulating immigration advocacy training. Sponsored by Ollin Tlahtoalli, a Spanish and Culture Center, and the nonprofit MANOS: Migrantes Apoyados, No Olvidados, the dynamic training packs a lot into two intense weeks, focusing on enhancing intercultural awareness through learning opportunities with community leaders, human rights defenders, lawyers, and language teachers. I made a connection to the place called Oaxaca, to people who call Oaxaca home, and to fellow immigration advocates in the U.S.
Ollin and MANOS recently announced that they are accepting applications for the ninth immigration advocate training, which will be August 7-18, 2023. The training will include seminars, excursions to two Zapotec communities, and 20 hours of language classes in Spanish or Zapotec.
I can’t recommend this training highly enough. You will come away with a heightened awareness of the migrant’s journey and an enhanced feeling of connectedness - to migrants and to other advocates, as well as to neighboring lands, communities, and cultures.
All profits from this training go to support the work of MANOS to offer free legal services to Oaxacan migrants, to families of “disappeared” migrants, and to refugees.
Applications are due May 19, 2023. For more information about applying, click here:
Ollin Oaxaca TrainingVoice Your Support for Afghan Adjustment
The Afghan Adjustment (AA) has been reintroduced in both the House (H.R.4627) and the Senate (S.2327) of the United States by a bipartisan group of legislators. We invite you to join us in honoring our promise to our Afghan allies by urging your representatives to pass the Afghan Adjustment!
Support for Asylum Seekers at the Texas Border
In April, I had the pleasure of volunteering with one of the nonprofit organizations providing much-needed humanitarian assistance to people seeking asylum (“asylum seekers”) along the United States and Mexico border - Team Brownsville. Founded in 2018, Team Brownsville serves immigrants, primarily those who are seeking asylum, who arrive in Brownsville, Texas or who are waiting in the Mexican cities of Matamoros or Reynosa for entry into the United States.
Uniting for Ukraine: U.S. Sponsors Needed
Just as citizens in Europe and the U.K. have heroically supported displaced Ukrainians by opening up their homes or securing other housing, assisting with school enrollments, employment needs, and language learning, Americans now have the opportunity via the Welcome.us Sponsor Circles program to directly help newly arrived Ukrainians. The United States has committed to welcoming 100,000 Ukrainians temporarily for a period of two-years and the ability to apply for employment authorization in the U.S. as long as they have a U.S.-based sponsor to petition for them.