Blog

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!

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.

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.

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.

If you would like to help support and welcome newcomers in Austin, explore the organization links to discover how you too might get involved.

If you have a story, experience or opinion to share in support of our Afghan allies, we ask you to share it to help us demonstrate public support for legislation that supports and aids these individuals and families.

Resettling into a new country can be more challenging when you don't know where to turn for help. USAHello.org makes information and resources available to those who have newly arrived in the United States. Welcome.US matches resettlement agencies' in-kind needs with businesses and community leaders who want to help.

Maintaining hope in humanity can be difficult in a world filled with contention and distrust, but when four seemingly unrelated people connect by chance to result in the gifting of a car to a newcomer, goodness and brotherhood are reaffirmed.