The Black Institute’s (TBI) subsidiary organization The International Youth Association (TIYA) will be honored at CUNY’s first annual Murphy Institute Scholarship fundraiser. The Co-Founders Alden Nesbit and Mikhel Crinchlow will participate in a pre-event symposium where they will present their organizing plan for the immigration reform campaign as well as future campaign plans.

Thursday, May 16, 2013 Click here to go to the event page.

For years several grassroots black-immigrant rights groups have been advocating for immigration reforms pertaining to Caribbean and African communities including family reunification, a pathway to citizenship for temporary status holders and affordable fines and fees associated with new citizenship. The International Youth Association (TIYA) has been instrumental in organizing the youth effort to be heard in the debate and has called for widespread changes to be made to the current Immigration Reform compromise.

This awards ceremony and symposium is a celebration of TIYA’s work but there is still so much more work to be done. TIYA believes our communities will not thrive under the current compromise because of the DREAM Act provision, backlog and triggers, and the elimination of the Diversity Visa Program. This first attempt at Comprehensive Immigration Reform is a valiant effort. But, it is clear that there is a lot of work ahead. Immigration Reform cannot be comprehensive nor common sense if it is exclusive and unfair.

Goals of The International Youth Association for the Outcome of Comprehensive Immigration Reform:

• Comprehensive reform of Immigration policy to include protections for recruited immigrant professionals and their children (e,g, an expedited  pathway to Green Card status, a special category that includes recruited professionals from non-STEM disciplines, etc.).
• Fulfill the promises of citizenship, education and job opportunity to recruited immigrant professionals and their families, including “aged-out” immigrant children.
• End the criminalization and detention of immigrants, and implement safeguards to protect against racial profiling and ensure due process for all immigrants.
• Reunite families torn apart by current Immigration policy by expanding benefits to include extended family, and altering the current DACA guidelines to allow children up to the age of 20 to enter the US.
• Lessen the economic burden caused by current Immigration policy by investing resources and decreasing processing fees.
• Expand the focus of the Immigration reform discourse to include the needs of Black immigrants and their children, who are often marginalized and ignored. This includes amending the language of the DREAM act to include children of immigrant professionals, and allowing the voices of Black immigrants to be heard.

Please help support our Organizing and Immigration Work. The gift that you give today will help our small but effective staff work to shed light on the issues that plague Black communities; empowering our men, women and children to speak out against injustice, maltreatment, ineffective government, poor public policy, inadequate and inefficient social service programs, and poor working conditions. Any amount you can give will help further our mission.

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