The NIIC Executive Committee is excited to announce today that Bernie Sanders, Democratic Party candidate for U.S. President, will address the event on Tuesday, December 15 at 3:00pm. Sanders, a U.S. Senator from Vermont, will address over 1,000 participants from across the country by video conference, including policy makers, advocates, educators, business leaders, culture shapers, community stakeholders, and more. 
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Governor Martin O'Malley, and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio previously announced that they will address the conference as well. Candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties have been invited to address the conference.
The eighth annual conference - "New American Dreams: Advancing Opportunity, Equality & Justice" – runs from December 13-15, 2015, and is co-hosted by the National Partnership for New Americans and the New York Immigration Coalition, along with Executive Committee members Make the Road NY and Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. NIIC, the largest immigrant integration gathering in the country, will be held at the New York Marriott at Brooklyn Bridge and aims to connect a bold and dynamic immigrant integration movement with a broader group of stakeholders to drive inclusion and impact together.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to address NIIC 2015, the largest national immigrant integration conference in the country," said U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. "In America today, we need to enact immigration policies that will unite families, not tear them apart. The United States is a great nation when we stand together, embrace our nation's diversity, and work towards an immigration system that is fair and humane. Now is a very important time to be having these conversations."
"We’re excited to welcome Senator Sanders to our national conference which is truly changing the way we shape policy around immigrant integration across the United States," Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the National Partnership for New Americans said. "We look forward to hearing his views on immigration issues at this pivotal and historic moment in our nation’s history."
"As the NIIC 2015 co-host, it is with pleasure that we welcome Senator Bernie Sanders to address the largest national immigrant integration conference in the country," said Steven Choi, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, this year's co-host for the conference. "In a time of great concern over intolerance and xenophobia, we are very excited to have three Presidential candidates addressing the 1,100 NIIC participants and give us their perspectives on the future of immigrant integration."
Eva Millona, NPNA Co-Chair and executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition said, "We are delighted to welcome Presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders to address the largest and most dynamic immigrant integration conference in the nation. In a time of great concern over exclusion and vitriolic language, we look forward to hearing from the Senator how he will be part of the conversation to shape sound immigrant integration policy that works for everybody."
Javier H. Valdés, Co-Executive Director of Make the Road New York, said, "We are thrilled to welcome Senator Sanders to the NIIC, the nation's most important annual event for discussing the issues facing immigrants across the country. We are eager to hear Senator Sanders' views and platform on critical immigrant issues and how they tie into the broader conversation about economic and social justice that he has championed."