NIIC 2011: Seattle

The theme of NIIC 2011 was “Building A Stronger Democracy: A New Decade For Immigrant Integration.” The fourth conference of its kind, it built on previous conferences by adding significant new content tracks as well as attracting a dynamic group of participants – more than 700 total. NIIC 2011 was hosted by OneAmerica in Seattle, Washington. The overarching goals of the conference were to:

• Increase and deepen our understanding of different components of immigrant integration,
• Highlight promising practices, discuss key challenges and future directions, and provide opportunities for capacity building and training, and
• Widen the field and bring in new allies and partners including local government, host communities, and a wider diversity of immigrant populations.

OneAmerica, the largest immigrant rights organization in Washington State, hosted NIIC 2011 which was held October 24-26 at the Westin Hotel in downtown Seattle.

This was the largest ever iteration of this event, drawing more than 700 participants from across the country to advance a national understanding and dialogue around immigrant integration, elevate immigration issues, share best practices and innovative models around immigrant integration, and to engage diverse sectors in that conversation.

NIIC 2012: “Diversifying the American Dream"

CASA de Maryland, the state's foremost Latino and immigrant organization, hosted NIIC 2012 in downtown Baltimore. More than 800 immigrant integration leaders and advocates from across the country came together at the Hilton Baltimore from September 22-25.

NIIC 2012 was designed to take the public dialogue on immigration beyond the border enforcement headlines and dive deep into the effort to diversify the American Dream by ensuring that immigrants have the opportunity to become integral members of the U.S. communities they call home.

Click here for photos from NIIC 2012. (Photos by Máté Vladár, Elena Robles, and Rufael Seyum - CASA de Maryland)