WE THE PEOPLE -- the 9th annual National Immigrant Integration Conference (NIIC) 2016 -- is just over a week away. The 2016 NIIC will bring together some of the leading voices in the immigrant and refugee rights movement to cast a new vision for our future and chart a path forward.
We're proud to announce that we'll be joined by both long-time and newly elected lawmakers who will be some of our strongest allies and champions in the halls of congress and in the state legislatures, working with immigrant and refugee advocates, business leaders, service providers, in the months and years ahead. In a changing political landscape, that has amplified some of the most anti-immigrant, anti-refugee sentiment in recent history, we are proud that some of the strongest voices to counter that tide will be with us.
Will you? It's not too late to register.
Now in his 12th term, Representative Luis Gutierrez of Illinois is nationally recognized as a tireless champion for immigrants. He has played an instrumental role in advocating for immigration reform and executive actions.
In the November election, Representative-elect Pramila Jayapal became the first woman elected to Washington's 7th Congressional District and the first South Asian woman to ever be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. As former Executive Director of Washington State's largest immigrant advocacy organization, OneAmerica, and one of the founding members of host-organization National Partnership for New Americans, Pramila is part of our family.
Representative-elect Ilhan Omar was recently elected to the Minnesota State House. A former refugee, she is the first Somali-American, Muslim woman in the nation to hold an office of this level. Previously, she served as the Director of Policy Initiatives at Women Organizing Women, where she empowered East African Women to take civic leadership roles in their community.
See you in Nashville,
Stephanie Teatro, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
Lindsey Harris, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
Tara Raghuveer, National Partnership for New Americans
Cynthia Greenberg, National Immigrant Integration Conference
PS. Check out the latest NIIC schedule with new workshops added to reflect our post-election reality. See the latest on the NIIC 2016 website!