MainStages

Each year, NIIC includes 5-7 MainStage Sessions which address big picture and up-to-the-minute issues impacting immigrant and refugee communities. More than 375 diverse leaders from across the sector have been featured on the NIIC MainStage, as well as dozens of artists, performers and cultural workers.

NIIC 2022 featured 7 MainStages (2 Sunday, 3 Monday, 2 Tuesday), all of which were also available via livestream.

International scholar, public intellectual, philosopher and poet Báyò Akómoláfé was NIIC 2022’s keynote speaker. His remarks — When We Got to the Waters, We Flew – are here.

For details about the NIIC 2021 MainStages, see here.

SUNDAY DEC 11

Welcome: Reimagining Together

1pm-1:45pm

This year’s 15th anniversary NIIC is happening at a critical inflection point in our country and our world. Join us for a welcome to this year’s NIIC as we look back on 15 years of advancing inclusion and belonging. Our speakers will ground us in our current moment and the threats to our work to build a true multiracial and pluralist democracy. This mainstage event will feature a keynote by internationally acclaimed speaker, author, essayist, teacher and Founder of the Emergence Network, Bayo Akomolafe, who will offer insight into strengthening our collective resolve as both protagonists and practitioners of change and belonging for the road ahead.

Welcome:

Nicole Melaku, National Partnership for New Americans
Gustavo Torres, CASA, CASA ACTION

Keynote:

Bayo Akomolafe, The Emergence Network

Restoring Hope in Our Democracy: Lessons from the 2022 Midterms

3:45pm-5:15pm

This plenary will assess the state of our country following the 2022 midterm elections. How are immigrant and refugee communities building power, defending our democracy, and shaping the future? How do we counter the rise of far right movements and authoritarianism? How do we build intersectional movements that can restore, defend, and expand our rights and democracy? Together we’ll reflect and take stock of historical trends, challenge the current state of electoral politics, and build powerful alliances to activate voters across immigrant and refugee constituencies as we prepare for 2024.

Moderator: Angelica Salas, CHIRLA

Speakers:

Jacqueline Ayers, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Christine Chen, APIA Vote
Diana Konate, African Communities Together
Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (Invited)
Shuya Ohno, Democracy Fund
Aicha Tahirou, UNITE HERE
Ramon Juan Vasquez, American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions

MONDAY DEC 12

Challenging the Roots of Anti-Blackness

9am-10:30am

At a time when global humanitarian crises are escalating, we are also witnessing an upsurge in anti-Black racism in U.S. politics and society. The history of U.S. immigration policy has been tainted by double standards and discrimination against Black migrants, who have often found that pathways for legal immigration open to other racial and ethnic groups are closed to them, and this pattern still plays out today in exclusion, immigration enforcement, and the prison-to-deportation pipeline. Against this profoundly challenging backdrop, Black immigrant organizations are building collective power, creating connections between different struggles for liberation, and fighting for systemic and structural change. This special NIIC Mainstage event will feature the voices of exceptional Black leaders reflecting on history, current struggles, and the future of the immigrant rights movement.

Speakers:

Amaha Kassa, African Communities Together
Nana Gyamfi, Black Alliance for Just Immigration
Jonathan Jayes-Green, Social Justice Activist, Consultant & Philanthropic Organizer
Guerline Jozef, Haitian Bridge Alliance
Oluchi Omeaga, Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project
Seydi Sarr, African Bureau of Immigration & Social Affairs

Narrative, Nativism & Breaking Through

12pm-2pm

Narrative work is critical in driving advocacy, organizing, and movement-building work yet is often the most elusive and underfunded component. How do we interpret the current moment, contextualize history and reconcile change to imagine our shared future? This plenary will explore how narratives are driving public opinion and public policy, and what it means for our work to build a multiracial, pluralistic democracy. From the media-verse to our own backyards and the efforts to counter violence and extremism, we have the power as a field to influence narratives and tell a new story about migration and belonging while harnessing the narrative power we need to win the future our communities deserve.

Moderator: Murad Awadeh, New York Immigration Coalition

Speakers:

Jose Antonio Vargas, Define American
Charles Kamasaki, UnidosUS
Linda Sarsour, MPower Change
Eric Ward, Western States Center
Dr. Tom Wong, US Immigration Policy Center at UC San Diego

LGBTQIA+ Migrants at the Center

4pm-4:30pm

LGBTQIA+ communities have long been at the helm of fighting for the right to survive, thrive, and belong. Queer and Trans migrant leadership has led to groundbreaking strategies and movement building in our field, including in the fight for immigration reform, health equity, gender, and economic justice. This session will address the need to ensure the safety and dignity of LGBTQIA+ migrants when seeking safe pathways for asylum, protection for Trans and Queer migrants in detention, and to protect fundamental rights including marriage equality and access to gender affirming care. Our expert panel will highlight the need for deep investment and allyship in order to build an intersectional framework to truly transform our society into one of safety and belonging for all.

Moderator: Kimahli Powell, Rainbow Railroad

Speakers:

Saida Agostini-Bostic, Funders for LGBTQ Issues
Jennicet Gutiérrez, Familia TQLM
Mayra Hildago Salazar, National LGBTQ Task Force
Zack Mohamed, Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project
Kenrick Ross, National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance

TUESDAY DEC 13

Shifting Ground: Root Causes & Responses to Migration

8:45am-10am

From climate change and extreme weather, to compounding political and economic crises, and rising discrimination and inequities, the scale and patterns of global migration are dramatically changing. How the United States and and other countries plan for and respond to this new era of displacement and migration will be one of the defining challenges and opportunities of the coming decades. This conversation will explore current drivers of migration and the state of the United States immigration policies and systems of protection. Our speakers will offer insights and provocations for how we can rebuild and expand safe pathways for migration while addressing the root causes of displacement and migration.

Moderator: Basma Alawee, We Are All America, NPNA, USRAB

Speakers:

Nazanin Ash, Welcome.US
Juanita Cabrera Lopez, International Mayan League
Oscar Chacon, Alianza Americas
Krystina Francois, Communities United for Status and Protection
Thanu Yakiputiyage, 350.org

Closing: Hope in Times of Challenge – Our Shared Future

1pm-2:30pm

The words of activist, educator and organizer Mariame Kaba remind us that “hope is a discipline.” In challenging times and throughout history, cultivating solidarity, creativity, and resilience are essential to community and movement building. As we close out NIIC, this panel will offer perspectives on how we ensure immigrants and all communities have access to safety and opportunity, and have full agency to participate and thrive in our deeply interconnected and interdependent future.

Moderator: Nicole Melaku, National Partnership for New Americans

Speakers:

Allen Orr, American Immigration Lawyers Association (Past President)
Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
Jacquline Thanh, VAYLA
Javier H. Valdés, Ford Foundation

Closing: Bayo Akomolafe, The Emergence Network