AMERICAN IMMIGRATION COUNCIL

Building a more welcoming country from the ground upstate and local our state and local team engages business leaders, coalitions, nonprofit organizations, and policymakers nationwide to build a welcoming environment for newcomers in states and local communities. To support advocates, the team tracks immigrant related legislation in all 50 states and provides timely updates, data, research reports, technical assistance, talking points, testimony, and letters of support. In 2024, we have tracked more than 800 immigrant-related bills and provided weekly updates via external trackers to partners and stakeholders.in 2024, we supported the 17 pro-immigrant bills related to the created of offices of new americans, language access, occupational licensure, and funding to support migrant integration. We released reports on the growing demand for healthcare workers in new york, michigan, and massachusetts. To help push back against state policies that harm immigrants and communities overall, we partnered with refugee advocacy lab and the international rescue committee to publish a toolkit on countering anti0immigrant policies. In 2024, we organized the global talent chamber network convening, bringing together 20 chamber of commerce leaders from 17 chambers across the us. Business leaders learned from experts and from one another about how the business community can collaborate more closely with its immigrant and refugee neighbors to ensure a more equitable future where everyone can thrive and contribute to the economy. During the convening, we gathered support for a business letter urging the biden administration to address work permit backlogs by prioritizing the processing of initial and renewal permit applications. Over 100 signatories, representing national, state, and local businesses across 25 states, signed the letter. As a result of this advocacy, the department of homeland security announced a final regulation in december to extend work permits for 540 days.the office of new americans state network continues to grow, reaching 22 members with the addition of pennsylvania, new mexico, and hawaii. These 22 states represent two-thirds of the total immigrant population in 2022. As states began encountering increasing migrant arrivals from the southern border, we traveled with a group of 15 ona staff from 10 states on a site visit to san diego to better understand federal, state, and non-governmental organization operations in the city and at the border. We held our annual ona convening in washington, d.c. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the network. Nearly 40 representatives from 18 ona states received a post-election briefing from the council's policy team and exit poll analysis of voter sentiments on immigration from the immigration hub.our gateways for growth program had four communities in our 5th cohort. These communities included south bend, indiana; fort wayne, indiana; baltimore county, maryland; and santa fe, new mexico. These communities pushed forward immigrant inclusion initiatives, relying on the council's data to showcase the demographic and economic contributions of newcomers. The council also brought together 23 past participants to solicit feedback on the gateways for growth experience and how it can be improved.center for inclusion and belonging our center for inclusion and belonging program uses narrative and culture change strategies to counter biases, prejudices, and "othering" while advancing the inclusion and belonging of everyone in the united states. Belonging begins with us (bbwu) uses high profile partnerships to extend its message to new audiences in the places and spaces where they live, work, and play. Since the launch of bbwu in 2020, it has garnered over $95 million in donated media, and its content reach millions of viewers.the council has partnered with the team up project to release a new "shared table" public service announcement encouraging people to come together across lines of difference to cultivate stronger, more connected communities. This has been distributed to 1,800 tv stations across the country. Bbwu also collaborated with the david j. Sencer centers for disease control (cdc) museum and cdc's offices of minority health and health equity as they curated an exhibition highlighting the social determinants of health, entitled "health is a human right: achieving health equity". Cultural exchangeour cultural exchange program promotes experiences that build connections and understanding across cultures. Since 2003 for trainees and 2007 for interns, the council has hosted and facilitated about 500 j-1 interns and trainees per year, providing direct support to exchange visitors, companies, and attorneys from application for j visa sponsorship through alumni engagement. In october, we launched researcherusa.com, a comprehensive resource detailing how the research scholar designation can be utilized across industries and contexts. We also continue to promote our program through educational sessions and webinars, which reached more than 250 people this year.