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Author: miraadmin

Featured Author: miraadmin

Community Readiness in the Face of ICE Arrests

President Trump campaigned on a threat to deport one million immigrants from this country per year.  We saw an ongoing escalation of the numbers of immigrants targeted in Massachusetts throughout 2025 and continuing into early this year, but still well below deporting one million people.  However, this is beginning to change. Over this past year … Continued

Back to School: What Immigrant Families Should Know

As immigration enforcement increases across the country and protections such as Temporary Protected Status end for some countries, many immigrant families are living with fear and uncertainty. That fear is affecting whether some children make it to school. Recent data show that 17% of parents cited ICE activity near schools as a barrier to attendance. And that … Continued

A victory for students – and Massachusetts’ knowledge economy

News

BOSTON – Today, at a federal court hearing over a new international students rule that could have wrought havoc on the education of hundreds of thousands of students at U.S. colleges and universities, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said federal immigration authorities had agreed to rescind the directive and “return to the status quo.” Eva A. Millona, president and … Continued

New student rules are an assault on higher education and public health

News

BOSTON – On Monday, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that international students on F-1 and M-1 visas will be required to leave the country if the college or university program they’re enrolled in is online only – and even under some circumstances if the schools are operating on a hybrid online/in-person model. The impact … Continued

Extended immigration ban, work visa restrictions will hurt Massachusetts

News

BOSTON – In a single proclamation yesterday, President Trump extended his April order sharply curtailing legal immigration to the U.S.– including all family-based migration except for spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens – until December 31, and suspended key employment-based visas until the year’s end. Based on fiscal 2019 data, the Migration Policy Institute … Continued

A huge victory for Dreamers and for the rights of all immigrants

News

BOSTON – Today the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in a 5–4 decision, that the Trump administration’s rescission of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was “arbitrary and capricious” and thus must be overturned. Eva A. Millona, president and CEO of the MIRA Coalition, has the following statement: “This is a huge victory, and we’re thrilled … Continued

Assault on U.S. asylum system will hurt families and cost lives

News

BOSTON – The Trump administration has unveiled a 161-page proposal to sharply limit asylum in the United States by narrowing eligibility, weighing many factors against petitioners, limiting due process, and allowing lower-level asylum officers to dismiss a petition as “frivolous.” The proposal builds on three years of cruel and often illegal policies and practices that … Continued

Standing up for racial justice

News

In his 1963 “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” For as long as any of us have been … Continued

Immigration order uses COVID-19 as pretext to stoke division, hurt families

News

BOSTON – The President has issued a proclamation blocking immigration to the U.S. for 60 days, framing his action as an urgent measure to protect American workers from foreign competition during the COVID-19 crisis and recovery. MIRA has produced an analysis of the order’s main points and its expected impact. In addition, MIRA Executive Director Eva A. … Continued

Dr. Laith Almatwari

Executive order on internationally trained doctors is a great first step for Mass.

News

BOSTON – Today Gov. Charlie Baker issued an executive order, COVID-19 Order No. 23, requiring the Board of Registration in Medicine to allow international medical school graduates who have completed at least two years of postgraduate medical trainings (residencies) in an accredited U.S. program to apply for a license, and to expedite the approval process for … Continued

Sen. Markey at New Deal for New Americans event March 9 2020

New Deal for New Americans Act lays out path to an inclusive future

News

BOSTON – Dozens of advocates and leaders of immigrant- and refugee-serving organizations joined U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey at Agencia ALPHA today to celebrate the introduction of the New Deal for New Americans in the U.S. Senate. The bill, which is strongly supported by the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), co-chaired by MIRA Executive Director Eva A. Millona, … Continued

PIF-teach-in-Feb24-2020

Advocates tackle community needs as ‘public charge’ rule is implemented

News

BOSTON – Today, the so-called “public charge” rule went into effect, imposing a wealth test on green card and visa applicants that aims to determine whether, sometime in the future, they might qualify for public benefits. For three years now, expectation of this rule – and reports of what it might entail – have caused … Continued