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Seeking Safety and Belonging: Challenges in LGBTQ+ Immigrant Rights

Seeking Safety and Belonging: Challenges in LGBTQ+ Immigrant Rights

LGBTQ+ immigrants navigate an intersection of marginalization, including high rates of discrimination, elevated risks of abuse within the immigration detention system, family separation and increased levels of stress and isolation while trying to access legal protections. These dual stigmas often amplify the multiple and compounded traumas they experience in their countries of origin and isolation upon arrival in the United States.

June 25th From Challenge to Change Immigrant Business Roundtable

Challenge to Change: Immigrant Business Roundtable

Join MIRA this Thursday for a special roundtable discussion featuring immigrant business owners, policymakers, and business leaders as we explore the opportunities, challenges, and policy issues shaping the future of immigrant-owned businesses in Massachusetts.         📍 SRV Restaurant | South End, Boston           📅 June 25, 2026           ⏰ 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.           🍽️ Lunch will be … Continued

Policy Update Federal

Policy Updates – 6/18/2026

DHS has reported that all detainees have been transferred out of Alligator Alcatraz, but no one knows where to. The administration is stating that these transfers were out of concern for the safety of detainees as we enter the hurricane season, which lasts 6 months. The facility first opened in July of 2025, one month … Continued

Immigrant Heritage Month: Celebrating Strength by Smriti Rupaketi

Immigrant Heritage Month: Celebrating Strength by Smriti Rupaketi, MIRA’s People and Administration Specialist

Immigrant heritage month gives me a chance to look back on my journey and think about everything it took to get here. Behind every move to a new country is someone who has left behind families, friends and culture in hopes of finding new opportunities, stability and a better future.

I was born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal which is a beautiful country in Southeast Asia. In 2020, me, my husband and child made the decision to leave our home

Happy Father's Day A poem to the immigrant fathers we love

Happy Father’s Day A poem to the immigrant fathers we love

To all our immigrant fathers across the country, many who are not fortunate enough to to spend time with their loved ones due to detention, visa restrictions, travel bans or workplace exploitation, you are not forgotten! Thank you for all your strong contributions, your hard labor and commitment to building legacies.

The Courage to Begin Again by Gil Calderin

Honoring Immigrant Heritage Month: The Courage to Begin Again by Gil Calderin, MIRA’s Director of Advocacy

I want to begin by saying that I am a proud immigrant from Cuba. I am deeply grateful for the people who have walked alongside me on my life’s journey and for the opportunities that the United States continues to give me.

Nearly 30 years ago, my mother made an incredibly bold decision. She moved to the United States with me and without a dime in her pocket. She took a leap of faith that would forever change our lives.

Policy Update Federal

Policy Updates – 6/11/2026

A months-long standoff in Congress ended earlier this week when the president signed a reconciliation bill that provides an additional $70 billion to ICE and CBP. The funding had previously been blocked by Democrats in the Senate who had demanded greater accountability in immigration enforcement. Senate Republicans used the reconciliation process to sidestep a filibuster and pass the additional funding last week, and the bill just narrowly passed in the House on Tuesday. By using reconciliation, Republicans not only avoided Democratic demands for greater accountability, they also avoided most of the guardrails that are included in the normal appropriations process, such as reporting requirements around who is being detained and specific treatments for pregnant women in custody. Worryingly, the bill provides 3-years worth of funding for immigration enforcement, meaning that Congress will have little ability to revive such guardrails until 2029. 
In good news, a federal court in Rhode Island blocked a series of policies put forward by the Trump Administration that target immigrants according to their nationality. In its order last week, the court noted the hypocrisy . . .

14 Years of DACA: A Broken Promise

14 Years of DACA: A Broken Promise

Fourteen years ago June 15, the federal government made a commitment to young people without permanent residency who had grown up here, gone to school here, and who called the US home. The message then was: You belong. Stay and contribute.

Now the stability DACA granted is under threat – in part because the government has chosen inaction as a weapon.

Policy Update Federal

Policy Updates – 6/4/2026

The Senate took the first in a series of votes on Wednesday afternoon to pass a reconciliation bill that would add $70 billion to immigration enforcement. Senate leadership had planned to pass the funding last month, but faced a revolt in their own party against billions in funding for the president’s ballroom and “anti-weaponization” slush … Continued