Jas Chana, Associate Director of Strategic Communications, WES

Immigrants and refugees are and will continue to be crucial to the economic, cultural, and social vibrancy of the United States. The Biden administration has already demonstrated that it has a clear-eyed understanding of this. Since coming to office, President Biden has introduced policies aimed at uplifting newcomers and promoting their integration, such as reversing the previous administration’s reductions in refugee admissions, reviving the refugee resettlement program, and introducing initiatives that enable immigrants to live and work in the U.S.

A recent social media forum hosted by World Education Services (WES) sought to understand the new immigrant integration landscape under the Biden administration and explore how the opportunities it provides can be most effectively utilized. The goal of the conversation was to set the stage for the formidable challenge facing immigrant and refugee advocates in the coming months. After four years of protectionist policies, rapid and focused action will be needed to ensure that these communities find opportunities to contribute their talents to the U.S.

Using the hashtag #ImmigrantsThrive, the Twitter chat brought together organizations, advocates, and service providers that each offered objectives, resources, strategies, and tools to identify and tackle the existing barriers and inequities that hinder the professional integration of immigrants in the U.S.

Below are the key topics and insights covered during the discussion:

1. A top priority is to ensure that more internationally trained professionals can overcome unnecessary barriers to the workforce, such as those created by licensing laws.

The Biden administration must tackle the chronic issue of the under- and unemployment of immigrants and refugees. Internationally trained workers possess knowledge and skills that are in demand among U.S. employers; however, these workers are frequently unable to make use of their expertise because of barriers that prevent them from working in their field, such as regulations that restrict access to holders of professional licenses. For example, internationally trained health professionals find that to obtain the medical licenses necessary to practice in the U.S., they must undergo an expensive and time-consuming process that involves repeating large portions of their former training. The cost of this under- and unemployment of immigrants and refugees is significant; the Migration Policy Institute estimates a loss of $39.4 billion in forgone annual earnings among under- and unemployed immigrants with a bachelor’s degree or higher, and more than $10 billion in unrealized taxes.

Participants of the #ImmigrantsThrive Twitter chat highlighted that the Biden administration’s actions in support of immigrants who have prior training and expertise could help to facilitate immigrant economic integration:

#ImmigrantsThrive Biden Adm can promote economic inclusion of immigrants by supporting immigrants with academic / professional credentials to obtain licenses and use their professions in the US.

— World Ed – USA (@WorldEdUS) February 3, 2021

A1: Pathways should not end at Citizenship, but rather continue to ensure individuals have access to career/job training that does not stop at an initial or “survival” job. Policies must extend past the immigration process to ensure equitable access and training for success.

— Hannah (Wilkinson) Joos (@ESLForEquality) February 3, 2021

In imagining a pathway forward, participants noted the importance of raising public awareness about the barriers to work that immigrants and refugees face:

A2: We need to highlight how immigrants and refugees make our country stronger and safer. They are essential workers on the frontlines of COVID-19. They are business owners, health care workers, and caregivers. Immigrants have our backs – we need to have theirs. #ImmigrantsThrive

— MIRA Coalition (@MIRACoalition) February 3, 2021

Greater public awareness could encourage more states to adjust the laws regulating access to professional licenses, and thereby enable more immigrants and refugees to make use of their skills. A case in point is the recent action around health care licensing. Recognizing the strain that COVID-19 was placing on hospital personnel and the licensing laws that prevented many internationally educated health professionals from lending a hand, the governors of six states—Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Nevada, and New York—issued executive orders adjusting medical licensing requirements to extend a way for these professionals to practice on a temporary basis. More than 1,000 internationally trained medical professionals have since applied for licensure in New Jersey. Twitter chat participants remarked on the ongoing need to address the issue, particularly in the health care field, to support current initiatives like the national COVID-19 vaccine rollout:

Internationally trained #healthcare workers are ready to contribute their life-saving skills to the ongoing fight against #COVID19. States should heed @POTUS’ call to use this talent pool to bolster their vaccination workforces. More details here: https://t.co/ld5SV0AXzV

— IMPRINT (@IMPRINTproject) February 3, 2021

2. Changing the narrative around immigrants will be key to advancing immigrant integration. It also ties into broader efforts to support racial equity.

While the success of a presidential campaign that ran on a pro-immigrant platform is a promising indication of the U.S. population’s overall support of immigrants and refugees, anti-immigrant sentiment, something that has long plagued American society, will persist. What is needed to generate widespread support for a policy of economic integration, participants said, are pro-immigrant narratives and storytelling that reflect the myriad contributions of immigrants and refugees.

The Biden administration has demonstrated a clear understanding of the importance of tone and narrative in its communications on immigrants and immigration. In a fact sheet released by the White House on February 2, the administration announced the creation of several immigration-focused task forces, noting President Biden’s belief “that immigrants are essential to who we are as a nation and critical to our aspirations for the future.”

The administration’s early pro-immigration rhetoric was described by Twitter chat participants as an encouraging sign of a more long-lasting commitment to shifting the narrative, and as a harbinger of more meaningful policy change in the future:

A1: The Biden admin and our Congressional partners don’t view immigrants as a problem, but as an essential piece of the fabric of our nation. We’re optimistic that their policy making will reflect this commitment and ensure that immigrants can thrive in the U.S. #ImmigrantsThrive

— MIRA Coalition (@MIRACoalition) February 3, 2021

To ensure that immigrants do thrive, it will be crucial to relate their stories and amplify their voices, allowing their perspectives, contributions, and experiences to be widely known:

A2: share stories of immigrants and keep sharing the disparities affecting immigrants and the barriers they have to face compared to non immigrants.

— Ben (@FrenchBen_PHL) February 3, 2021

A2: Fear is paramount in anti-immigrant sentiment. Learning about, meeting, and seeing refugees/immigrants in everyday media, advertising, etc. will help to remove this stigma. #ImmigrantsThrive

— Hannah (Wilkinson) Joos (@ESLForEquality) February 3, 2021

A2 – As an educator, teaching others of perspective and allowing for opportunities of engagement with those that look/think differently is vital. Also, teaching the history of nativism and our country’s repeat violation of rights is an ongoing personal goal. #ImmigrantsThrive

— Erica Compton (@ericainidaho) February 3, 2021

A2. Advocates can practice and model inclusivity and advance racial equity in our own work by following the leadership and amplifying the voices of immigrants and refugees.#ImmigrantsThrive https://t.co/2DrDf98Teo

— Centreville Immigration Forum (@TheCIFva) February 3, 2021

This work is inherently tied to broader calls to promote racial justice and equity in our society. Immigration narratives can help communicate the common humanity of people and experiences, and tackle the pernicious effects of racism and bigotry more broadly:

A2: Immigration is a racial equity issue. It is vital that those of us in #highered 🍎 ensure that we uplift and center the voices of #immigrants and #refugees, especially immigrants and refugees of color. https://t.co/r6TIEb0l1j #ImmigrantsThrive https://t.co/8giaDYIx1O

— Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Ed & Immigration (@PresImmAlliance) February 3, 2021

Racism & the othering of immigrants are two streams from the same river, passing over the rocks of history to shape complex, distinct canyons. But – both flow from a belief in a hierarchy of human value. Immigration narratives can either replicate this belief – or upend it.

— Rachel Peric (@RachelPeric) February 3, 2021

3. Federal leadership in the area of immigrant integration policy will be key to its widespread adoption in states and locales across the U.S.

One of the issues explored in the Twitter chat was the Biden administration’s decision to reestablish a White House Task Force on New Americans, which will work to promote the integration of immigrants and refugees. When asked to consider the value of federal leadership in immigrant integration and inclusion initiatives, participants emphasized the importance of the example set at the national level to efforts aimed at related initiatives at the state and local levels:

A3: Leadership matters, a federal office is one way of demonstrating that at the highest level of our government immigrant integration is a priority for our nation and therefore makes it easier to advocate for local and state resources. #ImmigrantsThrive https://t.co/3Z8UaG2tLN

— Welcoming America (@WelcomingUSA) February 3, 2021

A3: A federal Office of New Americans would bring many benefits to state and local inclusion efforts, by leading a coordinated strategy for inclusion, uplifting model programs and helping to provide federal support for local govs. and CBOs. #ImmigrantsThrive https://t.co/BC56DBryW2

— NPNA (@npnewamericans) February 3, 2021

In the order establishing the task force, the heads of relevant government agencies were tasked with conducting a top-to-bottom review of recent regulations, policies, and orders to “identify barriers that impede access to immigration benefits … and make recommendations on how to remove these barriers.” Twitter chat participants were encouraged by the opportunity that this review offers to comprehensively address barriers to economic integration that immigrants and refugees face, and they called attention to specific action items they hope will be addressed:

I am hoping the Task Force will encompass all the components to address each barrier immigrants and refugees face as they become part of local communities.

— Larisa Elliott (@elliott_larisa) February 3, 2021

Q3: This task force has the opportunity to dig deep into some of the policies and procedures that set people up to fail. I hope at the local level, we see recent changes to the Citizenship test rescinded, making classes cohesive and welcoming again. #ImmigrantsThrive

— Hannah (Wilkinson) Joos (@ESLForEquality) February 3, 2021

4. The government will need to adopt flexible and holistic funding models to push forward immigrant integration initiatives.

To support key initiatives for immigrant and refugee integration, such as English language learning, skills development programs, and effective workforce development programs, the federal government should adopt a nimble approach to program funding and partner with organizations and service providers that directly engage with the immigrant communities they seek to serve.

Flexible funding structures, such as the solicitation of requests for proposals (RFPs) for shorter-term projects and the ability to provide rapid response grants, would enable the federal government to quickly allocate funds to emerging action areas—granting the government a degree of agility that 2020 revealed is needed to support immigrants and refugees. The COVID-19 pandemic’s rapid and disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities, in particular immigrants and refugees, caused funding priorities to change in a matter of months.

A4: For funding to be effective, it must be nimble. $$ must stop coming from RFPs that last 2-3 years as the needs change drastically from month to month or year to year. We need flexible, nimble $$ structures that measure more than butts in seats or jobs #s. #ImmigrantsThrive

— Hannah (Wilkinson) Joos (@ESLForEquality) February 3, 2021

A4: Funding should be flexible and holistic–many immigrants are having to spend months/years in programs that really only address one goal at a time. #ImmigrantsThrive

— Mariam Nek (@NekMariam) February 3, 2021

Flexible funding terms allowed the WES Mariam Assefa Fund to quickly realign its funding priorities at the onset of the pandemic to address immediate action areas, such as the need for translation services to enable key health information about the pandemic to reach immigrant and refugee communities.

Further, by partnering with organizations dedicated to serving a specific community, the federal government will be able to maximize its impact, tailoring programming to meet the needs of particular communities, thereby reaching people that they otherwise could not:

A4: The federal government should partner with trusted, immigrant serving community based and grassroots organizations – which best understand the needs of their communities and can reach them most effectively – to have a meaningful impact. #ImmigrantsThrive

— MIRA Coalition (@MIRACoalition) February 3, 2021

5. Refugee resettlement programs will need to be carefully reimagined and reconstructed, both in terms of the number of refugees admitted and the supports refugees receive on arrival.

The Biden administration has pledged to raise the annual refugee admissions cap to 125,000, a necessary step forward after the record low numbers of refugee admissions under the previous administration. However, it is important that this action is complemented with a provision of supports that will help refugees overcome the many obstacles they commonly face. For example, refugees need to be equipped upon their arrival with specific foundational tools that will set them up to establish successful lives in the U.S. These tools include language skills, U.S. work authorization, and affordable health care. The Biden administration should invest in service providers, such as resettlement agencies, to ensure that they are able to support the successful integration of refugees:

A5: Yes, the Biden administration must raise the cap on refugee admissions, but the work doesn’t stop there. We need targeted investments in resettlement agencies to ensure that refugees have all of the support necessary to fully integrate. #ImmigrantsThrive

— MIRA Coalition (@MIRACoalition) February 3, 2021

Participants went on to identify specific action items the Biden administration must address to support effective refugee integration:

This includes a @USCIS that’s committed to its core mission of supporting immigrants and refugees with the timely processing of casework, including work authorization. #ImmigrantsThrive

— Upwardly Global (@UpwardlyGlobal) February 3, 2021

A5: Refugees will only be as successful as the supports surrounding them. All areas of support should be addressed: language, health care, recognition of skills and knowledge (previous occupation), training and licensing, transcript evaluation, networking.

— Larisa Elliott (@elliott_larisa) February 3, 2021

A5: In addition to supporting orgs who work to resettle refugees, the federal gov should establish pre-arrival workforce and English training programs for refugees embarking for U.S., like in #NewDealforNewAmericans Act #ImmigrantsThrive https://t.co/e4LF1wHcS0

— NPNA (@npnewamericans) February 3, 2021

The recent federal approval of a third COVID-19 vaccine promises to accelerate the arrival of the long hoped for economic recovery in the U.S. Immigrants and refugees will have an important role to play in the recovery, just as they have had in the fight against the coronavirus. Ensuring the effective economic integration of these communities will be necessary not only to powering the economic comeback in the U.S., but to empowering immigrants and refugees professionally, helping them to pursue opportunities to establish stable, prosperous lives while they contribute to their new communities.

We acknowledge the following organizations and higher education institutions which participated in our recent Twitter chat and helped to make it a success.

Participating organizations:

• Centreville Immigration Forum
• Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC)
• JFF
• Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) Boston
• MIRA Coalition
• Nebraska Is Home
• New American Economy
• National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA)
• Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
• Upwardly Global
• Welcoming America
• The Welcoming Center
• World Ed – USA

Individuals from the following organizations and higher education institutions also participated:

• College of Western Idaho
• ESL for Equality
• YMCA of Greater New York

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of World Education Services (WES).