Good afternoon and welcome to the Lab Brief.
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March and April have brought many opportunities to share resources, build community, and champion inclusive policy.
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Let’s take a closer look.
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The International Rescue Committee in partnership with the Refugee Advocacy Lab will be hosting the fourth States Lay the Foundation legislative summit on June 6th from 12 to 2 PM ET. More details to come!
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Last week, in partnership with We Are All America, WeaveTales, and the Refugee Storytellers Collective, the Lab led a session at the 2023 Welcoming Interactive on “Strategic Messaging to Expand Support for People Seeking Refuge,” which focused on centering those with lived experience as critical messengers.
On March 2nd, the IRC and the Lab hosted “Building Language Accessibility Infrastructure,” a webinar which offered guidance for state governments on ensuring equitable language access and featured best practices from the Offices of Language Access in Hawaii and New York.
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STATEMENT: U.S. REFUGEE ADMISSIONS PROGRAM
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The Lab submitted a statement to the record for the March 22nd Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety hearing, “Living Up to America’s Promise: The Need to Bolster the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.” Dauda Sesay, Refugee Congress Vice Chair & founding Refugee Storytellers Collective member, gave a powerful testimony during the hearing.
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REFUGEE STORYTELLERS COLLECTIVE
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In March and April, the Refugee Storytellers Collective had their first monthly trainings of 2023 covering two topics: “Training the Trainer” provided members with best practices for leading training sessions, presentations, and panel discussions, and “Public Speaking Anxiety” gave members a chance to discuss ways to boost their confidence before speaking to a room full of people. Nominate yourself or someone you know to become a member of the Collective and join us for next month’s training on “Qualities of a Good Public Speaker.”
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From Advocacy Days in Colorado and Kansas to the end of session in Georgia and Virginia, we’ve had several legislative achievements in March and April.
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ADVOCACY DAYS: KANSAS & COLORADO
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On March 16th, we hosted Kansas Advocacy Day at the state capital for refugees, advocates and other stakeholders to meet with their state legislators. The day also included a legislative briefing and a meeting with Governor Kelly.
On March 8th, we hosted Colorado Advocacy Day at the state capital. More than 100 refugees, advocates and other partners met with their state legislators to educate them about refugee resettlement, programs to welcome new refugees, and connect on ways that the state can continue to be supportive. They also toured the capitol building and were recognized by Representative Iman Jodeh in the State House Gallery.
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The legislative session in Georgia has come to an end with several important milestones. This session broke records as a historic number of pro-refugee pieces of legislation were introduced, including a bipartisan Mental Health Bill passed by the House, which creates a pathway for foreign-trained mental health professionals, and a bipartisan bill to expand in-state tuition access to refugees and other displaced people, which was heard by the Senate.
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The end of the legislative session in Virginia saw the passage of a nursing licensure bill, H.B. 221, which provides a pathway for internationally licensed nurses. On March 27th, the Governor signed this bill into law.
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To highlight the work of hundreds state and local elected officials across the country who are champions of inclusion, the Lab will uplift the important work elected leaders and their communities are doing across the United States in each edition of The Lab Brief.
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In North Dakota, State Senator Tim Mathern introduced a bill this session to create an immigration office within the state Department of Commerce to facilitate the recruitment of all international talent. This bill was recently signed into law by Governor Burgum and a ceremonial signing was held on April 27th.
Are you an elected official working at the state and local level to promote the inclusion of displaced people in your community? Share your work with us to be featured in our countdown to World Refugee Day and The Lab Brief! Email info@refugeeadvocacylab.org.
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Thanks for reading!
Are you interested in state advocacy or Lab resources? Reach out.
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The Refugee Advocacy Lab partners with varying groups on different activities, and as such, partnership with the Lab does not necessarily imply a partner’s support for any specific activity or policy. Similarly, the Lab does not necessarily support or endorse specific activities or positions of partner organizations.
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