HIAS Pennsylvania celebrates immigrants as a source of vitality for our society. We are proud that our work:
Strengthens Philadelphia and our region
Our work ensures that immigrants can take their places as legal and full members of our communities. Immigrants:
- Have helped stem Philadelphia’s population loss over the past decade. Residents born outside the U.S. now make up 12.7% of Philadelphia’s population.
- Prepare our young people for a future in the global village, where they will work and live constantly with people from other cultures.
- Bring new power into the workforce. Nationally, immigrants 16 and older work at a higher rate than native-born individuals. Through job search assistance and job mentoring, HIAS Pennsylvania makes sure immigrants contribute to Philadelphia’s work force as quickly as possible.
- Show our children a path of love, civility, and respect for others in a society fractured by xenophobia and hate.
Fills a great need.
HIAS Pennsylvania continues to:
- Grow as much as funding allows to address a growing volume of callers. From 2014 to 2018, the number of new clients served has increased by 55 percent.
- Serve as one of the two federally designated refugee resettlement organizations for Philadelphia. From the moment refugees disembark in Philadelphia, we help them gain a foothold in American society.
- Support special services for those immigrants who are most easily isolated and abused: children and youth, the disabled and elderly, and victims of torture, crime, trafficking and domestic violence.
- Help families reunite and stay together.
- Represent immigrants forced by violence, persecution and economic hardship to enter the U.S. without documentation as they plea for humanitarian relief in the courts.
- Reach out to immigrants in their communities to educate them about their rights and resources.
- Train other professionals, ranging from lawyers to healthcare workers, social workers and school personnel to serve immigrants fully and effectively.
- Advocate for immigrants’ rights and dignity at all levels of government.
In 2019-2020,
we served
Clients
In 2019-2020,
we opened
Cases*
In 2019-2020, we served
individuals from
Countries
