The 2024 election is, in large part, all about immigration. Strong opinions are held on both sides – whether immigration helps or hurts the economy, impacts crime, national security and is ultimately beneficial or problematic. But where are the facts?
On October 28, 2024, we were joined by Wharton Professor Exequiel Hernandez for “The Truth About Immigration”, a conversation based on his recent book of the same name. Using decades of research and examples, Professor Hernandez slayed every myth about immigration, unpacked the complex questions that immigration raises, and revealed some startling answers.
On June 26th, 2024, HIAS Pennsylvania held a conversation with author Taylor Shiroff, in honor of Immigrant Heritage Month.
Taylor Shiroff is the author of Next Year in America: A Family History of Eastern European Jews in the Old and New Worlds.
About the Book
Between 1880 and 1924, about two million Jews left the Russian Empire and its poverty and persecution in favor of immigrating to the United States. Few, if any, spoke English. Almost none were accustomed to electricity or running water inside homes. Most had never even seen a “modern” city.
Yet, despite lacking work experience to garner a living wage, they settled in. Within a generation, though Yiddish could still sometimes be heard, the typical Jew had become an assimilated American, striving for and even reaching the American Dream. This is their tale, as told through the lens of Taylor Shiroff’s ancestors.
On January 15th, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, HIAS Pennsylvania held a virtual Ask Me Anything program about asylum seekers. This program included a panel discussion, followed by a letter writing campaign. This program was inspired by Dr. King’s advocacy for systemic changes to create a more equitable America.
Panelists:
Matthew P. Egler DiFerdinando, Esq. | Staff Attorney, HIAS Pennsylvania
Nenehjoh Mansaray | Asylee Client of HIAS Pennsylvania
Alisa R. Gutman, MD, PhD | Medical Director, Philadelphia Human Rights Clinic | Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
On October 17th, 2023, HIAS Pennsylvania held this Ask Me Anything program about immigrant survivors of domestic violence, in support of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This program discuses the unique challenges immigrant survivors of domestic violence face and resources available to help them. HIAS Pennsylvania’s Executive Director, Cathryn Miller-Wilson, moderates the conversation and is joined by Stephanie Costa and Isabel Abreu, Managing Attorneys at HIAS Pennsylvania.
On Friday, April 21st, 2023, HIAS Pennsylvania hosted an online information session for landlords and property managers interested in partnering with Philadelphia-area refugee resettlement agencies. Watch the video to learn more about the process of renting to newly arrived refugees.
Thank you to everyone who joined us at the Golden Door Awards on Thursday, April 20th, 2023, as we honored those who lead the way in support of immigrants and refugees!
a stalwart pro bono partner whose attorneys and staff responded immediately to the Afghan crisis, providing representation to many Afghan clients in their asylum, humanitarian parole, and family reunification matters.
The inaugural Resa Rudney Award, bestowed for extraordinary community support.
Mishkan Shalom Reconstructionist Synagogue and St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church are the epitome of welcoming the stranger and showing what makes Philadelphia a welcoming community.
Donate to HIAS PA to help more immigrants like Nelofar establish new lives in the Philadelphia area: https://hiaspa.org/donate
“The decline in immigration is one of the primary factors contributing to our current labor shortage.”
On Monday, April 3rd, 2023, Cathryn Miller Wilson, Executive Director of HIAS Pennsylvania, joined with Sarah Steltz, from The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, and Shaloo Jose, a HIAS PA legal team staffer who was caught in the struggle for more than a decade, to learn about work authorization from a business, political, and personal perspective.
On Monday, January 16th, 2023, at HIAS PA’s Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Advocacy and Action, a panel from Philadelphia-area immigrant-serving organizations discussed what our welcoming community is doing in response to the buses of migrants being sent from Texas to Philadelphia.
The 2022 Pennsylvania Senatorial debate highlighted the ramped-up inflammatory anti-immigration rhetoric that gets weaponized during every election cycle.
Watch our virtual discussion with Charles D. Ellison of WURD and Nick Gourevitch from Global Strategy Group as we cut through the noise and discuss political polling, how polls and media reports inform campaign strategy, and, ultimately, their effect on public perceptions about immigration.
We were honored to have grandchildren and other descendants of SS St. Louis passengers in attendance. A special thank you to Dr. Paul Finkelman of Gratz College for sharing his expertise about the events leading up to the “Voyage of the Doomed”.
This program was generously supported by Dveera Segal & Bradley Bridge.
Register here for his upcoming four-part online continuing education course through Gratz College, “Jews and Slavery: A Long and Complicated History”. CLE credits are available.
