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Heartless Public Benefit Regulation Hurts Immigrants and All of Us
August 12, 2019—The new public charge rule, now set to be published on August 14 and to go into effect 60 days later, will harm residents, communities and economies in every state in the country. As immigrants and their families give up needed health care, food, and affordable housing, their health, well-being and economic stability are threatened. This will be felt not just by immigrants and their families, but also by all members of our communities.
NOTE: For further information and links to resources from many organizations, see ILCM’s Public Charge/Public Benefits page.
Immigrants and their U.S. citizen family members are already giving up access to public benefits that they are entitled to under law. The “chilling effect” of the rule began before it was even official, with immigrant families refusing public benefits to which family members were legally entitled. One in seven adults in immigrant families reported forgoing public benefits in 2018 because of fear of the public charge rule. Among low-income families, this chilling effect is even stronger, affecting one adult in five.
“The public charge rule is one more example of the heartless and hateful anti-immigrant policies promulgated by this administration,” said Lenore Millibergity, acting executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. “Immigrants are less likely to use public benefit programs, using 39 percent fewer welfare and entitlements benefits per person than native-born Americans.
“The way to strengthen our country is to strengthen the families who live here. Today, one child in four has at least one immigrant parent. The administration’s bullying tactics, its use of fear and intimidation as a substitute for actual policy, does harm to these children and families and to the entire country.”
NOTE: For further information and links to resources from many organizations, see ILCM’s Public Charge/Public Benefits page.
Minnesota Immigration & Latinx leaders respond to El Paso shooting
End Hate Speech That Inspires Violence
After the devastating massacres in El Paso and Dayton this weekend, we demand an end to hate speech from political leaders and a shift in policy to protecting rather than attacking immigrants, people of color, Jews, Muslims, LGBTQ+ communities, and other minorities now in peril.
The young white nationalist who massacred 20 people in El Paso and wounded more than two dozen others was inspired by racist and ant-immigrant hatred. He was precisely the kind of lone wolf that FBI Director Christopher Wray warned the Senate Judiciary Committee about less than two weeks ago. In testimony to the committee, Wray said:
“The FBI is most concerned about lone offender attacks, primarily shootings, as they have served as the dominant lethal mode for domestic violent extremist attacks. We anticipate law enforcement, racial minorities and the U.S. government will continue to be significant targets for many domestic violent extremists.”
The ADL annual report on murder and extremism in the United States found that in 2018, “every single extremist killing—from Pittsburgh to Parkland—had a link to right-wing extremism” and that “white supremacists were responsible for the great majority of the killings.” Perpetrators of violence are informed not only by divisive, racist, anti-immigrant tweets and public statements, but also by witnessing inhumane policies that treat immigrants and their children as subhuman. These include denial of asylum to immigrants seeking safe haven, forcing asylum seekers into filthy, overcrowded jail cells, and ongoing attacks on our legal immigration system.
“Those political leaders who marginalize and demonize immigrant, Black, brown, LGBTQ and other communities are aiming the guns, even if individual white nationalists are pulling the triggers,” said Lenore Millibergity, interim director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. “We need cultural and policy changes to end this epidemic of domestic white nationalist terrorism.”
Congressional leaders from both parties must step up and condemn racist, anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies. Such irresponsible rhetoric inspires the violence that continues to take innocent lives.
Saying No to Refugees: Wrong on Every Count
No room, the president says. That is a lie. Immigrants contribute skills and talent and hard work to this country. We need them as much as they need us.
Minnesotans Targeted by Go-Back Taunts Say the Sting Never Leaves
Yes—it’s happening here in Minnesota, too. The racist taunts target immigrants, all people of color—and Native Americans, too.
Trump Officials Pressing to Slash Refugee Admissions to Zero for Next Year
The president gets to set the annual ceiling on refugee admissions. He wants it to be zero.
Trump Administration Expands Fast-Tracked Deportations for Undocumented Immigrants
Asylum Seekers That Followed Trump Rule Now Don’t Qualify Because of New Trump Rule
The new rule bars all asylum seekers who pass through Mexico (or any other country) on their way to the U.S.
ILCM Has a New Executive Director
Contact: Melissa Pfeiffer, Associate Director, ILCM, 651-641-1011 ext. 201
SAINT PAUL, MN, July 19, 2019 —The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) has selected Veena A. Iyer, JD as our new executive director. Iyer will begin at ILCM on September 9th.
“In this time in our nation’s history, it is vital to defend and advance the rights of immigrants and refugees in our communities,” said Iyer. “The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota has long been at the forefront of these efforts in the Upper Midwest, and it is my privilege to join this team.”
ILCM board chair Irma Márquez Trapero welcomed Iyer to the team, saying, “We at ILCM have a big task ahead of us to not only continue to provide exceptional legal support, but also to continue to act boldly as community leaders at a time when our immigrant and refugee communities are targets of hateful and racist attacks. Veena Iyer is an outstanding and fearless advocate and we are excited to have her lead ILCM into the future.”
Serving immigrant and other underserved populations is a passion for Iyer. She began her career as an Equal Justice Works Fellow and staff attorney at Legal Aid Chicago (formerly the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago), where she represented clients, created and managed a legal clinic for low-income immigrant students, and conducted English and Spanish presentations for community members and service providers. In Minnesota, Iyer has represented low-income clients as a pro bono attorney with ILCM, Tubman and Standpoint.
Iyer has worked at the Nilan Johnson Lewis law firm since 2011, and was named shareholder in 2015. She is the chair of the Diversity & Inclusion Working Group at the firm, received Minnesota Lawyer’s Diversity & Inclusion Award in 2018, and was named to the Minnesota Super Lawyers list in 2019. She is licensed to practice law in Minnesota and Illinois.
An active community leader, Iyer is a past president of the Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association, is a member of the organization’s Advisory Board and its Judicial Committee, and received the organization’s Leadership Award. She has held numerous board roles with Minnesota Women Lawyers and was honored with the Service to MWL Award. She also serves on the board of directors at Portico Healthnet as vice chair and member of the Finance Committee.
Iyer’s educational background includes a BA in History from the University of Chicago (with honors) and a JD from Harvard University, cum laude. She speaks conversational Spanish and Tamil and basic Russian.