Immigrant-Led Organizers in Their Own Voices

Last Updated

May 1, 2006

The United States is experiencing historically unprecedented levels of immigration. As of March 2005, there were 37 million foreign-born persons in the United States, making up 12 percent of the population. Approximately 14 million immigrants arrived during the 1990s.2 From the early 1990s to 2000, the number of immigrants increased by 61 percent. Today, immigrants are changing the face of the cities in which they settle. Some have argued that immigration policies, including immigrant integration, are necessary to ensure our nation’s security and domestic harmony.3 While society as a whole should be responsible for addressing the integration needs of immigrant communities, in many cases immigrants themselves have taken the primary initiative to integrate into U.S. society. Many have chosen organizing as a powerful way of doing this.