1. WELCOME! Today’s Agenda:
Updates on new policy developments at national and state levels
Getting to know Arab and Muslim orgs working in this space
Discussion of how to best engage & assist recently arrived families
Opportunities for advocacy and engagement

2. Presenters Yolanda Rondon Staff Attorney
Catherine Orsborn Director Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign Meredith Owen Policy Advocate Immigration and Refugee Program (IRP+) Church World Service
Yolanda Rondon
Staff Attorney
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee (ADC)

3. Presenters
Isra Chaker Advocacy and Outreach Manager United Muslim Relief Suzanne Meriden Director of Operations Syrian American Council
Suzanne Akhras Sahloul
Founder & President
Syrian Community Network
Mais Balkhi
Advocacy and Outreach Manager
Syrian Relief and Development (SRD)

4. National Policy Updates
Yolanda Rondon
Executive Order – What does it mean?
Call, call, call; write, write, write!
Meredith Owen – 5 minutes

5. State Legislative Updates
Meredith Owen
25+ anti-refugee bills have been filed across 9 states!
Requiring state legislatures to approve refugees who are resettled in the state
Notification of refugee arrivals and sharing of identifying/non-identifying information about refugees
Fiscal impacts of resettlement
Registration of refugees with the state government
Requiring additional state background screenings of refugees
Monitoring and continual surveillance of refugees
Permitting localities to declare refugee moratorium based on the "absorptive capacity" of the community
Mandating new reporting requirements for refugee resettlement agencies
Establishing temporary driver's licenses for immigrants and refugees
Meredith Owen – 5 minutes

6. State Legislative Actions
Tell Your Local and State Leaders to Declare Welcome for Refugees!
It is more important than ever for all of our elected officials to hear that their communities welcome refugees. We need all of our local and state lawmakers to get engaged and visibilize declarations of welcome.
Tell your local and state leaders that your community welcomes refugees AND urge them to adopt a resolution declaring that your community, city, or locality welcomes all refugees, regardless of where they come from or what religion they practice!
To find your governor, state legislators, mayor, and local officials, click here:  To tweet your state and local officials, click to find the twitter handles for your governor and state legislators.
To learn more about how to advocate to your local and state lawmakers, download our advocacy toolkit:
Meredith Owen – 5 minutes

7. It Takes A Community #RefugeesWelcome
SUZANNE AKHRAS SAHLOUL
MAIS BALKHI

8. Community Events

9. International Women’s Day

10. Chicago Half Marathon #Run4Refugees

11. Mentorship Program

13. Meet your Neighbors

22. Best Practices in Multi-Faith/Multi-Sector Community Responses Suzanne Meriden Isra Chaker

23. Questions/Discussion
THANK YOU!!