Resources for embracing immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers
For more than a century, American libraries of all types have helped immigrants integrate, worked with municipalities to cultivate welcoming communities, and supported laws to shape our immigration system.
With immigrants making up 13.8% of our population, the US is more racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse than ever before. But for many library workers, staying abreast of the fraught immigration policy landscape is challenging. Laws shift rapidly, with initiatives introduced or eliminated according to political agendas.
For instance, library workers may be interested in how agencies are using large information tools to manage immigration. Examples include CBP One, the app through which asylum seekers schedule appointments with US Customs and Border Protection; the software platforms of Palantir, whose products power Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation raids; and LexisNexis’ Law Enforcement Investigative Database, through which ICE monitors migrants.
Here are additional resources library workers can use to educate themselves or network with others administering to immigrant communities:
Libraries Respond: Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers. This curated American Library Association (ALA) guide includes toolkits, educational material, advocacy tips, and easy access to past immigration-related ALA statements and resolutions. It is a reliable starting point for library workers who are new to immigrant engagement or early in their exploration of immigrants’ information realities. Several resources provide practical steps for protecting immigrants’ right to privacy.
ALA’s Serving Refugees, Immigrants, and Displaced Persons (SRIDP) Subcommittee. This group includes public, academic, and school librarians—along with Association leaders and LIS professors—who foster support and best practices for library engagement. SRIDP developed Celebrating Welcoming Week: A Guide for Libraries, among other resources.
Libraries, Integration, and New Americans (LINA) Project. This research initiative from University of Maryland in College Park is designed to deepen library workers’ knowledge of immigration policy and acculturation, as well as longstanding and innovative library strategies. LINA publishes a monthly immigration policy digest and offers a $10, six-session online course that covers timely topics such as building cultural competence and threats to effective engagement like compassion fatigue and anti-immigrant sentiment.
With immigrants making up 13.8% of our population, the US is more racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse than ever before.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services data. Library workers can use this data to learn how regulations affect community members’ day-to-day experiences. The Immigration and Citizenship Data portal provides information on recent immigration and naturalization trends. The Office of Homeland Security Statistics website includes an interactive map of state-based immigration statistics on nonimmigrant arrivals, naturalizations, refugee admissions, and asylum grants.
Credible immigration think tanks. Organizations that provide evidence-based, nonpartisan analyses include Immigration Data on Demand, developed by researchers at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and the Migration Policy Institute, which offers the Migration Data Hub and various research publications. Information professionals can rely on these and others to better understand local or regional immigration contexts.
In addition to providing resources, library workers should be familiar with the different ways in which immigrants use information tools. They should also consider technology’s increasing effect on immigration processing and how social media funnels public narratives. Debates on these issues won’t be resolved this year or perhaps even this century. But expanding our awareness is essential to designing relevant programs and engendering trust among immigrant neighbors.
The original article was written and published by Ana Ndumu, Assistant Professor at the UMD College of Information, via American Libraries Magazine on November 1, 2024.