A new tool encapsulates information about immigrants in New York and across the U.S.

The Immigration Research Initiative's new data tool found immigrants make up 23% of New York state's population and contribute around $500 billion to the state's gross domestic product. While the new tool doesn't look at arriving migrants, it does account for population shifts during the pandemic.

Anthony Capote, senior data and policy analyst for the Immigration Research Initiative, hopes policymakers can use the information to help develop immigrant legislation.

"If there are lots of immigrants in your state who are lacking in English language proficiency, that's a good sign from a policy perspective that it's time to bolster English as a Second Language programs," Capote asserted. "Either in the schools or create secondary language on things like ballots and tax information."

New York State allocated $43 million to fund an Office for New Americans. The funding provides immigrants with free legal service, workforce development, English language learning, and mental health support. The tool showed 30% of New York immigrants already speak English quite well.

Capote pointed out the tool is also designed to dispel misinformation about immigrants, particularly that immigration is not a racial issue, or the narrative that immigrants are low-wage workers. The data from this new tool finds the opposite is true.

"Most immigrants are in middle-wage jobs or upper-wage jobs, that means that they are earning at least two-thirds of the median income," Capote explained. "Many of them are also making two times the median income, putting them in an upper-wage category."

He added immigrants are being pushed into lower-wage jobs, meaning they make less than $35,000 per year at a full-time job. Based on the data, Capote noted many immigrants do not have the capacity to meet the cost of living since they are not making enough.


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One New Yorker is redoubling efforts to get a pardon from Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Pascal "Shakoure" Charpentier has called New York his home for 52 years after being born on an Army base in Germany but Immigration and Customs Enforcement is trying to deport him for being a Haitian immigrant -- which he isn't -- citing a criminal conviction from his youth. Charpentier worries about President-elect Donald Trump's mass deportation plan, which he said would threaten people like himself with complicated immigration status.

"It's very difficult to imagine what day-to-day life would be like when you're constantly worrying if there's going to be a van in front of your house," Charpentier pointed out. "Am I going to be stopped at my workplace and asked to come out and then, find myself in handcuffs?"

Polls show half of Americans support the mass deportation plan despite the economic impacts it would have. Charpentier has presented evidence proving his naturalized status but prosecutors dismiss it. He added there has not been an official reason to deny the pardon and suspects politics are at play. He said he is holding out hope a pardon could still be granted.

After being released from a New Jersey detention center in 2020, he had to wear an ankle monitor. Now, he wears a wrist monitor, which Charpentier emphasized greatly impacts his daily life. He often meets with clients in his work as an interactive media designer, noting it is hard to keep the order of deportation from affecting his career.

"Sometimes I may be in a meeting with a client and my ankle monitor goes off, or I'm called in to report for a check-in," Charpentier explained. "Many times it is very inflexible."

The first time he was detained, he said he lost a significant number of clients. Following his release, he had to rebuild and restart. But as draining as it can be, he added it empowers him to continue.


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With 2025 almost here, organizations assisting Minnesota's Latino populations say they're laser focused on a couple of areas - mental health-care access and securing temporary protections to those fleeing violence in Ecuador.

Communities Organizing Latino Power and Action, or COPAL, says the two issues can overlap.

Federal officials face increasing pressure to grant Temporary Protected Status to Ecuadorians residing in Minnesota and other states. TPS allows these individuals to work in the U.S. on a short-term basis.

The Coordinator for COPAL's Workers' Center, Claudia Lainez, said not everyone qualifies for asylum status - but added that there's the same level of desire to fill labor shortages.

"We have a lot of workers that are ready to take some of these jobs," said Lainez, "but they don't have the proper documentation to do so."

Ecuador isn't on the list of countries with TPS designation. Calls for urgency grow with the likelihood of a mass deportation plan under the incoming Trump administration.

Critics of the program say it has stretched beyond its original mission.

Meanwhile, COPAL is working with local partners to overcome language barriers for Latinos needing health care, including those still feeling past trauma from their native country.

Cecilia Calabria is COPAL's health promoter manager - and she said overall, access to health insurance and care can be hard for Latinos because of those language barriers and trust issues about reaching out.

For mental health care, she said the language problem is very noticeable.

"Mental health is not something that you can do with an interpreter," said Calabria. "You really need to do it in your own language, in the way you can express."

Calabria added that there's mental health stigma within the Latino community, and for chronic health needs, there's an information gap in seeking preventive care.

She said that often stems from the landscape in the countries they immigrated from.

COPAL's health navigators link these populations with resources.

Starting in 2025, Minnesota will allow undocumented individuals to apply for certain forms of state health coverage aid, so long as they meet various requirements.

This holiday season, a nonprofit campaign is asking Americans to write holiday cards to welcome newly arrived refugee families.

The 10th annual "Hope for the Holidays" campaign is spearheaded by Global Refuge, a charity founded in 1939, previously named Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.

Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, explained the program's mission.

"It is an important reminder, during the holiday season -- as we recognize that Jesus was a refugee -- that America is a nation of immigrants," Vignarajah emphasized. "That for so many faiths, welcoming the stranger is a part of our religions. It's a way to show a token of support and hope."

Global Refuge resettles about 20,000 legal refugees immigrating to the U.S. each year, including 7,600 in California. The families are fleeing conflict in places like Ukraine and Afghanistan. Vignarajah noted they often spend years in camps and undergo extreme vetting before the federal government grants them asylum.

Despite the flood of anti-immigrant rhetoric during the presidential campaign, Vignarajah hopes the incoming Trump administration takes a cue from Ronald Reagan on refugee policy.

"President Reagan resettled 600,000 refugees during his presidency," Vignarajah pointed out. "And unfortunately, during the prior administration, the refugee program was cut significantly. Our hope is that we don't see that happen in the new year, because there are obviously families who are fleeing for their lives."

The card-writing effort is headquartered at Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, north of Los Angeles. Donations are used to buy toys, school supplies and basic necessities for newly arrived families.


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