Give Your Ideas to the President’s Task Force on New Americans: Call-In Sessions Feb. 3 and 5

We were honored that hundreds of people joined members of the President’s White House Task Force on New Americans on Jan. 29 for the first of three teleconferences to provide feedback on the best ways to successfully integrate immigrants into communities.

The Task Force is an interagency effort to develop a coordinated federal strategy to better integrate new Americans into communities. The Task Force needs to hear from individuals and organizations working in communities across the country to inform this federal strategy.

During our first listening session, which focused on federal strategies to strengthen the role of receiving communities, we asked participants for feedback on these questions:

• How can existing federal programs be used to increase meaningful engagement between new immigrants and receiving communities? 
• How can the federal government better communicate to the general public the benefits of integrating immigrants into communities?  
• What are some promising practices, including state or local models, for a national immigrant integration program? 
• What mechanisms are being used to elevate or highlight these promising practices beyond the local level, and what can the federal government do to help support, expand or replicate these model programs? 
• How can federal agencies bolster successful private sector investments, public-private partnerships and philanthropic efforts to support immigrant integration?

On Tuesday, Feb. 3, the next listening session will focus on strategies to integrate new Americans into our nation’s economy and help them learn English. Register now. We will ask these questions:

• What barriers keep immigrants from accessing English language and other educational and skills training programs, or from reaching their full potential in the labor market? 
• What are some promising practices, including state or local models, that have succeeded in promoting economic or linguistic integration?
• What mechanisms are being used to elevate or highlight these promising practices beyond the local level, and what can the federal government do to help support, expand or replicate these model programs?
• How can the federal government better promote the contributions of immigrants?
• How can federal agencies bolster successful private sector investments, public-private partnerships and philanthropic efforts to support the economic and linguistic integration of immigrants?

On Thursday, Feb. 5, our final listening session will focus on strengthening the civic integration of new Americans. Register now. We will ask these questions:

• What barriers exist at the local level that keep immigrants from accessing citizenship preparation programs or services? 
• What are some promising practices, including state or local models, that have succeeded in promoting civic integration?
• What mechanisms are being used to elevate or highlight these promising practices beyond the local level, and what can the federal government do to help support, expand or replicate these model programs?
• How can the federal government better promote the contributions of immigrants?
• How can federal agencies bolster successful private sector investments, public-private partnerships and philanthropic efforts to support civic integration?

Your ideas will help shape the recommendations that the Task Force provides to President Obama in March. In addition to participating in our listening sessions, you can send comments and answers to any of these questions to NewAmericans@who.eop.gov by Feb. 9.