Our Immigrant Neighbors: A deep dive into how immigration policy shapes our community

When you know your neighbor, you won’t let them fail.” But what happens when we haven’t agreed on who our neighbors are? What about when people we see as neighbors are viewed by others as outsiders? This conversation will explore how immigration policy shapes the lives of our immigrant neighbors and what that means for the communities we are building together.

Immigration is often discussed at the national level. These conversations usually center around borders, elections, court decisions, enforcement, and policy. These decisions have real impact on the daily lives of many people we do life alongside.

Behind every headline or policy change is a person navigating what it means to build a life, raise a family, pursue opportunity, and belong in a community that may not always agree on whether they belong here in the first place.

Join us for our next quarterly discussion as we bring that conversation closer to home. We'll hear from Azizullah Dawood, Valerie Escobar, and Clare Murphy Shaw, bringing perspectives that span lived experience, refugee and immigrant services, legal advocacy, and community leadership.

Together, we'll explore:

• What immigration policy looks like when it reaches the local level—and how changes in enforcement, legal processes, and federal policy affect people living and working in our community.

• The human experience behind the policy, including what it means to build a life in the United States while navigating uncertainty, changing systems, and questions of belonging.

• Our role in the community when the people affected by these decisions are treated like neighbors

This conversation isn't about asking everyone in the room to agree on immigration policy. It is an opportunity to move beyond headlines and assumptions, hear directly from people closest to the issue, and better understand what these decisions mean for the community we share.