Immigrant Rights

The Idaho Community Action Network (ICAN) organizes for justice for all Idahoans, including Idaho’s immigrant communities, and many of ICAN’s members and leaders are immigrants.

ICAN believes that all Idahoans, including immigrant Idahoans, are entitled to safety and security. This includes access to food, health care, and education – and also the right to an identity, justice on the job, and freedom from harassment and government abuse. Current immigration policies, which deny legal status to millions and divide families, put real safety and security out of reach for too many of us.

For more information about Immigrant Rights, please contact Fernando Mejia-Ledesma at fernando@idahocan.org or 208-649-4944.

Important Changes to Immigration Enforcement and Deportation Policies

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*CAMBIOS IMPORTANTES EN LAS POLITICAS DE DEPORTACIÓN!

Descarga la versión en español AQUÍ

On Thursday, August 18th, the Obama Administration announced new changes to its immigration enforcement and deportation policies. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the new changes will help focus resources on deporting “high priority” individuals over “low priority” individuals that are “clogging” the system. The changes come after much pressure from immigrant rights advocates like ICAN, who have denounced the President for not delivering on his promise of immigration reform and for focusing efforts on deporting immigrants that are not threat to the country. The change in policy announced on Thursday is welcoming news particularly for immigrant youth who have been in the country since childhood and have graduated from high school. These two characteristics fall under the “low priority” list for deportations. ICAN has compiled a list of 10 things you should know about the new immigration policy. You can download them here:

English Version click HERE


Welcoming Boise at World Refugee Day event!

The Welcoming Boise Initiative had a booth at World Refugee Day 2011. Committee members and volunteers were spreading the welcoming message to community members from 10am—2pm at the farmers market in Downtown Boise.

A total of 28 Boise residents signed our Welcoming Pledge and 21 people signed up to receive updates and notifications about future activities!

Welcoming Boise Event a Complete Success!

Welcoming Boise Logo

The Welcoming Boise Initiative hosted a free screening and panel discussion of the documentary Welcome to Shelbyville on Monday, May 23rd at the BSU Special Events Center. Currently, Boise is experiencing rapid growth of new comers with unique cultural identities.

Welcoming Boise is a newly formed coalition of faith, civic, business and community leaders who have come together to counter the negative rhetoric circulating about immigrants with the ultimate goal of creating a more hospitable environment for all to flourish. We had more than ninety community members participating in our event. Attendees asked questions related to immigrant and refugee integration in the city of Boise. Rev. Ed Keener, Dr. Ahmed-Zaid, BPD Officer Sonnenberg and high school student Marisol Cervantes were part of the panel discussion. To watch videos and more pictures of this event, please visit www.welcomingboise.org.