Helping immigrants is a priority for these nonprofits

The populations of Cambridge and Somerville are each more than a quarter foreign-born, according to the Census Bureau. For residents concerned about the well-being of immigrants, whether living here or hoping to, there is reason to be concerned about changes in federal policy based on results of the November presidential election, as noted in a recent Cambridge Day article. 

On his first day in office for his second term as president, Donald Trump declared an emergency at the Mexican border, which he believes will allow him to use the military to block illegal immigration. He also began his promised efforts to end birthright citizenship – a guarantee in the U.S. Constitution anyone born within the nation’s borders is granted citizenship – and shut down an app allowing migrants to easily set up appointments to enter the country. 

This is just the beginning. The president still plans to deport large numbers of undocumented immigrants and may make significant changes to the H-1B work visa program, which is used by businesses and universities to hire foreign workers to fill specialized jobs for a limited time. 

State and local policymakers have made it clear that government agencies in Massachusetts will continue to play a role helping to protect and assist many immigrants, to the extent that they can. At the same time, religious congregations, schools, hospitals, institutions of higher education, charitable foundations and local nonprofits will continue to play significant roles, as they have been for years. 

There are many opportunities to volunteer with local nonprofits that work with immigrants. These nonprofits provide tutoring, job training, legal assistance and other services. Some of those organizations are described below.

The De Novo Center for Justice and Healing in Cambridge delivers free civil legal assistance and affordable psychological counseling to people with low incomes. Immigration law is one of its specialties. It also works with survivors of torture, violence and abuse, and the center offers training to providers of community services in Massachusetts.

The Welcome Project in Somerville builds and strengthens the capacity of immigrant youth, adults and families to advocate for themselves and influence schools, government and other institutions that shape their lives. Paid staff and volunteers aim to provide quality English-language instruction, live interpretation and translation training and to help constituents learn to advocate for themselves and their communities.

The Rian Immigrant Center calls itself Boston’s welcome center for immigrants and refugees. Each year it provides a range of support services to thousands of immigrant and refugee families from more than 120 countries. 

Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House provides integrated services to thousands of individuals and families, including community food services, skill-building workshops, career readiness training, financial literacy classes and mentorship opportunities. The organization has been active in Cambridge for more than a century. Similar organizations include the Cambridge Community Center and East End House. 

Pathway for Immigrant Workers is a Cambridge nonprofit serving Greater Boston. It represents local employers who otherwise would not have the means to sponsor a minimum-wage worker for a green card and will help low-wage workers in employment-sponsored lawful permanent residence applications. After an initial assessment, if appropriate, it will represent the employer in the immigration process.

Project Citizenship in Boston provides legal help to people applying for U.S. citizenship. The organization’s goal is to help immigrants become full members of American society.

Best Hospitality Training, which has multiple locations in the Boston area, offers individuals the education, skills and training to excel in the hospitality industry. Focal areas include job readiness, resume development, skills assessment, job searching, interviewing skills, getting hired, keeping a job and professionalism in the workplace

Enroot offers after-school and summer programs to immigrant students in Cambridge and Somerville high schools. Many of the students are still learning English and often have faced adversity growing up. Volunteers work to develop close relationships with students, typically with a ratio of one volunteer to two students. The organization would prefer but does not require that volunteers be immigrants themselves, speak a foreign language or have lived in countries from which students emigrated.

The Cambridge Community Learning Center provides free programs to adult learners, including education including English-as-a-second-language classes, skills development, job training (such as to become a home health aide) and community participation. More than 400 people study with CCLC every year. Volunteers provide tutoring services and can act as classroom aides.

Literacy Volunteers of Massachusetts in Boston provides tutoring in basic literacy, including English-as-a-second-language programs. It has a network of programs throughout the state.

Found in Translation trains low-income and homeless bilingual women to become professional medical interpreters.

Information about specific volunteer opportunities for some of these nonprofits is available through a free online database maintained by Cambridge Volunteers. In other cases, if someone is interested in volunteering or donating to support the organization, information is available through the group’s website. Cambridge Volunteers is running a free Volunteer Fair via Zoom on Feb. 14 to meet staff from many of these agencies.

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