Immigration is a key policy issue in the United States today. Recent policies have been introduced throughout the country that have drawn national attention and made immigration reform and policy central to current political debate. In order to represent the best interests of the immigrant population, many nonprofit organizations have taken up the cause of immigration reform. This study explores how nine nonprofit organizations serving Latino immigrants are affecting policy change in Cincinnati, Ohio.
This study finds that the organizations interviewed provide a wide range of needed services to the Latino immigrant population, including working to affect policy change. Many of the organizations are using educational initiatives, focused on increasing the Hispanic immigrant population’s ability to advocate on its own behalf or educating the population at large about the value of the Hispanic immigrant population, to participate in policy change. Interviewed nonprofit organizations are also facing several challenges in affecting policy change, including operating under financial constraints, oversight by umbrella organizations and the Catholic Church, and the hidden nature of the Latino immigrant population. Finally, this study finds that there is a network of nonprofit organizations working to affect policy change on behalf of the Latino immigrant population in Cincinnati, Ohio. A prime example of this collaboration is the No Deportations Coalition, a group of organizations (many interviewed for this study) uniting to facilitate policy change.
The nonprofit organizations serving Latino immigrants in Cincinnati, Ohio are working to meet the needs of the population and represent the best interests of Latino immigrants in the policy arena. Their efforts are manifested as a collaborative network of nonprofit organizations advocating on behalf of a population in need. The shared goal of all interviewed organizations is to make Cincinnati a safe space for immigrants.