Immigrants and Opportunity

Read also: Immigration Arts + Culture

Since its inception, America has been considered a land of opportunity for people around the world. The fabric of our nation is woven by the immigrant experience. And its colorful patchwork is a living witness to America’s success.

The Opportunity Agenda is proud of its work toward building a land of opportunity for all persons living within our borders, especially those who came to our country in search of opportunity. Their hopes and dreams strengthen our own communities, and remind us that the great expanse of our country was built by hands from foreign lands.

Unfortunately, there are many obstacles that immigrants face in our country today. The anti-immigrant movement has become extremely effective in developing strategic messages that seek to defame immigrants and derail their chances toward becoming part of the American Experience. Over the past 30 years, a few anti-immigrant voices have worked diligently to cast a wide shadow over public perception of immigrants, and worked to pass policies and legislation that make a pathway to citizenship more treacherous than centuries ago, when the first weary travelers left distant shores and voyaged into the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. 

The Opportunity Agenda works to expand communications that build positive support for immigration policies to chip away at this harmful anti-immigration trend. Our work includes media scans of immigration coverage in mainstream print and broadcast, online, Spanish- and Chinese-language, and African American outlets, as well as around specific issues such as language acquisition and children of immigrants. We also monitor public opinion, providing meta-analyses of current polling and focus group data to identify trends in public thinking. Finally, we produce communications tools such as talking points and model media materials for advocates to use in their pro-immigration media work.