International Institute of New England

06/09/2026

Healthy Teeth 😁🦷 Our young refugee and immigrant clients visited a dental clinic at Middlesex Community College. They were able to receive free dental cleaning and treatment provided with care. We thank Middlesex Community College for ensuring our refugee and immigrant youth receive dental care. Our Community Services team works alongside community partners, like MCC, to connect clients with medical care they need.

Learn more about the case management work of our Community Services team: https://hubs.li/Q04kxBny0

clinic

06/08/2026

Loving Freely 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈💕 In the summer of 2024, Ousmane participated in his first-ever Pride Parade. This was a very new experience for Ousmane, who was forced to flee his native country of Senegal nearly a decade earlier because of the country's severe anti-LGBTQIA laws. He spent many years in a refugee camp in Mauritania, where he experienced racial discrimination and marginalization. Despite the challenges there, there was also a real bright spot: meeting his partner, Yaya. When Ousmane was approved to resettle in the U.S., he and Yaya were temporarily separated, but Ousmane worked hard to build a future for them both. They have since been reunited, Ousmane has a job, and he has met friends and coworkers he can count on.

“Ousmane may have the most strength of character of anyone I’ve ever met,” shared his Employment Case Specialist, Sara. “He came to Boston with a laser-sharp vision of the life he wanted, and it’s been absolutely incredible watching him go after that life despite the innumerable obstacles that lay in his way.”

This , join us in celebrating and advocating for Ousmane and our LGBTQIA community members, who deserve to live and love freely without fear of persecution. Read the blog to learn more about Ousmane’s journey: https://hubs.li/Q04kxGhz0

06/08/2026

“People should be out celebrating, they should be watching it at big public venues, but instead what our clients are telling us is that they’re gonna be staying inside, laying low and watching it indoors,” IINE President and CEO Jeff Thielman told GBH News as MIRA: Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, Inc., Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition, the NH Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees, the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project, and the ACLU of Massachusetts put out a travel advisory warning ahead of the FIFA World Cup. People from around the world will travel to the U.S. for this event that should be a time for celebration of incredible sportsmanship, diversity, and international cooperation but instead could be subject to undo violation of their rights.

Read the article below to learn more about what travelers can expect when arriving in the United States ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Groups say surveillance, human rights, and entry are all in question, especially at airports

06/04/2026

“What this administration has done...is that they have created so much fear that people lawfully in the country are afraid to go out as much as before and so, it’s actually made us less safe,” IINE President and CEO Jeff Theilman told CTN after the administration released a new policy directing immigrants to apply for a Green Card in their home countries. The confusion and uncertainty has caused distress for individuals who have followed the law and have for years contributed to their communities.

Watch the full interview below to learn more about policies, like this one, limiting legal pathways and harming our immigrant and refugee neighbors: ⬇️⬇️⬇️

06/04/2026

📆 Mark your calendars!

June 20 is World Refugee Day, a day to honor the resilience and contributions of those who have been forced to flee their homes. Most refugees arrive in the U.S. with little more than the clothes on their back and the hope that they will finally find safety and opportunity. By donating on June 20, your gift will ensure they can heal, rebuild their lives, and find a brighter future.

Make an early gift to protect refugees and protect hope: https://hubs.li/Q04k6kSw0

06/03/2026

Uplift Women and Girls ♀️✨ Join us for our WILLOW Fund Breakfast Panel on Wednesday, June 10 at 7:30 a.m at the WBUR CitySpace. Hear from a panel with personal and professional expertise in the challenges and opportunities encountered by refugee and immigrant women and girls in our communities. The panel includes Ana Hebra Flaster, Author, a Cuban immigrant, published author, and journalist, Yves Salomon-Fernandez, a Haitian immigrant and President of the Urban College of Boston, Mariana Siqueira, Talent Acquisition Lead, Triumvirate Environmental, and Alexandra Weber, IINE’s Senior Vice President and Chief Advancement Officer.

🎟️ Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, the individual ticket price has dropped from $75 to $50!

🌟 Current students or nonprofit employees can purchase a ticket for only $25!

Your attendance helps support IINE’s WILLOW Fund (Women’s Initiative for Learning, Liberation, Opportunity & Well-Being), which works to remove barriers that impede refugee women and girls’ access to health education, safety, and employment.

Learn more about our WILLOW Fund and join us for the WILLOW Fund Breakfast Panel to improve the resettlement experience of immigrant women and girls: https://hubs.li/Q04jYgFM0

06/01/2026

High Stakes 📈 Last Thursday, at our town hall, IINE Intake Specialist and former refugee, Innocent Ndagijimana, IINE Director of Legal Services Rebecca LaPierre, and Democracy Forward Senior Legal Counsel Erez Reuveni discussed the long-term stakes of current immigration policies if they go unchallenged. As Erez said, “We cannot normalize this...if they can do that to our immigrant friends and neighbors, they can do that to anyone.” Watch the full webinar, “On the Ground and In the Courts: Responding to Federal Attacks on Refugee Protections” on our YouTube: https://hubs.li/Q04jGzJT0

05/29/2026

📽️ Join us in celebrating Pride & World Refugee Awareness Month during Belmont World Film's 24th International Film Series. The theme of the film festival, “Thicker than Water,” explores the ties that bind us together in our humanity across cultures and continents.

View three films showcasing moving and diverse immigrant stories from various corners of the world at West Newton Cinema.

-Enzo, Mon. June 1 at 7PM, a drama about a 16-year-old boy who defies his bourgeois family’s expectations by starting a masonry apprenticeship where he meets a charismatic Ukrainian colleague.

-Lost Land, Mon. June 8 at 7PM, a film about the perilous journey from Bangladesh to Malaysia of four-year-old Shafi and his nine-year-old sister to reunite with family. This first-ever Rohingya-language film, featuring an all-Rohingya cast, is the winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival.

-Promised Sky, Mon. June 15 at 7PM, a film following three women from Côte d’Ivoire, living together in Tunisia out of status who take in a young girl washed ashore after a shipwreck.

Each impactful film will be followed by a discussion with professionals with various expertise, including human rights and film.

We are honored to co-present these films alongside Belmont World Film and Belmont Against Racism. Come by our table on Mon. June 8th and learn more about how you can support refugees and immigrants in our communities.

🎟️ Buy tickets today: https://hubs.li/Q04jnSdY0

05/27/2026

📣 Register for our WILLOW Fund Breakfast Panel on Wednesday, June 10 at 7:30 a.m at the WBUR CitySpace. Join us for an inspiring, educational event, bringing together a panel of expert speakers to provide insights into the challenges and opportunities encountered by newly-arriving women in our communities.

🔊 Meet the panelists:

-Ana Hebra Flaster, Author a Cuban immigrant, published author, and journalist

-Yves Salomon-Fernandez, a Haitian immigrant and President of the Urban College of Boston

-Mariana Siqueira, Talent Acquisition Lead, Triumvirate Environmental

-Alexandra Weber, IINE’s Senior Vice President and Chief Advancement Officer

🎟️ TICKET PRICE DROP 🎟️ Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, the individual ticket price has dropped from $75 to $50!

✨ Current students or nonprofit employees can purchase a ticket for only $25!

The event will help support IINE’s WILLOW Fund (Women’s Initiative for Learning, Liberation, Opportunity & Well-Being), which works to improve refugee women and girls’ resettlement experiences by removing barriers that impede their access to health education, safety, and employment. Learn more about our WILLOW Fund, and empower refugee women and girls and join us for the WILLOW Fund Breakfast Panel: https://hubs.li/Q04j01S90

05/26/2026

Delivering Safety 🛞 Earlier this year, representatives from the City of Manchester NH Health Department spoke to our Congolese Women’s Group about the importance of fitting cars with car seats for child safety. Following this workshop, the Manchester Health Department staff delivered and installed 15 car seats for our refugee and immigrant clients.

We thank community partners, like the Manchester Health Department, for helping to ensure everyone in the community is safe.