This year's election will be very important for people who care about immigrants and refugees. I can't be the only one who has noticed that conversations on this issue often devolve into rhetoric fueled by misinformation.

Politicians, pundits, and partisans will spew information out of context or deliberate lies to demonize foreign-born people. It is maddening, to be sure. Every day, we hear from current and former clients who are worried that the government may deport them even though they are here legally!    

People often ask us for data to inform their consideration of the issues surrounding immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers and, frankly, to combat things they know are factually incorrect.  

For this reason, we have curated a resource on our website called Know the Value. The goals are to help people recognize the positive things that happen when a community welcomes foreign-born people and to provide data and research on immigrants and refugees. In addition, we have a page to dispel the myths we often hear about immigrants and refugees.

Note that our team has taken great pains to ensure it is as apolitical as possible. Still, you will see things from organizations such as the left-leaning Brookings Institution and the conservative-leaning Cato Institute.

These days, many will not be swayed from their worldview and will believe what they want to believe. That is fine; we can do nothing if their minds are not open to new data and perspectives. However, it won't be because of a lack of effort on our part. Please feel free to explore the links above and share as appropriate. Regardless of the election's outcome, we will update the webpage regularly.

Finally, Election Day is coming, and early voting is already underway. Here is a list of Erie County polling places for early voting. If you are eligible to vote, please exercise the franchise that so many fought so long and so hard for.

Learn more about our work at the International Institute of Buffalo by clicking here.

Jennifer Rizzo-Choi, 

Executive Director

Click on the Video Above!

Wednesday, November 20, 2024 @ 6:00 PM

WNED Studios, 140 Lower Terrace, Buffalo, NY 14202 

Join IIB for its biggest fundraiser of the year! A night of stand-up comedy featuring internationally touring comedians!

UPDATE--Just added to the program: Adam Zyglis, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, will unveil and sign custom, limited-edition artwork that he created especially for the International Institute of Buffalo! A numbered and limited-edition run of prints will be on sale that night!

The event will feature international food from local restaurants, an open bar with beer/wine/soft drinks, and music by infusion sitar artist Naryan Padmanabha.

All proceeds will benefit the International Institute of Buffalo.

If you have not seen it yet, you can show your support for IIB by purchasing gear sporting a design that celebrates Buffalo’s history of welcoming people from around the globe. A portion of the proceeds from each sale will go to IIB! 

The US flag inspires the design and features buffalos representing 195 flags of countries and ethnic communities worldwide. Thanks to Marinette Kozlow of Inspired Buffalo LLC for partnering with us!

Hurry! The store closes at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, November 3!

Click here to see all the products!

Making Western New York more welcoming to immigrants and refugees is a lot of work! It takes a lot of wonderful people to help us do what we do, and we appreciate them all. Click here to see those we are honoring this month.

National Hispanic Heritage Month ended on October 15. We honored the contributions of influential Hispanic immigrants and refugees in the Arts who’ve helped shape the vibrant tapestry of America. Here is who we featured:

Winter is coming.

Your gently used coats can help a refugee stay warm this winter. For many, this will be their first time experiencing cold weather, let alone a Buffalo winter!

We are accepting donations of Small, Medium, large, and X-large coats for men, women, and children.

Here are the basic household items to ease our newest American neighbors’ transition into our community. If your organization wants to coordinate a donation drive on our behalf, please do so by contacting us!

For more information and to schedule your drop off, email our donations coordinator at donations@iibuff.org

Volunteers from L to R: Wisdom Afealete and Jim Duffy

We are deeply grateful for the 19 volunteers and interns who, through their combined efforts, contributed 283 hours to our mission. Their assistance with housing set-ups, bus training, and helping clients navigate their new hometowns has been invaluable and greatly appreciated.

Our Community Outreach team ensured all 14 families we resettled had homes ready to move into.

If you’re interested in volunteering, we have a crucial need for dedicated individuals to assist with watching the kids of IIB clients attending community orientation for new arrivals on-site. Your commitment of two hours daily for two days a month can make a significant difference. We will provide toys and crafts, and all you need to provide is an extra set of eyes and enthusiasm. Staff and parents will be just in the next room.

Interns, if you are looking for a meaningful experience and college credit, you can have the opportunity to work directly with case managers and clients. Many of our employees started here as interns!

Contact us if you are interested in internships or volunteer opportunities at volunteers@iibuff.org.

This month, we welcomed 50 new citizens from 24 countries into our community!

These New Americans took their citizenship oaths at the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services Naturalization Ceremony in downtown Buffalo. The countries they represented were Bangladesh, Burma, Burundi, Canada, Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, Iraq, Ireland, Jamaica, Lebanon, Liberia, Pakistan, Portugal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Yemen.

Employment Services

Our Employment Team continued its job readiness program (Job Club) for a new class of individuals seeking job opportunities on their road to self-sufficiency. The program offers New Americans the chance to learn job-readiness skills, help with financial literacy, tours of the library, health information, and a class on workers' rights. They also meet employers through our partnership programs and job fair events.

A Job Club class graduated in early October, and that followed with a job fair on the IIB campus, where more than 100 job seekers engaged with eight employers. Attendees spoke various languages, including Arabic, Burmese, Dari, Spanish, and Tigrinya.  

We are excited to announce that a new Job Club class has started mid-month and look forward to sharing their inspiring success stories with you soon!

Click here to learn more about how we help New Americans become effective employees.

International Exchanges and Education

This month, we hosted two groups of international visitors who came to Buffalo to explore "Countering Violent Extremism – Community Strategies." 

The first group (pictured above) included 13 visitors from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Togo. They met with the Restorative Justice Coalition, the Erie County DA's Office, the WNY Peace Center, Heidi Jones Esq., and Friends of Night People.

The second group had 10 visitors from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, and Tunisia. This group met with the Amherst Police Department, Locust Street Art, NYS Unified Courts, Open Buffalo, and Leadership Buffalo.

Our trainings included a cultural competency session for UB Public Health students on how to work more effectively with the foreign-born population.

We held a Refugee Health session on mental health for IIB's Job Club participants. These sessions support the integration of our refugee clients by providing information and resources to navigate the American health system and encourage wellness in everyday life.

We're gearing up for Model UN 2025 on Tuesday, March 18! This lively and life-changing competition is a fantastic opportunity for students to broaden their horizons. If your students are interested in participating, please contact communications@iibuff.org.

Learn more about how our International Exchanges & Education team contributes to greater knowledge and understanding in our community.

New American Integration

New American Integration (NAI) is off to a busy start in the latest federal fiscal year. Since the U.S. government just closed its fiscal year in September, October usually starts with a moratorium, with no refugee arrivals slated for the first two weeks. However, there was no moratorium this year in order to bring in as many refugee arrivals as possible.

We had 30 arrivals for October and already have 46 on the books for November. They hail primarily from Afghanistan, Burma, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (with children born in Uganda), and Somalia (with their child born in South Africa). Find out more about what New American Integration is about.

Interpreting & Translation

The Interpreting & Translation team hosted an Erie 1 BOCES meeting attended by more than 20 educators from area schools. The organization is a long-time IIB client, and the partnership continues to provide language access to affiliated schools. 

The Interpreting & Translation team recently helped with over 1,700 requests for service in 44 different languages for people needing language services for health care, legal appointments, employment, document translation, and many other needs as non-English-speaking individuals navigate their journey.

Recently, the translation team assisted the D'Youville Kavinoky Theatre with a unique request. A character in their play “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” reads a few lines in Arabic, and they reached out to us to have a linguist record them slowly so that they would have the correct pronunciation.

Right now, we are looking for local candidates for onsite interpreting in the following languages:  Karen, Karenni, Kibembe, Kurdish, Nepali, and Punjabi. Click to apply.

For a comprehensive overview of the Interpreting & Translation department’s work, click here!

Come Work with Us!

We are always looking for people who want to help New Americans become part of our community, take a look at our careers page.