Nik Theodore and Nina Martin share several important ideas in “Migrant Civil Society: New Voices in the Struggle Over Community Development.” The one thing that stood out to me is the role played my nonprofit organizations to fill the void left by the US Government post 9/11 in policies regarding immigrants in the United States. Theodore and Martin mention how September 11 terrorist attacks, the 2001 recession, the fiscal crisis in state government, and the alleged challenge to state sovereignty that has been brought on by large-scale undocumented migration, has led to the withdrawal of many public services that migrants need in the US. This is why nonprofit organizations have stepped in to fill the void, to allow migrants to get the help they need to live a proper life. In a survey done on 182 different nonprofits showed that 133 organizations reported to have 30% or more of their clients be foreign born migrants. These migrants came  from various backgrounds such as: Mexicans, Koreans, Chinese, Russians, Poles, Indians, and Central American migrants. Interestingly enough the greatest problem migrant families face (56%) is the language barrier and substandard employment issues, as discussed numerous times in class. [Need for health and social services (36%), immigration-related issues (33%) such as family reunification and gaining citizenship, and access to quality affordable housing (16%) (Figure 1). Virtually every organization interviewed is engaged in raising awareness of one or more of these social problems. In Chicago, these advocacy efforts center on the following issues: immigrant rights (29%), access to health and social services (21%), access to quality affordable housing (14%), and access to education (14%)]

It is truly interesting to see the various obstacles immigrants in America faces, and it’s hard to envision where they would be without the lobbying of nonprofit organization looking out for their well-being.