Statement urging Americans to make immigrants feel welcome
Executive summary
A national push to “make immigrants feel welcome” exists alongside concrete programs and a contested federal policy environment: nonprofits and local initiatives like Welcoming America’s Certified Welcoming program and Welcoming Week promote inclusion and report dozens to hundreds of local efforts (Welcoming America: 36 certified jurisdictions as of 2025; American Immigration Council: Welcoming Week events Sept. 12–21, 2025) [1] [2]. At the same time, federal actions in 2025 — including new vetting, country-specific pauses on immigration benefits, and an alien registration requirement — have hardened the national context and caused some cities to temper their approaches (USCIS guidance, presidential executive orders and pauses; local caution noted) [3] [4] [5] [6].
1. Welcome work on the ground: community campaigns that produce measurable signals
Grassroots and municipal efforts to welcome newcomers are organized, longstanding and expanding: Welcoming America runs a Certified Welcoming program that by 2025 counted roughly 36 cities and counties that adopted formal inclusion policies and practices, signaling a localized, measurable approach to “making immigrants feel welcome” [1]. National advocacy and research groups promote Welcoming Week and related toolkits — the American Immigration Council’s Welcoming Week (Sept. 12–21, 2025) highlights local projects that turn celebrations into everyday connections and documents more than 100 data points on immigrant contributions across all 50 states [2].
2. What “welcome” looks like in practice: programs, ceremonies and services
Real-world welcoming is a mix of symbolic and practical actions: cultural festivals, neighbor-to-neighbor programming, civic inclusion policies, and municipal services that explicitly reach immigrant residents. Organizations such as Welcoming America package these into a “Welcoming Standard” and formal designations that cities use to advertise economic and social benefits from inclusion [7] [1]. The American Immigration Council showcases community-led projects — from shared gardens to storytelling — as templates for everyday acts that foster belonging [2].
3. Federal policy is shifting in the opposite direction: security, vetting and registration
At the federal level in 2025 there are explicit moves tightening immigration adjudications and screening. USCIS announced new guidance and units intended to strengthen vetting, including allowing negative, country-specific factors when adjudicating applicants from certain countries, and the administration paused processing of some immigration applications for people from a set of non‑European countries, citing national security and public safety concerns [3] [4] [8]. The government also put in place an “alien registration” requirement following Executive Order 14159, further adding a formal reporting obligation for noncitizens [5].
4. Cities’ calculus: why municipal leaders still embrace — or retreat from — welcoming policies
Local officials historically expanded immigrant-support policies even under previous federal pressure, but new national measures have made some cities more cautious. Research summarized by Perry World House finds that while local incentives to support immigrants have remained largely intact, the second Trump administration’s posture has produced more guarded municipal responses in some places [6]. That split underscores how “welcome” at the local level now contends with federal enforcement and politicized narratives.
5. Competing narratives: economic and civic benefits vs. national security framing
Proponents of welcoming emphasize immigrant contributions to local economies, public health, education and civic life; they frame inclusion as pragmatic and moral and point to formal programs and measurable outcomes [1] [2] [6]. Opposing federal messaging foregrounds national security and public safety, supporting policy changes like enhanced country-specific vetting, application pauses for certain countries, and broadened adjudicatory discretion at USCIS [3] [4] [8]. Both strands appear in the available reporting and inform how Americans hear calls to “make immigrants feel welcome.”
6. Practical advice for those who want to act locally — within current constraints
Available sources point to scalable local steps: join or support Welcoming America’s programs, participate in Welcoming Week-style events that build everyday ties, and adopt municipal policies that lower barriers to immigrant inclusion [1] [2]. At the same time, communities should be aware that federal regulations and registration requirements may affect residents’ legal status, access to benefits, and willingness to engage publicly [5] [3].
Limitations: sources used here are organizational and policy reporting between 2025–2025 and document both municipal welcoming initiatives and federal tightening; available sources do not mention specific grassroots guides for volunteer-level actions beyond the general program descriptions and event examples cited (not found in current reporting).