BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Gov. Hochul announced Friday the launch of New York State's Institute for Immigrant Integration Research, an institute designed to help immigrants transition to communities across the state.
The state-funded institute will be housed at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, a SUNY public policy think tank.
An advisory board of community leaders has been selected to help determine policy and select an executive and assistant director in the approaching months.
"New York is built on the hard work and determination of generations of immigrants, and this Institute will work to improve the lives of those who are trying to build better lives for themselves and their families," Hochul said. "By clearing the boundaries for new New Yorkers, we can help to better integrate them into the New York community and access the New York Dream."
The NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance reported that 900 refugees and Special Immigrant Visa holders resettled across the state in 2021. Many of them hailed from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Afghanistan, and Burma.
The advisory board will have local ties to Western New York - Professor of Economics at the University at Buffalo Dr. Issac Ehrlich, and Executive Director of the International Institute of Buffalo Jennifer Rizzo-Choi, will both sit on the newly formed institute's advisory board.
