A Life Rebuilt Through Caregiving in Bentonville, Arkansas

It was Laura’s late husband who moved the family to the United States—to help his parents start a ministry in Bentonville, Arkansas. His parents were retired missionaries who had immigrated to the United States years earlier and were, by then, U.S. citizens.²⁴

“I didn’t want to come,” Laura said, but for three years her in-laws kept pushing. “They were insisting.”

Five years after Laura agreed to relocate, her husband was killed in an accident, leaving her with two children who had integrated into their new life in the United States. “I started doing any kind of job I could do because I needed to support myself,” she said. “I knew that not having a social security number I couldn’t apply anywhere.”

Unauthorized to work in the United States, Laura did what so many immigrant women in her situation do: she worked as a babysitter and nanny. There was always plenty of work, and she was, and still is, good at it, she said. “Every single day I show up.” When a family asked if she knew anyone who cleaned houses, she said, “I know no one, but I can do it.”

Laura spent 14 years taking care of other people’s children. Most of the parents, all U.S.-born, worked for Walmart, which has its headquarters in Bentonville.

Last year, when Laura became authorized to work in the United States, she took a full-time job at a friend’s office. But she still works part-time for the family she had been nannying for. “I take my lunchtime at 3:30 p.m., and I pick up the kids from school.” She remains in high demand for her childcare work. “A lot of families know me.”

Laura is grateful for the babysitting work, and to have been able to help these American families. “The family I worked for for many years, that family was a blessing,” she said. “They paid me very well. Every year they gave me a bonus. They valued my work.”

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Immigrant Nannies Make Work Possible for a New York Family

Liz is a fourth-generation New Yorker who found her family’s first nanny through a neighborhood parent group, and their second—after a break during COVID-19 when they lived with her parents—through a nanny co-operative. Both nannies were immigrants, simply because, as Liz put it, “The bulk of nannies who are working in Brooklyn are immigrants.”⁵

“We decided to go with a nanny when my first son was very young because he had pretty serious food allergies, and managing his food was a pretty concerted effort,” she said. Both Liz and her husband work, and both would like to continue doing so.

Liz works in child welfare and philanthropy, helping families across the country care for their children. Her husband is a medical researcher, helping to develop next-generation gene therapies that are already saving lives.

“I like working. I want to be working. I think that the work I do is worth doing,” she said. “If I didn’t have somebody who I thought was safe and caring and aligned with my kids every day then I wouldn’t be working.”

The current nanny, Maria, has worked with the family for four years.⁶ She provides daytime care for their three children, ages 2 through 6, for 42 hours a week. She makes $36 per hour plus overtime, equating to about $80,000 per year.

It’s certainly a substantial sum, and Liz is grateful that she and her husband can afford it. But, said Liz, daycare is also expensive. Three-child families like Liz’s in New York City pay an annual average of $69,000 for daycare.⁷

“The nanny’s work makes all the other work happen. My kids adore her, fully and completely, and they’re legitimately obsessed with her kid,” who the nanny sometimes brings with her, Liz said. “These are essential and important and contributing members to our society and economy.”

Interacting with the nanny gives the children exposure to another culture—over and above the occasional informal Spanish lesson. “We live in a diverse city, and I want my kids to know a variety of people from a variety of places, and to value people from different backgrounds,” Liz said. The family can trust that Maria will devote the personalized attention their children need: “My son with anaphylactic allergies has never had a reaction with her. And I can’t say the same for me.”

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Canada Study Permit Cap: Master’s and PhD Students Not Affected

In the new year, January 1, 2026, master’s and PhD students at Canadian public colleges and universities will not be included in the national study permit cap which was announced in Canada’s 2026-2028 annual levels plan.

The post Canada Study Permit Cap: Master’s and PhD Students Not Affected appeared first on Canadim.

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New Podcast Feature: Beyond Borders – Why Cultural Exchange Still Matters

We’re excited to share that Lisa Murray, Program Director for Cultural Exchange at the American Immigration Council, recently joined the Beyond Borders podcast to discuss the lasting value of international exchange programs and how they strengthen communities, institutions, and global understanding.

In the episode, Lisa highlights:

• The diplomacy and people-to-people connections at the heart of cultural exchange
• How programs like ours shape early-career pathways and global talent mobility
• Why fostering cross-cultural dialogue is more important now than ever

👉 Listen to the full conversation here:  Beyond Borders: Why Cultural Exchange Still Matters – Erickson Immigration Group

We hope you enjoy the conversation and share it with others who care about the future of exchange.

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Amidst Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign, Report Shows Access to Lawyers is Critical

New Report Shows Having a Lawyer is a Critical Safeguard Against Deportation 

Washington DC, Nov. 20 — As the Trump administration intensifies its mass deportation and detention campaign, a new report from the American Immigration Council shows that legal representation is one of the most powerful tools to increase fairness in immigration court. 

Read the report here.

The analysis of more than 2.28 million immigration court cases from FY2019 to FY2024 reveals that having a lawyer dramatically reduces the likelihood of being ordered deported. The data also reveals that case outcomes vary dramatically depending on whether someone is detained and where their case is heard, factors that are increasingly undermining fairness in the immigration court system. 

The report, Where Can You Win in Immigration Court? The Impact of Lawyers, Detention, Geography, and Policy, lands at a moment when the Trump administration is dramatically increasing the number of people targeted for deportation and narrowing their access to due process.  

“The Trump administration’s enforcement surge is exposing just how vulnerable people are when they go into immigration court without a lawyer,” said Adriel Orozco, report author and senior policy counsel at the American Immigration Council. “Americans expect that every single person should get a fair hearing before a judge. While in the current moment of mass arrests and rapid removals that is increasingly difficult, having a lawyer is often critical in protecting a person’s right to argue their case.” 

The report’s findings include: 

• Access to legal representation is a life-changing protection in immigration court. Of the immigration court cases decided from FY 2019–2024, 62 percent of immigrants without a lawyer were ordered deported, compared to 27 percent of those who did have legal aid.  

• Without a lawyer, the odds collapse, especially for those in detention. Of the courts that had the highest deportation rates, more than 90 percent of cases involving people in detention ended in removal orders.  

• Access to legal representation is deeply uneven across geography. Non-detained immigrants in Honolulu had a legal representation rate of 70 percent, while in Harlingen, Texas, it was just 25 percent.  

• Case outcomes shifted sharply between the Trump and Biden administrations. Under Trump (in FY2019), nearly 80 percent of cases ended in removal orders. Under Biden (FY2024), that number was just 40 percent.  

Explore the data here.

The disparities highlighted in this report are likely to intensify because of the current Trump administration policies. Immigration courts are already strained by unprecedented backlogs. The Trump mass deportation and detention campaign is creating even greater chaos, amidst the reassignment and firing of immigration judges, the expansion of “fast-track” deportation, and other policies that limit opportunities for people to present evidence or secure counsel. All of this raises fundamental questions about guaranteeing those in immigration court access to justice, and the integrity of the courts themselves. 

“This report makes one thing clear: ensuring access to a qualified lawyer is a powerful way of protecting someone against unjust or erroneous deportation,” said Orozco. “But whether someone gets a lawyer depends far too much on where they are, whether they’re detained, and which policies happen to be in place. With detentions set to skyrocket thanks to record funding approved by Congress, having a lawyer is critical in a system that this administration is deliberately breaking down.” 

The full report and interactive data, which includes a court-by-court breakdown, is available here. The tool lets users explore outcomes by location, detention status, and representation, offering one of the most detailed looks at immigration court trends to date. 

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