World Education Services Announces 16 U.S. Communities Selected to Join Its Skilled Immigrant Integration Program

World Education Services (WES) today announced the 16 communities selected to join the fifth cohort of its Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP). These sites represent a combination of new communities and SIIP network alumni that are committed to advancing the workforce inclusion of immigrants and refugees across the United States.

Communities selected for the 2022–2023 SIIP cohort include Anchorage, Alaska; Brattleboro, Vermont; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Eugene, Oregon; Lincoln, Nebraska; Louisville, Kentucky; New York, New York; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; South Bend, Indiana; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and the states of Colorado, Utah, and Virginia.

At least two million college-educated immigrants and refugees are unemployed or underemployed in the U.S.; sixty percent hold credentials earned abroad, according to the Migration Policy Institute. This skill underutilization results in almost $40 billion in forgone annual earnings and $10 billion in unrealized federal, state, and local taxes yearly. Previous SIIP participants developed new frameworks, resources, and initiatives to address barriers to employment, increase funding for workforce development and adult education, and develop state and local networks that advance inclusion. The 2022–2023 SIIP initiative builds on the program’s success with the introduction of a model based on thematic groups.

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