Seven undergraduate and five graduate students competed in the Ford School's 9th Annual Policy Pitch Competition in early September. In a TEDTalk style presentation, students gave three minute speeches highlighting their policy impact, lessons learned, and key deliverables from their internship experience. First, second, and third place winners were chosen by a group of celebrated alumni judges, and the audience selected an Audience Student Prize winner. See all of the photos from the event here.
First place winner Alimatou Sarr (MPP/MIRS ‘28) reflected on her experiences for the Ford School's Policy Matters blog.
Just a few short years ago, I was sitting in Weill Hall as a Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) fellow, going back and forth between job and graduate school applications before my senior year. At the time, I had a general interest in immigration policy, but without much experience in the field, I simply wasn't sure that I could achieve those goals. Today, as a second-year dual MPP/MIRS candidate at the Ford School, I have had the privilege of supporting the American Immigration Council (AIC) as an intern on the State and Local and Policy Teams.
AIC is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization that uses research, litigation, and advocacy to shape immigration policy to strengthen and enrich the United States through a system that upholds values of fairness and justice.
When I graduated with my bachelor's degree after PPIA, I decided to take some time away from school and worked in the Michigan House of Representatives for a member's office. In that position, I developed an acute understanding of the work of state and local bodies. At the same time, I saw how certain policy issues, namely immigration, could be seen by some lawmakers as outside of the scope of their work, despite there being over 730,000 immigrants in the state of Michigan who contributed an estimated $8.3 billion in taxes in 2023 alone.
When I made the decision to come to the Ford School, it was because I wanted to pivot into a career that would enable me to better support those 730,000 immigrants, who work day in and day out to make our state a better place. During my time in the legislature, I dedicated time to learning from the nonprofits and community organizations that requested our time. And I was interested in learning about how the kind of advocacy I saw on one side of the desk looks from the other perspective.
So when I had the opportunity to sit down with my supervisors at AIC, I proposed an outreach project to help educate state legislators not only about the demographic makeup of their states, but also to highlight the tools at their disposal that have a direct impact on immigrant communities. While it is true that the legal process of immigration is limited to the federal government, laws dictating whether or not immigrants can obtain driver's licenses or access some publicly funded health programs are in the hands of state and local governments.
Through this outreach project, I developed a blog post and a survey that went out to legislators across the country with additional AIC resources to both share information as lawmakers prepare to either close out the legislative session or consider pre-filing for future sessions, as well as gather information from state leaders about how they are engaging with immigration policy. This outreach was just one of many other efforts led by AIC to connect with lawmakers who may be engaging with immigration for the first time.
Overall, working with AIC was an incredible experience. I developed several blogs and fact sheets, and conducted some quantitative analysis using primary data sources. I also made really strong connections with senior staff members who encouraged me to continue pursuing this area of policy, which has made me feel more confident in engaging with similar organizations in the future. I hope that my time with AIC is just the starting point for a robust career in immigration research and advocacy in Michigan and around the world.
Alimatou Sarr (MPP/MIRS ‘28) is a second-year master's student with an interest in foreign languages and migration policy. A graduate of UM-Flint and a PPIA alumna, Alimatou enjoys traveling and studied Arabic as a Critical Language Scholar in Jordan. Alimatou currently serves as chair of the Student Affairs Committee at the Ford School.