The Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PICC) is a statewide membership-based coalition founded in 2003 to build a statewide voice for immigration and refugee communities. PICC achieves this through leading and supporting issue based advocacy campaigns, non-partisan civic engagement, capacity building trainings, a youth organizing project and a project to increase access to legal services.

Advocacy Issues

PICC members choose the organization’s advocacy issue priorities on a bi-annual basis. On March 23, 2015 PICC members chose four issues as the core advocacy priorities for 2015/16:

• Driver’s Licenses for All: PICC is supporting the campaign of community groups advocating for access to uniform or unmarked licenses for all drivers in Pennsylvania regardless of immigration status.
• Education Justice: PICC is committed to policies that ensure that immigrant and refugee students have access to quality education at all levels. This includes supporting the passage of tuition equity legislation, the Campaign for Fair Education Funding, ICE Out of Schools and Welcoming Campuses policies.
• Federal Policies: PICC is committed to advocating for just and humane immigration reform that keeps families together, promotes family unification, prevents exploitation of immigrant workers and provides a clear pathway to citizenship. This includes efforts to stop mass deportation and detention of immigrant.
• Workforce/Employment: PICC supports efforts to assure just and safe working conditions for all immigrants and refugees and campaign for fair wages.

PICC is also committed to supporting other issues important to immigrant and refugee communities:

• Improving access to health care for immigrant communities
• Increasing language access to public services for limited English speakers
• Ending collaboration between local law enforcement and immigration enforcement

Civic Engagement 

Through voter registration, education, and turnout, PICC works to build immigrant electoral power and to address barriers to the civic participation of underrepresented immigrant communities.

Capacity Building

PICC is committed to building statewide capacity and leadership to advance immigrant rights. PICC provides up-to-date and accurate information on immigration issues and policies, organizes trainings and community education, develops resource manuals and training materials, distributes sub-grants, conducts leadership development and provides networking opportunities to build the capacity of immigrant-led and immigrant serving organizations to engage in advocacy work and to ensure equal access to resources for immigrant communities.

PA is Ready!

Youth Organizing Project