The celebration of May Day as an international workers' holiday has its roots in the immigrant cultures that brought their labor movements to the U.S. from all over the world. Migrant justice has always been intertwined with fights for dignity in the workplace, and it’s no different today.

We hope you’ll join us in Portland this Friday in sharing messages of immigrants' rights alongside our friends at MSEA calling for workers’ rights.

May Day community organizing will continue in Portland on Saturday as well, at this event with other members and partners of MIRC.

Thank you community fundraisers!

We’ve had an incredible outpouring of community support in recent months, including donations from pie sales by Two Fat Cats Bakery and the rage/splatter rooms of Mayhem, the “Neat” hoodie makers, stand-up comedy, and the Red Hat crochet patterns.

We’re so grateful to everyone who created and participated in these fundraisers. Please continue to support them!

Earth Day & climate migration academy

This week, in honor of Earth Day, we kicked off the Climate Migration Leadership Academy that we participated in creating with our national partners at NPNA.

We recruited 10 Mainers to participate in the Academy over the next month to develop their understanding of how the climate will impact migration and to grow leadership skills towards broadening the climate justice movement in the state.

Stay tuned for updates and learn more about climate displacement.

Seeking SEAfest volunteers

On Saturday, May 2, 2026, Khmer Maine and the Filipino American Samahan of Maine will host SEAFEST 2026 at Riverbank Park in Westbrook, from 3:00 PM to 10:00 PM, bringing together Maine's Khmer, Filipino, Lao, Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian Communities for a full evening of live performances, traditional games, food, and culture.

SEAFEST organizers are still recruiting volunteers to help. Volunteers get a SEAFEST 2026 t-shirt, a free meal from the vendor of your choice, and a chance to be part of one of Maine's most vibrant cultural celebrations!

Thank you for taking action to protect work permits

This week we submitted a 22-page comment calling for DHS to withdraw its proposed rule that would extremely reduce access to work permits. We were among over 7,000 comments, with dozens coming directly from Maine employers, and over 250 MIRC supporters joining our petition to rescind the rule.

A special thank you to all who signed, shared and submitted comments. We will continue to track this issue and keep you updated on changes to the policy.

Celebrating… Taxes?!

April 15 was Tax Day. Whether you filed on time or requested an extension, we hope you feel some level of relief. While many of us have strong feelings about taxes — what they over-fund and what they fail to fund — we all want fairness to be the centerpiece of tax policy.

Thanks to the efforts of Mainers For Tax Fairness, we took some major steps in that direction this year with the passage of progressive tax measures in Maine.

Storytelling as Solidarity

This month we kicked off our partnership with Community Plate and coalition members MCAN and Presente! to plan storytelling potluck suppers across the state. Our initial event took place in Houlton, and you can get a glimpse of how successful it was. 

The next events will be in Blue Hill on May 30 and Harrison on June 27.

Exploring Mushrooms and Diaspora with author Maria Pinto

MIRC is co-sponsoring events featuring Maria Pinto, a Boston-area writer, mushroom lover, and educator born in Jamaica. Pinto will offer a book talk on May 15 at the Belfast Free Library and a writers' workshop on 5/16, 3pm at the Rockweed Center in Belfast.

Join her as she explores this understudied kingdom’s awe-inspiring diversity and discovers how fungi have been used by people, especially those on the margins, for survival, pleasure, revelation, and revolution.

There's also an event on Monday, May 18 in the afternoon at Bates College, details TBA. Contact cmartinez@bates.edu for more info.

Member Spolight:

Amjambo Africa & Ladder to the Moon

Amjambo Africa is a longtime MIRC member operating a nonprofit news organization that serves Maine’s immigrants and host communities, reporting stories that inform, connect, and uplift — fostering understanding across cultures.

Amjambo was co-founded in April 2018 by Kit Harrison and Georges Budagu Makoko to bridge the information gap for African immigrants and foster understanding with long-time residents, producing a monthly newspaper and online news in multiple languages, including Swahili, French, Kinyarwanda, English, Somali, Spanish, and Portuguese.

On April 1, Elias Taye took over as Editor-in-Chief, bringing decades of experience as an Ethiopian journalist and editor, reporting across Africa and internationally. He joins Leah Hargrove, the newly arrived Executive Director of Ladder to the Moon Network, the parent nonprofit organization of Amjambo.

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Thank you to all who continue to support MIRC and our members.

Mufalo Chitam

MIRC Executive Director

P.S. If you are able to make a donation to sustain our work in this critical time, we welcome it and thank you immensely.