Ali Noorani
GET UPDATES FROM Ali Noorani
 
In March 2008, the Board of the National Immigration Forum selected Ali Noorani to be Executive Director. The Forum, based in Washington D.C., is one of the nation’s premier immigration policy organizations and has been at the center of every major legislative and policy debate related to immigration over the past 25 years.

Prior to joining the Forum, Ali was Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), an organization he joined in November 2003. Under his leadership, MIRA more than tripled its staff and programs, and greatly increased its capacity to advocate for the rights and opportunities of immigrants and refugees. In partnership with its members, MIRA continues to pursue its mission across Massachusetts and other regions of New England through education, training, leadership development, organizing, policy analysis and advocacy.

Over the years, Ali has been a guest on a number of local (WBZ 1030 AM, WRKO 680 AM and WTTK 96.9 FM, among others) and national (Fox Radio and National Public Radio) radio shows. Noorani has been a guest on the O'Reilly Factor (radio and television), Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, NBC News and various local news stations. Noorani has been quoted on the pages of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe and Washington Post.

Before taking helm at MIRA, Ali worked on a variety of community health and social justice issues. At the Health Services Partnership of Dorchester, Ali served as the Director of Public Health, managing efforts ranging from HIV/AIDS to youth development for two large community health centers in Dorchester, MA. Previously, Ali worked for the City of Boston coordinating funding and technical assistance to environmental justice projects across the region.

Born in California, Noorani is the son of Pakistani immigrants and one of the few national leaders of Muslim heritage. Ali is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and received his Master’s in Public Health from Boston University. Recently, he received the Alfred L. Frechette Award from the Massachusetts Public Health Association for exceptional leadership in promoting social justice and received the 2007 Boston University Young Alumni Award.

Ali has authored numerous articles and currently serves on the board of the Campaign for Community Change.

Blog Entries by Ali Noorani

To Create Jobs, Fix Immigration

(27) Comments | Posted June 1, 2012 | 4:08 PM

Right under the noses of pro-business Republicans and Democrats is an anti-business immigration system that impedes innovation and puts family farmers out of business.

Let me be clear: Far too many of our fellow Americans are out of work. Our economy cannot grow fast enough to ease...

Read Post

Law-enforcement Leaders Agree: State Anti-immigrant Laws Encourage Discrimination

(38) Comments | Posted April 24, 2012 | 12:44 PM

In our struggle to make a more perfect nation, the liberty of all Americans is at risk.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of the United States is slated to hear oral arguments regarding Arizona's discriminatory, anti-immigrant law, S.B. 1070.

Signed into law nearly two years ago by Gov....

Read Post

Bipartisan Visa Reform? Hold on

(61) Comments | Posted March 22, 2012 | 5:37 PM

Think it's hard to get the 60 votes necessary to quash a filibuster and get something done in the U.S. Senate? Forget the supermajority: A single senator can hold up a vote for months on end -- even on a bipartisan bill that serves the needs of our economy.

Example...

Read Post

Boost Our Economy by Welcoming Tourists -- and Immigrants

(9) Comments | Posted February 13, 2012 | 4:24 PM

President Obama's initiative to attract more tourists to the United States is a smart and practical policy that will create more jobs for Americans. We can only hope that congressional leaders will soon realize that similarly wise policy decisions regarding our immigration system also would strengthen our economy.

The...

Read Post

Dear Secretary Napolitano: Suspend Secure Communities

(47) Comments | Posted January 12, 2012 | 10:11 AM

News reports surfaced last week that a fourteen-year-old girl from Dallas, an American citizen who did not speak a word of Spanish, was deported to Colombia.

The reports say Jakadrien Turner gave an assumed name -- we don't know why -- that matched a name in a...

Read Post

GOP Debate: Compassion Makes a Cameo

(3) Comments | Posted November 29, 2011 | 2:46 PM

Compassion made a cameo appearance at the November 22 CNN debate between GOP candidates. All the more stunning was that the compassion was for undocumented immigrants who reside in our nation.

There are four reasons why we saw this change:

1. In order to win the general election, the GOP...

Read Post

Pro-Immigration GOP Presidential Hopefuls?

(11) Comments | Posted February 2, 2011 | 3:39 PM

Below the radar screen of the tumult in Egypt, the Affordable Care Act, and the economy, GOP presidential kingmakers are starting to frame themselves as pro-immigration. Who'da thunk it?

On ABC News' Top Line, Senator Norm Coleman, Chair of the American Action Network said:

Let me be very...
Read Post

No Excuses on Immigration Reform

(26) Comments | Posted March 16, 2010 | 3:22 PM

Less than a week to go till the March FOR America and the immigration blame game is kicking into full gear. Democrats are blaming Republicans, Republicans are blaming Democrats. Meanwhile, the DC punditry - aided and abetted by a front page Washington Post story that doesn't...

Read Post

A Vision Becoming Reality for March 21st

(5) Comments | Posted March 6, 2010 | 3:16 PM

Today, La Opinión - the largest Spanish language newspaper in the U.S. - reported on a possible framework for moving forward comprehensive immigration reform legislation in the Senate. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) has worked for more than a year with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to create a bipartisan...

Read Post

Our Time to Fight for Immigration Reform is Now

(24) Comments | Posted February 25, 2010 | 12:16 PM

Democrats have become the party of "I can't," while Republicans have become the party of "I won't." But the overwhelming majority of Americans (conservatives, independents and everyone else) is saying, "Get to work on our nation's problems and fix the broken immigration system!"

While the pundits, naysayers, and quitters in...

Read Post

The Real Health Care and Immigration Questions

(10) Comments | Posted September 21, 2009 | 6:03 PM

As we predicted, the politics of immigration have been dragged into the politics of health insurance reform. It is now crystal clear that no issue of importance can be determined smoothly and comprehensively as long as 12,000,000 people live, work and raise children in the U.S. but float in limbo...

Read Post