News Local/State

Immigration Welcome Award Winner Fights For DACA Recipients

 
Nancy Ramirez-Blancas sits at her desk inside La Casa Cultural Latina on the University of Illinois Urbana campus.

Nancy Ramirez-Blancas sits at her desk inside La Casa Cultural Latina on the University of Illinois Urbana campus. Brian Moline/Illinois Public Media

The Fourth Annual Immigrant Welcome Awards Ceremony is Saturday in Urbana.  They’re sponsored by the CU Immigration Forum, the cities of Champaign and Urbana, the Muslim-American Society of Urbana-Champaign, and the Urbana Free Library.

Nancy Ramirez-Blancas is receiving this year’s Student Leadership Award. She’s the president of I-CAUSE on the University of Illinois Urbana campus, which stands for Illinois Coalition Assisting Undocumented Students’ Education.

Illinois Public Media’s Brian Moline spoke with Ramirez-Blancas Thursday at her office inside La Casa Cultural Latina on the U of I campus, and asked her how it felt to receive this award.

Other Immigrant Welcome Awards recepients are:

  • Samuel Smith - Humanitarian Relief Award
  • Charles Larenas - Distinguished Leadership Service Award
  • The Education Justice Project - Community Impact Award
  • Immigration Project - Community Impact Award
  • Karyl Wackerlin - Human Rights Award