Alyiah Al-Bonijim

Coming from a family of refugees herself, Alyiah’s interest in IJC’s work stems from witnessing the legal and systemic barriers immigrants and refugees endure first-hand. In order to mitigate these barriers, she has served as the volunteer coordinator and president of the Michigan Refugee Assistance Program, and has volunteered for several immigration organizations. During this work, she collaborated with local resettlement agencies and the Detroit Mayor’s Office to organize community service and educational outreach projects towards asylum. Additionally, she lobbied Congress for the extension of TPS for Somali and Yemeni immigrants during her internship with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Alyiah is looking forward to joining the AAANY team, and building relationships with the immigrant community she’ll be working with.