"Who is My Neighbor?" Civic Academy Leadership Team

Advancing a future based on truth and the dignity of their neighbors, VOICE gathered over 250 leaders for a civic academy — busting myths about immigrants, and preparing to turn what they learned into direct support for families who need it.

Their “Who is my Neighbor?” Civic Academy was hosted by a new VOICE member institution in the heart of the Asian District and built on the success of the 2025 civic academy series by their sister organization, ACTION in Tulsa, OK.

Six months of 20 research actions with immigration attorneys, resettlement professionals, and community advocates prepared leaders to provide a clear sense of how much harder life has gotten for their neighbors this year.

The unvarnished truth is that today, our state now has one of the highest rates of children with a detained immigrant parent,”

said VOICE leader Sundra Flansburg. “Every day, families are being torn apart. Every day, people in our immigrant community are afraid to leave their homes due to fear of being stopped simply because they look like an immigrant or are heard speaking another language.”

Leaders took on the myth that immigrants drain public resources head-on — pointing to the billions of dollars undocumented immigrants pay in taxes every year, without access to the public assistance programs those taxes help fund.

Leader An Vu shared the story of her father who spent 26 years overcoming administrative hurdles to gain lawful status in America, despite being born to an American father, 50 years of persecution, and dangerous working conditions in Vietnam. 

Sometimes the line is impossible to reach because of all the rules that separate families, or the amount of documents a family is required to provide. Sometimes the line moves slower than a lifetime,"

Vu said. "The question shouldn't be 'Why don't immigrants get in line?' The question should be 'Why is the line designed so that people lose hope before they ever reach the front?'"

Refusing to stand by while a broken immigration system fails them, VOICE leaders gathered over 200 letters to engage Congresswoman Stephanie Bice on this critical issue and launched a strategy to provide direct support to families living in fear. They are responding to the governor's executive order adding rigorous proof of citizenship requirements for benefits by developing a team to offer free clinics to help immigrant parents obtain SNAP and SoonerCare for their U.S. citizen children.