The expansion brings Alejandra Vázquez Baur, co-founder of the network, into a new leadership role as director of immigrant students policy, advocacy, and partnerships at EdTrust. Her appointment follows mounting evidence that immigration enforcement creates a climate of fear, directly suppressing academic performance and graduation rates. In Maryland, state officials recently linked lower graduation outcomes among Latino students to heightened enforcement activities.

EdTrust CEO Denise Forte emphasized that a family’s immigration status should not be treated as a systemic burden, but rather a call to ensure all students are supported regardless of their origin. The National Newcomer Network, founded by The Century Foundation and Next100, currently operates across 46 states. By folding this coalition into its existing structure, EdTrust plans to intensify pressure for federal policy changes, improve professional development for educators, and elevate the voices of families who are increasingly sidelined by current enforcement tactics. This partnership will extend the network’s reach from K-12 classrooms into EdTrust’s broader mission of dismantling racial and economic barriers across the entire American education spectrum.