Frank Sharry

Frank Sharry "is the Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum. The Forum, based in Washington D.C., is one of the nation’s premier immigration policy organizations, and has a membership of over 250 organizations nationwide. The Forum’s mission is to embrace and uphold America’s tradition as a nation of immigrants.

"Since becoming the Forum’s Executive Director in 1990, Mr. Sharry has emerged as a leading spokesperson for pro-immigrant policies in the United States. He frequently appears in print and on television, ranging from the pages of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times and the Washington Post to debates on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, the McLaughlin Group, and CNN’s Crossfire. Prior to joining the Forum, Mr. Sharry was Executive Director of Centro Presente, a local agency that helps Central American refugees in the greater Boston area. While in Massachusetts, he helped found the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition. Prior to that he led efforts to resettle refugees from Vietnam, Cuba, and elsewhere for a national organization now called Immigration and Refugee Services of America. In 1994, Mr. Sharry took a leave of absence from the Forum to serve as Deputy Campaign Manager of Taxpayers Against Proposition 187, the effort opposing the California ballot initiative."