Industries
Dreamer Wants to Give Back to U.S. — To Do So Needs DACA
Ana Ramirez grew up in north-central Washington, studying hard, earning good grades, and believing she had the same opportunities as her peers. It wasn’t until she was a freshman in high school that she learned the truth. After being accepted into a European summer study program, she ran home to… Read More
Immigration Reform Calls For ‘Complete Shift in Mentality,’ Says Georgia Lawyer
“I come from a very conservative family, but my parents raised me to believe we are all equal in God’s eyes,” says Ashley Deadwyler-Heuman, an immigration lawyer in Macon, Georgia. “Our horrific immigration court system treats many people without dignity or respect. Being able to level that playing field is… Read More
In Immigrant Faces, Holocaust Survivor Sees Her Own Family’s Past
Diane Portnoy was 3 when she passed through Ellis Island with her parents — Polish refugees who lost their families in the Holocaust. Now she runs The Immigrant Learning Center, a free language and skills training center in Malden, Massachusetts, for immigrants and refugees. Portnoy has taught English to 9,500… Read More
Helping Immigrant Workers Helps U.S. Workers and Towns, Says Mainer
As the client services coordinator for Mano en Mano (Hand in Hand), Christina Ocampo understands that helping undocumented farmworkers and other immigrants prosper has a positive impact overall on America’s communities. Nationally, undocumented immigrants account for more than 36 percent of the agriculture workforce. And because this… Read More
With DACA, a Young Woman is Able to Help Americans Start a Business
When Dalia Garcia was 4, her parents brought her across the Mexican border without immigration papers. Back home, they had struggled to find work and feared for their safety because gang violence had taken over their home city of Oaxaca. Life in America was not always easy, because Garcia and… Read More
Arkansas Accountant: Immigrants Pay A Lot Into Local Economies
As the owner of All Services Consulting in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Jacquelynn Cadena helps immigrant entrepreneurs run their businesses efficiently and profitably. She advises them on bookkeeping, insurance, and filing taxes — whatever clients need to best serve their customers and the local economy. With hundreds of clients since she… Read More
Banker Overseeing Billions While Awaiting Citizenship Says Process Needs Repair
Arindam Majumdar has an engineering degree from India, an MBA in corporate finance and investments from the University of Iowa, and is pursuing a graduate degree in banking from the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking and a Wharton Leadership Diploma from the University of Pennsylvania. He has worked at… Read More
Inter Press Service: Migrant Contributions to Development: Creating a ‘New Positive Narrative’
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 26 2017 (IPS) – Despite the “undeniable” benefits of migration, barriers including public misconceptions continue to hinder positive development outcomes, participants said during a series of thematic consultations here on safe, orderly, and regular migration. At a time where divisive rhetoric on migration can… Read More
Chamber Maid Part of Las Vegas’ Invisible Army of Immigrant Workers
Mexican immigrant Claudia Ramos is a member of the largely invisible army that keeps Las Vegas’ tourist economy booming. She cleans guest rooms at the Paris Casino to serve some of the nearly 43 million people who visit southern Nevada annually. People don’t realize the work that… Read More
Iraqi Military Interpreter Yearns to Serve U.S. Through Teaching
Safwat Al Baali is grateful for his housekeeping job at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, on the glittery Las Vegas strip. After scraping by for seven months upon receiving political asylum, he is thrilled to be averaging $17.25 an hour with tips. “My life is so good now,” he says. Al Baali… Read More
