Industries
Syrian-born Cardiologist Practices Where American Doctors Are Most Needed
Altoona, Pennsylvania, has a lot to recommend it: a small-town feel, a beautiful rural landscape and friendly people. But there is one thing that Altoona is missing: doctors. “There is a very high demand for doctors here,” says Dr. Ziad Khoury, a Syrian-born cardiologist who has lived in the area… Read More
Venezuelan Drives Business Growth in Rural Indiana
Had it not been for a dramatic kidnapping, Daniela Vidal might never have left Venezuela. A trained chemical engineer, she had a good job in product development for Procter & Gamble. But when her fiancé was taken by guerrillas during a fishing trip on the Colombian border and held in… Read More
DACA Pre-Med Student ‘One of the People Who Makes America Great’
Maria’s mother never finished high school in Mexico. Instead, after having Maria at age 16, she and Maria’s father crossed the border into the United States. “They decided the best thing would be to come here and look for a better life,” says Maria, who has lived in Fort Wayne,… Read More
Think Policy Not Politics for Smart Immigration Reform, Says Professor
University of Houston political science professor Jeronimo Cortina is very optimistic about the future of race relations in this country — an outlook he says was inspired by his students. “Everyone sees themselves as equals,” says Cortina, who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 2001. “They are used… Read More
From Boxcar to Law School, Refugee Pays His Second Chance Forward
After Luis Canales, a Honduran refugee, won his political asylum case in 2010, the court asked him what he intended to do with his life. He said he wanted to become a lawyer. Today, as a third-year law student at Villanova University -Charles Widger School of Law, he’s well… Read More
Activist Supports ‘Dreamers‘ — ‘Dreamers’ Support Economy
Sonny Garcia’s single mother was born in South Texas, but she spent years working as a migrant laborer to support her family. “There are a lot of undocumented people in that space,” Garcia says, whose own father was undocumented. “I grew up learning about what that meant, hearing stories about… Read More
Ohio Town Welcomes Immigrants — for its Economic Wellbeing
Bruce Jeffers, a Bowling Green City Council member, knows that the factories and farms in his community — and in several surrounding counties — are facing a labor shortage. But one demographic is helping to revive places struggling with a declining and aging population: “Immigrants bring value to our communities,”… Read More
Virginia Entrepreneur Works Overtime to Help Other Immigrants Succeed
Thirty years ago, Fanny Smedile left behind a successful cafe she owned in Ecuador to flee an abusive husband. Despite knowing no English, she applied for a visa to join a cousin in New Jersey and found work there as a nanny and housekeeper, including for a professional football player. Read More
New Jersey Union Boss: America Doesn’t Function Without Immigrants
Walk through any Atlantic City casino and you’ll see immigrant dealers, bartenders, waiters, and more, says Bob McDevitt, president of UNITE HERE Local 54. The city’s largest union for casino workers. Local 54 has 10,000 members, two-thirds of whom are either Hispanic or Asian Americans. “If you take away immigrant… Read More
Immigrants Offset Population Decline, Keep Midwest Economy Afloat
In 2017, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs published “Immigration a Demographic Lifeline in Midwestern Metros,” a report demonstrating how immigrants have helped offset U.S.-born population loss across the Midwest and revitalized an aging workforce. “Native-born Americans are getting older, so working-age natives —… Read More
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