Stories
Immigrant credits English language and training opportunities as critical to his success
Tony Golobic jokes that he got his first job in America —cleaning oil-fired boilers —because no one else wanted to do it. “The boilers were red hot, the work was dangerous and dirty,” he says. “But I was making really good money, a lot more money than I ever… Read More
Immigrant Entrepreneur Opens Doors for Innovation and Design in Wayne County
At times during the First Liberian Civil War, young Andreas Browne got on his knees and prayed for the opportunity to live. Now he calls his time in America his “second life.” Browne grew up in Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia, on Africa’s western coast. His mother… Read More
Immigrant Engineer Driven By a Call to Serve His Country and Community
Kamal AlSawafy was 9 years old when he arrived in Dearborn in 1997. Three years earlier, his family had fled Iraq, where his father, a construction worker, risked imprisonment and torture for his failure to support then-President Saddam Hussein. Now they had been granted refugee status and joined family… Read More
Peruvian American Helps New Orleans Rebuild, Mentors Young Construction Workers
There was no shortage of construction work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. But as thousands of migrant workers — many from Spanish-speaking countries — poured into the city, reputable local contractors who could maintain high standards amid the dizzying pace were at a premium. Among those who… Read More
Immigrant Entrepreneur Helps the City of Flint Pilots Soar with Innovative Training Programs
Qamar Ahsan first came to Flint when his wife was interviewing for medical residency programs in 1993. The couple, both from Pakistan, liked the idea of living in a smaller city, and she accepted an internship in internal medicine at McLaren Regional Hospital. It was a wise choice. Read More
Immigrant Opens Family-Centered Daycare for Flint Families
Marie Ronise was 15 years old when she received “a strange phone call.” She had moved to the United States from Haiti at age 12, and had been left with cousins in Miami after her mother passed away. Her brother had been sent to live with family in… Read More
Nicaraguan Immigrant Helps Toledo, OH Become Safe and Accessible for All
Meyling Ruiz and her brother were babies when her parents fled their homeland during the Nicaraguan Revolution. It was 1988, and Sandinista soldiers had already taken her 15-year-old cousin to fight for the regime. Civil unrest, food shortages, violence, and murder reigned. “They didn’t know how long that… Read More
From Alexandria, Egypt to Charlotte, NC: An Immigrant’s Support for Other International Students Pays Off
Tarek Elshayeb is from Alexandria, Egypt, and came to the United States to attend graduate school at Clemson University in South Carolina. “I was looking for a better education, better work opportunities, a better life in general,” he says. While studying for his master’s degree in human resources, he obtained… Read More
Texas Tribune Opinion: Immigrant workers are why my health care business has grown
At Manchester Place Care Homes and Cambridge Caregivers, two senior care businesses that I co-own and operate in Dallas, we are aggressively hiring new employees. Business is up 75% year-over-year, which is fantastic, but our growth has created a big problem: There just aren’t enough job seekers to fill the 100-plus… Read More
Muncie Star Press Opinion: My best friend is a Dreamer and a BSU grad. Congress, let her stay
Our freshman year at Ball State University, my best friend and college roommate Erika Espinoza revealed a closely guarded secret. She was an undocumented immigrant. Fleeing poverty, her parents brought her from a rural town outside of Mexico City to Indiana when she was 9. Fortunately, in 2012, during… Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
