Stories
Without a Reliable Supply of Migrant Workers, Landscaper Can’t Grow
In 2016, Faulkner’s Landscaping and Nursery, in Hooksett, New Hampshire, hit a record high: $2.1 million in revenues. In 2017, with even more commercial patios, greenery, and waterfalls to install, that number should have gone up. Instead, it plummeted by $500,000, thanks to a new government policy that prevented owner… Read More
Bangladeshi Uses an Overseas Education to Fight for Worker Rights in U.S.
Farook Hossain has a master’s degree in political science and was working as a medical clinic director in Bangladesh when he won a green card through the diversity lottery. He gave it all up to move to America, in 2001, and was soon working for $5 an hour at a… Read More
Once an Undocumented Child, Now He Educates Virginia’s Youth
Sal Romero Jr. came to the United States as an undocumented immigrant from Mexico when he was 13 years old. Today, he is a citizen and serves on the Virginia Board of Education and as the first-ever Coordinator of Family and Community Engagement for Harrisonburg City Public Schools. It is… Read More
Startup Offers Simplicity, but Visa Process Still Cumbersome
When Xiao Wang’s parents came to Phoenix from China nearly three decades ago, they hired an immigration lawyer to help them obtain their green cards and, later, their citizenship. The cost: The equivalent of five months of rent. Wang’s parents believed the steep investment was worth the price: As graduate… Read More
A Stowaway’s Son Uses Business Acumen to Help New Jersey Elders
Dominican immigrant Jose Brito Bueno grew up in poverty but now runs WeCare, a domestic-care company with 213 employees. When he was just 10 years old, his father — leaving their home in Santo Domingo — stowed away in a cargo ship bound for the United States. He hid in… Read More
Want Safe, Homegrown Food? Then Look to Immigration Reform, Says Tennessee Farm Bureau
“The most important industry that we have in this country is agriculture,” says Lee Maddox, of the Tennessee Farm Bureau. “We depend on it every day, and we’ve got to take care of it to make sure it stays that way for future generations.” To do that, however, America must… Read More
Immigration Policy Doesn’t Succeed When Politically Driven, Says Tennessee Lawyer
Casey Bryant grew up in Springdale, Arkansas, home to the largest population of Marshallese people in the continental United States. Most Americans probably aren’t familiar with these Pacific Islanders, but 4,300 of them live in Bryant’s landlocked hometown. “The Marshall Islands were subject to thermonuclear experiments in the ‘40s and… Read More
Diversity Lottery Winner Will Help Ease America’s Doctor Shortage
Tarig Elhakim was in medical school in Sudan in 2014 when his father persuaded him to apply for a U. S. residency permit through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, a highly competitive lottery that allows 50,000 people a year to immigrate without a family sponsor or a special skill. Elhakim… Read More
Haitian Immigrant Poised to Fill Critical Need for Computer Science Professionals
Ever since Sheila Laurore immigrated to the United States from Haiti in 2015, she has been working hard toward her goal: A degree and a job in computer science. “I like that in the United States you have the opportunity to get a better life. You can go to school,… Read More
After Rising From Tragedy, an Ethiopian Entrepreneur Feeds the Economy — and Her Community
In 1995, Menbere “Menbe” Aklilu came to the United States with her 11-year-old son, moved to Oakland, California, and became a hostess at the Richmond Italian restaurant Salute e Vita. It may not sound like an auspicious beginning. But by age 10 in Gojjam, Ethiopia, Aklilu had witnessed her… Read More
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