Stories
New American Economy Releases the NAE Cities Index, a First-Ever Analysis Measuring How Effectively Cities are Integrating Immigrants
NEW YORK, NY – Today, on Citizenship Day, hundreds of civic and business leaders, including Members of Congress, mayors, city council members, and chamber of commerce executives, joined New American Economy to release the NAE Cities Index—the first comprehensive, national assessment of immigrant integration policy and socioeconomic outcomes… Read More
Nursing Home Staffed by Immigrants Fills Urgent Healthcare Needs
John Barker bought the bankrupt Commonwealth Care Center, a nursing home in northwest St. Paul, in 1991 and vowed to “make it a place people wanted to come to.” He spent years upgrading the facility, adding two floors, dozens of private rooms, and modern air conditioning and heating. He renamed… Read More
After a Career in Computer Science, Cambodian Immigrant Focuses on Community
In 1978, after receiving a computer science degree from American University in Washington, D.C., Pasin Chanou knew that he could not return to his native Cambodia. Three years earlier, the Khmer Rouge had brutally gained power and threatened his family’s gemstone business. His parents feared for their lives and fled… Read More
New Americans in Kent County
A new report from NAE shows that immigrants in Kent County contributed $3.3 billion to the county’s GDP in 2016 and paid $214 million in federal taxes and $102 million in state and local taxes. The report, New Americans in Kent County, was prepared in partnership with Samaritas, the… Read More
Filipino Immigrant Brings High Fashion to Grand Rapids
When pressed, Romel “RC” Caylan, a rising design star, may describe himself as a kind of fashion ambassador for Grand Rapids. Truth be told, he simply loves the city, and honors the journey that brought him to this corner of Michigan. Caylan was born in Iligan City and raised in… Read More
Entrepreneur from Argentina Helps Keep Jobs in Michigan
Natalia Kovicak was 22 when she met her future husband on a beach in Mexico. She had a bachelor’s degree in human resources and public relations from the University of Palermo and a good job with the Coca-Cola company in Buenos Aires. She had also launched her own event-planning business. Read More
Entrepreneurs Raised in Mexico Give Back through Business Training
Although Ruben Ramos was born in the United States, his family returned to their village in the Sierra Madre Mountains, in Mexico, when he was a baby. When they moved back to the States—to Chicago then Grand Rapids—Ramos was 10 years old and didn’t know a word of English. “I… Read More
Grocery Business Started by Indian Immigrants Thrives in Grand Rapids
When Sonal and Ramesh Patel built a house in Cascade, in southeast Grand Rapids, in 2011, they quickly noticed something missing: an Asian grocer on that side of town. The couple, from a small town in Gujarat, in western India, had been in West Michigan since 2004, when Ramesh was… Read More
Results of August 2018 National Voter Survey
In August 2018 New American Economy, Echelon Insights, and GBA Strategies conducted a national survey of voters across the country with a focus on voters in battleground districts looking at how a variety of immigration messages resonate with different voters. See the results here: Toplines Crosstabs… Read More
Mexican Immigrant Turns a Single Taqueria into a $25M Restaurant Group
Vicente Del Rio opened his first taquería while studying accounting in Mexico City — so when he came to Los Angeles in 2005 on an investor’s visa, it was only natural for him to start a restaurant serving up food from his homeland. Now his company, Frimex Hospitality Group, has… Read More
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