Stories
This Manufacturing Giant Didn’t Leave, But it Needs More Immigrant STEM Workers to Stay in the Country and Succeed
Jennifer Sharp has an unusual title for an engineering company: Immigration Specialist. Her company, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL), designs and manufacturers products that protect power grids around the world. It is one of the largest employers in southeast Washington state, with 2,600 employees at its Pullman headquarters and 4,500 employees… Read More
Reform Allowing Immigrants To Study and Work Would Boost Community Output, Says Mexican-American Volunteer
After Angelica Velasquez’s father came to the United States from Mexico at age 20, he was deported several times. But he returned, married, and started a construction business. “He’s a contributor. Plus, they raised me and my five siblings, and we’re all great contributors,” says Velasquez, 41, the human resources… Read More
How An Indian Immigrant Is Fundamentally Transforming Alabama’s Auto Industry
After close to four decades in the auto industry, including a position running global research for Mercedes-Benz in Germany, Indian immigrant Bharat Balasubramanian, moved to Alabama. Today, he is executive director of the Center for Advanced Vehicle Technologies at the University of Alabama, an inter-disciplinary research center dedicated to the… Read More
Patricia Serrano’s Son Just Graduated from Williams College, But She Couldn’t Attend the Ceremony
As an undocumented immigrant who came to southern California from Mexico 22 years ago, Patricia Serrano has achieved part of the American dream: She raised a son who recently graduated from prestigious Williams College in western Massachusetts. However, she could not fly cross-country to see him receive his diploma, because… Read More
International Students Are U.S. Business’ Best Hope For Growth
This week, as anti-immigrant rhetoric continues to permeate the national debate, hundreds of thousands of international students will say goodbye to the United States to return, degrees in hand, to their home countries. Far from being a drain on the American economy or threat to U.S. jobs, these talented graduates—disproportionately… Read More
Immigrant Families Keep a Small Town’s Church — and its Manufacturing Base — Alive
For 20 years, leaders of the predominantly white Trinity United Methodist Church in Dalton, Georgia, had had little luck attracting congregants from the town’s growing immigrant community. Today, that’s changing. A few Hispanic families have now helped the church earn a significant level of trust among the Latino community, says… Read More
Knoxville NGO Director Sees First-Hand How Immigrants are Benefiting Her Community
Whenever Tiffani Mensch goes to her favorite falafel shop in downtown Knoxville, there is always a line. The popular shop opened recently after its owner, a Syrian refugee named Yassin, moved to the area to escape the war. To Mensch, Yassin represents “how immigrants can revitalize communities with their diverse… Read More
Mexican Tax Lawyer Says a Path to Legal Status Would Allow Her to Pay More Into the U.S. Economy
After Maribel Solache’s neighbor was kidnapped in Mexico City more than a decade ago, Solache and her husband took their young children to the United States on a tourist visa. Too fearful to return, the family remained in the northern San Diego suburb of San Marcos. Yet they live in… Read More
Oceanside Chamber of Commerce Official Says Immigration Reform Will Help the Local Economy
As the first ever Latino outreach coordinator for the Chamber of Commerce in Oceanside, California, Laura Ojeda is a testament to the Hispanic community’s rising economic power. The chamber created the position to provide a bridge to the Hispanic community, which makes up nearly 36 percent of the… Read More
Despite the Challenges Posed by the Immigration System, Georgia Tech Professor Helps Dozens of Start-ups Take Flight
Back in his native country of India, Dr. Raghupathy Sivakumar says he always dreamed of working for Microsoft or Oracle. “But here,” he says of the United States, “I fell in love with academia.” Dr. Sivakumar, who goes by Siva, did his undergraduate studies in computer science in Chennai,… Read More
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