Stories
Argentinian Immigrant Credits Boston with Enabling Business Success
Jonathan Thon, an Argentine native, first came to the Boston area in 2008 to complete a Harvard Medical School postdoc, and stayed on to become an Assistant Professor there. He knew that platelets, the cells that promote clotting, had enormous commercial and medical potential, and so in 2014, Thon… Read More
Lawsuit Demands USCIS Comply with FOIA Requests regarding H-1B Adjudications
On behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the American Immigration Council filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) challenging U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) failure to respond to two FOIA requests asking for records that would explain increased scrutiny and denials of H-1B petitions. Read More
Multilingual Immigrant Uses Her Skills to Advise Corpus Christi Business Community
Growing up under a dictatorial regime in Panama, Lorena Parada-Valdes longed to live in a democratic country. In 1979, she had her chance. That year, she was one of just four Panamanian college students to receive a merit-based scholarship to study in the United States. After graduating from Bates… Read More
Pioneering Latina Aviator Tells the Stories of Other Latinos
A child of Mexican immigrants, Graciela Tiscareño-Sato grew up in small, north Colorado towns dominated by meatpacking plants. Her mother worked on the assembly line, her father in high-end men’s clothing stores as a tailor. Together they raised five children. It was stable, honest work, says Tiscareño-Sato, but she aspired… Read More
Dallas-Based Artist and Immigrant Found Success Thanks to Her Parent’s Drive for a Better Life
As one of six children in her family in Taipei, Taiwan, Jin-Ya Huang grew up watching her parents struggle to overcome poverty. Her mother scraped together money by cooking and sewing, and her father worked and lived at a distant cement factory, where he was a mechanical engineer. When he lost his job, money… Read More
The Kangol Kid: Recycled Stereotypes Ignore Decades of Haitian Contributions
Shaun Fequiere was 7 years old when he first experienced the sting of discrimination. Classmates at his elementary school in Brooklyn had learned that his parents were from Haiti, where the main language is a French-based creole, and had started calling him “French fry” and “French poodle.” The teasing escalated,… Read More
In America Since Age 2, Texan Fears Deportation to El Salvador if TPS Ends
In 1997, the Iraheta family fled their native El Salvador, a country racked by political unrest following a 12-year civil war, for safety and opportunity in the United States. Claudia Iraheta was 2 years old. Her family settled in Farmers Branch, Texas, and has been able… Read More
Company Founder, a Chinese Immigrant, Brings Factory Jobs from Asia to Maryland
In 2011, Chesapeake Bay Candle hit a unique milestone. That was the year the company, which manufactures high-end decorative candles, moved a significant portion of its production operations out of Vietnam and began manufacturing its products in a factory near Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Photo: Sherri Cunningham / CC… Read More
Dreamers Play Vital Role in Texas Economy
Sergio Ramos was born in Texas and has lived in southeast Texas for more than 60 years. The only sign he is an immigrant is his lingering Spanish accent. As soon as he started studying English in the border town of Harlingen at age 13 — his father went back… Read More
Taiwanese Scholar Adds Value to Pennsylvania Campus
Students at Delaware Valley University, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, are often surprised to learn that their European history professor is a Taiwanese immigrant. But for Dr. Shih-chieh “Jay” Su, studying and teaching in the United States has made perfect sense. “Academic freedom in the U.S. higher education system is very protected for teachers,”… Read More
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