Stories
Chicago Writer Examines Her — and Her Country’s — Refugee Experience
Writer Megy Karydes says people are surprised when she tells them she was a refugee. “I look American,” she says. “It’s not as if we wear a T-shirt announcing it.” Although Karydes was born in the United States, her parents, who were Greek citizens, had returned to their home… Read More
Hi-Tech Innovator Wants to Expand Into U.S. — Immigration Policy Makes That Difficult
After suffering long-term shoulder pain, serial entrepreneur Mark Yu started a company — U-Gym Technology — to solve the problem of chronic pain. The Taiwanese-American founder, who was born in Honolulu but raised in Taiwan, developed an app-controlled device that make the muscles contract and release using transcutaneous electrical nerve… Read More
Country Needs ‘Frank Discussion’ on Immigration, Says Islamic Center Leader
In the early 20th century, Midwestern industrialists actively recruited for labor in the Middle East. One family to heed their call were the Dabagia brothers. Around 1908, the five siblings left their small Levantine town and moved to Michigan City, Indiana, to work at the Pullman Standard boxcar manufacturing plant. Read More
On an Arizona Ranch, A Push for Reform
In 1928, Selwyn Justice’s great-grandfather founded the 400-acre Justice Brothers Ranch in Waddell, a small town in Maricopa County, Arizona. Today, Justice, 28, is the fourth generation to manage the organic ranch’s 71-acre “five-season agriculture” business, which cultivates citrus fruits like grapefruits, navel oranges, and lemons, and bespoke fruit like… Read More
Chinese Immigrant Headed Straight Where U.S. Needs Her: Information Technology
Chinese immigrant Ping Ting has big dreams — but also a practical head on her shoulders. When she arrived in Brooklyn in 2016, she investigated the fields with the most employment opportunities and settled on information technology, ideally in the medical sector. It’s a smart move. To remain competitive in… Read More
‘Companies Appreciate Immigrants,’ Says Colombian Process Engineer
When new immigrant Diana Valenzuela gets her English up to speed, the United States will be lucky. Back in her native Colombia, she spent 10 years as a process engineer at a leather factory, supervising production and designing the leather finish for shoes, belts, and other products. Afterward, she spent… Read More
Most Christian Ministries Embrace Call to Love the Stranger
Rev. Moses Lin’s greatest joy is serving the congregants of his 100-member church, Christian Evangelical Mission International, in Queens, New York. “Serving God is what makes me most proud. Helping people to improve their quality of life is what I like best,” says Rev. Lin, whose given first name is… Read More
Without Migrant Labor, Shrimp Processor Forced to Cut U.S. Workers’ Hours
Richard Gollott first started having trouble finding American oyster shuckers in the 1970s. A third-generation oyster processor, Gollott had watched his father and grandfather easily hire young Americans, at least for a few seasons before they headed to college or another career. But by the 1960s, when Gollott assumed… Read More
Immigrants Welcomed to Community and Give Back to Community, Says Kentucky Faith Leader
The immigrant community in Henderson is small, but it is growing faster than any other group. The county’s Hispanic and Latino community, for example, increased by 0.5 percentage points between 2010 and 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau. That might not sound like a lot… Read More
In America, Rwandan Refugee Gains a Voice and Creates Jobs
From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Rubens Mukunzi runs a Buffalo-based newspaper, where he writes, edits, and meets with advertisers. After a one-hour break for dinner, the Rwandan refugee starts his shift at a cleaning company, where he works until midnight. The hours are long, but Mukunzi… Read More
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