Stories
Iraqi Refugee Helps Bring Much-Needed Doctors to Rural Idaho
In 2015, Marwan Sweedan, a former U.S. Army medic and infection control specialist in Boise, Idaho was named a White House Champion of Change. After receiving the honor, he penned a short essay about his work helping fellow refugee and immigrant professionals find employment in the United States. “My efforts… Read More
Weekend Reading: Highlights from this week’s immigration news (May 16-20)
This week Tom Nassif, president and CEO of the Western Growers Association, which represents farmers in California, Arizona, and Colorado, penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, proposing that governors take the lead on immigration reform. “As chief executives,” he writes, “governors know how to get things… Read More
Illinois-based Author and Professor Loves How Her Fellow Christians Have Embraced Their Immigrant Neighbors
A few years ago, when Karen Schreck looked out her bedroom window, she saw an untended garden patch in her backyard wasting away. Then a neighbor asked if she might be willing to open her yard up to a refugee couple from Burundi, who used to farm before they were… Read More
Immigrant Student Lands Dream Job, Leads Alaskan Town’s Economic Revival
Xi Cui received her Master’s from the University of Florida at a time when jobs were scarce. It was 2010, and the country was still struggling from the recession. Cui, who’d come from China to study urban planning, couldn’t find a Florida-based company that could afford to sponsor her work… Read More
Ohio House Candidate Talked Candidly About Need for Immigration Reform
Tom Dunlap spent 18 years in the Huron County Sheriff’s office, including four years as Sheriff. During his career in public service, he’s gotten to know a number of the county’s foreign-born residents. “Over the years many of the migrant farm workers in the muck farm area have stayed and… Read More
This Texas Faith Leader Sees Huge Opportunity Lost When Communities Don’t Welcome New Immigrants
Pat Kelly is the lead pastor at Fredonia Hill Baptist Church in Nacogdoches, Texas. In recent years, the church has seen large influxes of Hispanic and Korean immigrants, as well as Burmese refugees known as the Karen people. When Kelly saw their communities struggling to adjust to life in the… Read More
H2-A Program Needs Year-Round Employment and Renewability, Says Owner of Third-Generation North Dakota Farm
“The people sitting in an office at the Department of Labor don’t understand the nuances of what it takes to run a successful farm,” says Katie Heger. “And that means the regulations they set are cumbersome, untimely, expensive, and lack an understanding of agriculture and our labor needs.” Heger, who… Read More
Immigration Reform Directly Tied to Agriculture’s Labor Needs, Says Massachusetts Farm Owner
“I spend a lot of time trying to explain why immigration reform is tied to agriculture’s labor needs—many people just don’t get it,” says Mark Amato. The manager of a century-old family farm in Concord, Massachusetts, Amato believes more Americans would support immigration reform if they understood the central role… Read More
A Lack of Farm Worker Visa Reforms Means Higher Produce Prices or More Imported Produce
Jeff Bender’s 400-acre farm grows labor-intensive crops, including tobacco, melons and cabbage. Yet when he needs to hire a dozen people during the peak of the growing season, he often cannot find qualified workers. He’s truly in a bind. He cannot be certain that foreign-born workers are giving him real… Read More
Immigration Reform Gives All Young People “A Seat at the Table,” Says D.C. Lobbyist
When Dallas native and D.C. lobbyist Cristina Antelo first arrived at the Brooks School, a prestigious boarding school in Massachusetts, she immediately felt out of place. It wasn’t just her Texas-style big bangs and colorful clothes that set her apart. As the daughter of Cuban immigrants, Antelo was one of… Read More
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