Colorado Signs Seal of Biliteracy into Law, as Top Colorado Employers and Industry Seek Bilingual Talent
Denver, Colorado – This week, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed into law the bipartisan Senate Bill 123, co-sponsored by Republican Sen. Kevin Priola and Democratic Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, establishing a Seal of Biliteracy program to recognize high school graduates who have attained proficiency in at least one language in addition… Read More
Immigrants Offset Population Decline, Keep Midwest Economy Afloat
In 2017, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs published “Immigration a Demographic Lifeline in Midwestern Metros,” a report demonstrating how immigrants have helped offset U.S.-born population loss across the Midwest and revitalized an aging workforce. “Native-born Americans are getting older, so working-age natives —… Read More
International Students Generate Millions for Oklahoma University — and Town
Kyle McMichael is the international student advisor at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, located in the small town of Durant, 150 miles southeast of Oklahoma City. The mere presence of foreign students not only guarantees his job, it also represents roughly $3 million for the university in out-of-state tuition revenue. “They… Read More
Kentucky Crop And Tobacco Farmer Says: Without Migrant Labor, ‘I Couldn’t Do What I Do’
Charlie Hancock has been farming in Tennessee for 37 years, and without foreign labor, he says, “there’s absolutely no way I could do what I do.” Hancock’s diverse range of crops — soybeans, wheat, straw, corn, and dark-fired tobacco — generates annual revenue of $700,000. But the labor-intensive harvesting work keeps… Read More
Without Immigrants, America’s Restaurant Industry ‘Would Collapse’
Sam Toia is president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA), which advocates on behalf of the industry and its workers. In the state of Illinois alone there are more than 27,000 restaurants, with total sales of $25.2 billion and more than 561,000 employees — nearly half of whom… Read More
‘In Our Best Interests’ to Legalize Hardworking Immigrants, Says Lawyer
Elliott Ozment, founder and managing attorney at Ozment Law Firm, has made a career of defending the underdog, and that includes Nashville’s foreign-born. Again and again, immigrants run up against outdated visa quotas, decades-long waiting lists, an expensive, burdensome process, and threats of deportation. Ozment tells the story of… Read More
Pakistani Doctor: A Muslim Woman ‘Can Make a Difference’
When Zartash Gul, Director of Myeloid Malignancies at University of Cincinnati Health, helps patients enter a potentially lifesaving drug trial, she tells herself: “I have come a long way. And the United States has allowed me to do this.” Gul had plans to set up a hospital in her… Read More
Somali Asylee Now Creates Dozens of U.S. Jobs
Abdirahman Kahin came to the United States from Africa in 1996 seeking asylum. Today, he is a successful entrepreneur and the CEO of Afro Deli, a fast, casual restaurant with two locations in Minneapolis. “We’re about to open a third location at the airport,” he says, “and we’re approaching $2… Read More
Dreamer Pursues Media Career With Plans to Support Her Family
This summer, when 21-year-old journalism and graphics major Erika Espinoza tosses her cap alongside her classmates at Ball State University, she’ll become the first person in her family to graduate from college. An undocumented immigrant who was brought to Indiana from Mexico when she was 9 years old, Espinoza has… Read More
Immigrants Help Small Iowa Town Rebuild After Raid
In 2008 in Postville, Iowa, an immigration raid removed 389 undocumented workers from the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant. In the immediate aftermath, many other undocumented workers fled the town, which had a total population of only 2,000. The impact was devastating. “It interrupted our economy for at least… Read More
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