President Joe Biden signed a proclamation earlier this year designating June as Immigrant Heritage Month. Data from the Migrant Policy Institute says the number of foreign-born people living in Alabama has doubled over the last twenty years. These people have stories of what they left and what they’re experiencing here in the U.S.
APR talked with several immigrants in Alabama, starting with Marta Portillo who lives in Pelham. She said about her experience, "you leave your roots, you leave your culture, you lose friends.”
Portillo was just one person who shared her story with APR during Immigrant Heritage Month. Her interview was translated to English. She said coming to the United States meant a shocking change.
“And yes, it is very difficult when you come and face a new language, people who do not understand you, different ways of thinking, it is very difficult," she said. "But you have to live it. After living through a war, it is easy to live it."
Portillo is the owner of “La Libertad,” a Salvadorian restaurant in Pelham. She emigrated from El Salvador when she was 15 years old. Her parents were fleeing the civil war El Salvador was going through at the time. She lived in a little town and did not know a lot about the United States before moving.
Portillo also said that living in the U.S. gave her opportunities that El Salvador could not. She said she is able to feel free. However, she said she recognized that it was not an easy journey, and it is not easy for other immigrants as well.
"When I can, and someone asks me for help I can help and things like that," she explained. "But the issue is that many people have more stories to tell and maybe I have them too, but I try not to remember negative things."
This is what Immigrant Heritage Month is about: an opportunity for immigrants to share their stories and experiences. The initiative was started by the I Am an Immigrant foundation back in 2014. The organization celebrates immigrants and their contribution to the culture, society, and economy of the country.
Dr. Carlos Aleman is the CEO of the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama. That is HICA for short. Dr. Aleman said it is important to recognize the contributions of all immigrants who reside in our communities.
“We can't forget immigrants come here to provide a better opportunity for themselves and their family," he explained. "But they also come here to contribute, to be a part of the United States, be a part of their local communities. And we have to celebrate that. The diversity that we offer in terms of language, culture, cuisine, art, entrepreneurship –– these are all important threads, and they help us weave a fab community.”
Data from the website New American Economy says that in 2019, immigrants made up 3.5% share of the population. Over 15,000 of Alabama’s entrepreneurs are foreign born. The website also shows the community has almost $4B in spending power –– and that is just in Alabama. Dr. Aleman explained how immigrants have particularly influenced Alabama’s advancement in its economy and development.
“Think about the Greeks who have come in the early 20th century, and the Italians and who brought together their cuisines and then brought together their industrious spirit,” Dr. Aleman said. “As well as folks who come from Latin America, who have contributed to revitalizing communities across the state. Think about the companies that have come into our state and helped jumpstart our economies, all of these things have helped provide a foundation to help move Alabama forward.”
That influence goes beyond spending power. There is also the cultural impact to consider. Holidays like Mardi Gras and Cinco de Mayo have foreign origins and were brought to the U.S. by immigrants. The National Archives says eight of the Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence are immigrants, creating the fourth of July. Here is Dr. Carlos Aleman:
“Immigrants have played a very important role in what the United States has become… This is a nation of immigrants, as well as a nation that has welcomed people from all over the world," he said. "So, without that, we wouldn't look the way we look. And immigrants continue to play an important role in shaping what the country is today and what it will be in the future.”
The path to success for immigrants in the U.S. has not been easy. In Alabama, only about a third have less than a high school education and about another third graduated high school and went onto college.
“They say America is a place for opportunities, but they don't realize the limitations of those opportunities," said Monica. That's not her real name, but that's the name she wants to be called for this story. Monica is a first-generation college student born in Mexico. She immigrated to the United States when she was five years old with her parents and younger sister. They were looking for better opportunities.
During her immigration process to the U.S., Monica and her sister were separated from their mother for days in a detention center. She described feeling “like in a concentration camp” and the place being “worse than jail.”
Eventually, her family was able to get reunited and have built a whole new life in The United States –– but not with more challenges.
“You can't go to community college, you can't go to public school, in a lot of states. Even though there are states like Florida and California and New York there's tons of requirements to make sure that they don't give their state money to certain people," she said. "And they're really strict, and you can lose the benefits really fast, including with DACA, which is unfortunate.”
DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival, protects immigrant youth who arrive to the U.S. when they were children from deportation. Many immigrants face obstacles from the process of applying to colleges to finding financial aid and scholarships they are eligible for. She said many are exposed to losing their benefits for simple things like a parking ticket.
Monica also said higher education is only one issue. Finding jobs is another. She says finding working opportunities is not easy, especially if English is one’s second language. And even when work is found, more issues arise.
“You have to keep working long hours and your body eventually deteriorates from that. But guess what, you have no retirement funds, no medical aid, no health insurance, and all these benefits that citizens get overtime, you have none of that,” Monica explained. “So, you have to make sure that you have good bases, because whatever you can do from working at a young age until your body will no longer let you work anymore. You better hope that's good until the rest of your life.”
Monica has been through the reality that many immigrants face all around the country. But despite the language barriers, cultural shocks and code-switching, she talked on immigrants’ resilience to continue pursuing their dreams.
“You have to keep knocking, you have to keep proving yourself and not letting all these burdens get to you so that you can achieve that higher education, so that you can achieve a prosperous job. The American dream, per se. And not only that, to give back to the family that got you here. Get back to the families that you left behind and the community that has helped you, because there are people that do support you.”
Yet, another concern is what immigrants give up when they settle into life here in the U.S.
Ana Delia Espino, the Executive Director of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, said that immigrants’ trends and influences keep showing up in the U.S. pop culture mainstream.
“Immigrants have helped to shape the United States culture for decades. If you look at our influence in music, if you look at our influence in fashion, you will see that there's a lot of immigrant trends or a lot of immigrant gifts that are brought.”
She said lately a lot of the fashion is being influenced by newly arrived immigrants from the African continent, and so is music.
However, Espino is concerned about the danger of immigrants losing their traditional values, customs and culture. This would be caused by attempting to adapt or assimilate to the new country. She said this has shifted immigrants’ view of the term “melting pot” away from being as inclusive as once thought.
“Because it takes away of our own traditions, it takes away of our culture, and it implies that in order to be accepted, or in order to be a part of the United States community, you have to give a lot of yourself to blend into something bigger.”
Espino said no one should have to give away anything of who they are or what they love to be a member of a community, to be a resident of Alabama or to be a U.S. citizen.
Although Immigrant Heritage Month is celebrated in June, proponents say it should not be limited to just thirty days a year. Immigrants, they say, should be celebrated and acknowledge all the time. Espino and others said that could come from simple things like eating at an immigrant owned restaurant, attending local cultural events or learning about one’s own family heritage.
“If you are thinking of immigrant communities, and only one group of people comes to mind, this would be a great time to remember that immigrants come from all over the world, and we don't have just one face. We don't have just one language, and we have many beautiful ways to celebrate, and all of our cultures are beautiful.”
Other upcoming heritage months to celebrate immigrants include the French American Heritage Month in July, Hispanic Heritage Month in September, and the Filipino American Heritage Month in October.
For more information on other heritage months around the year go here: https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/heritage-months
