Stories
It’s a sunny summer Saturday at the Tree Farm in Essex Junction, Vermont. A sign announcing “¡Torneo de Fútbol!” greets drivers arriving at the park. Soccer nets sit at either end of five, bright green fields. A crowd gathers as Mexican pop artist Natalia Lafourcade plays over the loudspeakers. Today’s emcee is Migrant Justice field…
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On a recent morning in downtown Portland, a woman named Vitoria was waiting at a bus stop on Congress Street. Vitoria is an asylum-seeker from Angola, who arrived in Maine just a few weeks ago with her husband and two young children. On this day, she was trying to find her way to one of…
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Father Andy Mai strolled through stalls of vendors amid a bustling night market in West Hartford, Conn. Bowls of noodles, sizzling meat on skewers and deep-fried seafood pancakes attracted hungry neighbors and visitors from all over the state. “Everything is so good, you have to try everything!” Mai said with a laugh. Mai is the…
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The group Migrant Justice picketed at Hannaford Supermarkets Sunday to call for human rights for dairy farm workers. Migrant Justice created the Milk with Dignity Program to address low pay, poor conditions, and human rights violations in the dairy industry. The group, for years, has been asking Hannaford to join Milk with Dignity, and the…
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On a recent evening, Zainab Manahe was frying sambousas over a grill set up in the garage at her home in Gorham, Maine. The small, meat-filled pastries sizzling in the pan are a staple at her family’s dinner table during the month of Ramadan. Speaking in Arabic while her son Nasir interpreted, Zainab explained that…
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Massachusetts is preparing to welcome its first Ukrainian family of refugees next week. Governor Charlie Baker says the state should be ready to resettle evacuees fleeing what the United Nations calls Europe’s largest refugee crisis of the century. The state Senate earmarked $10 million to support international evacuees, including Ukrainians, earlier this month. Baker said…
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Victor and Amilbia came to this country, like many other migrants, to find better opportunities for themselves and their future family. So never in their wildest dreams did they think their American dream would include facing eviction. The family of seven, who asked that only their first names be used because the parents are undocumented,…
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Dr. Rajandeep Singh Paik wants to celebrate his son’s first birthday in his hometown in India. COVID-19 cases are dropping. Cities are loosening mask mandates. People are planning vacations and traveling internationally again. However, Paik, who lives in South Boston, cannot leave the United States because he wouldn’t be allowed to come back on his…
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Gissela Yanez arrived pregnant from Peru in New Hampshire in 2020. She has a college degree and was a physical therapist back in Peru. But here she cleans houses. She found the job quickly, and she said it makes her feel disappointed in her abilities. She knows she can do more. Like many new immigrants,…
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Papy Bangibo is the president of the Congolese Community of Maine. But when he steps onto the mat at Fournier’s Leadership Karate Center in Westbrook, he goes by a different title — sensei. Bongibo is a third-degree black belt in judo, the Japanese martial art with a name that means “the gentle way.” Rather than…
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