Every immigrant who comes to the United States has a story to tell. In fact, it’s fair to say each person has at least two stories. One is the legal story, regarding issues such as obtaining work permits, adjustment of status and so on.
The other story is the more personal one, involving the unique journey of an individual life. Often these journeys involve overcoming significant challenges. So when the stories become more widely known, they can inspire others to overcome challenges as well.
One such story is that of Louis Mendoza, an administrator and professor of Chicago studies at the University of Minnesota. Five years ago, he undertook what became a 6-month, 8,000 mile bike journey around the U.S. He has now published a memoir about the trip, in which immigration is an important theme.
The book is called “A Journey Around Our America: “A Memoir on Cycling, Immigration, and the Latinoization of the U.S.” A discussion was held about it yesterday on the University of Minnesota campus.
Mendoza began its bike trip in Minneapolis. But before he was done, he had traveled widely across the U.S. Because he was biking rather than driving, he had time to meet and talk with many people. Many were from the Hispanic community; many were not.
This gave him an opportunity to get a much better sense of what a diverse country the United States really is. In terms of immigration policy, Mendoza notes that there is a common pattern that tends to repeat itself, whereby immigrants are often rejected before they are embraced.
Source: “Wheels in motion,” Minnesota Daily, Joe Kleinschmidt,” 10-25-12
Our firm handles situations similar to those discussed in this post. To learn more about our practice, please visit our Minnesota immigration page.