Only in America with Ali Noorani

On the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, Ali remembers the sacrifice of thousands of immigrant laborers from China through the work of a California artist. Jason Ma created the musical "Gold Mountain" based on the lives of those who completed the project, which shortened a perilous months-long journey to less than week, and transformed the American economy. Jason talks about how the musical has revived the memory of the enormous sacrifice made by the Chinese workers.

This week, Ali goes back to school, and joins an English language class of immigrant Whole Foods employees. It's part of the National Immigration Forum's program "Skills and Opportunity for the New American Workforce."  As Ali discovered, it's not simply enabling them to better engage with the customers – it's transforming their lives.

This week we meet Daniel Garza, who started life picking crops with his Mexican American family, and rose to be a senior advisor in the George W. Bush Administration. Now he's a leading advocate for Hispanic immigrants. He leads the Libre Initiative, a grassroots non-profit which works to empower the Hispanic communities of America. Later in the show, we celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month with some of America's industry pioneers, at the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. 

This week, Ali talks to Pati Jinich, host of the popular James Beard Award-winning and Emmy-nominated PBS series Pati's Mexican Table. Pati taught Ali how to prepare nopales, or cactus paddles, as the two discussed Pati’s love for food, her family’s history of migration, and the dish she’d serve lawmakers to convince them to pass immigration reform. 

Sherif Almiggabber is an officer within the Community Engagement Unit at the Montgomery County Police Department, where he has worked for 13 years. Montgomery County, Maryland — right outside of Washington, D.C. — is one of the most diverse counties in America. Hear his conversation with Ali about how, as an immigrant from Egypt and as a Muslim, he gets to know the people in his county’s Muslim communities and how cultural awareness builds trust, in turn keeping all of us safer.

Marty Rosenbluth is the only immigration attorney in Lumpkin, Georgia, near the Stewart Detention Center, where detainees face a tough legal process and often lack representation. He and Ali talk about how he helps immigrants navigate the complex legal web and the lack of due process in our immigration court system.

Chuck Staben is president of the University of Idaho. He has been named the “Amigo del Año” (Friend of the Year) by the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs for his work on the Caminos al Futuro program and College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) initiative, both of which provide academic support immigrant students. Chuck spoke to Ali about how to serve the state’s growing LatinX community, what sparked his interest in research, and Idaho dairy.

Susan West is director of the Conversational English Ministry for the Montgomery Baptist Association in Montgomery, Alabama. A retired teacher, she previously taught English to the families of foreign officers receiving officer training at Maxwell Air Force Base. She highly recommends the children’s book “The Hundred Dresses” by Evelyn Estes.

Belinda Bauman is a writer, teacher and advocate living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is the author of “Brave Souls: Experiencing the Audacious Power of Empathy.” Belinda is also the founder of the One Million Thumbprints, which advocates for women in the most dangerous conflict zones in the world. Her work has also appeared in HuffPost and The Daily Beast.

Ali chats this week with police chiefs Andy Harvey of Palestine, Texas; Dwight Henninger of Vail, Colorado, and Steve Stahl of Maricopa, Arizona. They spoke about how they each connect with their immigrant communities, the importance of trust and keeping communities safe. Chief Harvey spoke about relational policing, Chief Henninger recalled borrowing a model program from another county to successfully engage immigrants in Vail, and Chief Stahl talked about building bridges with trust.

Ali’s guest this week is Beth Cossin, a network pastor with the Heritage Church in the Quad Cities in Iowa and Illinois. She is also site director for the Esperanza Legal Assistance Center in Moline, Illinois. Beth recently visited the southern border with fellow pastors from the Wesleyan Church. She talks with Ali about bearing witness on the delegation trip to El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, the importance of sharing the stories of migrants and serving the underserved in her community.

Ali speaks this week with Amanda Ripley, a contributing writer to The Atlantic & senior fellow at the Emerson Collective. Amanda recently profiled Watertown, NY, “The Least Politically Prejudiced Place in America.” She talked to Ali about her start in journalism, the importance of traditional institutions in civil life and meeting two lifelong friends named Ann.

Kurt Ver Beek is co-founder and president of the Association For A More Just Society, a Christian organization dedicated to achieving justice in Honduras through the implementation of reforms that would end corruption, violence and injustice. He is also on the faculty of Calvin College. Kurt spoke with Ali about the battle to end corruption and violence in Honduras, how the country has (and hasn’t) changed, and the hope he finds in the Honduran people.

William Kerr is the D’Arbeloff Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School & co-director of Harvard’s Managing the Future of Work initiative. His latest book is “The Gift of Global Talent: How Migration Shapes Business, Economy and Society.” Molika Gupta is a patent licensing professional based in the Detroit area. She has an H4 visa & advocates for other H4 visa holders. Molika founded the Facebook group Immigrant Spouses ReWrite Your Story & the advocacy group Save H4EAD

Derek Miller is the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber in Salt Lake City, Utah. He previously worked as legal counsel on Capitol Hill and more recently as president of World Trade Center Utah. Derek and Ali discussed the reasons behind the signing of the Utah Compact, a declaration of five principles that guide Utah’s immigration discussion. The pair also discuss the beauty of Utah, its rural areas and the struggle within the Salt Lake region to fill jobs in all industries.