Portrait of our Immigrant Neighbors

BOOK REVIEW COURTESY OF LONGFELLOW BOOKS, PORTLAND
PUBLISHED IN THE MAY 2009 MUNJOY HILL OBSERVER NEWSPAPER, PORTLAND, MAINE
Pat Nyhan is the author of New Mainers, and Reza Jalali wrote the book’s Foreword. The book profiles more than two dozen recent immigrants, and shares their stories of leaving home, and creating a new life here in Maine.
Who are these Mainers and why have they come here? They are from war-torn countries such as Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Cambodia; from poor Latin American nations; and from economically vibrant places like Hong Kong, India, and Europe - in other words, from across the global spectrum. They came to Maine for a job or to reunite with their family or because they fell in love or to attend college here or to flee persecution in their homelands.
Although the twenty-five
immigrants who tell their stories had widely varying reasons for coming to Maine, many have made remarkable contributions to the state. Some contribute high-level skills in medicine, engineering, academia, law, public-school education, hotel management, and social services. Others have enriched the state’s arts and sports worlds. Several are used to going back and forth across borders, either as transnational professionals or as migrant workers. About one-third of these immigrants are successful entrepreneurs.
As you will find out, the journeys of these immigrants have not been easy, but all of them are glad they wound up in this state and are proud of their new identities as Mainers.