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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 19, 2007
Contact: Ali Noorani, Executive Director. MIRA Coalition: (617) 835-1402 Shuya Ohno, Communications, MIRA Coalition: (617) 821-8990
Celebrating the Immigrant Family: Over Three Hundred Immigrants Gather at Annual Thanksgiving Feast at the State House
Thanksgiving is a special American holiday, a time to reflect and celebrate the blessings of family and friends. Most Americans, regardless of religion or background, celebrate this holiday by sharing a traditional meal, honoring the first Thanksgiving of the pilgrims and the welcome they received as new immigrants on these Massachusetts shores.MIRA’s 4th Annual Thanksgiving luncheon at the State House brought together a rich tapestry of immigrant families from diverse backgrounds. Over 425 hundred people shared a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Invited speakers from the community gave moving testimonies on their journeys to America. The Great Hall resonated with the stories of struggles and achievements in re-uniting with families from distant shores and becoming American families.
Sophea Srun spoke about her experiences coming to America with her husband and daughter as refugees from war-torn Cambodia twenty years ago. She is proud of her American citizenship, and grateful that her husband was finally given his American citizenship this year. "I have learned about American culture, holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I have not lost my own culture, because we also celebrate Cambodian New Year.This helped me to feel at home. Now I like living here and my family and friends are close together."Osaro Agbongiague, an American citizen originally from Nigeria spoke about how he has finally been reunited with his wife. She had been waiting three long years while her application was being processed to be with her husband. Agbongiague spoke movingly about his wife's arrival, "I've learned much about what it is like to live in this great country, but I've also learned that at times you just suffer even though you are innocent just because of the way things are and there is nothing you can do about it. All you can just do is hope and pray for the best. But I'm happy that she's here today."
Agbongiague continued, "The worst thing you can do to a man is to separate that person from his loved ones. You can't sleep at night. You are thinking, I hope I will still have the opportunity to see this person again, because you are not sure what is going to happen at the next moment. She was actually robbed twice in Nigeria. I was completely broken. I felt if she was here with me this wouldn't have happened. I didn't do anything wrong. I did everything the right way. I followed the rules and regulations. How come it's taking such a long time? I do understand that they have to do a lot of things. I do understand there is a lot of process. But I still think something can be done, to make it a little easier on people that have their families back home and they want to reunite with them."Ridha Jaber Al Saadawi came from Iraq when he was a teenager. Now in his thirties, Rhidha has spent all his adult life here, and has gone through the long process of obtaining his American citizenship. He has passed his test, and has been waiting to take his oath for four years. He is unable to travel to see his family and his aging mother while he is stuck in his current limbo of administrative delays. "I realize here there is freedom, it's a great country, so I decided to stay here and start my life here," he stated. Al Saadawi summarized his desire succinctly, "I love this country and I want to be part of it."
Jacob Smith-Yang, the Executive Director of Massachusetts Asian-Pacific Islander for Health served as the Master of Ceremonies and shared his own personal story. "The most memorable Thanksgiving we had was when my 73 year-old grandmother, my Ama, finally became a naturalized U.S. Citizen after three tries. When she went to the exam, she was not doing so well even on her third try, but the examiner looked at her notebook and saw all the answers she had written out and was able to understand how hard she was trying. Becoming a citizen was very important to her, and was very important for her sense of belonging in the United States, and it was a very moving Thanksgiving to have that happen."Immigrant families enjoyed the meal with a number of their state legislators and the former Governor of Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis and his wife Kitty.
Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) stated, "It does not matter whether one's family celebrates Thanksgiving with rice, jalapenos, or curry. it's not what you have for Thanksgiving, it's who you have it with. All across America, we all want to be joined by our families over Thanksgiving. That's what makes this holiday so special."
Elected Officials in attendence included:Former Gov. Michael Dukakis, Rep. Willie Mae Allen, Rep. Cory Atkins, Rep. Ruth Balser, Rep. William Brownsberger, Rep. Christine Canavan, Rep. Paul Donato, Rep. James Eldridge, Rep. Kevin Honan, Rep. Frank Hynes, Rep. Kay Khan, Rep. Liz Malia, Rep. Denise Provost, Rep. Byron Rushing, Rep. Theodore Speliotis, Rep. Joyce Spiliotis, Rep. Marie St. Fleur, Rep. Patricia Walrath, Rep. Alice Wolf, Sen. Susan Fargo, Sen. Marc Pacheco, Sen. Pamela Resor
Officials in attendence included:
Former Gov. Michael Dukakis, Rep. Willie Mae Allen, Rep. William Brownsberger, Rep. Christine Canavan, Rep. Paul Donato, Rep. James Eldridge, Rep. Kevin Honan, Rep. Frank Hynes, Rep. Kay Khan, Rep. Liz Malia, Rep. Denise Provost, Rep. Byron Rushing, Rep. Theodore Speliotis, Rep. Joyce Spiliotis, Rep. Marie St. Fleur, Rep. Patricia Walrath, Rep. Alice Wolf, Sen. Susan Fargo, Sen. Marc Pacheco, Sen. Pamela Resor, and Richard Chacon of MA Office of Refugees and Immigrants
Elected Officials in attendence included: Former Gov. Michael Dukakis, Rep. Willie Mae Allen, Rep. William Brownsberger, Rep. Christine Canavan, Rep. Paul Donato, Rep. James Eldridge, Rep. Kevin Honan, Rep. Frank Hynes, Rep. Kay Khan, Rep. Liz Malia, Rep. Denise Provost, Rep. Byron Rushing, Rep. Theodore Speliotis, Rep. Joyce Spiliotis, Rep. Marie St. Fleur, Rep. Patricia Walrath, Rep. Alice Wolf, Sen. Susan Fargo, Sen. Marc Pacheco, Sen. Pamela Resor
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MIRA works to advocate for the rights and opportunities of immigrants and refugees. In partnership with its members, MIRA advances this mission through education, training, leadership development, organizing, policy analysis and advocacy.