Trailer: The Myth of the Immigrant Burden

02/12/20 • 3 min

Americans’ perceptions of immigrants and refugees often boil down to a key question: Are immigrants givers or takers to our communities? When you take a deeper dive, it’s clear that immigrants are contributing. Across a variety of industries, they’re starting businesses, creating jobs, paying taxes, and, in many cases, revitalizing entire towns and cities.

“Only in America” is taking a closer look at some of these immigrants and their stories, whether they’re innovators, entrepreneurs or people who work in areas that are typically viewed as lower-skilled. We’ll see that these “givers” aren’t the exception to the rule; they’re highly representative of the broader immigrant community.

Previous Episode

Between a Wall and a Hard Place: Ambassador Martha Bárcena Coqui

We wrap up our border series, Between a Wall and a Hard Place, by taking a step back and looking at the region as a whole. Ali talks to Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Martha Bárcena Coqui about practical solutions to meet border challenges and what an ideal future for the U.S.-Mexico border would look like.

Americans often think we’re stuck between choosing an open-borders or a closed-off approach, but ultimately we’ll see how that’s a false choice.

Next Episode

The Myth of the Immigrant Burden: Raman Dhillon

We begin our series, “The Myth of the Immigrant Burden,” by learning about the contributions of immigrants in the trucking industry through the lens of the growth of the Punjabi trucking community in California.

Ali talks with Raman Dhillon, head of the North American Punjabi Trucking Association about how the trucking industry is changing and how Punjabi immigrants are stemming its labor shortage. In an industry that historically has been associated with white men, new drivers are bringing new music, food and culture.