Across Borders

Ellis Island and our Statue of Liberty

I have a friend who is our neighborhood advocate. He is our advisor on contractors, painters, carpenters, electricians and plumbers. He is the all-around go-to-person for whatever needs any neighbor might require. This gentle, erudite man has a wry sense of humor and a well-respected and researched list of painters, pavers, gardeners, builders, roofers and more.

For each of our repairs and renovations, we sought estimates within Tampa and Seminole Heights for painting our home, replacing our roof and our floors. Many local contractors charged exorbitant prices. When we interviewed each contractor, we saw they had inexperienced crews who appeared lackadaisical and bored. They stood by their bosses chewing gum and looking at their cell phones. They were as uninterested in us as we were with them. Their talent was unknown, their history of labor ethics and experience non-existent. I imagine they were not bonded, licensed or insured.

Our friend and neighborhood advocate helped us hire the crew who painted our home four years ago. The diligent painters did all the prep work including protection of foliage surrounding our home, covering valuable objects, pressure washing the old surfaces, patching the walls, and performing the installation and removal of scaffolding. They worked tirelessly, often from early morning to dusk. Their work created a tasteful and glorious transformation of our home into its current Miami-shaded, tropical hues

Below: Spanish Immigrants and families being honored for their service in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, 1945, NY, from Invisible Immigrants, Spaniards in the US, James Fernandez & Luis Arego

Then, we needed a new roof installed.  The Hispanic roofers we hired after much research did excellent work. They replaced and installed new wood to cover soft and rotten, termite-infested boards, searching for problem spots and solving potential future roof problems. We were provided with a very solid roof that has sustained hurricanes from 2020 to Milton.

In 2024 Milton arrived, sparing our solid roof, our Miami-hued exterior, but not our living room floors. Within two weeks a FEMA inspector, recruited from Puerto Rico, arrived to assess our damages. After he submitted his report funds were promptly deposited inro our bank account from FEMA. With those funds we were able to purchase new flooring and hire a floor installation crew. 

In one day, the flooring crew tore up the damaged, flooded parquet, installed a quick-dry cement subfloor, and new LVP flooring. They completed and installed our new floor in less than one day, 

thanks to a talented and experienced Hispanic crew. A friend of mine is in the process of having her damaged floors installed. Her installation crew is from Brazil.

We love the paint job on our home, making us a lovely well-known landmark in the neighborhood. Our roof gives us security for more years of survival than we will most likely live. Our living room floors greet us each morning with a fresh sense of joy. Every one of these major renovations and repairs were accomplished by crews from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Columbia, and other far-flung countries.

Children of immigrant farm workers, Vacaville, CA,1925, Photo: Invisible Immigrants

I recall a conversation with one such individual who had helped build the beautiful home across the street. I asked him, as I inspected the marble tile work in the bathroom, how he had perfectly matched the veins in the marble to create the cohesive beauty of all those walls.

“Where did you learn how to do such beautiful work?” I asked him.

“ I was the head of the surgical unit in a specialized hospital in Columbia. I came here for a better life. In Columbia, I matched, reattached and repaired the veins in damaged bodies, the same way I now match veins in marble. I came here to escape the terrorism, fear and hatred of my native country.”

We now require the talent of pavers to install a new back patio. I called our neighborhood self-appointed, valued advocate, asking him for the contact number of the paver he had used in the past. We remembered the man as talented and reliable, well-respected and an old-world artisan. In the past he had been very busy and over-booked in Seminole Heights, having done excellent work throughout our neighborhood. 

When I called my friend asking for his number he replied, “I’m sorry, Janie. I can’t give you his contact information. In today’s environment he’s very fearful. I no longer know how to reach him.” I remembered the paver/tiler as a legal, bonded, licensed artisan who was well known throughout Tampa. I was very surprised to learn that fear of our current administration had driven him “underground.”

I try very hard not to be political in my Food for Thought blogs. However, in today's reality, I can no longer remain silent. As other advocates of our country have eloquently said, “Courage is contagious.” (Heather Cox Richardson, April 1, 2025) 

If you hate my words, there’s nothing I can do to change that. I can no longer not speak out regarding the division and racism erasing the values, morals, empathy, compassion and history

Tim and I often say to one another how happy we are in our beautiful home and our beautiful life.  Were it not for my ancestors from France, England and Germany and Tim’s from Ireland, we would not be here enjoying our lives. My ancestors arrived seeking a better life. Now, those seeking a better life to escape terrorism are being deported. Some who have established legal lives here are being separated from the life they have created here, legally. Just like my ancestors, from the late 1890s to 1929,  they arrived here seeking a better life.  

A sad example of illegal deportations is that of a naturalized American citizen, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, married to an American citizen and having a child who is also an American citizen. Mr. Garcia was whisked off the street and deported to an El Salvadoran prison. This administration has conceded that his imprisonment was an “administrative error.” However, this administration has done nothing to correct their “administrative error."

Ellis Island Ship Arrivals

I hear what you are all saying, If they’re illegal, they get deported. The key word is, if they’re illegal. “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement keeps making an inexcusable error: it has been deporting U.S. citizens by mistake,” The Government Accountability Office, GAO, has concluded. “They were deported even though U.S. citizens cannot be charged with violations of civil immigration law. The true number of illegal deportations is now higher than the 674 reported during the time frame the government watchdog analyzed statistics. Neither ICE nor U.S. Customs and Border Protection maintain good enough records to determine just how many people the agencies arrest or deported in error.” According to the GAO and ICE records, there are many reasons for this, including lack of properly trained agents, lack of supervisors, poor records and data, lack of updating the citizenship field marking if someone is a citizen after an investigation is completed, and more. The GAO concluded that “ICE does not know the extent to which its officers are taking enforcement actions against individuals who could be U.S. citizens.” ( Melissa Cruz, writer and editor at the American Immigration Council, political reporter for RealClear Politics and for the Human Rights Campaign)  

We are all here from somewhere else. What has happened to collective memory?  Where did we all come from? How did we arrive here? How did our ancestors succeed in this country, once welcomed by Lady Liberty? Now, one reads daily of citizens tossed out of their lives in the United States to places many have never lived, or to prisons in other countries. They are labeled as “illegals,” whether or not they are, or are suspected of being undocumented.

Please ask yourselves these questions. Where is your family from? When did they arrive in the United States? How did they get here? How did they contribute to the life you now have? Your answers could shape your future, and that of your children. 

Do not allow yourselves to be governed by hatred. We live in a free country, blessed by a Democracy our forefathers fought for. They battled for our future, which is now at risk.

Today, April 5, please join others who want to preserve our freedom, our Democracy and our country. We live in a Democracy.  Let’s keep it that way.

Ellis Island Wall of Honor, past immigrants who have contributed to our country and history