Ismarie Rivera and her husband, Manuel, opened Jireh Delights Bakery & Restaurant in downtown Holyoke, Massachusetts. Business is booming, and customers drive in from around the state. Nobody handed them a grant. They moved from Puerto Rico in 2015, took a risk and built something people want to buy.
Their story is playing out in towns and cities across the country, according to a USA Today report. Latinos are the United States’ second-largest ethnic group and account for more than half of U.S. population growth, citing the Pew Research Center. Many are finding opportunity not just in traditional immigrant hubs like Los Angeles and New York, but also in small towns, from industrial communities in the Northeast to farming regions in the South.
Holyoke’s Main Street Bet
Holyoke has the highest percentage of Puerto Ricans per capita of any U.S. city outside the Caribbean archipelago. Boricua families have made it a center of their community since the 1950s, and their numbers have grown steadily. In 2021, voters elected the city’s first Puerto Rican mayor, Joshua A. Garcia, who was born and raised there.
Last January, the city designated a Puerto Rican cultural district along an eight-block stretch of Main Street. Murals, new businesses and regular events fill the district, which the article says celebrates nearly 20,000 people, about 52.4% of the city’s total Boricua population.
Rivera doesn’t speak English, so she spoke through a bilingual employee. She said the couple felt connected to the community because many people speak Spanish. She also cited religion as a reason for moving after an invitation from their church, Fyre House. “God sent me and my family here,” she said. “Kindness and cultural closeness make us feel close to home.” Jireh, she said, means “the Lord will provide.”
Family Enterprise in North Carolina
In Tar Heel, North Carolina, Diego Yoel Inestroza Lara runs Inestroza’s Tree Service with his father, Cesar Inestroza. The elder Inestroza came to the United States from Silca, Olancho, Honduras, under Temporary Protected Status in 1998, after Hurricane Mitch devastated his home country. Many Hondurans received U.S. work permits after the hurricane. The article says a recent Supreme Court ruling may limit the program moving forward.
“North Carolina has given my dad a chance to rebuild his family’s life,” Inestroza Lara said. Extended family members, including uncles, cousins and grandparents, followed for work and farming opportunities they knew from Honduras. He said North Carolina still offers a chance to work hard and start over. “Food, music, faith and family gatherings help keep the culture alive,” he said.
The state has close to 900,000 residents with Latin American ancestry, including Mexican, Salvadoran and Honduran roots. The article points to growth in Mecklenburg County, Wake County, Siler City in Chatham County, Robbins in Moore County and Kenansville in Duplin County.
Atlanta’s Economic Pull
Georgia’s Hispanic population grew rapidly between 1990 and 2000, particularly in the Atlanta region, according to the U.S. Census. Hispanic migration in the state has increased by 33% since 2010. Georgia has nearly 900,000 Latino families, with more than half a million concentrated in Atlanta, largely because of Mexican and Puerto Rican migration. The city, nicknamed the New Ellis Island, has welcomed immigrants from more than 50 countries.
Santiago Marquez, CEO of the Atlanta-based Latin American Association, was born in Cuba and immigrated in 1971. His organization offers immigration legal services, workforce development, family stabilization, youth services and economic empowerment. “We are committed to helping all people that come to our door to overcome barriers, access opportunities, and achieve self-sufficiency,” he said.
Marquez credits Atlanta’s economy with drawing people from across Latin America. He said restaurants and small businesses contribute to the economy while serving as cultural gathering places. Along Buford Highway, visitors can find cuisine from Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Peru, Argentina and other countries.
Why This Matters:
The common thread isn’t a federal program. It’s work, faith, family and small business. The Rivera bakery draws customers from across Massachusetts because it sells something people value. The Inestroza tree service is a family enterprise built by a father and son. Marquez himself frames his group’s mission around self-sufficiency.
Still, the article raises a real policy question: a recent Supreme Court ruling may limit Temporary Protected Status, the program that gave Cesar Inestroza his start. Communities that have grown around such arrangements will watch closely. Local leaders and business owners—not Washington—have so far done the heavy lifting of turning arrival into opportunity, and that’s worth remembering as immigration policy evolves.