Veterans Day can’t be properly observed without also noting the vast, heroic contributions of immigrant service members to the United States military. In fact, while overall recruiting numbers shift over time, “the foreign born have been a constant presence in the U.S. armed forces,” the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) said last year. “As of 2022, nearly 731,000 U.S. veterans had been born outside the United States, representing 4.5 percent of the country’s 16.2 million veterans.”

“Reflecting a long history of service in the U.S. military, Mexican and Filipino immigrants comprised the largest groups of foreign-born veterans in 2022, representing 15 percent and 11 percent (or 111,000 and 84,000 individuals), respectively. Other top origin countries included Germany, Canada, and Cuba (see Figure 2),” MPI continued. “Naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPRs, also known as green-card holders), and certain nationals of three Pacific Island countries in free association with the United States—the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau—are eligible for U.S. military service.”

And, “a long history of service in the U.S. military” is right. In fact, immigrant service members have carried the U.S. flag in their hearts and on their sleeves for more than two centuries, fighting in major conflicts since our country’s founding. “Hundreds of thousands of immigrants pledged to defend the United States with their lives in the Civil War, both World Wars, and conflicts like those in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq,” FWD.us said in a 2022 report. “Some of young America’s greatest heroes were foreigners,” the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) noted in 2017.

“When he arrived in New York from France on August 16, 1824, for a tour of the United States, the Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the American Revolution and compatriot of George Washington, was greeted with an official welcome and by thousands of Americans,” BPC said. “In his remarks, following those of the mayor, Lafayette said, ‘It is the pride of my heart to have been one of the earliest adopted sons of America.’ Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian military officer, was granted American citizenship for his service to the nation during the Revolution.”  Following the country’s birth, immigrants “continued to play a major role in the nation’s armed conflicts.”

During the American Civil War, more than 20% of Union soldiers were also foreign-born, mostly from Germany and Ireland. By the time the U.S. was involved in World War I, approximately half a million immigrants were serving in the U.S. military, BPC continued. “Foreigners have continued to serve in significant numbers since World War II.”

For many foreign-born U.S. veterans, military service has been an invaluable mechanism for gaining U.S. citizenship. “Between 1907 and 2018, 745,212 immigrants naturalized through military service,” the American Immigration Council said in 2019, with many taking advantage of an expedited pathway to citizenship established for immigrant service members by the U.S. Congress. In fiscal year 2024, nearly 16,300 immigrant service members were naturalized, “a 34% increase from the previous year,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said at that time.

“Since 2002, we have naturalized more than 187,000 members of the U.S. military, both at home and abroad,” USCIS further noted, with naturalization ceremonies taking place in more than two dozen nations.

And the service of many of these military members has been nothing short of heroic. “Of the more than 3,400 Medals of Honor awarded since the Civil War, 22% have gone to immigrants, according to the nonprofit National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP),” Military.com reported in 2020. Alfred V. Rascon, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who fought in the Vietnam War, was awarded a Silver Star for service a year before he ever became fully American on paper. He told Military.com that “issues of race, creed, ethnicity and country of birth tend to vanish in a combat zone, where the team is all that matters.”

Decades later, some of his former platoon members lobbied for Rascon to receive the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest decoration. “At the White House on Feb. 8, 2000, then-President Bill Clinton bestowed the nation’s highest award for valor on Alfred Velazquez Rascon,” the report said.

Unfortunately, our nation has not always given its service members the respect they deserve. “Deported veterans” is a term that shouldn’t exist, yet it’s been the reality for some immigrant service members who’ve been exiled after putting their lives on the line for their country. Some reports have estimated that at least 200 immigrant veterans have been deported, many after struggling with PTSD and substance abuse issues that followed their deployment and return home.

The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) would reveal in a shocking 2019 report that “because ICE does not maintain complete electronic data on potentially removable veterans it encounters,” we actually don’t know how many service members have been deported. ICE also has policies in place that it’s supposed to follow in cases involving a military veteran, but the GAO found these were not being followed either.

Earlier this year, Sae Joon Park, an immigrant veteran and a recipient of a Purple Heart for injuries he sustained while deployed in Panama, was forced to self-deport to a country he hadn’t considered his home for decades. Like many other military veterans, Park struggled with PTSD related to his injuries. “Though his body began to heal, he said his mind did not,” NPR reported in June. “Back then, Park didn’t know he was dealing with PTSD. So, he never sought help and the trauma slowly took a toll. He eventually turned to drugs to cope.”

His attempt to self-medicate would eventually lead to prison time, the revocation of his green card, and a deportation order. As veterans groups and lawmakers have said, service members in crisis need compassion and care, not to get kicked out of the country they served. Fortunately, he was allowed to remain here as long as he regularly checked in with immigration officials. He returned to Hawaii, got a good job, and continued raising his kids. But that changed this year, when he was told he “would be detained and deported unless he left voluntarily within the next few weeks,” NPR continued.

“ I can’t believe that this is happening in America,” Park told the outlet at the time. “That blows me away, like a country that I fought for.” But Park is not alone. Carlos Gomez Perez, a fellow immigrant veteran and recipient of the prestigious Silver Star, has been among the voices speaking out in defense of his community.

Gomez Perez told East County Magazine that he’s participated in pro-immigrant rallies “because I need to step up to speak for the ones who cannot speak for themselves. I know what it feels like to be undocumented and having to be living in the shadows for fear of being deported. I’m no longer that 9-year-old undocumented boy that had no voice. I’m now a 42-year-old Marine combat veteran from Fallujah who’s been shot twice and awarded the Silver Star, which is the third highest medal of honor.”

This Veterans Day, we thank immigrant military members, and all military members and their families, for their service to our nation. But thanks must also include ensuring they have the benefits and citizenship they’ve deservedly earned, and are able to live in the country they bravely fought for. They kept their promise to protect this country. This country must do the same.

“I didn’t know him, but he could have been my brother, he could have been a neighbor, he could have been my family,” said one vigil attendee in Chicago

This past weekend, community members from all across the country came together to hold Day of the Dead vigils remembering the rising number of immigrant neighbors who’ve tragically lost their lives while in federal immigration custody. In the San Francisco Bay Area, neighbors gathered at Todos Santos Plaza in Concord to read aloud the names of the reported 25 immigrants who’ve died in ICE custody in fiscal year 2025, the highest number in two decades.

“After the vigil, participants marched toward a main road and placed the 25 signs at Todos Santos Plaza for others to honor their memory throughout the day,” KTVU reported on the vigil, one of the more than 150 Disappeared In America Weekend of Action events throughout country on Saturday and Sunday. Top of mind for many participants during the Concord vigil was the urgent need to say that many of these deaths were entirely preventable, that these immigrant community members were a part of the fabric of this nation, and that their lives mattered. 

“’It is meant to say that immigrants are here, they are part of our family, they are part of our neighborhood and we want to protect them,’ said Linda Carman of Alamo of her sign that read ‘Immigration builds our country,’” KTVU continued. “Other messages seen on signs in the crowd, included ‘families belong together’ and ‘immigrants drive our economy.’”

In Kentucky, Father Charles Uhlik of Grace Episcopal Church and Rev. Leah Eubanks of the First Christian Church of Dawson Springs joined Paducah community members to brave the rain and remember these immigrant neighbors. 

“During the event, participants shared their stories, and a festival altar was erected with photos along with traditional items such as marigolds, sugar skulls, paper banners, and votive candles. Food, being a typical offering on a Day of the Dead festival altar, was also collected during a food drive benefitting the Family Service Society of Paducah,” WPSD reported. “Following the memorial vigil, protestors held signs in front of Park Avenue as cars drove past, signs read phrases such as ‘STOP ICE,’ ‘NO FEAR,’ and ‘IMMIGRANTS ARE WELCOME HERE.’”

In Connecticut, New Haven’s annual Day of the Dead celebration was dedicated to ICE victims, Yale Daily News reported. Unidad Latina en Acción organizer John Lugo acknowledged that while this is a fearful time for many due to immigration enforcement actions that have targeted immigrants and U.S. citizens alike, coming out for Day of the Dead this year carried added significance.

“Everybody’s afraid. There are a lot of issues convincing people to be on the streets,” Lugo told Yale Daily News. “People should know that we’re here, we’re going to stay, and we’re not going to stop bringing the good stuff that we bring to the community of New Haven.”

Community members also gathered in states including Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania to remember deceased immigrant community members. As the American Immigration Council recently noted, this year has actually been deadlier for detained immigrants than the COVID-19 pandemic. 

They have been as young as 27-years-old. Brayan Garzón-Rayo, a Colombian immigrant who died by suicide in April, “did not receive a mental health evaluation due to staffing shortages,” KCUR reported. “Jail staff found Garzón-Rayo unresponsive in his cell with a blanket wrapped around his neck on April 7, according to the ICE report.” Isidro Pérez, a 75-year-old Cuban man, died while in immigration custody after six decades in the U.S. The fishing aficionado “lived on a boat anchored near a park in Key Largo, south of Miami, and spent his days sitting on a bench in a coastal park, his family says,” EL PAÍS reported in July.

“The families of some of the deceased have denounced the fact that the victims had no prior condition that would have predicted a tragic end,” EL PAÍS noted in its October report.

One grieving mom said that she was not aware of her 39-year-old son suffering any health difficulties when he suddenly died after being jailed at Adelanto ICE Processing Center, a privately-operated detention facility in southern California. “Her son, Ismael Ayala-Uribe, died on September 22 at Victor Valley Hospital, where he was transferred from the Adelanto Detention Center in California. Ayala-Uribe was arrested on August 17 while working at a car wash in Huntington Beach, where he had been employed for 15 years.”

One vigil ahead of the Disappeared In America Weekend of Action directly criticized the private prison corporations that are making massive profits off the detention of immigrant community members. “The concern that we have is one, that people are suffering under these conditions, and that that suffering has led to the loss of life,” said Pedro Rios, San Diego Program Director for the American Friends Service Committee. Indy Correspondent reports that at CoreCivic’s Otay Mesa Detention Center in southern California, the Department of Homeland Security watchdog previously found that the vast majority of in-custody ICE deaths between 2017 and 2021 were entirely preventable.

“Causes of death were largely due to inadequate medical care,” Indy Correspondent continued. “Though the exact number of deaths at Otay Mesa isn’t specified, the facility reflects a broader pattern: 52 migrants died in ICE detention nationwide during that period, amid widespread criticism of poor medical treatment and inhumane conditions that have intensified” since January.

In Chicago, dozens gathered to remember Silverio Villegas González, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in September under unclear circumstances. While federal officials initially claimed that the immigration agent was “seriously injured” during the encounter, “bodycam videos from Franklin Park police officers showed the hurt ICE agent describing his own injuries as ‘nothing major,’” NBC News reported.

“Villegas González’s girlfriend, Blanca, described him as a ‘very kind, gentle person’ and said he was ‘someone who was wanted,’” reported the Tribune. “She said it’s hard for others to understand the pain she has gone through since his death.” Chicagoans who were otherwise complete strangers to Villegas González and his family said they wanted to show their support at the vigil not just because he was a member of the community, but because current immigration policy represents a risk to all.

“I didn’t know him, but he could have been my brother, he could have been a neighbor, he could have been my family,” community member María López told the Tribune. “It’s not because of his immigration status, it’s because he was a neighbor. It could have happened to anybody.”

“The families of some of the deceased have denounced the fact that the victims had no prior condition that would have predicted a tragic end,” EL PAÍS reports

2025 has become the deadliest year for detained immigrants in federal immigration custody in two decades. EL PAÍS reported this month that at least 22 individuals have died while in ICE custody in the current fiscal year, making this the deadliest year for detained immigrants since 2005.

They have been as young as 27-years-old. Brayan Garzón-Rayo, a Colombian immigrant who died by suicide in April, “did not receive a mental health evaluation due to staffing shortages,” KCUR reported. “Jail staff found Garzón-Rayo unresponsive in his cell with a blanket wrapped around his neck on April 7, according to the ICE report.” Isidro Pérez, a 75-year-old Cuban man, died while in immigration custody after six decades in the U.S. The fishing aficionado “lived on a boat anchored near a park in Key Largo, south of Miami, and spent his days sitting on a bench in a coastal park, his family says,” EL PAÍS reported in July. 

“The families of some of the deceased have denounced the fact that the victims had no prior condition that would have predicted a tragic end,” EL PAÍS noted in its October report. 

One grieving mom said that she was not aware of her 39-year-old son suffering any health difficulties when he suddenly died after being jailed at Adelanto ICE Processing Center, a privately-operated detention facility in southern California. “Her son, Ismael Ayala-Uribe, died on September 22 at Victor Valley Hospital, where he was transferred from the Adelanto Detention Center in California. Ayala-Uribe was arrested on August 17 while working at a car wash in Huntington Beach, where he had been employed for 15 years.”

“The family maintains that his health was good and that they have not received an explanation as to how, in just over a month, the 39-year-old Mexican died in detention,” EL PAÍS reported in July. 

And, these deaths have been coming with alarming frequency. Just two weeks after Ayala-Uribe’s death, Huabing Xie, a Chinese immigrant of unreported age, died after being detained at Imperial Regional Detention Facility, another privately-operated site in southern California, L.A. Taco reported. Detention staff “reported Xie having a seizure. He became unresponsive at 2:13 p.m. CPR was given and a defibrillator was used, administered by medical personnel on site. Xie was transported to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.” The outlet further stated that federal immigration officials actually violated their own policies on how quickly they must publicly report in-custody deaths.

“The record for deaths in ICE custody was set in 2004, a year after the immigration agency’s creation,” EL PAÍS continued in its October report. “There were 32 reported deaths that year. The following year there were 20, a figure not surpassed again until 2020, during the Covid pandemic, when 21 deaths were recorded, according to government data.” But as researchers at the American Immigration Council note, the current administration has been “deadlier for ICE detainees than COVID-19 pandemic.”

 These alarming statistics, lack of transparency, and failure to follow internal guidelines come “as ICE is also holding nearly 60,000 people in immigration detention, the highest number in several years,” NPR reported. According to data from TRAC Immigration, the overwhelming majority of immigrants in federal immigration detention, 71.5%, have no criminal convictions at all. “Former agency officials are warning that increased detention population, decreased oversight, an increase in street and community arrests and continued difficulties staffing medical teams will result in more deaths,” NPR continued.

An ongoing Congressional investigation has already uncovered hundreds of credible reports of shocking human rights abuses in immigration detention facilities, including dozens of allegations of physical and sexual abuse and the mistreatment of pregnant women and children as young as two, including U.S. citizens. This includes 41 reports of physical and sexual abuse, 32 reports of abuses against pregnant women and kids, reports of denial of health care and legal representation at facilities in more than two dozen states, Puerto Rico, and even U.S. military bases in Cuba and as far away as Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

The ongoing probe has even alleged that detention facility staffers have used  solitary confinement – which is considered torture by many experts – to punish detained individuals for reporting allegations.

Following a series of complaints and lawsuits, “ICE is scrambling to hire doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare workers” for positions “ranging from dental hygienists through psychiatric nurse practitioners to medical risk managers and data scientists,” The Independent   reported. But whether the approximately 45 new positions will make any significant impact as federal immigration officials detain an unprecedented number of immigrants remains to be seen.

ICE’s death reporting page also does not show the at least three individuals who’ve tragically lost their lives while apparently trying to flee immigration agents. Just last week in Virginia, Josué Castro Rivera was heading to a gardening job when he tried to flee ICE on foot and was hit by a vehicle on the interstate. “He had a very good heart,” his brother said. “He didn’t deserve anything that happened to him.”

As families grieve and continue to press for answers, the Disappeared In America campaign said that immigrant community members who’ve lost their lives while in ICE custody will be remembered during Day of the Dead vigils set to take place this weekend. 

“These cultural and creative events uplift the sanctity of life,” said the campaign’s Disappeared In America Weekend of Action website, “and affirm that our communities will not be erased or forgotten.” Day of the Dead, or Día de Muertos, is observed from Nov. 1 to Nov. 2 and is a traditional “day of celebration, particularly for the people in Mexico and Central America, and for many Mexican Americans in the United States,” said the National Museum of the American Latino. “It is a day to honor and commemorate the lives of the dearly departed and to welcome the return of their spirits.” These celebrations typically include an ofrenda, or altar, that features photos of deceased loved ones, candles, marigolds, and even favorite food items.

Advocates erected one such ofrenda outside the privately-operated Otay Mesa Detention Center in southern California on Wednesday, Fox 5 San Diego reported. “Groups like the American Friends Service Committee, Detention Resistance, Free Them All-SD and more organized the vigil. Director of the American Friends Service Committee Pedro Rios said they want to make sure those who died in custody are not forgotten.”  

“Rios said they gathered ‘to honor them and to recognize them as important because they have names, they have families that likely did not have to be under detention, we want to make sure they are not forgotten,’” the report continued. In Los Angeles, Venice Bakery’s ofrenda similarly remembers individuals who’ve died while under ICE watch.

“They were part of our community, and our community is being targeted, and they needed to be remembered,” said the bakery’s operator. “Sorry, it’s emotional because it’s my community. It’s the people I grew up with. It’s the people I see day in, day out. It’s family members. It’s my son’s friends and their family members. And that can happen to any one of us because we all look Latino. It doesn’t matter if I was born here, if I wasn’t born here, if I have papers. I look Hispanic, I look Latina. So it can happen to me, and that’s scary.”

Where would we be without pumpkins on Halloween? From harvesting the apples that go into Fourth of July pies to processing the turkey that we enjoy around our Thanksgiving tables, immigrants help bring home many holidays and annual celebrations – and Halloween is no exception. Without the labor and skills of essential immigrant farmworkers, we’d all have a tougher time buying, carving, and decorating this Halloween essential.

Approximately 2 billion pumpkins are grown and harvested every single year “for consumers to eat, decorate or use for their fall celebrations,” United Farm Workers (UFW) said last year. “Farm workers harvest the 5 to 25 pound pumpkins during late August to late October,” with some pumpkins growing so large it can take two workers to carry them. In New York state, farmworkers know that when the weather begins to cool down, it means that pumpkins there are nearly ready to go from the fields to store shelves.

In California, skilled farmworkers like Esteban help get pumpkins to consumers to enjoy. “Esteban was working in muddy, wet fields cutting these pumpkins from their vines,” UFW continued in another post from last fall. The organization shared one of the workplace hazards involved when it comes to harvesting this particular produce. “It was warm, but you’ll note he is entirely covered, including a mask. Pumpkin vines have very irritating hairlike fibers that can become embedded in the skin, eyes and respiratory system.”

“All States produce some pumpkins, but six States produce most of them,” the Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service said earlier this year. Illinois topped the list, producing 630 million pounds of pumpkins in 2022. “The next 5 largest pumpkin-producing States by weight were Indiana with 160 million pounds, California with 120 million pounds, Michigan and Pennsylvania with 90 million pounds each, and Virginia with 50 million pounds.”

“Most pumpkins are grown for decorative purposes, with a smaller amount processed into puree to be used in food products such as pies, muffins, or breads,” the Economic Research Service continued. “However, in Illinois—the largest producer by both acres and weight—about 80 percent of the State’s harvested pumpkin acres are used for processing” for food products. 

And as farmers themselves have openly acknowledged throughout the years, this work can’t happen without the skills and oftentimes strenuous labor of essential immigrant workers. 

Brian Campbell’s “pumpkin empire” began as a roadside stand when he was just 14, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in 2019. Halloween “has propelled Campbell, now 53, from hundreds of pumpkins sold per season to the 600,000 he grows on 2,000 total acres across the county.” And, without the aid of immigrant workers, he wouldn’t be nearly as successful today. 

“The local workers wouldn’t do this work,” Cambell said. “I couldn’t operate without [migrant labor], and I wouldn’t even try to.” In fact, he said his star employee was an undocumented worker who had lived in the U.S. for nearly a decade at publishing time. The worker, Roller, became eligible for a U-visa after a police officer pulled him over and robbed him of a week’s worth of wages. Campbell said he was outraged when he heard.

“I heard about it the next day, and those things really bother me,” he said. “We took that information and got the state police involved, and it took two years but we ended up in court, and that guy did jail time, lost his job, and had to pay restitution.” Campbell “lent him money to fight his case and believes the nation’s farms would be hard-pressed to harvest crops without undocumented workers,” The Inquirer continued.

“If all these people have to go home, we’re in trouble,” Campbell said. “Big trouble.”

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it would be remiss to not mention that foreign-born workers are also essential to the production of canned pumpkin used in desserts and other cooking. “Food for Thought: Pumpkin pie made possible by migrant workers,” WCBU reported on an Illinois pumpkin patch and pumpkin canning factory in 2017. “Farmer John Ackerman, in Morton, says with the holiday’s focus on gratitude, he hopes Americans consider the people who help put the food on the table,” WCBU continued. 

In Ohio, another pumpkin producer, foreign-born farmworkers “are a vital contributor” to the state’s agricultural economy,” the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said in 2017. “Without a stable labor pool from which to draw workers, Ohio farmers have been reluctant to invest in an increase in crop acreage or diversification of commercial crops.”

Of course, it’s not just pumpkins. Essential immigrant workers quite literally keep the entire agricultural industry alive through their skilled labor growing, harvesting, and distributing the items that go into our daily meals and celebratory feasts. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. farmworkers are foreign-born, meaning that if these workers were to suddenly vanish from their workplaces, grocery prices would go up for working families and our food supply would face collapse. 

The simple fact is, that without these workers, farms couldn’t operate and we wouldn’t eat. Remember they also carry out this essential labor in rain or shine, cold or extreme heat. Standing up for these workers must mean more than just recognizing their contributions (though they do deserve our thanks every single day). And, more and more growers are demanding policies that legalize, not demonize, farm workers.

As we head into Halloween and winter holidays, it’s worth taking some time to remember all the ways that immigrants influence our daily lives. That includes being able to celebrate the spookiest of holidays. Without their vital contributions, Halloween would be a lot less fun for everyone.

Ignore the ugly rhetoric and just look at the facts: immigration is not only good for our country, it’s necessary to our economic growth and vital to essential industries. Part of that reason is because as U.S.-born workers get older and retire, making immigrant workers even more critical in helping maintain a strong labor force and positive economic outlook. 

But without immigrant workers, that economic growth will be a lot tougher to achieve, new findings say. 

Documented broke down a new report from the nonpartisan thinktank Economic Policy Institute (EPI), which analyzed federal data and found that the federal government’s “reported plans to deport 1 million people per year from the U.S. could undercut its own future projections of high gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the country,” the outlet said. Documented notes that while “the average pace of GDP growth since 1969 has been 1.66%,” the federal government has claimed a very sunny 2.89% rate of growth.

But under current immigration policies that have already resulted in significant job losses in essential industries like agriculture, “this seems unlikely,” Documented said.

“If the number of work hours falls because the labor force shrinks, this essentially translates one-for-one into slower aggregate growth,” economist Josh Bivens writes in EPI’s report. “Policymakers who do not want to see the pace of GDP growth shrink relative to the past history of U.S. growth really only have one option: allowing larger flows of immigration.”

“The growth of the U.S.-born labor force has slowed significantly in recent years, according to the analysis,” Documented noted. “Between 1948 and 2007, the baby boom and an influx of women into the workforce spurred significant growth. Between 1948 and 1979, the labor force rose by an average of 1.79% a year. But as workers began to age, growth dropped by over half to 0.55% between 2019 and 2024.”

“With low immigration, EPI projects that the entire U.S. population size would decrease by 5% over the next few decades. And without it, they forecast the U.S. population would contract by over 30% by 2100.”

This will be dire for essential industries that are already hurting for qualified workers, such as healthcare, which could see a shortage of about 100,000 critical health care workers by 2028, the American Hospital Association said. “The impact of the shortages will be uneven and an added burden to a system strained by geographic and demographic disparities in access to care,” with states like California, Texas and Pennsylvania “expected to weather the storm” while states like New York and New Jersey are expected to face acute shortages.

Immigrants are key to sustaining industries like healthcare. Currently, about one in six hospital workers are immigrants, according to research from KFF. Thousands are home health aides, including Gina Policard, who is originally from Haiti. She previously told Documented that after arriving in the U.S. in 2022, she began to train as a home health aide. “I had to do something, because I have bills to pay,” she said in August. “But I love the job because I love taking care of people the same way I do for my family.”

And let’s not forget about the contributions that America’s immigrant communities, regardless of legal status, make every single year. These tax payments help sustain vital federal programs like Medicare and Social Security, fund our public schools, libraries, and fire departments, and boost our overall economy. Their vast contributions make our nation stronger, more vibrant, and more prosperous.

“Analysis of the 2021 American Community Survey shows that immigrant-led households paid $524.7 billion in total taxes in 2021, a slight increase since 2019,” the American Immigration Council said in 2023. “This includes $346.3 billion in federal income taxes, and $178.4 billion in state and local taxes. These tax contributions made up 15.9% of total tax revenues governments received from U.S. residents in 2021, yet immigrants make up just 13.6% of U.S. households.” 

Last year, research from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) also revealed that undocumented workers contributed an astounding $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022 alone. Billions of this went to help subsidize federal programs that these same workers are legally barred from accessing due to their legal status. 

“More than a third of the tax dollars paid by undocumented immigrants go toward payroll taxes dedicated to funding programs that these workers are barred from accessing,” ITEP said. “Undocumented immigrants paid $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes, $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes, and $1.8 billion in unemployment insurance taxes in 2022.” 

Meanwhile, refugee communities “enter the workforce at high rates, often filling labor shortages in critical industries,” the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said, and are natural-born entrepreneurs who strengthen communities through their resilience and skills. “Entrepreneurship is a key driver of economic growth, and refugees excel in this area. In 2019, 13% of refugees in the U.S. were entrepreneurs, surpassing the 11.7% rate among non-refugee immigrants and the 9% rate among U.S.-born citizens. This amounted to nearly 188,000 refugee-owned businesses across the country.” 

But, refugee admissions to the U.S. are now expected to be slashed to a historic low.

Once again: immigration benefits our country. Policies slamming the door shut on this vibrant and entrepreneurial community only hurts us in the long run – and that’s the opinion of the experts. “Without changes in immigration policy, GDP growth will likely slow,” Documented said.

As Hispanic Heritage Month 2025 soon comes to an end, we want to make sure you haven’t missed some of the events celebrating the culture, history, and accomplishments of the Latino communities that help make up the diverse fabric of America.

In Texas, home to one of the largest Latino populations in the nation, notable Latino performers joined Houston community members to kick off the month with an event celebrating the ceremonial El Grito, which is performed annually on Sept. 15th to mark the start of Mexican Independence Day. KHOU reports that “Grammy-nominated ranchera singer Lupita Infante, granddaughter of the legendary Pedro Infante,” and “Jacqie Rivera, daughter of the late Jenni Rivera,” joined Houstonians at the Miller Outdoor Theatre for an event held in partnership with the Consulate General of Mexico.

“Not only do we do the ceremonial battle cry and a color guard, but there is then a concert celebrating Mexican culture,” said Claudia de Vasco, managing director of the Miller Outdoor Theatre Advisory Board. “In Houston, the Latino population is so large so this is an important time to honor and celebrate all Hispanic cultures.”

In next-door Louisiana, students at Live Oak Elementary School decorated “entire hallways to showcase Spanish-speaking countries and their rich traditions,” KATC reports. “Each grade level focused on a different Spanish-speaking country. The decorations feature animals, clothing, traditional dances and food from various cultures, creating an immersive learning environment for students who walk by.”

Emma, a Honduran American student at Live Oak Elementary, told KATC that she was excited to learn more about her heritage. “It’s good because like I can have friends in Spanish and English they can teach me more Spanish and if I don’t know Spanish I can like ask them,” she said.

At the opposite end of the educational spectrum, college students at California’s Loyola Marymount University said they had a goal of striving for solidarity and visibility not just during Hispanic Heritage Month, but all year long, The Los Angeles Loyolan reports. Sophia Gonzalez, a biochemistry major and president of traditional Mexican dance group Grupo Folklórico, told the outlet that she was encouraged by response to the group’s work.

“This year we’ve been asked a lot more than in previous years [to perform],” she said. “As president this year I have been really pushing for us to reach out more.” Loyola Marymount University’s Laband Art Gallery “Seeing Chicanx: The Durón Family Collection” exhibition also kicked off during the celebration. “This expansive show presents a selection of nearly 50 Chicanx artists who have called Southern California their home,” the school said.

In San Francisco, the annual Lowrider Parade was broadcast on television for the first time in its decades-long history. Thousands turned out for the event in person, which featured David Gonzales, a Bay Area-born artist and the creator of the iconic “Homies” dolls, as the grand marshal. “It’s an honor to be the Grand Marshal of the Lowrider Parade this year,” he said. “My artwork has always reflected our cultura, and has served as a window for the broader community to see and understand the color and passion of who we are.” The parade is a project of the San Francisco Lowrider Council, “formed in 1981 to resist the racial profiling of Latinos who reveled in the display of their automobile artwork,” CBS News reported. “It wasn’t until last year that California finally enacted a law prohibiting lowrider bans and anti-cruising ordinances across the Golden State.”

Here at America’s Voice, we’ve been highlighting just some of the contributions of Latino communities, from music, to books, to resilience that helps keep our economy roaring:

Those contributions are everywhere and impossible to ignore. Here in the U.S., Mexican food is the second most popular cuisine in the nation. The late Anthony Bourdain, a fierce defender of Latino cuisine, once noted that without Latino workers, “our entire service economy—the restaurant business as we know it—in most American cities, would collapse overnight.” It’s the same story for our national economy. As we noted last month, if all U.S. Latinos were an independent country, it would have one of the top GDPs in the world. 

“Among the ten largest GDPs, the U.S. Latino GDP was the third fastest growing from 2010 to 2023,”  researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and California Lutheran University said in their annual U.S. Latino GDP report. “Over that period, real Latino GDP increased 2.7 times faster than Non-Latino. In 2023, Latino consumption stood at $2.7 trillion. Latinos in the U.S. represent a consumption market 20 percent larger than the entire economy of Italy and 24 percent larger than Brazil. From 2010 to 2023, Latino real consumption grew 2.6 times faster than Non-Latino, driven by rapid gains in Latino income. Over the same period, Latino real incomes grew 2.9 times faster.”

This month is also an important reminder that despite hurtful rhetoric that seeks to in part minimize and ostracise this community, Latinos have always been here. “The Latino presence in America spans centuries,” said the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino, “predating Spain’s colonization of what is now part of the United States, and they have been an integral part of shaping our nation since the Revolutionary War.” 

And, Latinos continue to make history through today. During this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny was announced as the headliner for the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, making him the first solo Latino male performer to star in the event. “In 2020, at the Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show he joined Shakira and Jennifer Lopez on stage during their electrifying Miami set,” Forbes reported. “Six years later, he’s the main event.” During a recent appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” Bad Bunny said the achievement was not just for him, but for the entire community.

Hispanic Heritage Month “gives us a chance to acknowledge how Latinos have been part of this nation for so many centuries,” Alberto Lammers, director of communications at the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute, told NBC Washington. “I think that’s what is great about this. It has allowed us to really dig deeper and a chance to tell our stories.”

Following the death of Pope Francis last April, many Catholics and observers in the United States and around the world wondered if his successor would be as vocal as the late pontiff on the issues that concerned him, particularly when it comes to the treatment of immigrants and refugees by world governments.

We now have that answer. In remarks to reporters this past week, Pope Leo XIV rebuked the anti-immigrant policies of the United States government, saying that the “inhuman treatment of immigrants” are not in line with the teachings of the Church. “‘Someone who says I am against abortion but I am in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro-life,’ the pontiff told journalists outside the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, in the Alban Hills, near Rome,” The Guardian reported.

“Leo, the first American pope, was responding to a question from a US journalist who asked about the country’s politics,” the report added. In his America Magazine reflections on Pope Leo’s remarks, J. Kevin Appleby, senior fellow at the Center for Migration Studies of New York, wrote that the words echoed “globally” and that he is “beginning to emerge as a strong moral voice in an era of rising nativism.”

The pope’s criticism of the mistreatment of immigrant communities in the U.S. follows his extensive remarks this past August calling migrants and refugees “messengers of hope” and a “true divine blessing” in a world often “darkened by war and injustice.”

The remarks, released ahead of this week’s 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, recognized the global circumstances that force individuals to migrate, including “wars, violence, injustice and extreme weather events.” But as Pope Leo noted, nations that receive migrants and refugees who have had the “courage” and “tenacity” to leave everything behind and begin their lives anew also have much to gain from their presence. The pope concluded by pointing to scripture calling on the faithful to “not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

Following Pope Leo’s lead, Cardinal Robert McElroy, Archbishop of Washington, also used his 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees remarks to advocate for the humane treatment of immigrants who live, work, and contribute daily to the United States. Cardinal McElroy said that while nations have their right to manage immigration, “the reality we are facing here in the Archdiocese of Washington and across our country is far different.”

“For our government is engaged in — by its own admission and by the tumultuous enforcement actions it has launched – a comprehensive campaign to uproot millions of families and hard-working men and women who have come to our country seeking a better life that includes contributing to building up the best elements of our culture and society,” he said in his September 28 homily.

“This campaign relies on fear and terror at its core, for the government knows that it cannot succeed in its efforts except by bringing new dimensions of fear and terror to our nation’s history and life. Its goal is simple and unitary: to rob undocumented immigrants of any real peace in their lives so that in misery they will ‘self-deport.’” McElroy said that “as believers and citizens, our obligation regarding undocumented women and men is to ask ourselves: Are they truly our neighbor?”

“Is the mother who sacrifices in every dimension of her life to nurture children who will live rightly, productively and caringly our neighbor?” he continued. “Is the man being deported despite the fact that he has three sons who serve in the marines because of the values he taught them our neighbor? Is the woman who works to provide home care for our sick and elderly parents our neighbor? Is the young adult who came here as a child and loves this nation as the only country he has ever known our neighbor? Is the undocumented woman who contributes tirelessly to our parish, caring for the church, leading the daily rosary our neighbor?”

Nearly 1,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C. that same day for a 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees procession that borrowed from Pope Leo’s words. Holy Cross Sr. Ruth Nickerson told National Catholic Reporter that she took part in the “Migrants, Missionaries of Hope” procession to “support the migrants and refugees, especially those who are being disappeared in our own city here in D.C.”

“We’re hoping that the prayer and coming together will help people to understand that this is really about human rights for everyone, not just for them,” Sister Nickerson told the outlet.

And, communities are listening. In New Jersey, local volunteers and faith members from the community have been camping out in the parking lot of a Newark detention facility to support families visiting detained loved ones. Family members arriving at GEO Group’s Delaney Hall often have to travel for hours just to get a 15-minute visit with their jailed loved ones. But at times, officials at GEO Group’s Delaney Hall have cruelly turned them away and told them to try again tomorrow, adding further stress onto the burdens facing families when breadwinners and other loved ones are kidnapped by masked federal agents and detained.

Many others are forced to wait for hours after arriving, often in the hot sun. But these volunteers and faith members are ensuring they at least don’t have to wait alone.

“We’re going to come out here, as long as we need to be out here, as long as we can be out here,” said Pax Christi New Jersey‘s Kathy O’Leary. “We kind of expect that eventually we’re going to irritate people, someone in power too much, and get shut down, but we’ll figure out another way then to support our neighbors. We hope that this is the beginning.”

New Jersey Auxiliary Bishop Pedro Bismarck Chau, himself a formerly undocumented immigrant and the first Nicaragua-born U.S. Catholic bishop, has praised the efforts outside Delaney Hall in addition to his own remarks in defense of immigrant communities.

“This group of people have gone over there to support them, to pray with them, to give them comfort, to let them know (to) listen, the church is with you and God is with you,” he told Religion News Service. “If we can help with resources, food — some people are afraid of going to the supermarket because they’re afraid they are going to be taken.” Bishop Chau said last month that “parents would do anything for their children to be protected and to be safe. My heart pains for what they’re going through now, even harder, more difficult than what I went through.”

Nearly 63 million Latinos call the U.S. their home, making up just under 20% of the total population, according to 2023 figures from Pew Research Center. And, the fiscal impacts of this group are impossible to ignore. According to one recent study, the total economic output of Latinos hit a record high in 2023, helped lift us out of the devastation of the pandemic, and ranks higher than a number of major economies around the world.

“Latinos have once again powered major growth for the U.S. economy,” researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and California Lutheran University said in their annual U.S. Latino GDP report. “The annual U.S. Latino GDP report found that the total economic output, or gross domestic product, of Latinos in the United States hit a record high, reaching $4.1 trillion in 2023, up from $3.7 trillion in 2022.”

It’s something worth remembering not just during the Hispanic Heritage Month observance, but every day. Not only have Latinos made significant scientific, medical, and cultural contributions from our nation’s founding (and before!), they are a fiscal powerhouse that has helped sustain our economic standing here and around the world.

The numbers don’t lie. In fact, if all U.S. Latinos were an independent country, it would have one of the top GDPs in the world, the researchers said. “While impressive for its size, the U.S. Latino GDP is truly remarkable for its rapid growth,” the study noted.

“Among the ten largest GDPs, the U.S. Latino GDP was the third fastest growing from 2010 to 2023. Over that period, real Latino GDP increased 2.7 times faster than Non-Latino. In 2023, Latino consumption stood at $2.7 trillion. Latinos in the U.S. represent a consumption market 20 percent larger than the entire economy of Italy and 24 percent larger than Brazil. From 2010 to 2023, Latino real consumption grew 2.6 times faster than Non-Latino, driven by rapid gains in Latino income. Over the same period, Latino real incomes grew 2.9 times faster.”

And while Latino communities were particularly impacted by the pandemic – this demographic is overrepresented among essential workers, which increased their exposure to the virus – they have become “an important source of resilience,” the study said. “When COVID-19 struck, observing the differential impacts to Latino health, many analysts predicted that earlier Latino economic gains would be erased. Despite being hit harder by COVID-19, the Latino GDP has roared back.”

“Juxtaposing data on the extraordinary growth of Latino GDP from 2019 to 2023 with data on health impacts for Latinos is an important exercise,”  the study said. “It illustrates the extraordinary sacrifices made by Latinos during the pandemic.”

Previous research has found that Latino communities are natural-born entrepreneurs and have in fact opened small businesses at a faster pace than white Americans. Latina entrepreneurs in particular have excelled as business people, said a 2023 “State of Latino Entrepreneurship” study released by the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative.

“There are 1.3 million female-owned employer businesses in the United States, representing 22% of all American-based employer firms,” the study said. “Women make up a larger proportion of Latino/an entrepreneurs than White entrepreneurs. Latinas own 104,000 employer businesses representing 27% of all employer firms owned by [Latina-owned businesses], whereas White women are owners of 21% of all [white-owned businesses] in the country.”

But the research also showed that while Latinas are leading in starting businesses, they “face unique challenges and opportunities,”such as “lack of access to financing from local and national banks, and substantive gaps in government contracts.” More support in overcoming these challenges would not only be a boon to businesses, but to the surrounding communities that benefit from an economic boost. It’s a reminder that when our communities are stronger, our nation is stronger – and Latinos play an important role in that.

The economic research “highlights just how vital and uplifting Latino strength and resilience are for the nation,” as UCLA and Cal Lutheran researchers said. “Hard work, self-sufficiency, optimism, perseverance – these are the characteristics that underly the strength and resilience of U.S. Latinos. These same characteristics will continue to drive growth in the overall United States economy for years to come.”

This week kicked off national Hispanic Heritage Month, a month-long observance celebrating the culture, history, and accomplishments of the Latino communities that help make up the diverse fabric of America. And, this observance also serves as an important reminder – one that’s especially needed these days – that this community has always been here.

“The Latino presence in America spans centuries, predating Spain’s colonization of what is now part of the United States, and they have been an integral part of shaping our nation since the Revolutionary War,” said the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino. “Through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Treaty of Paris that followed the Mexican-American and Spanish-American wars, the United States gained territories in the Southwest and Puerto Rico. This incorporated the people of this area into the United States and further expanded the presence of Hispanic Americans.”

Today, nearly 63 million Latinos call the U.S. their home, making up just under 20% of the total population, according to 2023 figures from Pew Research Center. The vast majority are U.S. citizens, while most Latino immigrants in the United States have lived here for a decade or more, research shows.

But despite the fact that Latinos are deeply ingrained in our nation’s history and have been key to our continued growth – one recent study from researchers at UCLA and Cal Lutheran found that the total economic output of Latinos hit $4.1 trillion in 2023, a record high – their contributions have not been sufficiently recognized.

“A recent study found that Latino history is largely left out in high school textbooks that are used across the United States, despite the increasing percentage of Latina and Latino students,” the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino continued. “This also comes at a time when the economic output of American Latinos would rank fifth in the world if the community  were an independent country. As the country continues to increase in diversity, it’s necessary for all citizens to learn more about American Latino experiences to recognize and value the many contributions Latinas and Latinos have made.”

Prominent voices in Congress and the states have been doing their part to ensure these contributions are being recognized throughout the month. “In 1570, Spanish explorers established a settlement where the James and York rivers met,” Rep. Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) wrote at Bluesky. “Since then, Hispanic heritage continued to influence Virginia — even if those stories went untold.”

In Illinois, communities kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month with a Support Latino Businesses Day. In his official proclamation recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month, Gov. JB Pritzker noted the contributions of the state’s 152,000 Latino-owned businesses, which generated nearly $25 billion in revenue in 2022. “Illinois celebrates the significant cultural and economic contributions Latino communities and Latino-owned businesses make, the jobs they help create, and the positive impact they bring to communities across our state and beyond,” Gov. Pritzker said.

“From serving in the military to starting small businesses to teaching as educators, Hispanic Americans have contributed so much to the success of our country and the broader American story,” wrote New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. “Our Latino community makes California great, period,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in his Hispanic Heritage Month message. “We wouldn’t be where we are, and we wouldn’t be who we are, without you.”

@cagovernorLatinos are fundamental to California’s history, culture, and greatness. Latino Heritage Month is a chance to acknowledge the fact that California’s story doesn’t exist without yours — and to celebrate the grit, joy, and dreams that Latinos contribute to our beautiful state. — — — Los latinos son una base fundamental para la historia, la cultura y la grandeza de California. El Mes de la Herencia Latina es una oportunidad para reconocer el hecho de que la historia de California no existe sin la tuya, y para celebrar la determinación, la alegría y los sueños que los latinos aportan a nuestro hermoso estado.

♬ original sound – Governor Gavin Newsom

Of course, that truly applies to the entire country as well. “From entertainment and sports to business and science, Latinas and Latinos enrich our society,” as the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino noted.

In just a few examples, approximately half a million Latinos defended the U.S. during World War II, with 13 Latino service members subsequently earning the Medal of Honor, the highest decoration in the U.S. Armed Forces. In 1966, labor leaders Dolores Huerta and César Chávez cofounded what would become United Farm Workers, which continues to advocate for the skilled workers who feed us every single day and sustain the agricultural industry. In 1993, Dr. Ellen Ochoa, a granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, became the first Latina to go to space. She later served as the first Latina director, and the second woman director, of the Johnson Space Center. And in 2009, Judge Sonia Sotomayor became the first Hispanic to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino’s page has a wide array of resources for folks looking for ways to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, including recipes, art, and educational resources. Local communities are also holding their own celebrations, including in San Antonio, Texas, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Detroit, Michigan, New York, New York, the San Francisco Bay Area, and many other cities. And, the Aquí: The Accountability Movement is also urging folks to “Buy Latino,” making participating in Hispanic Heritage Month as easy as going to a local market for some tasty buys.

We’ll be lifting up celebrations and other related content through the observance, so make sure to follow America’s Voice at Bluesky and our blog to keep up with the latest – and happy Hispanic Heritage Month!