Radha Dainton knows the personal heartache some people experience over immigration. As a Gainesville resident and an immigrant from Colombia, Radha explains why her grandmother cannot visit from their homeland.
“My grandmother, she was denied her visa to come here, even though she's been coming to the United States since we moved here,” Dainton said. “You know, she’s got her daughter and she's got grandchildren and people living here.”
Dainton said she fears things could get worse for immigrants.
“Well, I'm just fearful that a lot of people that are here are going to get separated from their families, you know, their children.”
Despite her fear of potential future anti-immigration policies at the national level, Dainton said she feels the Gainesville community is very welcoming to immigrants.
“A lot of my family migrated (here) from Colombia. They had this community. They didn't struggle to be included or anything like that.”
The Gainesville Immigrant Neighbor Inclusion (GINI) Initiative is one of the groups that creates a conversation space for immigrant community members, said Dainton.
At a gathering on Sunday at Bo Diddley Plaza, GINI and the City of Gainesville hosted community leaders and others to talk about protecting inclusivity from hate speech and negative political rhetoric.
Aqueela Khuddus, who immigrated from India and is a board member at the Greater Gainesville International Center (GGIC), expressed her concerns.
“It's really sad that the politicians, for their gain, bring wrong information to the people because most of the immigrants that come here are people, like the Pilgrims, who came to live in the land free, practice their faith, work hard, serve,” Khuddus said.
Lauren Poe, CEO of the Greater Gainesville International Center and former Gainesville mayor, echoes these concerns.
"It’s heartbreaking to see the dehumanization and hostility towards our immigrant neighbors,” Poe said. “They are our friends, our neighbors, our coworkers, our co-worshipers. They contribute so much to our city.”
Beyond the negative rhetoric surrounding the immigrant community, new immigrants in the community face significant challenges.
Dan Zhu, Gainesville Chief Climate Officer, explains some of these difficulties.
“I would say the top three challenges that we're facing right now from the immigrant community, first, is the food insecurity, second is transportation safety, and the third one is job insecurity,” said Zhu, who immigrated from China.
Poe said helping immigrants through these challenges is essential because they are integral to Gainesville's economic and social fabric.
“They bring such incredible diversity. They bring so many gifts with them when they come. They are an economic engine,” Poe said. “They add so much joy and excitement in our schools and our businesses and our community in general.”
According to data on GINI’s website, immigrants contribute significantly to Gainesville’s economic and cultural diversity.
A 2019 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau showed that immigrants make up about 11% of the Gainesville population.
According to the same survey, Chinese people represented the largest segment of Gainesville’s immigrant population at 12.5%, followed by people from India, who represent 9.1% of the city’s immigrant population. The majority came from other countries across the globe.
And as Poe said, foreign-born workers are essential to a community's economic prosperity. In 2019, immigrants living in Gainesville earned over $300 million, contributing more than $22 million in state and local taxes and almost $54 million in federal taxes, according to the American Community Survey.
Veronica Robleto, Director of the Rural Women’s Health Project and GINI coordinator, said that, despite being an integral part of the community, the path to inclusion for many new immigrants is made more difficult by misinformation and fear.
“I think of it as psychological terrorism,” Robleto said about the recent national discourse. “When you’re worried, day in and day out, that you might be separated from your family, that’s really going to impact your quality of life, and I see that pretty steadily throughout the immigrant community we serve.”
According to Robleto, it is also not uncommon for some new immigrants in the community to experience discrimination and anxiety as they try to navigate their new surroundings.
GINI is actively trying to change this narrative by helping new immigrants adjust.
“It’s a wide-reaching alliance of different members of the community that represent local nonprofits and social service agencies,” Robleto said. “We've had participation from city and county employees, the school district and also immigrant business owners themselves.”
Robleto explained GINI’s mission.
“The whole focus of GINI is advocating for policies that really help make Gainesville and Alachua County more tangibly welcoming and safer for our immigrant neighbors,” Robleto said.
GINI has spearheaded efforts to make Gainesville more inclusive for immigrants over the past three years, Robleto said.
These efforts include establishing immigrant liaison positions at the city and county levels to ensure that services and information are accessible in multiple languages.
Robleto said the initiative has also collaborated with schools to provide language interpretation services, helping non-English-speaking families communicate effectively.
Additionally, GINI instituted programs like the community ID initiative, which provides local photo IDs for those who cannot access state IDs. Robleto points out that these IDs help individuals meet basic needs, such as accessing health care and housing.
Other efforts by GINI include hosting events like the one this past Sunday. Building Belonging, which featured cultural displays, performances and food, was part of Welcoming Week, a nationwide event that celebrates the importance of immigrants in communities around the country.
For many, the event was an opportunity for residents to connect with their community. Dainton, who also owns Radha’s Kitchen, emphasized the value of belonging.
“I think it’s about community. How do we build community, and how do we support each other,” Dainton said.
The work of GINI and other organizations is crucial, but there is still more to accomplish.
“We’re seeing small steps, but there’s definitely a lot more work to do,” Robleto said.
For those looking to get involved, GINI hosts monthly steering committee meetings and welcomes community members to participate in advocacy efforts and events like Building Belonging.
Poe said that, in a political climate that often seeks to divide, the efforts of organizations like GINI serve as a reminder that building a stronger, more inclusive community requires everyone’s participation.
“Gainesville is a place that recognizes we can solve these problems and offer hope and opportunity,” Poe said.