Today, Massachusetts is made up of more than one million immigrants, with approximately one out of every seven residents being foreign-born. These new Americans are entrepreneurs, job creators, taxpayers, and consumers, making them critical contributors to Massachusetts’ overall economic success. According to a report by New American Economy, 58 percent of Fortune 500 companies based in Massachusetts were founded by immigrants or their children; generating $136.8 billion in annual revenue and employ more than 466,000 people globally. In addition, foreign-born workers currently make up 20.7 percent of all entrepreneurs in the state.

“Immigrants and refugees are a select group, so in many ways their chance of success is far higher than someone who was born in the United States,” said Mahmood Mahili, an immigrant himself from Iran and successful real estate businessman. “They are a Darwinian product; they are the ones that made it.”

While success is never a guarantee, many immigrants and refugees have managed to not only get ahead in America, but achieve extraordinary success.

Mahmood Mahili is one example of a gifted and determined immigrant who realized the American Dream.

Mahili came to the United States in the 1970’s to attend Tufts University. When the Iranian Revolution broke out in 1979, Mahili sought political asylum and was able to remain in the United States to finish his degree in civil engineering. At that time, his asylum designation and the support of the university were key elements in a future that was still unfolding.

“When my family and I came to the United States in the 1970’s, my path through Tufts University never would have happened without the assistance of financial aid and other supports to close the financial gap,” said Malihi. “And, without this degree, my whole life trajectory may have been very different.”

And Mahili’s life trajectory has been impressive by any standard. After completing a Master of Science in Construction Management at Stanford University, he joined the prestigious real estate firm of Leggatt McCall Properties in the early 1980’s. For more than 30 years he’s held an active role managing more than $2 billion of investment and development activities while identifying new business opportunities. Now, as a senior principal in the firm, he is a member of the Investment Committee and Executive Committee.

Prior to 2000, he held the titles of Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President, directing the firm’s Mid-Atlantic development activities from Washington, D.C.

Today, Mahili is active as a real estate advisor in the Boston community as an advisor to Harvard University, Northeastern University, Tufts University, and The First Church of Christ on a wide range of strategic and transactional real estate matters.

The one thing Mahili cautions to those who find success in American is that assimilation does not mean losing one’s identity.

“Yes, I am a successful American” he said, “but I haven’t lost the Persian in me; my sense of humor, my affinity for Persian literature, my taste pallet. Those things haven’t changed,” he said with conviction.

What seems to be true in many immigrant and refugee success stories is that success is not a product of one person’s work, nor one generation’s sacrifice. Mahili’s story bears out the idea that success within a family is, well, relative.

“My father never made it, but he gave a Stanford education to his children. He paved the road for us and I’m extremely fortunate,” Mahili said.

After forty years in the U.S., Mahili said he likes to think of the United States as a Persian rug. “No color is the same but a million different patterns that come together to make something beautiful,” he said. “I am just one single color in the rug, but I am hopeful that with the future success of more immigrants and refugees, like myself, the bigger and richer the rug will become,” he said.

In the United States, children and adults alike have been preparing for Halloween for several weeks; searching for the perfect costume, decorating homes, and buying candy for trick-or-treaters (one quarter of all the candy sold annually in the U.S. is purchased for this day!) While Halloween continues to be a very popular tradition in the United States, each country still remains unique in the way they celebrate life and death. We’ll tell you how countries around the world celebrate this particularly spooky day, but first, a little Halloween history.

The Origins of Halloween
One of the oldest holidays in the world, Halloween’s origins are rooted in the ancient Celtic Festival of Samhain, which commemorated the ancient Celtic New Year on November 1st. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest, and also, the beginning of the cold winter, a time of a year associated with darkness and death. The ancient Celts believed that the night before the “New Year”, which is October 31th, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the ghosts of the dead returned to earth, causing trouble and damaging crops. Celebrations included the building of bonfires, animal sacrifices and dressing up in costumes. After the Romans conquered Ireland and the British Isles during the 1st century A.D., the celebrations were combined with the Roman festival of Feralia, which commemorated the passing of the dead and following the advent of Christianity, the holiday became associated with “All Souls Day,” which also celebrated the dead.

In the United States, during the second half of the nineteenth century the U.S. received millions of new Irish immigrants who brought their Celtic-rooted Halloween traditions with them, including dressing in costume and going door-to-door to ask for “tricks or treats!”

Below are some countries that follow some spook-tacular traditions on Halloween.

South Korea
During Halloween, the district of Itaewon, in the heart of Seoul, closes its streets to traffic. Various booths are set up to prepare for a wide variety of festivities, including live music, and costume contests. In addition, the majority of the restaurants, clubs, and bars in this neighborhood put on different events where expats and Koreans gather for late nights of carousing and dancing – all in costume of course!

China
The locals celebrate a festival known as Teng Chieh (The Festival of the Hungry Ghosts), where food and water are placed in front of photographs of family members who have departed, and lanterns are lit in their honor.

Japan
Halloween is considered the Obon Festival in Japan, which is also known as “Urabon” or “Matsuri.” One finds red lancers hung around the town and candles lit to honor the spirits of one’s ancestors. The lanterns are then sent to float down rivers and seas.

Philippines
During the Filipino version of Halloween, known as Pangagaluluwa, children pass from house to house offering a song in exchange for food, candies, or money. The meaning of this tradition is that the kids sing for the souls of those who are still in the purgatory to help them to go to heaven.

Italy
On November 1^st, Italians celebrate “The Souls Day” on November 1st with traditional food and customs. One of the favorite preparations is “Fave dei Morti” a traditional cookie recipe that is offered as a ritual offering to the dead and gods of the nether world.

Spain
American-style Halloween is a new phenomenon in Spain, but its popularity is growing. The Catholic feast of ‘All Souls Day’ has been marked for centuries and October 31st is known locally as “El Día de las Brujas” (Day of the Witches).

Czech Republic    
“The Day of the Dead” is called “Dušičky,” which many Czechs mark by visiting cemeteries and graves of departed loved ones. Another old Czech tradition is to place chairs around the fireplace on Halloween night – one for each living family member and one for the spirit of each departed family member. 

Chile
Halloween celebrations are becoming increasingly popular in Chile, particularly in major cities like Santiago, where shops, supermarkets, and malls break out special decorations and kids wear costumes and knock on the doors of their neighbors asking for candy. In addition, clubs, pubs, and bars organize a variety of colorful parties and events, including costume contests and masquerades parties.  On November 1st many families mark “All Saint Days” (El Día de todos los Santos) by visiting the cemetery to place flowers on graves, and also balloons or teddy bears to decorate the tombs of children. It’s a time of reconnection and remembrance for those who have departed life on earth. 

Mexico
Among many Spanish-speaking countries, Halloween is known as “El Día de los Muertos” (the Day of the Dead), and incorporates a three-day celebration that begins on October 31st and ends on November 2nd.  It’s the time of the year when families remember their dead and the continuity of life. It’s also a time when monarch butterflies are returning to Mexico from the north, and are thought to bear the spirits of the departed who are coming home. Families set up altars with flowers, bread, and candies next to pictures of family members.

Ireland
Ireland is considered to be the birthplace of Halloween. The festivities here are not much different from the well-known American celebrations during Halloween; dressing up in costumes, attending parties and play games. “Snap-apple” is a popular game among the Irish, where the participants take a bite out of an apple hanging on a tree and tied with a string. Apart from trick-or-treating, children also play a trick known as “knock-a-dolly” which involves children knocking on their neighbors’ doors and running away before they answer them. The Irish traditionally eat a fruitcake called Barnbrack on this day, which has a treat baked inside the cake and, depending on which treat is inside, will foretell the future of whoever receives it.

England 
The “trick-or-treat” custom originated in England and there is known as “Mischief Night.” Whereas Americans carve pumpkins, English children carve designs out of large beets which are known as “punkies.”

A Few Halloween Superstitions

• Don’t cross paths with black cats to avoid bad luck. This has roots in the Middle Ages, when people believed witches avoided detection by turning themselves into cats.
• Don’t walk under ladders to avoid back luck. This is believed to have origins from the ancient Egyptians, who believed triangles were sacred.
• In 18th century Ireland, a matchmaker would bury a ring in mashed potatoes on Halloween night, hoping to bring true love to the person who finds it.
• At Halloween parties, the first successful apple-bobber was believed to be the first to walk down the aisle.
• Avoid breaking mirrors and stepping on sidewalk cracks.

Happy Halloween, we hope you have a scary good time!

Sources:

https://www.internationalteflacademy.com/blog/bid/124122/top-13-halloween-celebrations-around-the-world-while-teaching-english

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabrielle-flank/halloween-around-the-worl_b_8224322.html

http://www.lastminute.com/blog/halloween-around-the-world

Dear Friends:

In 1918, the year before we opened the International Institute in Lowell, Congress adopted legislation allowing the U.S. to deport foreign-born people – without due process – if they were affiliated with any group opposed to organized government.

In 1924, the year our Boston site opened, President Calvin Coolidge signed into law the National Origins and Asian Exclusion Acts, which restricted immigration by southern and eastern Europeans, especially Italians and Jews.  The law severely restricted the number of Africans who could enter the country and completely banned the migration of Arabs and Asians.

Our leaders enacted these and other restrictive immigration laws 100 years ago out of pure prejudice, though they argued falsely that newcomers were taking jobs from Americans and threatening the security of the country.

While these laws were overturned, some of our leaders today want to take the country back to 1918 and 1924.

Earlier this month President Trump set a ceiling of 45,000 refugee arrivals in 2018, the lowest in the history of the resettlement program.  His decision comes when there are 22.5 million refugees in the world, more than at any point in history.

Last week, the President said he would support legislation allowing 800,000 young people known as “Dreamers” to remain in the U.S. if Congress agreed to send unaccompanied children back to Central America, limit the ability of people to gain asylum in the U.S., end family-based immigration, take away funding from sanctuary cities, and fund a multi-billion dollar border wall. So much for simply helping young people who came here as children and who are contributing to the country.

During the past 11 months, more than 2,000 of you came to open houses, live storytelling shows, lectures and fundraising events hosted by IINE.

Another 300 of you volunteered at one of our sites, and more than 1400 of you donated to the International Institute.

This was your way of standing up for immigrants and refugees and opposing policies and rhetoric that harms newcomers, damages our national image, and ultimately, hurts our economy.

In the months and years to come, we need you to continue to give your time and treasure to IINE, to tell others about us, and to speak out against policies and programs that do both moral and financial harm to the U.S.

Your support matters greatly to the people we serve every day, and collectively it helps protect our nation’s tradition of welcoming people from around the world who cherish freedom and equality.

Below you’ll find many ways to engage with the International Institute of New England.  I look forward to seeing you soon.

Sincerely,
Jeff Thielman
President & CEO

FROM THE CEO’S DESK

Since the International Institute of New England (IINE) began hosting the Suitcase Stories® series in April 2017, more than 1,000 people have attended a show and had their hearts and minds changed forever.

Since the IINE community just wrapped up our final Suitcase Stories® performance of 2017 in Boston, I’m taking the opportunity to reflect on how the Suitcase Stories® series challenges people’s perceptions of refugees and immigrants.

These performances have provided a way to dig beneath the headlines and expose audiences to the complexity of the immigration issue in an accessible and enjoyable way. It asks audiences to examine their own biases and worldviews. Our communities have been enriched, expanded, and lifted up by these performances, and we are very grateful to the storytellers, staff, and sponsors who have made them possible.

That’s why I find it particular disheartening to read the newspaper these days and see our own government purposely suppressing data that would further prove to the wider community that refugees are key contributors to our economy. Here is a quote from the piece written by Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Somini Sengupta titled “Trump Administration Rejects Study Showing Positive Impact of Refugees:”

“WASHINGTON — Trump administration officials, under pressure from the White House to provide a rationale for reducing the number of refugees allowed into the United States next year, rejected a study by the Department of Health and Human Services that found that refugees brought in $63 billion more in government revenues over the past decade than they cost.”

Aside from the fact that life-saving policy decisions are reduced to simple cost/benefit analysis is the larger, moral question of how we as a nation choose to mitigate or ignore humanitarian crises across the globe.

IINE has nearly one hundred years of experience in the business of welcoming refugees and immigrants, and we know they are invaluable contributors to our communities.

Three ways to help refugees & immigrants

1) Contact your federal representatives to let them know this is an important issue to you.

2) Work to make your own community a more welcoming place, and share good, accurate content online.

3) Support refugees & immigrants in New England by attending the Golden Door Award Gala on November 30, 2017 at the InterContinental Hotel in Boston. Click here for more information.