Throughout the past week, families and friends gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving, express gratitude, and share delicious dishes. For some of our immigrant neighbors, this was their first time celebrating this uniquely American tradition that has refugee origins of its own.
In Philadelphia, 17-year-old Carmen Hernandez was among neighbors celebrating Thanksgiving for the first time, and one of 100 community members to gather for a dinner hosted by the Pennsylvania chapter of refugee resettlement agency HIAS. She arrived in April from Guatemala to reunite with her dad. Maintenance worker Antonio Garcia and his family were also at the community dinner. While the holiday is a time of thanks, Mr. Garcia told The Philadelphia Inquirer that immigrant neighbors are also very worried about their futures. “There are a lot of families here,” he said. “We work hard and contribute.”
HIAS Pennsylvania Executive Director Cathryn Miller-Wilson told the outlet that the group had briefly considered canceling the dinner. But they realized that community was needed more than ever. “We really have to show clients, we’re still here for you,” Miller-Wilson said. And, the group was sticking strong to HIAS’ mission, which was founded more than 150 years ago in response to Jewish refugees fleeing hate and persecution. “The Torah says to welcome the stranger 36 times,” Miller-Wilson told WHYY. “It’s the most repeated commandment.”
So grateful to celebrate Thanksgiving with @HIASPA and new neighbors from all around the globe! pic.twitter.com/DrMGqVLzgY
— Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (@RepMGS) November 25, 2024
“For Sunday’s dinner, folding tables were set up across the basketball court inside the community center, draped with red and yellow plastic tablecloths,” The Inquirer reported. “Volunteers stationed near the walls scooped turkey, stuffing, and corn bread out of foil trays, as clients lined up with plates. Children ran around with pages from coloring books.” Local and federal leaders, like Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon and City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, mingled with messages of welcoming.
For Councilmember Gauthier, it was personal, as a daughter of an immigrant from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. “She came here with the same determination and the same hopes that you all had and she was able to build a life for herself and for our family,” she told guests. “And that helped me to become the person that I am today.”
In St. Louis, Missouri, Ukrainian refugee Mariia Levchenko had a lot to be thankful for this year despite the ongoing crisis in her home country. She was finally reunited with her brother Lev after two years of separation. The two celebrated at an annual First Thanksgiving dinner held by the International Institute of St. Louis, which assists immigrants and refugees with better integrating into their new communities.
“Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday,” International Institute of St. Louis Senior Vice President Blake Hamilton told First Alert 4, “and we really want to welcome folks here by exposing folks to this American holiday with a universal tradition of giving thanks.”
In Dallas, Texas, Samira and Dennis Page of refugee advocacy group Gateway of Grace marked their 15th year of hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for immigrant community members. Samira, herself an immigrant from Iraq, told WFAA that this can be a difficult time for newcomers, especially for those with few contacts here. The dinner is an effort to help them feel more welcome in their new communities. Among these new neighbors was Ali, who is also an Iraqi refugee. This was his first Thanksgiving after arriving in the U.S. in July.
“Usually, I would see in movies and media how they celebrate it – the cooking of the turkey and everything,” Ali told WFAA. “Today, it’s totally different. I’m experiencing it in person.”
In one neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, Thanksgiving meal preparation was a community activity, with kids and adults from around the block helping prepare delicious fixings at one neighbor’s house. That neighbor, Elizabeth Meg Williams, told WKBW that this tradition began during the pandemic, when she helped some immigrant neighbors with preparing their turkey. Since then, Williams and neighbors have helped prepare Thanksgiving meals for anyone who needs one. “She even made halal versions for her Muslim neighbors,” the report said.
“It’s nice to be able to share the American traditions with them,” she told WKBW. “But also they introduced me to new traditions as well.” In Yonkers, Diana V. and her husband Ricardo C. also celebrated their first Thanksgiving, Documented reported. “It’s a beautiful thing to be able to spend time together, a day to be grateful,” she said. She’s grateful because their lives have become more stable after obtaining a work permit this past summer. “Sometimes we don’t take a moment to appreciate what we have.”
America is built for dreamers, explorers, people who can challenge their limitations and decide to dare," Akinlami said.
Happy Thanksgiving folks. Whether you're an immigrant, or your people came here years ago or were always here.https://t.co/c2jwVe2YM4 via @DispatchAlerts
— Christy Staats (@christy_staats) November 27, 2024
In Columbus, Ohio, Venezuelan immigrant Ixalia Ortiz celebrated her first Thanksgiving as a U.S. citizen, The Columbus Dispatch reported. While she’s thrilled to be fully American on paper, the holiday was also a chance to honor and remember her roots. “We change the tradition a little bit,” she said. “We eat pork, not so much turkey. We eat traditional Christmas food on Thanksgiving.” Nigerian immigrant Taiwo Akinlami, also a Columbus resident, has called the U.S. his home after arriving through an Einstein visa three years ago. He grew up in an impoverished village and has spent his entire life since trying to make a difference in the lives of others.
“There is no perfect country or continent,” he told The Columbus Dispatch. “But America is built for dreamers, explorers, people who can challenge their limitations and decide to dare.”
Across the country, people are starting meal preparations and traveling to be with friends and family.
Tell us your favorite dish on the Thanksgiving table, and we’ll share our knowledge about the work behind the ingredients. #WeFeedYou
— United Farm Workers (@ufw.bsky.social) Nov 27, 2024 at 3:40 PM
Harvesting celery is very physically demanding piece rate work. These Ventura County farmworkers are bending up & down all day long. They bend to cut the heart from a bushy plant, stand, cut the top/bottom off, put it on the belt & bend over to move to the next plant. #WeFeedYou
— United Farm Workers (@ufw.bsky.social) Dec 1, 2024 at 12:15 PM
Artichokes taste yummy when they’re boiled & the leaves are dipped in butter. But did you know how artichokes look in the fields? We got sent this vid from Salinas CA. To harvest this crop, workers go up & down the rows cutting these thick hard stems with a knife. #WeFeedYou
— United Farm Workers (@ufw.bsky.social) Dec 1, 2024 at 12:09 PM
Of course, there would have been no Thanksgiving feast for any of us if it weren’t for the skilled and essential labor of farmworkers, many of whom are immigrants and lack legal immigration status. In what has become an annual tradition on social media, our friends at United Farm Workers shared a number of videos and posts about the labor and people behind each of our favorite holiday foods – you should check it out here. These workers deserve our thanks, as noted by Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano, who wrote that “It’s a sentiment they don’t hear nearly enough.”
“Thank you to the estimated 42% of farmworkers who lack legal authority to work in this country, according to the latest U.S. Department of Labor’s National Agricultural Workers Survey. There’s a good chance that the bounty on your table this Thursday passed through their hands.”
