Miami-Dade celebrates immigrants, connects them to resources amid harsh political climate

MIAMI — On Wednesday morning at the Miami-Dade Library branch downtown, dancers in rainbow dresses and red ribboned braids stomped their feet and twirled their skirts. Mexican gritos punctured the air, which hummed with the sounds of the Spanish, English and Creole-speaking crowd.

The folk dances were part of the county government’s Day of Welcome, hosted by the Office of New Americans. It aimed to connect immigrants in South Florida to legal service providers, advocacy groups and county resources.

Though some local governments across the U.S. are restricting resources and saying services are strained because of recently-arrived immigrants, Miami-Dade officials have taken a different approach. On Wednesday, they celebrated the presence and contributions of newcomers to South Florida.

“Half of our county is foreign-born. And that is how intricately woven immigration is to the fabric of who we are. And we are here to celebrate that,” said Office of New Americans Director Kathy Bird, who introduced the event in Spanish and English along with County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

Watching the performance were both recently-arrived immigrants as well as those who have lived for decades in Miami-Dade County. Among them was Gabriela Salles, a 44-year-old veterinarian who came to South Florida from Guatemala nearly a year ago. Most of her family here already has American citizenship and has lived in the United States for years. She was at the event looking for assistance to get her veterinarian degree and EMT training validated in the United States. Estimates to get her documents translated have so far been costly.

“I would like to focus on human medicine,” she told the Herald of her professional aspirations in the United States.

Other immigrants looking to get their foreign degrees recognized were also at the event looking to validate their titles, including a pair of veterinarians who came from Venezuela four months ago and a civil engineer from Colombia who arrived in South Florida this month. He said his sister had applied to sponsor his green card in 2007, but it was only recently that his paperwork was approved.

Haitians, Mexicans, Hondurans and other immigrants perused the tables of several organizations, including groups that offer low-cost and free legal services such as Church World Service and Miami-Dade Legal Aid. The Miami Workers Center and the Farmworker Association of Florida were also in attendance, as was the Opera Atelier, which offers art and music classes for seniors.

Several participants said they came to get legal assistance with their immigration cases, including a woman who wanted to apply for citizenship and get assistance for her husband’s green card case. Dennis Hernandez, a 51-year-old man from the Venezuelan city of Maracay, went from table to table looking for lawyers. He entered the United States 10 days ago, using a mobile phone application known as CBP One that offers appointments with border authorities. Already, he’s hustling to set up his new life in South Florida.

“I feel like a child starting to crawl,” he said. “But I’m happy because I want to help my people who I left behind in Venezuela.”

The event’s menu featured pastelillos and pastries from Venezuela, Haiti, and Jamaica, showcasing the different variations of flaky pastelillos filled with cheese, spicy fish and beef that exist in the region.

Thai dancers in glittering brocade and pink flowers in their hair took to the stage, followed by a South Indian Bharatanatyam performer who interpreted a lullaby, a reflection of the state’s small Asian population that has brought its cultures to Florida.

A Haitian band donning matching straw hats sung Ayiti Cheri, a patriotic song based on a poem considered a second unofficial national in the island. The band’s guitarist led a train to Creole music. Haitians, Guatemalans, Indians, Thais and immigrants from all over the world swayed from side-to-side in line and sang along together.

“This is the flavor of Miami. This is what our community is about,” said Bird.

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