In a time of policy upheaval, immigrants of different backgrounds push forward

Immigrant entrepreneurs and employees continue to work hard and move forward in the face of adversity.

The Trump administration is focused on immigration policies, with promises to deport illegal immigrants and instances of international students getting their visas revoked. This is happening at the same time as fluctuating tariffs and federal funding cuts. 

“There are not many sectors under this administration that haven’t or won’t be touched in some way,” said Bill Keyes, program director for International House Philadelphia and an immigrant from the UK, “whether it’s by the knock-on effects of tariffs or the impact on immigration or broader effects of trade or diplomacy, or the shrinkage in federal funding and how that trickles down.”

To get a sense of how these policies are impacting immigrant communities, Technical.ly spoke with five immigrants in the mid-Atlantic region. They are all from different countries, education levels and industries, including education, farming and cybersecurity.

Four of the people we spoke to are entrepreneurs, suggesting that business ownership is sometimes a popular path. Immigrants made up 21.5% of self-employed workers from 2016 to 2020, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. 

They expressed a range of concerns regarding the impacts of the Trump administration, from rising costs to loss of grant funding and the impact of judicial intervention that has blocked funding freezes. All expressed concerns about the possible incoming effects of these policies, even if they don’t expect to be personally impacted. 

Read the stories from five immigrants below, sharing economic repercussions and how the current climate is impacting their career paths.

Ronny Jimenez, 50, from Costa Rica

Before moving to the United States from Costa Rica in August of 2001 — just a month before the 9/11 attacks — Ronny Jimenez attended college to be a math teacher. 

After immigrating, he found himself in the cleaning industry, from residential to commercial to industrial, and the restaurant industry. As a food runner and waiter, he had to talk to people, which, he said, helped him navigate English.

“Seven years ago, I switched to the construction industry, and I ended up working for a company here in Delaware that used to do storm restoration,” Jimenez told Technical.ly. 

Last year, he took what he’d learned from six years doing trade work in roofing, siding and gutters and started his own business, Ronny’s Restorations, based in Hockessin, Delaware.

Jimenez said he isn’t very worried about Trump policies impacting him or his business, though he does anticipate prices for some of the material he uses, especially cedar from Canada, to increase due to Trump tariffs. 

“I know we all are going to hurt a little bit,” he said. 

When he first came to the US at 25 years old, his only goal was to stay for a year or two, make some money, and return to Costa Rica.

“Once I was here, my vision kind of expanded,” he said. “There’s a lot more that I can do from here,” including helping relatives back in Costa Rica. He eventually settled down in Delaware and has two American-born children, now 21 and 18.

Ronny’s Restorations turns a year old this June. So far, Jimenez has no complaints.

“It’s been a learning experience, because there are a lot of things that business owners don’t know until we’re in that world,” he said. “But I’m very positive. There’s only one person in my company, which is me, and I do absolutely everything.”

Bill Keyes, 35, from the United Kingdom

Bill Keyes moved to the United States from the United Kingdom after marrying his wife, an American citizen. He described the process as a lot simpler than a lot of immigrants face when they’re looking for long-term or permanent residency. 

With a bachelor’s degree in Arabic and German from the University of Exeter in England, Keyes first moved to Syria. He and his wife traveled around the Middle East teaching English before deciding to settle in the United States. 

Keyes got his green card and moved to Philadelphia in 2014, becoming a naturalized citizen in 2019. 

Now, he is the program director for International House Philadelphia (IHP). Keyes works on attracting international students to the city and supports them through finding jobs and settling into their universities, which he said is becoming increasingly crucial to the region. 

“I really like the organization I work at,” he said. “It’s a very important mission. It’s more important now than ever because of the ways that our current administration is messaging around immigration.”

While Keyes isn’t currently concerned about his job or personal economic status, his workplace is preparing for whatever might come from the Trump administration. Specifically, if it means more international students could face issues obtaining and keeping their visas.

IHP created a strategic plan under the assumption that the F-1 visa program, which allows international students to study in the United States, would continue to operate as normal. It based its tactics on the last Trump administration, which acknowledged the need for international talent in the US, he said. Times have changed, though. 

“It’s very hard to tell whether those interests will prevail under this administration,” he said, “which seems keen to remove people at whatever cost or by whatever means.” 

Michelle Washington, 49, from Jamaica

Michelle Washington, also known as Jamaican Farm Mom, is a Newark, Delaware-based farmer born and raised in Jamaica who came to the US seeking better job opportunities in 1985. She became a US citizen in 1996.

In 2024, Washington and her husband graduated from the Farm School, a Delaware State University cooperative extension. Their small farm produces fruits and vegetables, including soursop, a fruit popular in Jamaica that she uses to make cold-pressed juice that she sells along with produce and homemade jams at the Glasgow Park Farmers Market and various local events. 

They have a CSA — a community-supported agriculture box — where local people can order weekly or biweekly boxes of fresh produce. This year, the farm was approved to accept government-funded payments from SNAP, WIC and the Senior Nutrition Program.

With partnerships with Delaware First Health and YWCA of Wilmington, Jamaican Farm Mom had been thriving, but federal funding freezes on agricultural grants have brought challenges. 

“With all the [funding] freezes, farming is slower this year,” Washington told Technical.ly. “We submitted a grant for specialty crops at the end of last year, but in January, we got the call from USDA that they could not assist our farm due to the freeze on funds. We really worked hard to get the grant and we were expecting it to start the 2025 growing season.”

The grant would have been used for seeds, tools, mushroom compost and a new greenhouse to help extend the season, after their old greenhouse was destroyed during a storm along with 300 plant plugs. 

There has been good news, too. After initially having a grant for a high tunnel from the Natural Resources Conservation Service frozen by the administration, they were able to reapply for funding and found out at the end of April that it had been approved.

“The high tunnel will help grow food all year round to help reduce and eradicate food insecurities, which is a part of our mission,” Washington said.

Tania Leon Lucas, 37, from Mexico 

Tania Leon Lucas started her small business out of necessity, but has embraced the entrepreneurship journey as it continues to grow. 

Lucas moved from Mexico to Los Angeles when she was just 16 and finished high school in the United States. She moved to Philadelphia in 2012 to marry her husband and become a stay-at-home wife and mother. 

When the pandemic hit, Lucas’ husband lost his job and money became tight. Lucas got the idea from her family in Mexico to start selling embroidered face masks as a way to help make ends meet. 

Her husband eventually found a new job, but Lucas decided to keep working on her business, Tenangos Philly, which sells embroidered clothing, accessories and decorations. 

For her, economic uncertainty is a prevailing concern. Despite her small business and her husband’s two jobs, money is still tight and sales are down, she said. They try to spend as little as possible and are working on saving more, she said.

“I really hope in the future we can save a little bit of money and have a little bit extra for an emergency,” she said. “And maybe expand my business, have plans for the future.”  

She’s worried business won’t pick up as much this year because of the current economic climate. But Lucas is still determined to keep building her business by updating her online store and increasing digital marketing, she said. She’s taking business classes at a local university and leaning into the entrepreneurship resources at the immigrant support org, the Welcoming Center.

Sameer Ahirrao, 47, from India

Sameer Ahirrao of Ellicott City, Maryland, moved to the US from the western part of India with his then-company, Deloitte, in 2007. As an engineer who had earned his degree at the University of Pune in India, he worked more than a decade for other big-name companies, including Semantic and Lockheed Martin, before starting his own data security company, Ardent Privacy, five years ago. 

With the current climate of tariff trade wars, Ahirrao sees his industry as more vital than ever.

“I’m seeing the global atmosphere changing,” Ahirrao told Technical.ly. “I think we need to focus on cybersecurity more.”

While there are uncertainties on the federal level, as a Marylander, he said he feels good about how his state is handling data privacy, including a new Online Data Privacy Act that the state passed in 2024 and is going into effect later this year. 

“That is very good news for Marylanders, because it’s about protecting our own personal data,” Ahirrao said.

As a long-established immigrant from India, Ahirrao said he isn’t especially concerned for himself when it comes to the current administration’s crackdown on immigration as much as he is for international students. Ardent Privacy’s office is located in a research and technology park that is part of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

“I’m seeing a lot of the immigration enforcement in terms of the students here in the university environment,” he said. 

High tariffs are another concern for the founder. 

“We do business with India, Singapore, the Middle East, so friendly places overall,” Ahirrao said. “It should not impact us as much, but fingers crossed, right?”

This story, and all of Technical.ly's immigration reporting, is made possible by the WES Mariam Assefa Fund.

The WES Mariam Assefa Fund supports catalytic efforts to create more inclusive economies for immigrants and refugees in the US and Canada. It works closely with organizations and leaders focused on ensuring more equitable access to opportunity and wealth.