Immigrants Wake America is back with a new season- “Hidden Heroes in a Small Town”. We continue our mission of creating space for immigrant and refugee storytelling, but this time we focus on the personal stories of immigration caseworkers and staff at the American Civic Association in upstate New York, founded in 1939. The staff works tirelessly to resettle refugees, asylees, and immigrants, and the ACA serves as a community home that is utilized by both newcomers and American citizens. Notably, the majority of the staff turn out to be immigrants themselves, or descendants of families who immigrated, with remarkable personal journeys across borders and cultures. Once outsiders, and in some ways still are, these immigrants refashioned their lives and creatively reimagined their possibilities by serving the civic and cultural needs of the local community. Our focus on the stories of the ACA is a testament to a living space that is largely hidden - a site of public trauma and multicultural resilience. The year 2024, when this season is released, is also the fifteenth anniversary of one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history, when thirteen people were shot dead at the ACA during a class on citizenship in 2009. By introducing ACA voices at this moment via a podcast, this season honors the resilience of a community and the people who serve it. Made possible by support from Humanities New York.

Our guest in this episode is Laila Hernandez, Deputy Director of the American Civic Association in Binghamton NY. Laila shares her journey as a remarkable woman wearing many hats - as an immigration caseworker accredited by the department of justice, as the chief mentor for her busy staff, as an educator for student interns, as a mother homeschooling her children, and more.

This podcast is supported by Humanities New York, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Centre for Civic Engagement, Department of English, Asian and Asian American Studies, Institute for Asia and Asian Diasporas at Binghamton University. In partnership with the American Civic Association and the Tenement Museum.

For more information visit our Website: https://www.immigrantswakeamerica.com/

For more information about the America Civic Association visit: https://americancivic.com/

Instagram: @immigrantswakeamerica
X: @ImmigrantsWake