was provided in part by the Miguel B. Fernandez Family Foundation, (lively piano music) the FWD.us Education Fund, The Knight Foundation, and The Miami Foundation.

(calm music) - [Narrator] The story of Central America is not a pretty one.

- Colombia faces a long uphill battle.

- [Reporter] The villagers tried to be neutral and not take sides.

- [Reporter] For more than a week, the island nation of Haiti has been rocked by street violence.

- [Reporter] A Cuban revolutionary betrayed his own revolution.

- [Narrator] Nicaragua.

(group chanting in Spanish) - [Reporter] Thousands of freedom-loving Cubans fled their homeland.

(calm music) - [Narrator] Around the United States, there are millions of immigrants building lives and contributing to their communities, and nowhere are immigrants shaping the economy in more significant ways than in Florida.

Miami leads the nation in entrepreneurial activity and new companies.

And around the state, immigrants lead important economic sectors like agriculture, health care, construction, and trade.

- Well, the heartbeat of our state is small- and medium-sized enterprise, and there's no question that immigrants are driving that heartbeat.

- There are over 300,000 companies that are owned by immigrants, and they employ over a half a million people in our state, and that is incredible economic impact.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] In Palm Beach, two Cuban-born brothers have turned a small farm into the largest sugar enterprise in the world.

(wondrous music) - For me to go to and spend a day in the field is a research day.

You go out in your car and go out to the fields and drive around and have a rainstorm and be quiet and see the rain fall on the land and hear it on your car and just look around, it's beautiful.

I go through the sugar mill and go through the factory and hear the engines going and so forth and so on and talk to the employees and sort of shake their hands and see the process, how it works, it's wonderful.

This is our sugar warehouse, and what capacity, Rick, does this warehouse have?

- The whole thing, about 100,000, in that one and 65 in this one.

100 in one and 65.

- 65,000 tons on this part, and another 40,000 on the other, so we can store 100,000 tons of sugar here, which is about, oh, close to 50% of our production.

- They were one of the largest sugar enterprises in Cuba.

They had mills, they had lots of property, very, very significant.

The family was significantly involved in the community and community life, in the political life of Cuba, and the military literally took all of their holdings.

Alfy was already a young executive in the business when they literally came into their office building.

- The Cuban Revolution came for us in January in 1959.

We were caught in Havana.

We saw this situation that didn't look particularly good.

So we slowly, the whole family left within the first year of the revolution.

I came back, I was a freshman in high school at the time, and I came back to be educated here, but we thought it was prudent to get out being the size of our company being both in sugar and in real estate properties that we had.

And the future did not look bright for us or for any other Cubans, really, that stayed there.

- So there were kangaroo courts.

That was a terrifying moment to be in Cuba.

And my parents had left, we left soon after that.

They came to the United States to wait to see what happens because what everybody thought at that time was you couldn't have communism 90 miles away from United States.

I stayed behind, and one day I'm sitting in the company office at a conference table, and we were lawyers and accountants and so forth and so on, and the militia, the Castro people came in, they are so forth and on, in camouflage sort of dressed with AR and machine guns.

So I remember sitting at a table, and I had a yellow pad and a pencil, and they put the machine guns right on the table, and we started to talk about what they were gonna do.

So at one point, one of them, the head guy, I guess, looks up, takes a machine gun, and we had wall that was a map where they have all the different properties we had.

So he went with a machine gun like that and said, "I'm gonna take it all away."

And a few days thereafter, I went to the airport.

Didn't have anything on me other than what I have.

And I left, and I that's the way I got to America.

Well, at that time, I was about 22 years old.

We first went to New York, and I remember going with my father to discuss with an attorney who was a close friend of his what he should do with his life.

And I remember his words.

He said, "Alfonso, listen, America's a great country.

"Live by the rules, work hard, "and your family will do well in America."

And my father made that decision right there, and I was with him, which he said, "Well, we're gonna, this is where we're gonna live.

"This is where we're gonna stay.

"This is where we're gonna sort of put a flag."

- Alfy and I have been partners now, well, been brothers, number one, but partners for 51 years in my business career.

My father would always say that both of us would have great success if could work together because we were so different that we very much balanced ourselves.

- That group of immigrants that left Cuba, that was forced out of Cuba in the very beginning of the 1960s came here, they were young people.

They had hopes and dreams that had been dashed, and they were fighters.

They were gonna to build something.

They were gonna make something of their lives.

- Like I told my dad, "Dad, listen, "you're Cuba, I'm America.

"So I know you cannot turn your back on what we have, "but I have to start on my life."

And so I really had a critical path set up for me right from the get-go.

- The Fanjul came here, and they came with a very limited amount of money, and they bought 3,000 acres of farm and an old sugar mill from Louisiana in pieces.

We grew those 3,000 acres into today is a big global company.

- The origins of Florida Crystals was a great source of pride, not just for the Fanjul family, but for the whole Cuban community, and it provided that first foot in the door for many people, for these engineers and these brilliant and hardworking people who were coming here to get started again.

- We have in Florida in the company about 2,000 people, and growing.

And then we have another 20,000 people, more or less, in different parts of the world.

- We would be nothing without the employees.

I think, well, I always say that I have three contingencies.

I have my stock shareholders, my employees, and my community, and I would put my employees first, the community second, and my shareholders third when I make decisions.

- [Jorge] They are very strategic.

They know the details, they understand their business.

They pick people that are very capable, and they make everybody feel like they're part of it, like they're owners.

But at the same time, their horizon is different.

And maybe it's because this is something that goes back four generations, and they can already see it going forward another two generations.

They always had a vision.

This is where we'll get to.

And time has proven that they can do it.

- I look to not only expand our sugar business but diversify the company, which we're doing, into real estate.

- This company make a hell of a contribution in Palm Beach County.

It's one of the biggest company here, and the amount of workers that we have, and in Florida too, I don't think is too many companies like this one in Florida.

- The Florida Crystal and the Fanjul family, you know, they're very important peoples to the Glades area as a whole, especially now as a culture because due to the fact they provide jobs for those individual who seeking jobs or seeking employment within the Glades area.

I know there's individual had worked for them for 10, 20, 30, or 40 years.

- Well, I worked for Osceola Farm, the sugar mill, and I've been there like 36 years.

And I drive the lowboy say oversize load or hauling machines, you know, that cut the cane.

So I come out here to celebrate.

We just like family.

- Everywhere you go out in the Glades communities and throughout Palm Beach County, you see the Fanjul name from, you know, schools for children that need a second chance to food banks to all sorts of education and charitable programs, they're everywhere.

You know, they have a wonderful story.

They came over here, they started over.

They grow millions and millions of pounds of food that service or help people all across our country, and they deserve recognition.

- Regardless of negative things have been said about the Fanjul, but like I said, I'm speaking on my own.

That family have made a big difference in the Glades area by participating and giving to the residents in the Glades area as a whole.

- They're billionaires.

They could be in their big mansions, and, you know, buying islands or just cruising around the world, but yet and still they take the time out to not only invest in some of the poorest communities and give them the same quality of support that they would do for their own colleagues or their friends.

I think that is just an honorable thing.

So I say from the standpoint of housing, employment, education, social issues, Florida Crystal has supported the people.

- Unless you take care of people, capitalism fails.

So I think the new order of the world is the mixture of doing social functions for the people and creating capital so that you can pay for the functions.

- In all honesty, Alfy and I politically, well, we agree in some things, we disagree in others, but that's normal, and that's the way it should be.

I frankly became a Republican when there were no Republicans in Florida.

And Alfy, I guess when he started, you know, again, there were no Republicans, so he worked more with the Democrats.

- Yeah, I'm a conservative Democrat, and I do believe in the social functions, and I think that's very important.

- Then with the Fanjul brothers, by me meeting those individuals, all them billionaires, but by the same token, they're very humble.

They able to talk to you.

They're willing to talk to you and want to talk to you.

- But Alfy, when we start planting cane here every day, you know, he used to walk behind and help with that of his own hands and be on top of that and got to the sugar mill and get inside there and be on top of his business, you know?

I think he never was afraid to work with his own hands and to make this company the way it is right now and to do very smart decisions in his business, and he did.

- When you think about the American dream, this is a family that came, started over fleeing communism.

They started over with a few hardscrabble acres, and they've turned it into possibly the largest sugar enterprise in the world.

That's only in America.

(calm music) - We're a family company, and we're a Palm Beach company, and we are also a Florida company.

This is where our base is, and this is our community, and this is what we love, and we're here to stay.

America has opened the doors to me, so all I can say is thank you, America, for what you've done for us.

I'm from Cuba.

- I'm also from Cuba.

- I'm from Honduras.

- And I'm from Mexico.

- I'm from Ecuador.

- I'm from America, Okeechobee, Florida.

- [Group Member] Aha!

(clapping) - I'm from Cuba.

- I'm from Nicaragua.

- [Group Member] Cuba.

- And I'm from Philippines.

- I'm from Cali, Colombia.

(calm music) - [Narrator] On the west coast of Florida, Ybor City in Tampa first welcomed immigrants 130 years ago.

They transformed the region back then and continue to do so today.

- So I feel that I'm really part of the Tampa Ybor immigrants that can make an impact here.

Originally from Armenia, you so proud, not just as a businessman that you came from a different country, you made this contribution not just for yourself and your family but also made an impact hiring local people here, and it's just a great feeling.

- Ybor as we know it today began in 1885 when Vicente Martinez-Ybor came here looking for a new place to start a cigar industry.

So in 1885, he came, he bought the original 40 acres in Ybor city.

At one time in the late 1920s, 500 million cigars were being made in Ybor City.

- We're in Centennial Park, which pays tribute to our immigrant ancestry.

The statue behind me was put up by the business round table, and it is an immigrant family.

And around it are the names of all of the individuals who came here as immigrants and who have made their mark in Ybor City.

Alex is totally about Ybor City.

His interests are not just in property management.

It's giving back to the community and always being a presence there.

- We were stayed in a hotel called Hotel Armenia.

My dad was looking to buy property over there, and he wanted land, so he met Alex in the gift shop.

And so they were together for like a week or two before I ever even met him.

As I was walking down the hall going into the gift shop, Alex was standing there, and the first thing I thought was, "Oh, great.

That's who I'm gonna marry."

- And six months later, boom, we were married, of course.

So she loved it.

She wanted to stay there.

We started another business over there together, a small mom-and-pop shop.

She's got pregnant.

Her father, of course, he wanted his daughter to come back to Tampa, and I when came to United States, it pushed me to do more because the country was open for business, that was an eyeopening.

I had like big menu front of me, and I didn't know which one to pick.

Do I do this business, that business?

So by the time I finish with my finance degree, I was running three companies already.

We manage over 300 properties, commercial, residential.

- It's just an amazing business.

I help people make money.

I sell their properties, and Alex just does all the other stuff.

He takes care of their properties, he maintains them.

- They work together really well.

You know, they are gonna have conflict, of course, but the fact that they could put differences aside, I think it's a great damn thing.

- We have about eight people in the office, and we have about maybe 40 people that work on field.

And then we're meeting my builders at the bar.

Do you need more?

And then I'm gonna start my first bar/lounge, so it's exciting.

And of course, I'm gonna hire all the local people here.

And you know, I picture myself being an old man one day.

And you know, when you sit down and talk about like, "Ooh remember that day, I owned this thing "or I run this thing?"

It doesn't matter whether it failed or did not fail, just for the stories.

I wanna sit down and tell like, "Hey, I tried this thing.

I tried that thing."

Now when I see these 20-year-olds, I really wanna shake 'em, tell 'em, "Do you understand how much opportunity you have here?

"Do you have any idea what you can do here?

"I don't care what your background is, "what your financial status, "it doesn't matter, you can do it."

Oh, is it easy?

No.

Is it possible?

100%.

To me, it's simple.

The tougher it is, actually is the better.

That's what makes you break the barriers and find out who you are on the inside.

I think that's a good thing.

- You're in Florida, so it's beautiful most of the time, and everybody wants to be outside, and everybody wants to know everyone.

There is a great spirit of commonality here.

- There are Afro Americans, Afro Cubans and Anglos and Jews and Germans in this area.

The fact that we were several nationalities and got along with each other, that was the best part.

- The immigrant community is the backbone of this state.

I mean, if you think about Tampa, we were settled by Spanish, Cuban, and Italian immigrants who came here to roll cigars.

We speak multiple languages.

We welcome immigrants to come here.

We want them to come and be part of the American dream, to bring their ingenuity, to bring their energy, to bring their willingness to work hard, to move their families forward and to move themselves forward.

- I think Ybor is a great incubator for the immigrant who is coming to make his mark.

You have the social structure that makes them feel comfortable, but you also have the ability to use your ideas and make them come to fruition.

(lighthearted music) - I'm originally from Panama City, Panama.

We didn't grow up rich, but I never felt that I was missing anything.

It was 1995.

I was 18.

I ended up going to Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.

Upon graduation, I ended up moving to Miami, and then from there, I ended up here in 2006 in Tampa Bay, Florida.

We started an apparel company in 2010 called Black & Denim, and that's a lifestyle brand for males.

So we started with $500 each.

There's three of us partners.

So we went in our trunk of our cars up and down the east and the west coast of Florida hocking these T-shirts to different shops and boutiques.

We have found a sense of success with our apparel company.

So we got into Macy's, Stein Mart, and Walt Disney, 150 boutiques, but we really didn't have an outpost that we can actually communicate with our end user and our clients.

So we decided to open the Blind Tiger Cafe.

So the Blind Tiger is a euphemism for a speakeasy where we conceal the boutique within a coffee shop.

- I notice that there's actually several companies going on here, right?

So one is this clothing company, the Black & Denim thing, and then there's also the coffee business and the coworking space.

- We decided to create a cowork space where coworker can work, and they have this more serious space with Wi-Fi, printer, fax, copy where you can actually get some work done.

I really didn't start appreciating coffee until I was really 26.

So from the time that I was born until then, I drank coffee socially, just like, you know, breakfast or whatever.

Like it wasn't until I graduated from school and started my job that I started appreciating it as fuel.

We had two employees when we started with Black & Denim.

And those people sort of like helped us open this particular store, which is our flagship store.

Now we have 14 employees.

- He noticed that I wanted to do photography, so now I run our social media, and like I love doing that very much.

So he's very big on pushing your dreams and making sure they come true.

- I never really thought to become a citizen until 2008.

I found this renewed sense about what the American dream means.

The idea of starting my own business never had crossed my mind if I would've stayed in Panama.

But here it was a plus, because if you can make it here, you can make it everywhere.

But it's easier to start a business here than anywhere else in the world.

So when we come here, we bring three things that I think are paramount to the immigrant experience when it comes to business.

We bring a hard work ethic.

We have an acute sense of community or a family working in business.

So we value relationships more than anything else.

And then the third one is really this ability to see a gap or to find a vision or to find an opportunity and that we can make it better than anybody else.

- [Narrator] In a state that has seen one of the largest population growth rates in American history, construction has been the source of fortunes for many in Florida.

The concrete business would turn out to be the calling for one Nicaraguan immigrant who went from being a poor laborer to the Concrete King of Florida.

- I'm Luis Garcia.

I'm the president and founder and CEO of Adonel Concrete.

Yeah, in 1979, the Sandinistas came over and took the president from Nicaragua.

So we have to leave the country for political reason.

While my parents stayed behind, I came with my brothers.

We were four brothers.

We were living in one bedroom.

They had mattresses on the floor.

It is hard, but you come here with one goal.

Your goal is to be able to survive.

Your country is being ruled by a communist president, so you do whatever it takes to make it.

So therefore my frustration of not making enough money made me realize that in order for me to succeed, I have to basically have my own business.

So I opened my company when I was 21 years old, I opened Adonel, so we've been in business for 33 years.

- Luis really is the embodiment of that immigrant community that's in this city.

This city in Sweetwater, we're a very working-class community.

You know, started small and in trades and in plumbing and welding and painting.

And, you know, Luis started 30 years ago in construction with pumping, and you know, now he's one of the largest suppliers for South Florida.

(calm music) - We are the largest family-owned concrete company locally owned in South Florida.

We employ right now about 360 employees overall.

We used to be only Miami, and now we are all the way down from Key Largo all the way up north to Vero Beach and in Haiti.

We're always growing, we have to grow be able to stay competitive and be able to offer more to our clients.

- Well, he's always trying to envision how can I make it better for my client so that I could be that one-stop shop and I can provide 'em that service.

You know, if he makes a commitment, he comes through with it no matter what.

I mean, the clients that he has demand that productivity.

- A lot of his trucks used to come deliver product in our city.

50% of the concrete in Doral then comes Adonel and Luis.

So and considering right now, Doral's the 10th fastest-growing city in the country, I think that says a lot.

- [Luis] And the eagle, and then the Hispanic, when they say Adonel, it's a Spanish company.

So we relate with both communities.

- So Luis is a very inspiring and motivating boss.

Seeing him and what he has built and his passion for this company and his passion for the community and his passion for his employees is what makes people motivated to work for this company and wanna do good for the company.

- He cares very much about the city, and you know, he's very vested in this community.

The city had a very special ceremony where we were naming one of the main avenues after Luis's company, Adonel.

- That gave me a sense of more responsibility because a street is named after your company, and it's amazing.

- This year, we honor someone who has built his company from the ground up and whose giving has touched so many lives.

Let's give a big round of heartfelt applause as we honor you with the BASF Philanthropist of the Year Award.

Congratulations.

(audience applauding) - To me, Luis's greatest contributions isn't his concrete.

It's the person he is, how he's touched our society, how he touches people, his humility, his willingness to always help, the kind of person you wanna be around.

- There is a lot to learn from immigrants 'cause we know what it takes to work hard.

I came to this country in 1979, basically broke, no money.

Someone gave me $7,000 loan, and I have built a great company.

My family work for me.

We have over 300 people work for us.

We're international company.

So I can say that I fulfill the American dream.

- [Narrator] As a young girl, Susana Robledo fled violence in Colombia with her mother.

As a young woman, she transformed a job sewing curtains into a $5 million service business.

- I'll tell you that I am American by choice.

I love this country, and it was one of the happiest moments when I became an American citizen.

So my father was killed in Colombia.

My mother felt that she needed a place secure for me, and she felt that Colombia was not a secure place.

We ended up in the United States, and it was the best decision that my mother ever made in her life was to bring me here.

And my mother, you know, she worked three jobs.

No, she put me in school, and I'm grateful for that.

So I got a great education here in the United States, and you know, I helped her throughout.

So I know what it's like to be an immigrant and start from the bottom.

- She had an opportunity for a first contract with a local hospital, and out of that started a company.

She now runs a $5 million company, and she has over 60 people that work for her.

And she embodies the American dream.

- Well, I started the company over 17 years ago.

I was working at a laundry at that time, and the customer said, "Hey, listen, I have a huge problem.

"I have Jayco coming over, and we don't have curtains."

And he was like, "Well, you told me you had "bought your mother a sewing machine for Mother's Day, "so why don't you do it yourself?"

I said, "You're right."

So we were able to get the curtains done, and they were perfect.

The customer absolutely loved them.

He was so happy, and I invoiced them.

Well, he actually paid out of his petty cash for me to be incorporated, and the rest is history.

Everything's custom made to order, and everything gets manufactured here.

(Patricia speaking in Spanish) - It's a family of 59 employees at this time, and we're growing, so.

- She continues to innovate with her business.

I mean, some of the things that she's come up with, the way she has engineers working with her.

- She developed a software in order to track where she's picking up all of these curtains and then exactly where they need to be placed back.

And that way, her business is more efficient.

She goes above and beyond to get the job done.

- Beyond, she's driven, and she's very focused.

She's very smart in how she operates the business.

I mean, she's got a lot of good business sense.

I think her compassion also serves her well, and that might be because she's a woman CEO.

- I think a lot of people that come to this country come with that will, that determination to just take everything to the next level.

They've already been through so much that they see the opportunity here that a lotta people that are born here may feel entitled to.

- So I was raised my grandfather, and one of the things that he instilled in me as a child was that whenever I went to visit someone, I needed to be on my best behavior, and I needed to contribute something, whether it was chocolates or flowers, but I didn't, I couldn't go somewhere empty-handed.

And that embedded something in me as a child, and it's my philosophy about immigration.

We are guests here, so we have to be on our best behavior when we are here, and we have to contribute to our communities.

And I think that that has been one of the things that has made me very successful.

- I like to say that our companies are doing well while doing good.

They are paying taxes, they're feeding families.

They support our churches, our other not-for-profits that are working with children, the elderly.

They are really a part of the fabric of this community.

- I think that Susana is an incredible asset for South Florida, but not only for South Florida, also for the U.S. Susana has the vision that is needed to take a company to the next level and to grow it throughout the country.

- Our diversity is what's made this country great, and it will continue to be great because of it.

Immigrants bring so much to the table culturally, ethically, morally.

So without them, this place would not be the same.

This is my country.

I'm not leaving here, and I'm here to make it better.

And there's a lot of families that depend on me, and I see a lot of my own staff that have gone and started their own business because they feel motivated by me that they could do it.

If I was able to do it, they could do it as well.

- [Narrator] Orlando's theme parks draw visitors from around the world, but Disney is not the only draw.

In the last 30 years, immigrants have turned the region into a vibrant economic hub.

- I come from Vietnam, and my name is Mary Chau.

I were born in a center of Vietnam.

They call it the Da Nang City, and from Da Nang, I moved to South Vietnam, that's Saigon.

My father and two of my brother, they in army.

So they wanna run away from Vietnam because they don't know what happen, when is the communists take over South Vietnam.

I am not escape until 1985.

The fisherman, they have a boat, you know, give a chance for the people who want to go with them.

42 people in my boat.

I don't know how 42 people survived because I still remember one night is there the wind and the wave was very scary.

And we all think that we already die.

27 days to Hong Kong.

So Hong Kong, they have a refugee camp.

I stayed there for six month with my brother and sister before we come to America.

- She had nothing when she fled Vietnam, she had nothing, to coming here and making something of herself.

- They used to have like a manicure and pedicure worth $50.

Now the $50, they can do mani and pedi and extra service.

I try to combine nail business with the massage.

So I start to hire the massage therapists who can work in with nail technician.

So the customer get more benefit, but you only pay one price, the same price.

And finally that concept is successful.

We sell the membership.

- I would say, Mary is the queen of nail salons in Florida.

She works hard, and she produces a lot of good quality work.

- We have about 11 franchise.

I partner with Charlie Ton.

- Mary's business partner, Charlie, owns over 900 locations, Regal salons in Walmarts everywhere.

- We work hard.

We work hard for our success.

Aggressive, very ambitious woman.

She always go for the new thing, and that's why we work so well together.

(upbeat techno music) (Mary singing in foreign language) - [Mary] No, I never thought I will be, you know, in the entertainment or even doing the studio or sitting in front of the camera and talk.

And I have two show, one we call "NAIL360," and we have another one we call "NailStar."

The show run very well, 40, 60,000 people come in and watching the show.

(Mary speaking in foreign language) - Mary is the perfect example of somebody living the American dream.

- I think this life is not easy, but my life, my family, whatever I do, God always help me and lead me.

♪ Oh God, almighty father ♪ I thinks I thank you a lot from America, open the arm and help a lot of refugee people, help the people just like me get a chance to, you know, work and study and grow up here in the freedom country.

And I see my life, sometime I look back, it just like a movie.

I can't believe that I can survive and stay and working and happy and have the beautiful family now in United States, 'cause there are a lot of people in my country dream, but they never get it.

Yeah, I think I have a mission for the family, for the people who still need help.

So I'm thinking about we have enough, you know.

A lot of people need to help out there.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Jacksonville is the only major city in Florida where the majority of immigrants are Asian rather than Hispanic.

Today, Filipinos are at the top of government and health care, leaving their mark on the region's economy.

- By percentage, Jacksonville has the largest Filipino population in the state of Florida.

Much of that is attributed to our health care community as well as our military community.

I believe the community is stronger together when a vibrant downtown provides economic opportunity for all.

(crowd applauding) - As of 2012, there were over 900 Filipino-owned businesses in Jacksonville accounting for more than $100 million in sales.

- We are one of the very few accounting practice here in Jackson that specialize in law firm accounting.

I also have a daycare center.

We have seven employees in our accounting firm and six employees in our daycare center.

- In Jacksonville, Filipino contributed to our local economy by more than $800 million.

- 'Cause I came to Jacksonville in 1985.

I got employed with Memorial Hospital of Jacksonville.

I was the first female anesthesiologist, and on top of that, I'm a foreigner.

So I was told that I cannot sit in the doctors' lounge because that was, by tradition, a male doctors' lounge.

But I told them that it only says doctors' lounge.

It doesn't say male doctors' lounge.

So I'm breaking their tradition.

Welcome to our home, and we have prepared some Filipino dishes for our friends.

- Dr. Francis Ong is a Filipino cosmetic surgeon.

He and his wife have helped so many Filipinos in this community.

- I do all kinds of plastic surgery from reconstruction to cosmetic, but most now are reconstructions.

I enjoy plastic surgery because it's transforming, especially when you do things for the kids that are born with congenital deformities.

- The members of the Philippine Medical Society go to the Philippines to perform surgeries in areas where there are very poor people who could not afford these types of medical services.

And so he's leading that effort.

- Before our mission, we send lots of hospital supplies before ahead of time.

Every year we bring all different specialties.

We have a surgical, we have a medical, we have two chapters, and so we have dentists, about 80, 90 people from the U.S.

This is our next medical mission next year, October, a year from now, to Bacolod.

- [Carmencita] We are happy to serve the underserved people with our medical and surgical missions.

- Many people regard Dr. Ong, both Dr. Ongs, very highly in their work, both here and in the Philippines.

- Having a successful practice and volunteering are one and the same thing to me because a good practice gives me the ability to volunteer.

I'm a provider of the VA hospitals.

I see veterans in my office, and also I treat the prisoners, too.

I go to Department of Corrections.

- All of these are nonprofit organizations where he doesn't get a nickel for doing it.

(lively music) - Not only is our Filipino community creating jobs and building and creating talent and showcasing that talent here in Jacksonville and throughout the country but also helping support one another.

- There are so many Filipino organizations here.

We wanted to have something that can unite all the Filipino organizations and the Filipinos themselves.

I got all the presidents of the Filipino organizations here, and we raised funds for 22 houses in the Philippines.

And I see that there's a good reason for them to get together.

They can get together.

(upbeat music) - We Filipinos is the host of the annual Filipino Pride Day.

We just completed, I believe, the ninth Filipino Pride Day.

We have about 14,000 people that attend yearly.

It's been a very successful event, and it's the largest one here in Jacksonville for the Filipino community.

- Jacksonville does embrace its immigrant population.

And at the same time, I think there's always an opportunity for us to open our arms even wider.

- I'm blessed that I had a good practice.

But I think it's not enough.

I think being blessed is giving back.

That's the best way to say thank you for what I got.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Haitians have immigrated to Miami for decades, fleeing poverty and political instability.

For one young Haitian, Miami's glitz and glamor lit up his imagination and inspired a fashion startup that now caters to the stars.

- When I was growing up, my parents had a shoe factory in Haiti.

I grew up going the factory in the morning with my mom, and I remember I used to have my mother sew pieces of leathers on the shoes in a certain way that I thought was cool at the time.

So I always had that in me.

- Fabrice at a very young age, he was very much attracted into fashion.

He had started working for Giorgio Armani at a very young age in Paris.

And then when he was ready to branch out and to have his own identity, he started on his own.

- So in 2004, I quit Giorgio Armani, and I started on this shirt project with my brother, and we founded this company called Bogosse that found extreme success around the world.

But around the ninth year, like 2012, Bogosse was one kind of style.

I really felt I needed to express myself differently with something that was more of who I was at the time, more casual, and then we decided that it would be best if I went into doing my own thing so that I can express myself creatively completely.

I took the collection to Paris, and when I arrived in Paris, I went there to meet with this guy, Roman, which is the commercial director for Armani, which is an old friend, so I can get some feedback from him of what I did.

And he's looking at the collection, and he's sitting next to me, and I was giving him a list of names that I wanted to call the brand.

He looks at me, and he goes, "You cannot call this anything else but your name."

I said to him, "What do you mean?"

He goes, "This is so you.

Stop hiding."

And this is how I ended up calling my brand Fabrice Tardieu.

The soul of this brand is making a product with a lot of passion, the way the brand is produced, the quality of the manufacturing.

Everything is handmade, meticulously hand-crafted.

Every single thing is hand-stitched, and then I do it in a cool way, and I put a rubber sole on it, and this is what my collection is about.

- When Fabrice wanted to go in something a little bit more high fashion, he came to visit us, and we started to carry his collection, which had great success, by the way.

(Fabrice speaking French) (Elie speaking French) - The United States is a big platform, and the fashion world now, it's much more competitive now.

So for you to decide, to have the will to go and to do it and to be successful at it, it's major.

- South Florida is very diverse.

I've never seen so much fashion in Florida for the past 35 years I've been here, and that's due to the amount of immigrants here that are bringing their spices into the world of fashion.

- Every time you wear one of his shoes, everybody stops you and asks you where you got them from and what is the name of the brand.

- Yeah, they're really innovative, and he just takes the high-end shoe game to like another level, and I think that's really cool.

(Fabrice speaking French) - If you're original and the things that you're creating are positive, you can turn that into your advantage.

But as far as your craft and your creativity is concerned and your wont for hard work, there will always be a few people that will understand the work that's behind you.

The people that take the time to understand what it took for me to be here are the ones that appreciate me the most.

- It's not often that you see, especially in that field, immigrants that has the courage and the ability to take a risk, to jump into a challenging world.

He's for sure like a role model and not only for other people, but also for me, you know, he's a big brother for me, and I look up to him in a lot of ways.

- When you're really passionate about what you do, when you do what you do for the right reasons, the right people will support you.

You gotta bring your roots home.

You have to go where you feel at home.

And it doesn't matter if you're selling the $500 sneaker there, because if you're doing it in a place that represents something for you and the quality is there, the people that want your product will be happy to go to this hip new place and shop.

- A lot of galleries going in, a lot of designers, Fabrice being one of them, and it's turning Little Haiti into to such a diverse little community.

- When I walk out of my office, I'm talking Creole to the guy walking down the street.

I'm doing my thing, and I really feel at home here.

This is like a double slam dunk for me because it has not only value for what it brought me for my business, but morally also and socially, I'm happy that I'm doing something and I'm able to talk about, you know, Haiti, because if you look throughout all my work, I always bring back my Haitian roots.

- I think it's very important for Haiti to have ambassadors like Fabrice because he represents hope.

He represents the possibility of so many people coming into this country and to live their dream.

(upbeat music) - So tonight we're at the W Hotel in South Beach, and tonight was about making our customers and our clients feeling good, pampered, taken care of, you know, and it's a great event.

Love what you do, and the rest will come is all I got to say.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Many of today's young immigrants were brought to the United States as children that remain largely undocumented.

They yearn for legal status.

For one formerly undocumented young Colombian woman, the ability to earn U.S. citizenship transformed her life and inspired an innovative ice cream startup.

- I was born in Bogota, Colombia, in 1990 and moved to Miami, Florida, in 1998.

I was eight years old when we moved to the United States, my sister, my mom and I, and don't remember much from my time in Colombia.

Really my life in my head starts when I came to the U.S.

I was undocumented from 1998 when we came to the U.S. up until 2011.

We had a family petition filed with immigration services.

However, that took almost 15 years to process.

And so it was really until that application was finally being reviewed after all those years that I was able to get permanent residency status.

- Surprisingly, I had actually never met anyone who was undocumented.

Luisa's the first close friend that I had who opened up to me about that, and that kind of opened up a whole world to where it made it really real and human for me.

So it was a sad thing to see that, you know, she might not have the possibility to do all these amazing things that I had no doubt that she was able to do.

And so it's amazing to see her now and to see that she was able to do all of these things and more.

- As a teacher, I have hundreds of students, they're always students who made themselves stand out, and Luisa is one of those people because of her desire, her drive, her will.

She didn't believe in impossibilities.

- You know, here's a young woman who's incredibly bright, incredibly talented, but that has all of these obstacles in her way that she has to overcome that normal students who don't face these obstacles don't even think about.

So the fact that she confronted those head-on and she removed those obstacles for herself really was incredibly impressive to me in such a young woman.

(Ruth speaking in Spanish) - [Luisa] We have 10 part-time employees, two full-time, and contractors that we work with on and off, and we cater a lot.

- You know what's great about Luisa is that not only is she driven and amazing and inspiring, she is one of the kindest, most caring people I've ever met.

You know, she will always, always, always put someone else before her, and it shows.

It shows in the way she runs her business.

She does seminars for her employees, teaching them about financial awareness and how to better themselves, and that's huge.

And so she's not just doing her own thing.

She's making her community way better.

- So when people have Lulu's, we want them to feel really happy.

I mean, we want them to know that their ice cream was made with care, and then we want them to enjoy.

I wanna see Lulu's grow.

I want as many people as possible to have Lulu's ice cream.

The idea is share this awesome ice cream with more people.

(lively music) - You have to be vulnerable to start a business, and I think no matter who you are, that's difficult.

To do that in addition with this constant sense of potential risk that you might be found out or that certain opportunities might not be the same for you because of your status, I can't even imagine kind of the additional layer of tension or fear that could create when you're already becoming so vulnerable and putting yourself out there and taking a risk financially, personally, professionally.

- The act of immigrating in and of itself is one that is filled with risk and filled with courage.

So it should come as no surprise to people that immigrants are inherently entrepreneurial.

I think immigrating is an entrepreneurial act.

- As soon as I received my permanent residency and was given that permission, that opportunity, I ran with it.

I opened my own business.

I now employ over 12 people.

I contribute economically by paying a lot more taxes than I ever have before.

You know, so just that simple document made all the difference and not only allowed me to not live in fear but allowed me to contribute to my community by creating jobs, by creating opportunities, by creating a wonderful space where people can come and enjoy ice cream together.

- Look at Luisa, she has come this far on pretty much on her own, on her own intelligence, her values.

So God only knows how many Luisas there are that haven't have that opportunity.

- The general, I think, attitude that would help us move forward as a country is one of let's highlight the many things that immigrants do contribute and let's see how we get more of that.

(calm music) - [Narrator] In 2012, almost a million young Dreamers in the United States were given legal status through DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

That legal status hangs by a thread as the courts weigh the Trump administration's elimination of the program.

The next generation of immigrants, even those among America's best and brightest, face an uncertain future.

- The only thing that really sets me apart from anybody else is the fact that I don't have papers.

But other than that, I'm well integrated into the community, you know, solid friendships, education, language, understanding the culture.

This feels like my country this, you know.

I basically, I feel like I'm from Miami.

I'm a Miami girl with no citizenship.

I'm from San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

So when we first came to Miami, we got situated in what I call a cucarachero because it was filled with roaches, and we, you know, the four of us, my mom, my dad, my middle brother, and I just all lived there together.

So my mom got diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer my sophomore year in high school.

My dad was working.

I had a little brother to raise and a sick mom to take care of.

School was my exit from reality, my happy place.

I was Best Buddies president.

I was student council president, junior council president.

So being in school really kept me away from my reality at home.

I think that as a 17, 16-year-old, it was very tough to even fathom the fact that your mother would be dying soon.

"It's gonna be okay, I'm gonna work.

"I'm gonna finish the rest of my education.

"I'm gonna be a doctor.

I'm gonna make you proud.

"And you can go in peace, Mom.

It's all gonna be okay."

Unfortunately, my mom passed away a couple of days after that, and she didn't get to see me graduate and do all the things that I wish she would've seen me do.

(Mario speaking Spanish) - The hardest part of losing DACA would be that everything that I have worked for in the past seven years, or even since I came to this country would basically all be tossed out.

I'm preparing for the Broward immigration forum.

So we're gonna be discussing the DACA and the TPS as a community.

- DACA does not give you special privileges.

It doesn't provide any privilege.

It does provide an opportunity that would lead to jobs, that would lead to no longer living in fear, that would lead to driver's licenses, and that would lead to a normal American life.

(group applauding) - I was able to get an anonymous sponsor to attend the honors college.

I finished my degree, which is something that I'm very fortunate for, and because of DACA, I was able to receive in-state tuition.

Because of DACA, I'm currently a research associate at Nova, and I just got hired by the VA to be a research coordinator.

(audience cheering and applauding) To this day, I still don't know who was my anonymous sponsor, and I'd love to know who it is just to thank them, but giving back will be my way of saying thanks to him or her, whoever it was.

- America needs Monica, many other Monicas who are out there who represent the best of American youth today.

- Good morning, I'm here today to announce that the program known as DACA that was effectuated under the Obama administration is being rescinded.

- Well, you know, I've been in the limbo already in the past when I was undocumented, and for the past four years, I've had stability.

And so now my concern with DACA not being here anymore is that then again, I'll be completely undocumented.

That means that I won't be able to drive, and I won't even be able to have a job.

So I will just have graduated from FIU, have a degree in biology and not be able to do absolutely anything with it.

I just don't know what to expect.

I'd like to say I don't want to expect the worst, but I haven't even planned for the worst yet because I can't fathom not having DACA anymore.

- Unfortunately, there are hundreds of thousands of young Americans that came here as children, and they're just as American as you and me.

They don't know any other country.

(Mario speaking in Spanish) - So the purpose of this dinner is to have and raise awareness with our elected officials and have them come out and publicly support DACA, DACA recipients, Dreamers, and know about the importance of it.

- I'm sad what's going on, and hopefully the president will hear the cry and keep DACA in place.

- We need to make a change.

We need to act now.

Now we need to hold our elected officials accountable for what is going on in our nation.

In my opinion, this is not over.

This has not destroyed us.

It's only made us stronger.

If it comes to it, I'm willing to fight as well.

I have nothing to lose at this point, as you may know.

(uplifting music) - [Narrator] While DACA remains tied up in the courts, Monica is moving ahead with her own immigrant success story.

- Don't worry.

You'll make it.

I was accepted.

I'm going to Harvard.

(laughing) I can't believe it!

(calm music) Mayor funding for Making It In America was provided in part by by the Miguel B. Fernandez Family Foundation, the FWD.us Education Fund, The Knight Foundation, and The Miami Foundation.

(upbeat music) (bright music)