Happy Mother’s Day to All The Immigrant Moms

“Behind every powerful immigration story, there is often a mother—pushing forward despite fear, uncertainty, and sacrifice.”

This Mother’s Day, we honor and pay tribute to moms everywhere – including those who had the courage and strength to leave everything behind and begin new lives in the United States. 

“Although women form a majority of all immigrants in the United States, immigration hasn't always been considered a women's issue,” National Immigrant Justice Center has previously noted. ”However, immigrant women are profoundly impacted by our nation's immigration system.” And, as Estrella del Paso’s “Amor al Migrante” podcast recently noted, we are profoundly impacted by these mothers. “Behind every powerful immigration story, there is often a mother—pushing forward despite fear, uncertainty, and sacrifice.” 

And as the podcast also notes, many of us are the children of immigrant mothers – and their resilience and strength has shaped our own lives as well. Watch below:

When I think of immigrant mothers, I think of Colorado mom Jeanette Vizguerra, who has spent years advocating for the right of all immigrant moms to be able to raise their families in peace but now risks losing that right herself. 

When I think of immigrant mothers, I think of Las Guerreras, a Northern California restaurant operated by an immigrant mom and daughter team. Ofelia Barajas got her start selling tamales on the street. By 2019, Barajas and her daughter, Reyna Maldonado, opened their restaurant and now employ more than a dozen people. 

And when I think about immigrant mothers, I think about my mom, who worked for many years as a housekeeper to support our family. When things feel too difficult to overcome – which can be often these days – I remind myself that I am my mother’s child.

But it’s also important to honor immigrant mothers by ensuring they have the stability they need to raise their families to their fullest potential. In her 2024 piece, Global Refuge President Krish O’Mara Vignarajah wrote that our vastly outdated and dysfunctional immigration system “disadvantages immigrant women.”

“It’s past time that lawmakers think beyond politics and polls and consider how women are impacted by harmful immigration policies,” she wrote. “Women who are victims of violence need additional ways to enter the country legally, and if they’re migrating with their children, they shouldn’t fear being separated from them. Doing what’s right means lawmakers need to expand protection pathways and center policy around the core American belief that families belong together.” 

And creating a system that respects the immigrant mothers who contribute so much to their children, and our nation. As journalist and content creator Aysha Qamar wrote in her 2020 poem:

my mother’s strength and beauty
cannot be confined to one word

on her shoulders, she carries the wisdom of
her mother and her mother and hers

if only I could find the right words
would I bring justice to her being

immigrant.
how many
miles
have you traveled?

warrior.
how many
battles
have you fought?

brave.
how much
burden
have you carried?

empowering.
how many
tears
have you wiped?

selfless.
how much
pain
have you hidden?

the answer is endless
because of you yourself
are the embodiment
of resilience

and when people say
I look like you
I awe at your beauty

and pray one day
I will have
even an ounce
of your strength
to carry.

This Mother’s Day, we honor and lift up immigrant moms and thank them for the many sacrifices they’ve made – and continue to make – for their families.