Not All Immigrant Stories Are Created Equal

The San Diego Union-Tribune recently featured a stirring documentary on immigrants living in San Diego. Included in this imitate portrait are men and women, from many countries and many occupations, describing their unique journey to a new life in the United States.

According to recent estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau, San Diego County is home to 799,357 foreign-born residents, or 24.1 percent of the population. That number is higher than the national average of 14 percent.

One of those featured in the story is 29-year-old Carlos-Angel Barajas, who came to San Diego from Mexico as a child. He’s now performing Shakespeare at the famous Old Globe Theatre in his adopted hometown. He marvels at becoming an American.

“It’s being included in one of the strangest and most beautiful experiments of humanity,” said Barajas, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen four years ago. “To have the audacity to have a country that takes up this much land, that is this diverse, with this many different ideas, and to try to be one country—it’s extraordinary.

Read more incredible immigrant stories here.