These boots were made for immigrants

I’ve always felt at home in a grocery store. I enjoy walking through the produce section and picking out a fresh bag of green grapes. I love meandering around the bakery to see if they have a slice of cake that peaks my interest. Grocery stores hold a special place in my heart because they help me feel a little closer to my grandparents—Chinese immigrants who owned a grocery store in Houston, Texas during the 1960s. 

My family’s story mirrors the stories of many immigrant families who move to the United States and set up shop in rural, or “rural-adjacent,” areas. In fact, immigrants made up 37% of rural growth since the year 2000. However, as noted by a blog post from December 2024 and as we’ve seen during the first month of the new presidential administration, communities and small businesses in rural areas are the ones who will be hit the hardest by new executive orders and funding freezes. These economic struggles, combined with the fact that children from rural families don’t always vie for control of the family business like in the show Succession, make it difficult for small family businesses to stay afloat as parents get older and population sizes dwindle. 

The Daily Yonder recently reported on the USDA funding freeze, quoting the House Democrats of the Agriculture and Appropriations committee’s letter to the USDA:  

To be clear, the people impacted by this funding freeze are hardworking, rural Americans and small businesses.

Immigrants own approximately 36% of accommodation and food services businesses. In addition to the recent need to stay vigilant about potential ICE raids, immigrant families who own small businesses must worry about their families’ livelihoods as government funding decreases. This is especially concerning considering the long history of immigrant-owned small businesses in California. In June of 2024, the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) highlighted its support of immigrant families moving to rural areas: 

Immigrants in California are long-settled residents powering the state’s workforce and small businesses and supporting economic growth. California’s immigrant population makes up 27 percent of the state’s total population, and nearly 10 percent of those individuals reside in rural regions.

In 2024, California increased funding for local governments to expand immigrant integration in rural areas. GO-Biz’s Senior Deputy Director for Global and Strategic Program Planning and External Affairs, Emily Desai, stated: 

We know there are unique challenges in reaching and supporting immigrant communities in the underserved parts of our state. These grants represent our commitment to empowering local governments to foster economic mobility and social inclusion among California’s immigrant populations, no matter where they reside.

Historically, small businesses in rural areas, including those owned by both local and immigrant families, had to rely solely on the support of their own community. My grandparents, for example, made their living from customers in the neighborhood and word-of-mouth. Likewise, restaurants like the Chicago Cafe in Woodland, have remained community staples for decades because of local support. 

In January of 2024, Professor Jack Chin led a research project that focused on the Chicago Cafe, believed to be California’s oldest Chinese restaurant. According to the article by Carla Meyer, Chicago Cafe has operated since at least 1910 and has been run by the Fong family for three generations. The restaurant was opened by the current owner, Andy Fong’s, great grandfather, who immigrated to Woodland, California from China’s Guangdong province. 

In 2018, an article by the Center for American Progress highlighted how immigrants and their families have slowed the decline of rural populations over the past few decades, noting: 

[M]any rural communities are either experiencing a slowdown in their rate of population decline or a resurgence as immigrants and their families, as well as refugees, move into these communities in search of opportunity. In many rural communities, these new residents open small businesses, provide critically needed health care services, and supply labor for meatpacking plants, small manufacturers, dairies, fruit and vegetable farms, and other enterprises.

Unfortunately, immigrant families’ ability to slow the rural population decline doesn’t always mean that their children will stay in the same place. Last week, a Patch article reported that Chicago Cafe is up for sale. With the third-generation owners’ children transitioning to different careers, the article quoted The Sacramento Bee, stating: 

Paul and Nancy Fong decided to sell their business after UC Davis professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin as part of a research project determined Chicago Cafe could be the oldest Chinese restaurant open in the country, yielding a spike in media coverage and customers that proved challenging for the aging couple and their one employee…

Chicago Cafe’s sale reminds me a lot of my grandparents’ story. One of the reasons I grew up hearing stories about my grandparents’ store, rather than getting to experience it myself, is because the land was taken over by eminent domain and transformed into a highway in the mid-1980s. Still, I will never forget the pride that I saw in my Grandpa’s face when he told me about the lifelong friendships he made with customers from the store. Because of their small business, my grandparents were able to integrate into their new community and raise my dad and his siblings. 

By opening small businesses and adding to the available workforce in rural areas, immigrants have become indispensable in these communities as they provide vital services and delicious food. Hopefully we can keep this tradition going as small business owners struggle with ongoing economic, social, and personal concerns.