amNewYork contributor Florencia Arozarena holds up a copy of one of the immigrant profiles she co-wrote with Dean Moses, police bureau chief.
Provided
From the train station, I watch as kids with red noses from the cold grab their luggage from the back of the car as parents say their sweet farewells. Back to school, back to the city, back to follow their own dreams into the world. I think of my own father saying goodbye to his family in Argentina to move to the United States.
And, after spending the last few months as an intern at amNewYork covering families impacted by ICE detention, I think of the thousands of immigrant families who never get the chance to say their goodbyes.
My father moved here 26 years ago. He always talks about how hard it was. He left Argentina a few months after his mom died to move to another country to make things better. He left behind his four brothers, my sister and me. He came with less than $200 dollars and sometimes had to sleep on the street or in a garage. He worked in kitchens, construction and any job that could earn him a little bit of money to rent a room.
I was only three years old when he left. After 2001, immigration policy became more strict. I couldn’t meet him until he became a citizen. I was 12 when I saw him again. I remember my grandmother telling me how my dad called crying. He wanted to quit everything and return to Argentina, but he continued fighting for a better life for my sister and me.
I owe him everything.
I moved to the United States at age 22.
I was lucky to have a father to support me. He welcomed me to this country and helped me with my transition. Many immigrants don’t have that support. Working as a pastry chef in top Michelin-starred restaurants, I met people from across cultures who, like myself and my father before me, left everything behind – culture, language, even family–to have a better future.
Even with my father’s support, there were still many obstacles. I struggled with every essay I had to write for my school. People made fun of my accent or how I pronounced certain words. Like many Latinos, I learned resilience from my father, my family and from every immigrant I met who kept moving forward, because they had no other choice.
People like Franyelis, a pregnant Venezuelan woman, I met working as an intern for amNewYork. Or Jessica, an Ecuadorian woman who gave birth a month after her husband was deported. Or countless others who continue to inspire me.
Learning English was not easy, so I never thought I would be able to be a reporter, but I realized these stories needed to be told.
When I started my internship with amNewYork, I had one goal: amplify the voices of Hispanic communities. I couldn’t imagine that with no prior experience in journalism, I would have the opportunity to do all the work I did in the past four months. I am so grateful to everyone at amNewYork who pushed me and allowed me to do what I wanted to do.
Dean Moses, police bureau chief at amNewYork, and I traveled across New York City meeting families. We spent hours with them, listening as they shared endless nightmares. Seeing their faces–eyes full of tears, voices breaking from exhaustion– nearly broke me.
Almost every Sunday, we visited a church where immigrant families gathered, praying for spouses, fathers, mothers, children. That’s where Dean met Alexandra, an Ecuadorian woman whose husband had been taken by ICE.
We went to Queens to speak with her and her 11-month-old daughter, Mia. After our first meeting with her, Alexandra and I spoke every day for a month until her husband was released. Dean and I went to the airport at midnight to see Alexandra reunite with her husband after being separated for 44 days and capture the moment for amNewYork.
I cried as if it were my own family. As a journalist, we need to be objective but the trust and relationship we built with Alexandra and others allowed us to tell the story more deeply, so others can better understand their experiences.
When I see Alexandra hugging Manuel with her daughter Mia in her arms, or every time Jessica’s son Dylan runs to Dean to greet him, I know they are the future these parents sacrificed for – like I was for my father. Alexandra, Jessica, or Franyelis keep going for their kids, for a better future. These stories needed to be told.
These last few months solidified my dream of becoming a bilingual journalist. I want to bring more voices to the newsroom, more stories that reflect resilience and hope. I want to help build a better future all the immigrants who inspire me sacrificed so much to get.
Immigrants made New York a city for dreamers, we cannot fail them now.
Florencia Arozarena interned for amNewYork in the fall of 2025, and is a freelance contributor.
