Smart, entrepreneurial immigrants more crucial to the future than ever

It’s amazing how often immigrants are at the heart of the stories that represent America at its best: at its most hard-working, creative, entrepreneurial and hopeful. A month after the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Queens, I still can’t get over the passion and skill of Francis Tiafoe’s performance – and how his immigrant parents made it all possible.

If you haven’t seen any of the matches that made him a household name – including his defeat of Rafael Nadal – you owe it to yourself to take a look. And if you don’t know his family’s amazing story, you really should. Escaping from war-torn Sierra Leone in the 1990s, Tiafoe’s parents came separately to America – meeting, marrying and starting their family in Maryland. Tiafoe’s father worked multiple shifts as a day laborer helping to build the Junior Tennis Champions Center, and once construction was finished, his hard work earned him a permanent job as its live-in custodian. The family squeezed into a small apartment at the Center, and as they grew, Tiafoe and his twin brother started playing tennis with whatever equipment they could borrow. In exchange for still more work, Tiafoe’s father earned them formal lessons. The rest is history – written in grit, inspiration, talent and hard work.

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