More than 40 attendants, from more than 15 diverse countries, came together at Elgin Community College on International Women’s Day (IWD) to celebrate and discuss the issues facing immigrant women in the United States.

Every year, since 2007, Irina Del Genio, Ph. D., hosts the Immigrant Women Roundtable. The event is a discussion meant to spark more conversation, awareness and respect for the immigrant community. It also serves to provide a connection and comfortable environment for immigrant women to discuss their trials, according to Del Genio.

More than 40 attendants, from more than 15 diverse countries, came together at Elgin Community College on International Women’s Day (IWD) to celebrate and discuss the issues facing immigrant women in the United States.

Every year, since 2007, Irina Del Genio, Ph. D., hosts the Immigrant Women Roundtable. The event is a discussion meant to spark more conversation, awareness and respect for the immigrant community.

It also serves to provide a connection and comfortable environment for immigrant women to discuss their trials, according to Del Genio.

“We are here for a reason,” said Marisol Corral, an ECC student from Mexico. “We are women and we are stronger and we can do whatever we want. For me it’s a new beginning, to start a new life. So I feel very strong to do this challenge.”

The topic this year was immigrant women and the presidential election of 2016.

Del Genio, the host and speaker of the event, lived and worked in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, and came to the U.S. in the year 2000 after getting married.

The roundtable was hosted on IWD – a holiday that is eagerly celebrated in Russia. According to Del Genio, every March 8, women are given a carnation to signify that they are a working woman.

“What woman isn’t a working woman,” said Del Genio. “When we talk about working women it’s like we are making a distinction between women who are working at home and women who are working at a factory or at a college. Every woman is a working woman, even if she’s raising her child, or several children, that woman is a working woman.”

During the presentation, an audience member said that IWD is celebrated on the eighth of March because women are the eighth wonder of the world.

The participants came from a range of backgrounds; including Taiwan, Ukraine, China, Poland, Mexico and Thailand. Of the participants, more than three-quarters were immigrants, and more than half were immigrant women.

Some came to learn about additional experiences that they can connect with and others to celebrate IWD. Male audience members came to learn more about women’s rights.

“One thing that I know for sure, that behind every one of you, stands generations of immigrants,” said Del Genio. “And behind every one of you is at least one unbelievable story. I think my story is not unique. My story is similar to so many stories that we hear from immigrants.”

“Now – that we stand on the shoulders of immigrants – now the issue of immigration is such a polarized, and probably one of the most polarizing issues, in today’s presidential election,” Del Genio said. “I watch every presidential candidate’s debate. And I try to figure out how do I feel about those issues as an immigrant myself. I don’t particularly feel very well about that. I don’t particularly feel very good about some of the very hateful rhetoric and very inflammatory comments that some of the presidential candidates make.”

Del Genio came to the U.S. in 2000, and said she was unsure of where she could work and what she could do. Even with a master’s and Ph. D., there was not much work for her outside being a nanny. She attended Loyola University Chicago in order to receive an American education.

She said one woman and her ex-husband told her that it would have been harder for her to find a job if she ever disclosed her international education. She remembered feeling in shock after being hired at ECC as a college administrator, which she thought would never happen.

She has been working at ECC for ten years, and is sure that her talents and contributions are needed here.

“It’s not just about me, it’s about every immigrant woman who is coming to this country and are not sure about where her talent can bring her,” said Del Genio.

She highlighted Donald Trump and his recent discussions about deporting 11 to 12 million immigrants and the building of a wall separating the U.S. from Mexico. She said that his current wife is an immigrant from Slovenia, and that his hotels have hired a large number of immigrant workers. She asked the audience if his stance and policies could help the U.S., or if they are anti-immigration.

One audience member said that it is illogical to say people are no longer welcome, even when they have helped the country. Another audience member is worried for the future of immigrant families with U.S.-born, legal children, that would have to be split.

The conversation continued among the topic of why there is so much hostility for the immigration community.

“The person who comes here brings their culture and brings their life, and makes a slight change in our society; which is wonderful because that is what our society is based on,” said Carole Burstein, an intensive English instructor, who has worked at ECC for 17 years. “But that’s why white men in America are angry.”

Burstein referenced a satirical article in the “Chicago Tribune,” that dwelled into the subject of anti-immigration.

“When I was growing up in the United States everybody spoke English, everything was in English, everything was easy,” said Burstein. “It doesn’t bother me that it’s written in a few more languages, I can find the English. But it bothers other people that they have to be bothered; that there’s an obstacle in their way.”

Del Genio responded to this comment with agreement, and said that Trump has been catering to a lot of people’s anger. In her 16 years of citizenship, she has never seen the population as angry as it is today, according to Irina.

“Rage breathes rage, love breathes love,” said Del Genio.

Sabine Woerner, a foreign language teacher, who has lived as a German-American for 26 years, commented on the current Syrian refugee crisis, and her reaction to America’s stance against opening its borders.

“In Germany right now, in the last – literally – year we have added another 1.4 million people,” said Woerner. “Just to give you a perspective, Germany is half the size of Texas. [Take] the state of Oregon [and] add 1.4 million people. So the question, actually in the last couple weeks, came up: why doesn’t the United States allow a hundred thousand, two-hundred thousand, three-hundred thousand, of these refugees to come here? And the answer was ‘Oh no, they could be terrorists. We are not going to allow them to come here.’ It would be nice if the world comes together and we all work on that problem.”

Woerner connected the current issue and uncertainty, to what she experienced during the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain.

“There is a lot of fear of the unknown,” said Woerner.

The subject of discussion turned to maternity leave. Women in some countries, including the U.S., may not have the ability to stay with her child after labor and still keep her job security, according to Del Genio.

One audience member from Mexico experienced free day care. Another, a French migrant, said his wife experienced an eight month leave.

Russia has seen a decreasing amount of maternal leave, according to Del Genio.

“As a mother I cringe when I see some women here who have to go back to work,” said Del Genio. “The baby is barely two, three weeks old and they have to leave this baby in daycare or with a nanny and go back to work, because they cannot afford to stay home with the baby. To me it’s just unimaginable.”

Del Genio also touched the topic of the work opportunities for migrant workers. According to the speaker, a majority of nanny’s, house workers and homemakers used to be African-American women, and now, statistics show that it is mostly immigrant women.

“I can tell you that I am glad I didn’t listen to the advice of my now ex, that he wanted me to go and sell cosmetics to the Kohl counter,” said Del Genio. “But sometimes the choices for what these women have are very, very limited.”

One audience member was a doctor in Mexico, and found it hard to leave behind her passion for a job that does not match her desired field. A different student was an economist in her home country and now wants to achieve a new degree in order to work in a police department.

“Many women come here when they graduated, when they had a degree in their country, but when they come here, they must begin again,” said Khanh Tran, an ECC student from Vietnam. “Like me, in Vietnam, I graduated. But when I came here, I must study English.”

Tran graduated college with a Business Administrative degree. She said that it was incredibly difficult to give up her education. But knowing she has many things to learn and experience in this county, gets her through it.

Quiyue Liao (Rita), an ECC student from China, gave up a bachelor’s degree in China to come to the U.S. and earn complete bachelor’s degree, as well as learning English.

“Maybe I will take more years than my Chinese classmates,” said Liao. “I don’t know whether my choice is right, but right now I think it’s right because the many things I give up, like my major of accounting, I just want to get a better life, get a better education. So I chose to stay here.”

At the end of the discussion, Del Genio quoted the recently deceased Nancy Reagan.

“’A woman is like a tea bag. She never knows how strong she is until she’s in hot water,’” said Del Genio.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Jason Shaw

Irina Del Genio celebrates Women’s History Month by hosting an Immigrant Women Roundtable to discuss the pressing issue of the awareness and respect for the immigrant community, particularly with women.