Editorial: Immigrants still believe in the American Dream
Our view
Jacksonville is an interesting case study on the subject of undocumented immigrants.
One of our residents, Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, came to the United States from Mexico as an undocumented immigrant in 1987 to pick crops in California. He managed to work his way into Harvard Medical School.
Now, better known as Dr. Q, he is head of the neurologic surgery department at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville. He has shared his story in his autobiography, Becoming Dr. Q: My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon.
Then there’s Felipe Estevéz, who came to the U.S. in 1961 as an unaccompanied minor, one of the thousands of Pedro Pan children smuggled out of Cuba. He is now the bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine.