When I think of all the first- and second-generation (mostly first) eastern European kids I grew up with, this makes me sick.
I put up with as much crap as any other first gen Asian-American kid growing up in the ’80s, just a few years after the Vietnam War, as American car companies were losing ground to Japan. My family and I were “not like the others” in our suburb of Cleveland.
But one way we kinda were like a lot of our neighbors was a sense of solidarity among the families of various immigrants. And to be honest, I don’t know to what extent that does or doesn’t exist in the 216 in this day and age. But if this is any indication, I doubt it…
Tamila Vashchuk and her husband, Mykola, are minor celebrities in this corner of Ohio.
The Ukrainian couple have appeared on the cover of local magazines and been invited onto morning television shows. En route to building a successful pierogi food business, they’ve met with the governor. A recent law graduate from Cleveland State University, Mykola is hoping to do his bar exams someday. Most Sundays, they volunteer at the local church.
But now, the family faces an immigration court hearing they believe could see them deported back to Ukraine, where they would struggle to treat their son’s illness and where Russia’s ferocious assault has increased in recent weeks.
Historically, Cleveland has been home to one of the largest Ukrainian communities in the country, which began to grow in the early 1900s as people left poverty and famine to seek work in factories. Today, the city’s suburbs are dotted with large eastern orthodox churches and, since Russia’s invasion, the community has grown by several thousand people, fueling a host of local cultural festivals.
