Héritier Nosso was born and raised in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he worked as a lawyer specializing in sexual assault and criminal and juvenile justice cases. Unfortunately, his work made him a target, and he came to the U.S. in 2015 seeking political asylum. Since arriving in Lewiston, Héritier has worked hard to repay America’s generosity for taking him in, volunteering with Lewiston Public Works and working in various health care and advocacy roles, including as a certified nursing assistant, a Community Education and Prevention Coordinator at IRC Maine, and as a teaching assistant at Bates College. Currently, he is the Health Promotion Coordinator at Healthy Androscoggin.

Nicknamed 911 and 211, Heritier spends his free time playing mini golf , doing community organizing, helping other new Mainers find their own path to success. And that’s what he’ll explore in this column: sharing why these immigrants, refugees and asylees came to Maine, the challenges they face and the contributions they’re making in Lewiston. It’s the inside story of who these new Mainers really are.

No matter where you’re from, when you have children, they are your top priority. You want what’s best for them now and in the future. And being a parent means making a lot of hard decisions and balancing a lot of different responsibilities.

As an organizer in my immigrant community in Lewiston, I work with many parents who spend far too much time separated from their children.

For some, this is because they work two or three jobs to keep their families afloat, as do many non-immigrant parents. For some others, it’s because their families are still back in their home countries, and unable to come to the U.S.

And for many immigrant parents, these difficulties are combined with the knowledge that as hard as they work, their futures, and those of their children, are uncertain. This has documented mental and physical health impacts for both parents and children.

Many immigrants in Maine work in jobs that, during the pandemic, have been considered “essential.” They work in the healthcare field, in food production, at your bank or credit union, or in the stores where you buy your groceries or medicine. Many also work at Abbott Laboratories, which makes the BinaxNOW rapid COVID-19 test. It doesn’t get much more essential than that.

During the pandemic, essential workers have shown that they are a crucial part of the backbone of our society. In fact, our federal government considers essential workers to be part of the critical infrastructure of the U.S.

As they have kept us safe, comfortable, and healthy over the last year, essential workers have borne the brunt of COVID-19.

Immigrants to the United States come from a variety of circumstances, and because of often-arbitrary conditions determined mainly by domestic politics, they are assigned different statuses when they arrive. Many of Maine’s immigrant essential workers are, rightly, classified as asylum seekers. For them, there is a pathway to citizenship, albeit one that can take many years.

But for more than 5 million immigrant essential workers in the U.S., there is no path to citizenship, because they are undocumented. These people work incredibly hard to support their families, from whom they are often separated for years at a time. They pay taxes. They meet the responsibilities of citizenship. But for them, as things stand now, there is no pathway to citizenship.

There is also no pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients (“Dreamers”), whose parents brought them to the U.S. as children, or for people who have Temporary Protected Status (TPS), because it would be unsafe or difficult for them to return to their countries of origin.

It’s time for our elected officials to acknowledge immigrant essential workers with more than just words of thanks. As Congress debates passing further COVID relief packages, they need to include a pathway to citizenship and reunite families who have been kept apart by our inhuman immigration policies.

More than two-thirds of Americans support legalization for essential workers, along with Dreamers and TPS recipients, and the best way to do this is through the budget reconciliation process. These Mainers need support from Maine’s Congressional delegation, in recognition of the essential work they do, as well as their basic human rights.

Essential workers are American heroes. When we eat our food, and see our loved ones taken care of, or get vaccinated or tested for COVID-19, we should recognize the immigrant essential workers behind this.

These people have earned the right to become American citizens. They have stepped up for America. It’s time for our representatives in Congress to step up for them.

Héritier Nosso is a health promotion coordinator and community organizer in Lewiston.