No Kings Day: Reflections on Immigration, Leaving, and Watching from Afar

franciscoedualmeid
5 days ago
3 min read

I’m an immigrant.

I am also the son of immigrants. My parents left their home countries when they were young and happened to meet in Chicago. That’s where I was born and raised, until it became my turn to leave.

Technically, I’m often called an expat. That’s a conversation for another day. The truth is: I’m an immigrant. I left Chicago for Buenos Aires, chasing a girl. We married within a year of moving, and soon after, we built a life here as entrepreneurs.

Most of what we built revolved around food. My wife and her friend started a brand of organic preserves for export to the U.S., and they hired me to do sales. We built a distribution channel and placed those jars on American shelves.

Promotional image for Andina Gourmet, an Argentine company producing organic fruit preserves. The design features purple trees and jars of preserves, with text describing their small-batch production using organic berries from El Bolsón, Patagonia. Includes photos of a lake in El Bolsón, a jar of preserves, and berry-filled pastries.

At the same time, I was experimenting with my own business: a catalog of direct sales for craft beer and American-style baked goods. I quickly learned that delivering bottled beer to homes was a nightmare, but shipping cookies was much easier. And eventually, selling B2B was easier still.

After a few years, Argentina’s inflation — even in dollars — made it impossible to keep the price of organic preserves stable for export. We shut that brand down and sold the remaining stock locally.

Meanwhile, the cookie business thrived. I named it Sugar and Spice the same year my first daughter was born, borrowing from the nursery rhyme. We grew it into Argentina's premier cookie brand with nationwide distribution, exports, private labels for Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Jumbo. Eventually, we brought in a partner who bought us out.

Sugar & Spice cookie packaging for blueberry and white chocolate cookies. Two boxes displayed with sandwich cookies filled with cream and fresh blueberries on a plate in the foreground.

From there, I created AsadoAdventure, my current business, which I’ve been running since 2016.

All of this, I’ve done as an immigrant. I went through the full process legally with help from my in-laws. Once we married, much of it became automatic. It was simple.

But it’s painful to watch what’s happening back home.

Magazine spread featuring an Argentine asado. A group of people seated around a blue-checkered table toasting with glasses of red wine, surrounded by plates of food. The article title reads “Asado Argentino - Argentine Barbecue,” highlighting the cultural importance of Argentine grilling traditions.

Once again, immigrants have become political targets. Both parties share responsibility, but overwhelmingly, the GOP has weaponized the issue. People migrate for many reasons. The U.S. remains deeply desired because of its history, its reputation, its promises. But after leaving, I see the trade-offs more clearly now. The U.S. isn’t as great, unique, or free as its marketing leads people to believe.

In 2025, secret police units in masks are now disappearing people off streets, farms, churches, schools, and courtrooms — often while they’re in the middle of legal immigration processes.

And on this No Kings Day, we woke up to news of another political mass shooting — a radical gunman (and I won’t be surprised when it’s confirmed he’s a right-wing conspiracy adherent) killing Democratic lawmakers. The administration fans these flames. Florida sheriffs now say it’s legal to run over protestors with your car if they’re in your way.

Protesters at Chicago’s No Kings rally on June 14, 2025, holding signs against Trump and in support of immigrants. Visible signs include “Immigrants Make America Great,” “MAGA Terrorists Will Not Prevail,” and “Resist the Erosion of the Constitution.” Large crowd gathered in downtown Chicago.

When people ask if I feel homesick or if I ever consider moving back, my answer is simple: I don’t.

The country I left feels very different now. And that’s heartbreaking.

What gives me hope are the protests happening today. Masses of people rising up to say No. No to authoritarian overreach. No to manufactured fear. No to the erosion of decency.

Large crowd at Chicago’s No Kings protest on June 14, 2025. Demonstrators hold signs with messages including “No Kings,” “Resist the False King,” “Dissent Is Patriotic,” “Freedom Not Fascism,” and “No Fascists in America.” Multiple U.S. flags visible in the crowd.

No one serious is arguing for fully open borders. But the U.S. still lacks a clear, rational system for immigration. Trump’s latest proposal is a “gold card” — $5 million for fast-track citizenship. It’s not only absurd, it’s wide open to exploitation. There are already visas for investors: $1 million for businesses, $800k for targeted lower-income areas. Smart investors won’t hand over $5 million with no returns.

Argentina isn’t perfect either.

The bureaucracy here can be maddening. Rules change mid-process. And as in most countries, some immigrants are treated better than others depending on where they’re from, how much they earn, or who they know. Argentina has its quiet hierarchies too.

But for all its flaws, the system here never felt designed to break you. There’s still a door open, even if the hallway behind it is crooked.

On No Kings Day, I’m grateful for the chance to build a life somewhere else. But I grieve for the place I once called home.