Over de grens kijkend: St Louis' open armen richting immigranten
Ibrahim Vajzovic sits behind a large wooden desk at First Bosnian Insurance Agency, the company he started in St. Louis eight years ago, and talks about the values of education and hard work. It’s one of three businesses he owns, in addition to teaching a course at Webster University, a liberal arts college in Webster Groves. Vajzovic, 53, who came to the U.S. in 1994 as a war refugee from Bosnia, is the portrait of a striving, successful immigrant that business leaders would like to see replicated, by the thousands. They say nothing short of St. Louis (USCUSTLO)’s survival as a major American city is at stake. Enlarge image St. Louis Welcome Mat Says Help Wanted From Huddled Masses For much of its history, St. Louis was a place people wanted to be. Its “Gateway to the West” motto was earned during westward expansion in the 1800s and German immigrants steamed up the Mississippi River to settle there. Photographer: Karen Bleier/AFP via Getty Images While states such as Arizona an...