two-thirds of whom identify as Latino. It was once a settlement area for the skilled weavers from Barranquilla, Colombia, who were recruited by the mill owners in the 1960s, says oral historian Marta V. Martínez. The Dominicans followed to work in the jewelry factories, and word-of-mouth brought many more Latinos.
“ They told others,‘ It’ s this beautiful place. Very quiet.’ They eventually brought the families, and that’ s how the community grew,” she says.
The Tabares family immigrated to Central Falls in 2001 from Medellín, Colombia, in search of small-town living, says Cristian Tabares. They worked factory jobs until 2006, when the owner of a six-seat eatery, tired of commuting between his Boston and Broad Street locations, offered the family a good deal.
Tabares’ mother, Doña Gloria, had been a chef in Colombia, but her three sons knew nothing about the restaurant business.
Rhode Island Immigrants By the Numbers
175,000: number of immigrants 81,000: number of noncitizens in 2024
50,000: estimated number of undocumented immigrants
2,800: immigrant cooks or chefs
7,000: immigrants( documented and undocumented) in construction
16 percent: immigrants’ contribution to state GDP in 2023
20 percent: immigrants who are small business owners
$ 95 million: the estimated contribution of undocumented immigrants’ state and local tax revenue.
Source: The Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Mass Deportation in Rhode Island, by the Economic Progress Institute, Latino Policy Institute, and Immigration Research Initiative
The baker followed his old boss to Boston, but taught Cristian how to make traditional breads like pandebono. Each morning, Tabares drove to Boston at 1 a. m. and was back in Central Falls by 4 a. m. to reproduce his lesson. Customers rated his first efforts as“ not good,” he recalls.“ I almost wanted to cry, but we don’ t quit.”
They named their little restaurant“ La Casona”— the big house— and then made it so. In 2012, the three brothers opened their current location, with an airy two-story dining room, outside dining patio and bakery. During the first three months of Trump’ s second term, high-profile immigration enforcement turned Broad Street into a ghost town; some people have trickled back, but“ it’ s still not easy,” Tabares says. Sales are down 40 percent. But he doesn’ t want to dwell on that. The World Cup was coming up; there were watch parties to plan.
“ We want to keep moving.”
Immigration remains a polarizing issue along partisan lines, but a variety of 2026 surveys from the University of Chicago, the Pew Research Center and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, among others, indicate that American attitudes have flipped in the last eighteen months. Large swaths of Americans disapprove of Trump’ s aggressive tactics; support for ICE has dropped significantly. Majorities support a legal pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and birthright citizenship.
That’ s a good sign for those writing the beginning of their American immigration story. Botha’ s spring was stressful, waiting for a Social Security number so he could find work and support his family. But he says“ we are up to the challenge; I can move a mountain if I want to. I’ m very happy to be here. I love the culture and the people. It’ s a cliche, but we have this American dream.”
And perhaps this change of heart gives comfort to families trying to rewrite the ending of theirs.
Casty and Lay Souvannaxab have a plan: Establish his life in Laos and focus on educating the kids in America. If nothing changes, they’ ll sell the house and Casty will join Lay there; the kids will be adults and can decide where they want to be. But Casty hasn’ t given up on a legal path back.
“ He didn’ t get due process, so his lawyer never had a chance to fight for him,” she says.“ I’ m really hoping to get him back home.” 🆁
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