Family experience motivates La Esperanza leader

Bryant Garcia’s work as executive director of La Esperanza, a group that assists immigrants primarily in the Sussex County area, is motivated by a family story.

When Garcia’s father immigrated to the United States from El Salvador, he was assisted by a sister who was already living here. She helped him access housing and other necessities.

“Because she was such a big support and because [my father] had legal status, his primary task when he first got here was to get an education,” Garcia said. “That gave him a leg up. He was able to learn English, he was able to develop skills, and he was able to go and have a very successful career in the New York Stock Exchange.”

Garcia said that influenced his career goals, to provide assistance to other Latino people coming to the United States.

He was born and raised in Jersey City, N.J., and graduated from the University of Delaware, where he majored in Latin American studies and minored in anthropology. Garcia, 34, and his wife have a 2-year-old daughter and a 14-month-old son.

Garcia’s father retired, and he and his wife, a native of Ecuador, moved their family to Greenwood in Sussex County to be closer to relatives when Bryant Garcia was a junior in high school.

He has been with La Esperanza for 11 years, beginning as a part-time employee. He was named co-executive director with Jennifer Fuqua in May 2023, then became the lone executive director this year when Fuqua left the agency. 

La Esperanza provides services to help immigrants get established and thrive, Garcia said. That involves navigating federal bureaucracies to obtain documentation and legal assistance, in some instances. 

“We’ve always been the place where newcomers come to ask questions and to find resources,” he said. “But part of the services we provide is to also help newcomers empower themselves, to learn and grow, and be people who can also advocate for themselves and do things for themselves.”

The agency each year helps 3,000 to 4,000 newcomers, mostly Latinos. Garcia gave credit to his staff of 10 full-time employees and about a dozen part-timers.

In the 1980s and 1990s, a wave of people leaving Central America and Mexico, coming to the United States, contributed to the creation of La Esperanza by three nuns, he said.

Some of those people found work in the seasonal produce and year-round poultry and service industries of Delaware, Garcia said.

“A lot of people saw that as a way to stabilize themselves and build a future here,” he said.

The first were young men looking for work, who were followed by their spouses and children. Other family members and neighbors also came when they heard of opportunities in Delaware.

“Little by little, Delaware becomes a more popular place to settle because there is a community here where they can actually find some support, whether it’s friends or family that have been here for a while,” Garcia said. “And also work is available.”

Some have gone on to establish their own businesses.

“A lot of immigrants and Latinos are business owners,” Garcia said. “There are a lot of businesses that are owned by Latino families or immigrant families.” 

As it has grown, the Latino community has become more of a political force, Garcia said. Some have won state office, and the community’s concerns are now considered in creation of legislation, he said. 

When the state driving privilege card was created nearly a decade ago, the interests of Latinos were considered. The driver license is available to foreign residents who are unable to produce legal presence in the United States and meet some eligibility requirements. It has proven to be an important document for immigrants to obtain a license and insurance, Garcia said.

Politics and business are two areas where the Latino community’s influence is growing, he said. A goal is to achieve elected office at the local level.

“The conversations that I’m involved in, there is this desire to grow, to retain talent here, local Latino talent, and also growing people,” Garcia said. “Part of it is, you’re a young immigrant person and all you’ve heard in your life is there’s no place for you, or you’re not capable, or you shouldn’t be involved with this or that. It discourages people from being involved. I think shifting the conversation to reminding everyone and anyone, you can be a part of this, you can develop yourself into a leader and work in politics and do work in politics. I think with that, we’ll start seeing more leaders come up.”

La Esperanza and the community have made it through challenges, he said.

“This community is very resilient,” Garcia said. “Many people have been able to establish themselves here with nothing, to build up to having a family safely here and building up their family and building up their life here. All of that speaks to the resilience of the immigrants and Latino community and the people who work here.”

A national crackdown on immigration has caused concerns, but Latinos will persevere, he said.

“It’s what strengthens us in the midst of all the rhetoric,” Garcia said. “It makes it scary, but it also pushes us to continue to do what we set out to do. It reminds us of our mission. It reminds us of the story that we’re telling.”

His family’s story parallels those of other Latino families helped by La Esperanza.

“I see how my family was able to thrive because they had opportunities, and my hope is that all of these families have opportunities,” he said.

“We’re not handing them anything,” Garcia said. “They’re doing it. And they’re doing it because those barriers have been reduced and those opportunities have been presented. People, when they have an opportunity, they thrive.”