Immigrant of the Day: Steve Ly, Mayor of Elk Grove, California (Laos)
Photo courtesy of the Sacramento Bee
Stephen Magagnani of the Sacramento Bee has a nice story on our Immigrant of the Day, Steve Ly, who recently won election as Mayor of Elk Grove, a suburb of Sacramento. “When Hmong refugee Steve Ly was elected mayor of suburban Elk Grove . . . was celebrated worldwide. His successful campaign to become the nation’s first Hmong mayor was backed by Hmong in Minnesota and Wisconsin, who contributed more than $10,000 to help him get elected.”
“The Hmong in the U.S. have reached a milestone and they’re very happy,” said Ly, 43, who will preside over a suburb of more than 162,000 residents. “I’ve gotten messages from Hmong in China, France, South America. America, Canada, Australia and Southeast Asia.”
Ly fled communist Laos with his family when he was 4 years old. The first member of his family to go to college, he graduated from UC Davis, where he worked his way through school as a janitor. He later graduated from law school and works for the Sacramento County Board of Education, where he provides academic support and counseling to youths in juvenile hall.
KJ