He immigrated to Detroit, Michigan, in 1912. He arrived from Palermo with the SS Ancona, landing in Ellis island the 4 June 1912. He came back to Sicily, but then returned in 1913, arriving from Palermo with the SS Perugia, landing in Ellis island the 13 April 1913. In the 1912 ship manifest his surname was spelled Catalanotto, the variant mainly used on the Valle del Belice in western Sicily, but in the 1913 ship manifest his surname was spelled Catalanotti, the variant mainly used on the western sicilian coastal communities. Catalanotte is likely an English rendering of the latter variant.