Stories
Mousa’s Story
IJC connects hundreds of people with legal representation that can change the course of their lives. One of these individuals is Mousa, who our partners in Colorado connected us with when he was being detained by ICE at the detention facility in Aurora, CO. Mousa is from an East African… Read More
Sandra Campuzano
In August 2021, after more than two decades living in the United States as a Green Card holder and serving in the U.S. military, Sandra Campuzano will finally become an American citizen. “I’ve always felt like I belonged here,” she says. But Donald Trump’s anti-immigration platform changed things. “All of… Read More
Michael Burtov
In 1989, when Michael Burtov was nine, his family fled anti-Jewish persecution in the Soviet Union and resettled as refugees in Lynn, Massachusetts. “There was a lot of anti-Soviet, anti-Russian sentiment at the time, and I was bullied,” he recalls. But he was determined to seize American opportunity. After graduating… Read More
Gerard Philippeaux
Gerard Philippeaux grew up in Haiti, admiring the legacy of two fathers. His biological dad spoke three languages, had two advanced degrees and worked in political administration. After his father passed away from cancer when Philippeaux was nine, his mother remarried a man who worked for the Haitian Foreign Service. Read More
Luisa Santos
In 1998, Luisa Santos’ family moved to Miami from Colombia to seek better opportunities. In America, Santos was awestruck by the fancy computers, book-filled libraries and even the air conditioning. In high school, she joined the Future Business Leaders of America and was elected to student government—opportunities that didn’t exist… Read More
Jeannie Tim Wong
When Jeannie Tim Wong came to Miami from Hong Kong to attend Florida International University, she felt like a fish out of water. One day at the campus canteen, she watched a student selling cupcakes for a fundraiser approach every table except hers. Not long after, another student asked whether… Read More
Iraqi Refugee Helps Other Newcomers Settle in Lincoln
Maysoon ShaheenDoctoral Student and Ambassador for Local Arabic Community Maysoon Shaheen fled Iraq in 1998 during Saddam Hussein’s regime, a move that likely saved her life. In order to receive her bachelor’s in education, Shaheen was required to sign a form saying she supported Saddam. She refused and escaped… Read More
Mexican Artist Finds Community in Lincoln
David ManzanaresMural and Sculpture Artist In 2017, David Manzanares moved to Lincoln with his Nebraskan-born wife and two sons, then ages 3 and 1. Manzanares is a mural and sculpture artist whose work often revolves around his Oaxacan heritage. He hoped America would help expand his audience and provide… Read More
Laotian Refugee Gives Back to Lincoln Community
Soulinnee PhanCity of Lincoln City Clerk Soulinnee Phan’s parents came to Nebraska from Laos, fleeing the Communists. A few years prior, they’d swum for their lives across the Mekong River and met at a Thai refugee camp. By the time Phan’s mother boarded a military plane to America in… Read More
Eugenie Kirenga
In 2005, Eugenie Kirenga traveled with her one-year-old son from Rwanda to the United States to visit her two sisters who were attending school in Pittsburgh, PA. But as her return date approached, news broke that Rwandan soldiers, who had left the country during the genocide, were returning to the… Read More
Make a contribution
Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.
