Stories
Filipino Immigrant “Pays the Generosity Forward”
Patricia Blasquez was finishing graduate school—among the first of five siblings to do so—when her father, Alberto, shared a story he’d so far kept from his children, one about his own immigrant journey. Alberto and Marietta Blasquez had immigrated to the United States—Patricia was 12 at the time—on a visa… Read More
Tanzanian Immigrant Gives Back to Community, Impacting “One Person at a Time”
Maria Mosomi runs a behavioral health clinic that sees about 200 patients a week—anyone struggling with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, and more. As a nurse practitioner, she can prescribe medicine. As the owner of her own clinic, she can take the time to listen. “I wanted… Read More
Mexican Immigrant Leads Advocacy Work to Promote Sensible Immigration Reform, Helping Pave Opportunities for Immigrant Community
Juan Carlos Cerda shares a worry with some 580,000 immigrants in America: Will this be the year he’s kicked out of the country? Will the United States ever create a path to permanent residency that allows him to feel secure in the only home he’s known? Juan Carlos’ parents brought… Read More
Chinese Immigrant Gives Back as Community Leader, Business Owner, and Non-Profit Co-Founder
It was during the Great Recession, with work slow, that a colleague of Ken Tse’s invited him on a mission trip to Cuba, where they provided donations and encouragement to those in need. “Even though the country was in turmoil, full of poverty, and they didn’t have much,” he said. Read More
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
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