Immigrant Stories

Botn in Lucban, Quezon province, in the Philippines in 1917, Josefine Guerrero was orphaned at a young age and grew up in the care of Catholic nuns. She married a medical student when she was only 16 years old, and the couple had a daughter when Josefina was 18. But in 1941, when Josefina was only… Learn more

Born in Madrid, Spain, around 1828, Carlos Alvarez de la Mesa immigrated to the United States and settled in New York, leaving a large family behind in Spain. He married his wife, Fannie, in 1861, right before he left to join the Union Army, serving in the 39th New York Volunteer Infantry… Learn more

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1926, Herbert Kohn could trace his family’s lineage in the region back to the 1400s. His father, Leo, was a World War I veteran and worked in the leather business. After Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, Kohn was expelled from public school because he was Jewish. He… Learn more

Alexander and Yevgeny Vindman, twins born in Soviet-era Ukraine, came to the United States as refugees when they were three years old. Their father, recently widowed, sought exit visas for himself, his three children, and his mother-in-law. As Jewish people in a Soviet republic, few opportunities… Learn more

Born in Burkina Faso in 1997, Ange Samma came to the United States when he was a teenager. With permanent resident (Green Card) status, but without citizenship, he decided to enlist in the U.S. Army in 2018. He hoped to become a citizen quickly and further his career goals of becoming an electrical… Learn more