Immigrant Heritage Week

We celebrated NYC Immigrant Heritage Week at the Stonewall Visitors Center. How befitting to honor New York City's rich immigrant history at the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ movement, a place that has become a symbol of global resistance.

Community Insight: The Reality for LGBTQ Newcomers. The evening opened with brief but powerful remarks from Rachel Einbund, Esq., who shed light on the unthinkable realities facing members of our community.

Rachel Einbund, Esq

"A few weeks ago, Edafe called me with an urgent question. A Senegalese friend of Refuge America was supposed to have his final hearing date, and the night before, it was canceled with a one-page explanation stating that this individual was ordered deported to Uganda. No notice. No right to reply. No right to explain why being sent to Uganda is actually more dangerous than Senegal. This is unjust, unfair and frankly dangerous. I am here to say: Enough.

Immigration attorneys like myself are working tirelessly to protect our community from these unlawful and inhumane policies. Some challenges have succeeded. Some have not. But make no mistake, this is not simply a policy shift. It is a structural redefinition of asylum protections, a move away from protection-first toward deterrence-first. For LGBTQ asylum seekers, a 'third country' too often means another site of persecution, not refuge."

Special Guest: Henry Trieu in Conversation with Dan Friedman

The heart of the evening centered on a deeply moving conversation between our special guest Henry Trieu and Refuge America Co-founder Dan Friedman. Henry shared his remarkable journey of migration and resilience. His family tree stretches back to China. His father migrated from China to Vietnam, and after the family became refugees, they were resettled in San Francisco. Henry arrived in the United States at 14 years old, speaking no English. Like so many newcomers, his family survived on used clothing and lived in one of the most difficult parts of the city.

But the resilience of the immigrant community began to take hold. People started buying new cars, opening grocery stores, and moving into better neighborhoods. Henry himself received an invitation from Cornell University to apply, but fear of being mocked for his English held him back.

Henry went on to become a designer and opened a restaurant called Falansai, a fusion of the foods he grew up with: Vietnamese, French and Chinese. His father had also owned a restaurant, and Henry was following a road map etched deep into his lineage. As he noted, food is the way most immigrants stay connected to their roots and to a sense of home.

Jessica Brecker of Catholic Charities and Chia-Chia Wang of Church World Service.

Our grand finale featured representatives from the New York City Immigrant Resettlement Initiative (NYC-IRI): Jessica Brecker of Catholic Charities and Chia-Chia Wang of Church World Service. They echoed Henry's sentiments, sharing stories of clients who have rebuilt their lives through refugee resettlement services. They called on the New York City Council to commit 5 million dollars to expand resettlement resources and serve 4,000 more NYC immigrants.

We are Refuge America. We are honored to use our space and our voice to lift up immigrants, and to celebrate the resilience and courage they carry, even in the face of overwhelming fear.