NYC Immigrant Heritage Week 2026
April 16, 2026
Hosted by Refuge America Inc.
Refuge America invites you to celebrate NYC Immigrant Heritage Week 2026. In collaboration with New York City Immigrant Resettlement Initiative (NYC-IRI). The resettlement agencies in NYC (CCCS, IRC, CAMBA, Commonpoint, and Church World Service)
Guests will enjoy: A tour of the exhibition at this historic site.
A jukebox experience featuring music that defined an era of courage and change
Food by Eat Offbeat
GUEST SPEAKER
Henry Trieu
He arrived in the United States from Vietnam at 14 as a refugee and grew up in San Francisco. He studied art at the University of California, Davis, then pivoted to digital design at the start of the Silicon Valley dot-com era, building a long career in tech while also working as a cook on weekends.
After moving to New York, he left corporate design in 2013 to open Falansai, a Vietnamese restaurant in Brooklyn that earned consistent Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition. He later sold the restaurant during the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to design.
He lives in New York with his family. As a former refugee, I find the ability to travel for pleasure a great blessing.
Special Guest of Honor
Council Member Elsie Encarnacion (Chair) of City Council’s Committee on Immigration
Assembly Member Tony Simone.
Tony Simone represents the 75th Assembly District, covering Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown and part of the Lincoln Center area in Manhattan.
About the Event
In 1613, Juan Rodriguez became the first recorded immigrant to arrive in what would become New York. In 1907, Ellis Island saw more than 11,000 arrivals in a single day. Today, that spirit of arrival continues—though the journey looks different.
A More Perfect Quilt is a community gathering honoring the layered identities that shape New York: immigrant, queer, seeker of safety, builder of culture. Like a quilt, our city is stitched together by stories of movement, courage, and belonging.
A focused conversation on the realities facing LGBTQIA+ newcomers: legal barriers, chosen family networks, faith, housing, and creative resistance.
Sponsors
We are grateful for the partners helping make this gathering possible:
Ally Sponsor: Joyce Bernstein
Funding made possible by The Puffin Foundation Ltd