Jacqueline Pagano

The Immigrant Story Live Podcast

Introducing, The Immigrant Story Live, our new series that brings you voices from the stage. In 2019, the Immigrant Story began hosting live storytelling events

Sankar Raman

War Doesn’t Stop in Iraq

Ghaith Shahib fled Iraq as the United States prepared to invade his country. Instead of finishing high school, he left home on a harrowing journey across the globe  

John Rudoff

A Key To The American Dream

“I was pregnant when the U.S. invaded,” recalls Murooj Alshawi. “When I heard the bombs, I started shaking and didn’t even feel my daughter in my stomach.  

Sankar Raman

A Whirlwind of Unsettlement

This is a story of a man whose determination, courage, ability to deal with unexpected adversity, and willingness to take risks brought him from war-torn Iraq 

Desert to Oregon, a Paintbrush in Hand

Hussein Al-Baiaty was born in Iraq during the first Gulf War. To escape the dangerous living conditions, he and his family fled to a refugee camp in Saudi Arabia.

Woman Without a Country

As the daughter of an Iraqi, Eman Abbas and her family faced severe discrimination in her home country of Kuwait during the 1980s when the country enacted

Jim Lommasson

Flags, Kurdish Area, Northern Iraq

Khairi Al-Karsafi : Iraqi Flag, Yazidi Flag, American Flag. The respect for the flag is a national duty: I am born as Izidi, my land is Iraq, and my country […]

Jim Lommasson

Wedding, Kurdish Area, Northern Iraq

Khairi Al-Karsafi: Top Arrow: This family picture was taken at the Khairi Al-Karsafi wedding back in 1994 in Iraq. Left Arrow: My wife Najad.

Sankar Raman

Painting his way around the world

On a Wednesday afternoon in 2003, Samir Khurshid burned his own painting. The rest of his 480 works were also destroyed that year, he said, in his hometown of Tus, […]

Jim Lommasson

Barat, Kurdish Area, Northern Iraq

Diar Alkhalo: Top Left: This is called Barat. Barat is made of soil from the holiest Yazidi temple, Lalish. Religious Yazidis at Lalish make the Barat on one night of […]

Sankar Raman

From Bullets to Building

Marbles, three books of short Kurdish stories written in Arabic, and two AK-47 rounds. “With war always going on, those were my trophies (to take with me),”

Jim Lommasson

Wedding Party, Kirkuk, Iraq

Samir Khurshid Memory: I carry this photo with me. It is the wedding party of my brother “Noori” when I was in Turkey in 2008 away from my family. I […]

Jim Lommasson

Member of Our Family, Iraq

Zainab Al Qasiri: Tito is a member of our family, I could not leave her behind. I think this story is full of humanity. The hardest time of my lifewas […]

Jim Lommasson

I Haven’t Brought Anything, Iraq

Endrious Esho: “My name is Endrious Esho. I am from Nenwah, Iraq. I haven’t brought anything from my home. We left home because of ISIS attack in our areas. We […]

Jim Lommasson

Friends, Baghdad, Iraq

Sarmad Al Mayyah: Memories of My Friends I Left in Baghdad, Iraq. I laugh every time I see this photo… …and at the same time, I am sad because I […]