The Immigrant Voice

The Bosnian War took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995.  Aida was a young girl living there with her parents and sister during that time.  She vividly remembers them hiding in their basement while hearing bombs exploding outside and having to stand in long lines for food that was rationed.  This became their way of life until they were able to escape.  They fled to Norway as refugees, but eventually, they were a...

Zubair immigrated from Afghanistan to the U.S. only three years ago with his wife and six kids. After a childhood ravaged by war, memories from carnage and fear still follow him today.

With constant threats of suicide bombings, a corrupt system, and civil unrest from the Taliban, Zubair would watch his country unravel. 

Although there were many obstacles, that didn’t stop Zubair from succeeding. He studied law while he lived in Pakis...

Rick left Vietnam at 12 years old with his sister on a small fishing boat crammed with other people well beyond its maximum capacity. The danger he and his sister were facing was enough for his mother to put them on this boat without her in hopes that they would find safety elsewhere. 

 Not knowing where he would and his sister would end up, imminent danger awaited at sea as he sailed further and further away from his home.  His voy...

Born and raised in the U.S., Lavinia would question her culture and what it means to be a second-generation immigrant.  She clashed with the feeling that she was too Tongan for America and too American for Tonga. 

Her family holds on tight to their Tongan culture and ties, which meant growing up she was taught that women have a box to fit in.  Limited by her mother’s constraints on the ideal female role led Lavinia to question her i...

Gayana came to the states at 9 years old on an F-1 student visa to live with her grandmother. Her parents stayed in Russia where they had all immigrated after an earthquake in Armenia devasted their home. Prior to living in Armenia, she and her family lived in Azerbaijan but had to flee the violent war that was raging.  

As a young girl, she worked hard to find her place in America. She started fourth grade toward the end of it not ...

Hilde lost everything within 48 hours. It was like the American movies she saw on television as a kid, playing out in real life with plot twists waiting around every corner.

Hilde is German and Venezuelan, her mother German, and her father, Venezuelan. She grew up in a German colony in Venezuela with her parents and two little sisters. She seemed to have everything, a family maid, a personal chauffeur, and a father who had a prestig...

Illens immigrated from Haiti to the states more than 34 years ago with his wife and a common pursuit to pursue their education. Now, years later, he is a father, an entrepreneur, and an author. Illens coaches and trains small business owners, which he is deeply passionate about as he knows all too well how lonely the road can be for entrepreneurs. 

In this episode, he also talks about how to be welcomed by the Haitian people if you ...

Jonny and Miranda met in 2016 during a vacation to New Orleans. He was visiting from England, and Miranda was on a girls trip.  Realizing something special was forming, they stayed in touch when they went their separate ways after the trip, but soon enough, their relationship turned into more. 

Although they lived an ocean apart, they were fortunate enough to see each other but of course, not as often as they would have liked to, an...

This episode is an interview with Selena, who is not an immigrant herself, but has experienced the ups and downs of the immigration process, nonetheless.  Growing up, she had the constant reminder that her parents did not have legal status. They had entered the U.S. undocumented, which caused fear and uncertainty within her family’s structure because of the constant fear of deportation. Selena was also confronted by the hardships t...

Cesar moved to Utah in 2015 from New York City, a city that gave him grit and determination, which would serve him well. He moved to the United States with his family when he was four years old from the Dominican Republic.  As Cesar grew up and became an avid baseball player, he began to question his parents about why he couldn’t do some of the things his teammates got to do. He later came to understand what not having legal status...

On January 30, 2020, the Utah Supreme Court enacted a rule that would allow undocumented immigrants to practice law in Utah.  When Heidi started law school, the bar rules did not allow for that.  She is one of the two Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (DACA) recipients who petitioned the court for this change, making Utah a part of 10 other states that allow undocumented immigrants to practice law. 

Heidi is from Oaxaca, Mexico, an...

As a successful entrepreneur, Hourt has embraced his independence without giving up his culture’s traditional family values. His story is a tale of the true American Dream. Hourt was born in a refugee camp on the border of Thailand and Cambodia after his parents fled the brutality of the Khmer Rouge. Once his family was sponsored by the Lutheran church to bring them to the United States, they moved into low-income housing in the Wa...

Tracey is from Trinidad and Tobago, a dual-island country lined in the Caribbean.  With grandparents from Lebanon on one side and great-great-grandparents from East India on the other, Tracey knows all too well what a melting pot of cultures looks like.  Her husband’s pursuit of his dream to be able to become a U.S trained surgeon led them to moving to San Antonio, Texas in 2010. 

Tracey has her own family now and she can’t help but...

Simón is a successful corporate attorney in Utah, and an immigrant from El Salvador. A story of great turmoil and the unknown as his family left their war-torn country, Simón found ways to brave the obstacles that stood in his and his family’s journey to the U.S.  Although, his initial impression of the U.S. as a young child was not all that he had hoped it would be (his family left El Salvador to escape crime, drugs, and violence ...

On June 26, 2015, same-sex marriage became legal across the United States. For Leon, this was a pivotal moment, and it would mean he would be able to finally marry the love of his life, Bart, whom he had been with for many years.  

Leon is an immigrant from Australia and decided as a young adult he would go on a two-year mission for his church, which brought him to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he served the mission. He fell in love w...

Chau’s parents immigrated to the United States from Vietnam as refugees with their four young children. Chau was later born in a refugee camp in Indonesia, and she and her family made their way to the United States when she was still a baby.  Although her parents had their ideas of what success meant for their children, Chau did not follow that path.  Instead, she's pursued her passion as a stand-up comic, became a big sister ...