Immigrant Voices Podcast Project
by Deborah
The Immigrant Voices Podcast Project brings you the voices of the courageous people who have made the U.S. their home. In their own words, you’ll hear about the lives and people they left behind in their native countries, their journeys here, their struggles and successes. You’ll hear from parents of “dreamers,” “dreamers” themselves, undocumented to naturalized citizens, and everything in between.
Episodes
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George from Lebanon
George dreamed of coming to the U.S. to further his education as a young man, but Lebanese politics got in the way of a student visa. When he was married with children, a family health crisis brought him to the U.S. for 5 months in 2018. The catastrophic explosion in Beirut in the summer of 2020...
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Milsy from the Dominican Republic
Open to adventure and romance, at the age of 21, Milsy decided to leave the Dominican Republic to join her boyfriend in the United States. “Why not?” she said, and got her passport and visa. Within a year of her arrival, they married. When the relationship fell apart, Milsy was left to support...
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Rudi from Guatemala
Pay for teaching at a private school in Guatemala barely brought in enough money for Rudi to support himself. And certainly not enough to repay his parents for the sacrifices they had made for him. Instead, he decided to join his sister in the States to better his circumstances and be able to…
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Irani from Brazil
With poor prospects for college or broadening her horizons, Irani left her family farm in a remote part of Brazil in 1994 to join her brother and sister in the States. Her initial plan was to earn money and return to Brazil to buy a home there. Plans changed when she met her husband and settled...
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Remzi from Turkey
Since his elementary school days in Turkey, Remzi’s passion for history, geography, and meeting people worldwide has never ceased. In his early 20s, he befriended American GIs stationed in Turkey to practice his English. His career as a professional tour guide took off as he showed them the...
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Pedro from El Salvador
As a teenager and bait for gang recruitment, Pedro reluctantly fled El Salvador. This young father had to leave his wife and newborn son to seek asylum in the U.S., only to find himself ten years later deported. With his life threatened by gangs and his desperate need to return to his growing...
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Xiomara from El Salvador
On course to become a graphic designer in her native country, Xiomara decided instead to join her husband, Pedro. He had escaped to the U.S. to avoid the violence and pressures local gangs in El Salvador exerted on young men. Leaving the familiar with no sense of what was facing her and unable to...
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Archange from Haiti
A few months after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Archange, a trained and certified accountant but jobless, left Haiti to join his sister in the U.S. His journey here started a more extensive personal and professional journey in his new home. Working first as a supermarket clerk and personal...
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Jenny From Vietnam
An enterprising and resilient teenager in Vietnam, Jenny learned the art of sewing, creating stylish clothing for herself, her family, and her neighbors. Two more careers unfolded before marrying and coming to the U.S. at 30. Once here, this energetic, intelligent woman struggled through culture...
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William from Guatemala
At an early age, William had dreams of growing buildings instead of the crops that his parents raised on their rural farm in Guatemala. In the 90s, as an 18-year-old, he came to the United States to widen his horizons and pursue his goals. Once here, he moved from restaurant worker to landscaper,...
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Sandra from Colombia
After the government threatened her livelihood as a trained social worker who championed the homeless, mentally ill, and gay population in a small Colombian town, 24-year-old Sandra sought asylum in the U.S. She soon found work in the restaurant industry, providing enough flexibility to care for...
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Yongxing from China
Exposed to the United States through Hollywood films, Yongxing developed a craving for all things American. When a business trip brought him here for the first time, his infatuation with our country grew into a full-blown romance, and he decided to relocate. After obtaining green cards for…
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Caio from Brazil
Now In his mid-20s, Caio came to this country from Brazil with his parents when he was four years old. Although he has siblings still in Brazil, he hasn’t met them. Even though with the help of technology, he has grown up with them, it is not the same. Caio is a Dreamer—a very accomplished,...
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Maria from Guatemala
As she looked back over her thirteen years as an immigrant in the U.S., Maria’s biggest regret after leaving Guatemala and walking through a desert filled with venomous snakes, not enough food and water, was the good-byes she never said to friends and family. Especially family members now…
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Aleide from Brazil
Curious to experience life abroad and improve their finances, Aleide and her husband Adson—whose interview was one of the first in this series—decided to emigrate to the United States from Brazil in 2007. Their twin daughters were in college, old enough to take care of themselves, and so the...
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Sarah from Iran
Ever since receiving her green card hours before the travel ban in 2017, Sarah is able to navigate between two worlds. With her residency card and on a path for citizenship, she can still visit family left behind in Iran while residing in the U.S. Working as a pediatrician in Iran for over 25...
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Geraldo from Brazil
Out of economic need and a desire to improve his family’s lifestyle, Geraldo and his wife arrived in the United States with their youngest son and a ten-year visa. Despite his college education in law and experience in banking, Geraldo rolled up his sleeves to clean houses and restaurants. As the...
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Yenny from Venezuela
In their search for political asylum, Yenny and her children escaped Venezuela in 2015 to make their way to the United States. Unable to speak or understand English but with a determination to master the language, Yenny approached the task with the same vigor she had called on to earn her...
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Adriane from Brazil
With poor job prospects, and feeling unsafe in her native country, Adriane decided to leave Brazil and follow her mother and brother to the states in 2003. Crossing the border from Mexico into Texas proved a challenge, especially the last three days without food and water, a place to sleep, and...
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Soe Soe from Myanmar (Burma)
When the events of 9/11, 2001 caused the U.S. to cancel all visas to Myanmar, Soe Soe reapplied. Her urgent goal was to come to Boston to join family members already settled in the States. She needed to help her ailing father and give her younger sister a hand with the care of her first born…
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Blanca from Guatemala
In a search for a better life and to escape violence and the oppression she felt as a young woman in Guatemala, Blanca and her husband decided to pursue the American Dream. They left their two young children in the care of her mother-in-law and started out for this country on January first 14…
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Silvia from Honduras
Raised on a farm in poverty in Honduras, the youngest of seven siblings, Silvia’s prospects for bettering her life were slim. One sister had already emigrated to the United States and Silvia at the age of nineteen decided to follow. Along her treacherous journey, in the midst of traveling on…
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Gloria from Brazil
When her marriage fell apart, Gloria decided to answer her brother's invitation to emigrate to the U.S. from Brazil with her two small girls. She needed to start her life over again. The prospect of staying in Brazil with her mother whose child-rearing philosophy was in conflict with Gloria's was...
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Lelys from Venezuela
On a quest for adventure, Lelys traveled to Spain from Venezuela in 2016. An accomplished language teacher of Portuguese and Italian, her career plan A was to make her living in Europe teaching languages. That’s when she met her Spanish husband to be—a long time Bostonian— on vacation in Madrid....
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Valtecir from Brazil
When three attempts to gain a visa to the United States failed, Valtecir did not give up his dream. After 28 days traveling from Brazil through Mexico, he made it across the border. Unable to say more than “how are you?” and “goodbye,” he set out to learn enough English to work for non-Portuguese...
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Connie from Colombia
In 2013, Connie knew her life in Colombia was in danger. In her eagerness to escape, she gave thousands of dollars to someone who had promised to safely escort her to the U.S. Instead, he brought her to Panama, then on to the Bahamas where he left her and three more Colombians, dumping them into…
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Hermelinda from Peru
While Hermelinda pursued a degree in early childhood education from the University in Peru in the mid 80s, she interrupted her studies to come to Boston to help her ailing sister. Her advanced education in her native country did not translate to a career in her field because she knew no English....
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Adson from Brazil
Once their daughters were enrolled in University in Brazil, Adson and his wife Aleide, left behind their careers to live life abroad. Culture shock hit hard. Not just the language and the food, but the snow and a sudden career change made Adson’s adjustment tough. As a concert coordinator,...
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Perla from Guatemala
At the age of six, Perla came to the U.S. from Guatemala. As memories of her homeland faded, she learned the vocabulary of her new country while never abandoning the culture and language of her parents. Despite crowded living conditions, and the ever-present threat of deportation, Perla’s...
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Nicolasa from the Dominican Republic
Nicolasa came to this country from the Dominican Republic at the age of 18 in 1987. Her journey to pursue her education was a long, rocky road that started with her earning her GED days before the birth of her third child. She suffered so many interruptions and delays in realizing her dream, but...
About this show
The Immigrant Voices Podcast Project brings you the voices of the courageous people who have made the U.S. their home. In their own words, you’ll hear about the lives and people they left behind in their native countries, their journeys here, their struggles and successes. You’ll hear from parents of “dreamers,” “dreamers” themselves, undocumented to naturalized citizens, and everything in between.
Hosted by
Deborah
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