Most families in America have an immigration story. Maybe it’s your story or your parents’. Maybe it lives in old photographs, family recipes, or stories passed down around the dinner table.
From the railroads and stockyards to the schools, businesses, and neighborhoods we know today, Nebraska has been shaped by generations of immigrants who came here seeking the opportunity to build a better life. For immigrant and refugee families in Nebraska today, those stories aren’t history yet — they’re still being written.
Below are some of the stories our neighbors have shared with us. We’d love to add yours to the collection.
FAMILY ROOTS: CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
Karla
My family migrated to the United States in August of 1995 for my father’s job. My family left behind all of our family, friends, pets, and home behind when we moved to Dallas, Texas. At the time in Texas, being Latino was not popular. 31 years later — my brothers and I remain in the United States, having spent more time living in the US than in Mexico. We continue to remain close to our family by cooking our grandmother’s recipes year after year. Every Christmas we make pozole the same way our grandmother would.
FAMILY ROOTS: MACEDONIA & HUNGARY
Jean
My paternal grandfather immigrated to the United States from Macedonia in the early 1900’s. Supposedly he was a stowaway on a ship and then worked on it while sailing to New York. During registration as an immigrant his last name was changed from Dučy to Douchey. He served in WWI and then became a U.S. citizen. I still make homemade poppyseed rolls every Christmas for my sisters.
FAMILY ROOTS: MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Alexander
The Military Bases Agreement of 1947 allowed the United States to recruit Filipino nationals to the United States Navy. My dad enlisted in 1980. Dad was stationed to San Diego, and my mom and I followed him in March 1982. For most of my life I’ve felt like I’ve had a foot in two very different cultures, languages, and value systems. Every dish I cook connects me to my family, my ancestors, my people, and our collective history. I made her adobo one evening. I’ll never forget her telling me, “Baka ikaw nag mana sa lola mo.” (“Perhaps you’re the one who inherited this gift from your grandmother.”)
FAMILY ROOTS: POLAND & BOHEMIA
Jan
My fathers parents came to America in the early 1900’s. They moved to Omaha to work in the packing plants… My grandfather came here from Bohemia with his 3 brothers in 1914. I believe they also came here to work in the packing houses. She couldn’t speak English when she went to kindergarten. The school made her go home until she could speak English. My grandparents had to stop speaking Bohemian so mom could learn English. My mom always made sure our tree was full of presents for me and my 7 siblings.
FAMILY ROOTS: BASQUE COUNTRY & VENEZUELA
Miren
My family’s migration throughout the years was mostly instigated by totalitarian regimes and political persecution. My grandfather Iker was born in Bayonne (Basque region in France) after his parents had to flee Spain due to the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. He was born in 1944 while the Nazis occupied France. Eventually, my mother met her husband John. John is from Lincoln, Nebraska. It has now been 10 years since I moved to Nebraska, where I met my husband Will in 2023.
FAMILY ROOTS: WALES & GERMANY
Joe
On my father’s side they arrived somewhere on the east coast in the early 1800s. My grandfather was a fisherman. He married and had 5 children. On my mother’s side, my grandfather arrived at Ellis Island in the late 1800s. He also ended up in the same gritty river town, Muscatine Iowa. He started a business making buttons from the mussels that thrived in the river. He also sponsored other family members to come to America.
FAMILY ROOTS: SAN VICENTE, EL SALVADOR
Maria
By 1992, my mother faced the hardest decision of her life. She left my younger sister and me in El Salvador with our grandmother so she could immigrate to the United States and work toward giving us a better life. I was barely two years old, and my sister was only a few months old. My grandmother, who had already experienced tremendous loss during the war, was left to care for her youngest daughter and four granddaughters on her own. The memory I carry with me is of Christmas in my grandmother’s adobe house in El Salvador. We didn’t have much, but I remember sitting on the floor with my cousins, eating panes rellenos and drinking Coca-Cola. It wasn’t a fancy celebration, but it was filled with laughter and a sense of belonging.
FAMILY ROOTS: CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE
Brian
One branch of my family has been in the United States since 1648, and has a relation to an early US President. One branch came over three generations ago and worked hard labor to give their children a better life. I’m also conscious that today’s immigrants are essentially my ancestors in a different time. When my family migrated, others welcomed them; it is my honor to do the same today.
FAMILY ROOTS: IRELAND
Mike
My grandfather was likely the first generation born in America. He served in World War I, started an auto repair shop that grew into a dealership, and later bought a farm. He also was elected to the city council in Shenandoah, Iowa and when he died in 1980 it was front page news in the local paper.
FAMILY ROOTS: ENGLAND
Catherine
I descend from Quakers who followed William Penn and settled in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in the 1600s. I can trace my ancestry back to my 8th great-grandfather in England. We all live on stolen land in a nation built by the enslaved. People move and pulse around this globe. And today, indigenous and immigrant stories continue to write the history of this city, this state, this nation, this place we call home.
FAMILY ROOTS: MEXICO & GERMANY
Theresa
My family is a mixed status family. My father immigrated to the US from Chihuahua, Mexico when he was a teenager in search of a better life. My mother was born in the US but grew up in Germany then as a teenager moved to the US as her father was part of the military which led them to moving to the states. Both have culturally rich roots that they have passed on to me and my siblings, I am so grateful for it.
FAMILY ROOTS: GERMANY & DENMARK
Bev
My maternal great-grandparents were all German, emigrating to the US in the late 1800s. Their children, my grandparents, were born in the US in the late 1800s in Iowa and Wisconsin. My life has been enriched immensely by being involved in the lives of many immigrants and refugees for nearly 50 years, helping sponsor some families, as an ESL teacher in Omaha, and with other immigrant organizations.
FAMILY ROOTS: GERMANY
Monica
My grandfather arrived from Steinbach, Germany in the late 1800s. He had family in Rock Island, IL and lived with relatives. When his father died early on, he had to go to work to support his family. He had only finished 8th grade, but worked as a “Printer’s Devil”… basically cleaning up around the presses and learning the trade.
To empower immigrants and refugees to live confidently through high-quality legal representation, resettlement, and social work and to create welcoming communities through education and advocacy.
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