“This important collection brings together academics and the Lincoln community to tell about how communities thrive as a result of immigration and change. These stories will make you cry and swell with compassion as you read the harrowing stories of trauma, resilience, and triumph directly from the pens of those who have lived through these adventures. These are American stories that reflect the bedrock notion that the United States, Nebraska, and Lincoln in particular have always been places that embrace immigrants from all over the world who come seeking a home to start a new life and become part of our community.”—María E. Montoya, coauthor of Global Americans: A History of the United States

“This important work chronicles how Lincoln, Nebraska’s, residents have created a welcoming haven for the world’s tired, poor, and huddled masses yearning to breathe freely. Recounting in first-hand narratives their past victimization, these women and men simultaneously celebrate how Lincoln has incorporated them into the body politic. In this moment of harrowing national peril, here is a powerful paradigm for welcoming strangers.”—Ramón A. Gutiérrez, author of New Mexico’s Moses: Reies López Tijerina and the Religious Origins of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement 

“This book is a remarkable creative accomplishment. Beyond the sheer poignancy and power of the individual stories, The Lives of Immigrants and Refugees is a testament to the ways in which municipal policy can and should intersect with public-facing scholarly work. Lincoln, Nebraska, can take a big measure of pride in the publication of this book for the ways it honors not only its immigrant and refugee neighbors but also the work of welcoming, supporting, and learning from them all.”—William Deverell, professor of history and codirector of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West