American Refuge

A provocative, conversation-sparking exploration of refugee experiences told in their own words, for readers of Karla Cornejo Villavicencio's The Undocumented Americans and Viet Thanh Nguyen

American Refuge brings to life the individual voices and experiences of people from around the world who have been forced to leave their homes.

The book's unique thematic structure weaves together these stories and:
• busts damaging myths about refugees,
• shows where refugees come from,
• the reasons for their departure,
• how they live, and what the resettlement experience is really like.

As a daughter of refugees, U.S. immigrant, English professor, and writer, Diya Abdo uses storytelling to amplify the personal voices and lived experiences of actual refugees with whom she has had deep and meaningful relationships through her work as founder and director of Every Campus A Refuge (ECAR)

What do people imagine when they hear the word "refugee"? For many, the term is tied to the escalating conflicts around the world, the images of mass movement and the resulting death and misery they see in the news, and the conversations about "illegal" immigration in the political sphere.

Through the personal, often intimate, revealing, and emotionally powerful stories of refugees who have been hosted by ECAR, we learn that refugees lived in homes they loved, left against their will, moved to countries right next door without access or rights, and then. about 1% of the "lucky" few, resettle after a long wait, almost certain never to return to the homes they never wanted to leave. We learn that anybody, at any time, can become a refugee.