By Lyla Kavanagh
12-year-old Sharon Legesse (Lydia ’26) sits nervously at the kitchen table, her mother sitting across from her with her hands folded in her lap. The night before, Legesse overheard her mother whispering into their landline about the recent military coup overthrowing the Ethiopian emperor and the looming threat of a military draft. Despite the privacy of their home, Legesse’s mother spoke softly as she explained that they would be immigrating to the U.S. in a matter of days, leaving behind everything to join Legesse’s father in New York. Legesse said she was informed of her family’s decision to immigrate to the U.S. on short notice.
“We left quickly and unannounced,” Legesse said. “It was very abrupt. I didn’t even tell my friends. [We] just left, and it was understood why [we] had to leave and [take] certain precautions. Back in the day, [people] didn’t talk about leaving because if families would discuss those kinds of things, they could put a target on their back and every possibility could be closed off to them. The government would also just take young people to go fight in the wars. It was forced, not voluntary service, and so we knew as we became older it wouldn’t be safe for us to be there.”
Legesse, who left Ethiopia at 12 years old, is one of several parents at the school who immigrated to the U.S. to escape persecution or an unstable government. Legesse said her family chose to leave because of political instability.
“The country was in a pretty volatile state,” Legesse said. “I grew up at a time when [Emperor Haile Selassie], one of the last remaining emperors in Africa, was in power. When he was deposed, the country was taken over by a military coup d’état. There was uncertainty and a lack of resources, and people’s lives were upended. Every day presented new challenges for people in Ethiopia, but within our own families, you’d see people come and go or leave the country, and nothing was ever explained.”
In 2024, 75% of immigrants cited improved employment opportunities as a major reason for moving to the U.S., 68% mentioned seeking a better future for their children and 62% aimed for enhanced educational opportunities, according to an LA Times survey of immigrants. Upper School History Teacher Ingrid Sierakowski said it is common for refugees leaving their home countries to immigrate due to persecution.
“There’s a lot of people who come to the United States claiming refugee status or asylum,” Sierakowski said. “Many individuals in the [transgender] community [experience] a lot of anti-trans violence in Central America and North America. Speaking generally, asylum requires more than just poverty. There has to be some direct threats to your person, for example.”
Since the Russo-Ukrainian War, 3.7 million Ukrainians have been displaced, according to the UN Refugee Agency. Nikita Imas, a freshman at Milken Institute, left Ukraine in 2022 to escape the war and is currently living with Sammy Elkhunovich ’28. He escaped with his stepmother and older siblings, who are currently living in various regions of Europe. Imas said his family ultimately decided to leave Ukraine because of the possibility of a military draft.
“We weren’t necessarily in physical danger, but [Ukraine] was just not a good place to be in at that moment,” Imas said. “Eventually all of our male relatives would have to go to the army, including all of my brothers and my nephews. We didn’t want that, so we made a decision to leave. When we finally decided to leave, we didn’t really know how things were going to go. We just knew that we had to get out.”
Imas, who left Ukraine with his two older brothers, their families and his stepmother, said that while leaving Ukraine, his family faced interpersonal conflicts amid rising tensions.
“We were leaving as a family except for my dad, who stayed behind because of work,” Imas said. “We took a train from Kyiv to another city in the western part of Ukraine. There, two of my brothers separated from my stepmother and me because my oldest brother got in a fight with [my stepmom], and that was very hard. It was just me and her, and they left us.”
Arthur Torosyan (Alice ’27) immigrated from Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, to the U.S. when he was 15 years old. Torosyan said his parents chose to immigrate in order to provide better economic futures for their children.
“When I lived in Armenia, it was one of the Soviet republics,” Toroysan said. “Armenia, unfortunately, was under the influence of communism. That was the primary reason why my family decided to immigrate by choice to the U.S. for better economic opportunities. My parents decided that immigrating to the U.S. was the right thing to do, and I think they were right. But I do miss my country.”
Toroysan said that while the process of immigrating wasn’t logistically difficult, establishing a life in the U.S. was hard for his family.
“The process was simple, but assimilating into a completely new life, with two or three suitcases and the equivalent of $100 in our pockets, was very difficult,” Torosyan said. “We basically had to start our lives over from zero. The one thing that made it possible was the support that existed here, because there’s a very large Armenian population in the States. I remember my aunt took me to Glendale Unified School District so that I could take some tests and enrolled me in Glendale High School.”
While Toroysan said he didn’t experience administrative challenges immigrating, as of recently, many individuals have found that the immigration process has become increasingly complicated and difficult. The U.S. government has recently adopted a more restrictive immigration policy, as exemplified by changes to Temporary Protected Status (TPS). TPS is a government protection program meant to allow people from countries experiencing conditions like war or natural disasters to remain safe in the U.S., according to NPR. Recently, the Trump administration chose not to renew those protections for thousands of Afghan refugees living in the U.S. Sierakowski said the process of immigrating to the U.S. has become more difficult in recent years.
“Immigration has become more difficult with the reversals of certain legislation like temporary protective status, which can be surprising to global citizens who thought that the United States has always been somewhat understanding with the policies that they implement in Latin America,” Sierakowski said. “For example, the U.S. has previously employed Temporary Protective Status in Venezuela, where immigrants fall under a category of asylum seekers leaving political turmoil. The fact that those policies are being revoked does show some hostility [towards immigration], which is part of a broader policy of making sure that people are not incentivized to move to the United States.”
A 2022 study found that homesickness among asylum seekers was not only common, but played a significant role in mental health issues like depressive and post-traumatic stress symptoms within the population, according to the National Library of Medicine. Legesse said leaving abruptly was one of the most difficult parts of immigrating to the United States.
“The hardest thing about coming as a refugee or somebody who’s running from political turmoil back home is that it’s not an easy journey,” Legesse said. “People underestimate the huge impact that it has on one’s life, which is really a lifetime of healing. You’re told ‘This is the day we’re leaving, and this is the day we’re gonna have the big party for our departure.’ When all of that happens at 12, you never forget it. That’s why I resonate with teens a lot because I understand those years. Whatever life events you have, the impact stays with you.”
Torosyan said while he understood the benefits of immigration, leaving his childhood home was still hard.
“However logical the decision was, it was still very heavy because of the emotional aspect,” Torosyan said. “You’re leaving your hometown, someplace where I was born and raised. My mom was also born and raised in Armenia, so there were a lot of mixed emotions, but I’d say the strongest emotion was a feeling of excitement for new opportunities. I myself had just tremendous feelings in that respect. Then came the first day in high school. I didn’t know English at all, not even a word, so the first day in a public school was extremely challenging. Emotions started shifting, but it was that excitement for new opportunities that carried all of us through.”
While many families have been able to immigrate to the U.S. together, wars and political conflicts can make staying together difficult. A recent survey done by the International Rescue Committee reports that 74% of Ukrainians have been separated from their families due to the war, according to The Economist. Imas said that the thing he misses the most about living in Ukraine is being with his loved ones.
“I miss my family,” Imas said. “Most of them moved [from Ukraine]. My dad died last summer. It was really sad because I didn’t live with him for the past two years, and then he died. I felt like I wasn’t in the right place, and I should have been with him. Looking back at it now though, I’m glad we made the transition then versus when the war started.”
Los Angeles is home to the largest Armenian population in the U.S., with more than 200,000 Armenians living in the area, according to Los Angeles Daily News. Torosyan said his connection to the Armenian community within LA has been invaluable to himself and his children.
“Our connection with the Armenian community means everything because it’s the only connection that we have,” Torosyan said. “I don’t know how to quantify it or qualify it, but this is our only connection to an aspect of being Armenian. We have places where we can go and know we’re gonna bump into someone who speaks Armenian. We have the Armenian Saturday schools, Armenian teachers for extracurricular activities and places where we can go and eat Armenian food. We’re fortunate to have that vital connection outside of Armenia.”
Between 1975 and 1991, the United States accepted more than 29,000 African refugees, with the majority coming from Ethiopia, escaping from political instability following the 1974 coup d’état, according to the LA Times. Legesse said the growing Ethiopian community has made her feel more at home in the U.S.
“It was very difficult adjusting,” Legesse said. “Being in middle school, that age group isn’t really focused on being accepting and understanding yet. School was a difficult adjustment, but it made me very empathetic to people like me, who came from other places. Luckily we have a huge Ethiopian community here in California, which certainly helps me feel more at home in the U.S. My family has come over time, but somehow we’ve all made California home, which is huge for me. I also embrace other cultures, as well. As an immigrant, you feel for others because you know what that journey is like.”
