Krish's Story

My name is Krish Vignarajah and I’m honored to join the Global Refuge family as its new CEO. Like so many, my family’s American story is the story of refugees who “yearned to breathe free.” Four decades ago, my parents fled a civil war in Sri Lanka. I was 9 months old.

This country welcomed us with open arms. It gave my parents the opportunity to become educators and to send their daughter to Yale, Oxford and eventually the White House. I thank God we were able to seek sanctuary in an America that welcomed families forced to flee, that welcomed the tired, the poor, the huddled masses.

The question we must ask ourselves today is whether we remain that great nation. Whether we will be defined by walls and cages or by bridges and opportunity. Whether we will continue to “lift our lamp beside the golden door” and recognize that this nation of immigrants is stronger because of the work we do — together — to welcome immigrants into the community we call America. Join us!