Immigration MIC

Welcome Manuela from East Hampton to the Immigration MIC podcast!

Get to know her journey in this in-depth interview where you will hear this driven young woman’s personality shine:

🔵 Manuela is a DACA recipient from Colombia: hear her talk about the factors that led her family to leave, the experience of being kidnapped and robbed by police in Venezuela, the journey to the US Mexico border, and being reunited as a family on the East End of Long Island.

🔴 How in 3rd grade, she was already aware of the danger that ICE posed to her family, writing “immigration police is my biggest fear” as part of a class assignment, and her lifelong fear of green vans.

⚫️ She talks about the racial divide that she began witnessing among her classmates as she got older, and how the intensity of the fights became more real between White and Latino students, which continues to this day.

🔵 How she was able to live the “most normal life” when DACA passed,

🔴 Laura Lemus’ influence on Manuela’s future, four years ago, which was the first time she was inspired to talk about her personal story with other undocumented students.

⚫️ How during the days of the Trump campaign, during her senior year, many students would chant “Trump” and “Build The Wall” at sporting events, as well as a presentation in her US History class “keeping illegals out”

🔵 A traumatizing experience of her family being harassed/ abused verbally and almost physically by a landlord who threatened to call immigration on the family.

🔴 How she’s been leveraging her personal story at SUNY Old Westbury, and how professors and other students have been supporting her journey, ever since.

⚫️ The organization at SUNY Old Westbury that she and other students have recently founded “Undocumented Students Alliance”, and the work she’s doing as Public Relations Chair.

Thank you for this amazing interview Manuela! I can definitely say this was one of the most passionate interviews, and I thank you sincerely for choosing the podcast to share blow off all the pent up emotions, and I look forward to continue to support you - YOU INSPIRE ME!

From Undocumedia to the Immigration MIC, Ivan Ceja joins us for an exclusive podcast episode - and it’s an interview that you do not want to miss, so download it on iTunes and Soundcloud now!

Welcome Janine Joseph - Assistant Professor at Oklahoma State and author of the award winning book “Driving Without A License” to Immigration MIC!

In this interview, we go in-depth into Janine’s personal immigration story, and how her undocumented status inspires her work as part of Undocupoets, which includes:

🔵 Growing up in the Philippines (as a child star!), her father’s work in the government working for President Aquino and the impact activism had on her at an early age.

🔴 Her personal story in immigrating with her family to the US to California, and her candid take on how she sees her family’s experiences.

⚫️ How her family became a mixed status unit - and how being scammed by lawyers led to her undocumented status.

🔵 The moments that defined her journey: learning she was undocumented through filling out FAFSA forms, and her family’s reaction to her questions about her status.

🔴 Her journey to becoming the published author she is today: how Cecilia Woloch and other authors inspired what came to be “Driving Without A License” after attending a writing retreat.

⚫️ Janine was able to adjust her status, but keeps details of it close to her, only saying “on some days there were good guys, on some days there were bad guys” - so profound.

🔵 How her book went from being a dissertation, to her mentor’s encouragement, to initially feeling panic knowing her story was out in the world, Janine shares these experiences, and a couple of poems that she sees as relevant to today’s immigration conversation.

🔴 Her role as an educator after the 2016 election - and how she helped her students process their emotions that day.

⚫️ Her work as part of the Undocupoets Fellowship which works to “promote the work of undocumented poets and raise consciousness about the structural barriers that they face in the literary community” — and how she sees her part in paying her experiences forward to other aspiring writers.

Undocupoets Website: https://siblingrivalrypress.com/undocupoets-fellowship/

In this episode you’ll learn about this resilient young woman’s journey, including:

🔵 Palloma’s family’s journey from Brazil, and how they came to settle in Framingham, Massachusetts.

🔴 How her family had to move about nine times, beginning with a trusted family friend neglecting Palloma’s health as her parents worked.

⚫️ The harrowing experience of having the family’s car broken into - and the police officer that told them to “go back to where you came from”, which set off a lifelong distrust of authorities.

🔵 Being Brazilian in the US, and how Palloma came to hide it as she went through middle school and high school - and how she came to embrace her heritage proudly.

🔴 Her #MeToo moments - being sexually harassed at almost every job she’s had, almost raped once, and her anger at our current president whose behavior has been just like that her harassers.

⚫️ How the #DACA announcement changed her life: she goes into all the things she’s been able to accomplish, but also analyzes the shortcomings, including financial aid.

🔵 The reaction to the the president’s cancellation of DACA - her emotions throughout the day after, and how it affected her family.

🔴 “The money he wants for the wall, he sees us as objects, holding us as hostages” — and how she sees negotiations working.

⚫️ How she’s been able to find community with her professors at Framingham, and the difference they’ve made in her academics, and for her dreams to become a change agent in the immigration movement.

🔵 “Stay hopeful” is Palloma’s message for her community, and that people’s dreams matter, even if the good in things can’t be seen immediately.

Thank you Palloma! It was such an incredible event at Framingham and for joining me for the first ever live Immigration MIC with a crowd! And Lina — I can’t thank you enough for trusting me to come to the university and bringing such a great program!

Welcome Maria from Oregon to Immigration MIC!

A DACA recipient from Mexico, currently residing in Oregon, and recently in DC advocating for DREAM Act Legislation - get to know this passionate young woman!

🔵 Her love for athletics, running, and other sports, and how those experiences shaped her as a person

🔴Growing up in a ranch in Idaho - and the very emotional retelling of her father experiencing abuse at the hands of his employers.

⚫️Moving high schools as a result, and the toll it took on their family.

🔵 Her struggles with depression/ anxiety, and her take on healthcare stemming from dealing with asthma and a running career ending injury.

🔴 Feeling “whitewashed” and how she didn’t understand the full benefits of DACA being announced as a result.

⚫️ Finding community at her university with other DACA recipients, and how it led her to become the activist she is today, though she was very hesitant/shy about to wanting to join at first.

🔵 Flying to DC for the first time, talking about the purpose of an office takeover, and more actions she was a part of.

🔴 Her interests in social work/ mental health/ suicide awareness - though saying at the moment she’s unsure of her future plans.

⚫️ Her message to everyone in a similar situation, or experiencing tough times alone: “If you feel alone, I GOT YOU. Reach out to me, I GOT YOU.”

Welcome Daniel, the founder of ‘Faces Of DACA’ to this week’s Immigration MIC episode!

In this episode you’ll hear:

* His experience immigrating from Mexico due to the increasing violence, and moving to California in 2004.

* How he learned about his immigration status: the story of how he could’t go with his class to Japan.

* How pre-DACA, Daniel felt the weight of hopelessness, but kept pushing himself until DACA became a reality.

* As a software engineer, the reasons why he finds joy in being a creative, and using that talent to help others, starting his career at Uber Eats.

* His reaction to the 2016 election, and the “tipping point” he experiences that led to the creation of Faces Of DACA, and getting candid about why he hadn’t going the fight beforehand.

* His work over the past months collecting stories from other DACA recipients, building connections and gathering stories, and how his team’s outreach is growing across the nation.

* His goal of returning in the future to his software engineer work, and how he eventually would like to become an educator.

* Daniel says he finds inspiration in the phrase “Si, Se Puede”, in the worst days to keep his work going.

Happy to say Immigration MIC is now an affiliate of Faces Of DACA as we both continue bringing people into the conversation to have an impact on the national conversation!

Welcome Daysi from Oregon to Immigration MIC!

Daysi came to the US from Mexico at 11 years old, and through her experiences as a DACA recipient, she has become a fighter and advocate for mental health.

Her family had roots in the US, with her father working seasonally in California and Oregon, and traveling back to be with his family, eventually sending for their family to join him. Their family moved around quite a bit in Oregon, which Daysi recounts has given her the experience of interacting with different communities.

Daysi was the salutatorian for her high school, being involved in sports, being passionate about history — graduating in 2012, DACA being announced a few months later.

“I ended up having 2-3 jobs at a time, help my parents will the bills, I could drive, and I could go to college” — DACA had a huge impact on Daysi’s life, and she began paying to forward immediately, establishing an organization “United Undocumented Students” for DACA students, and allies, to be able to raise awareness in the conservative area of the state.

“I wanted to get stuff done, I wanted to make noise/ but the more I got into it, the more it drained me” Daysi opens up about the good, challenging experiences of being an activist. “I’ve also met great people along the way.” Daysi also becomes super candid about a dark period in her life where she contemplated suicide in high school, and the ways she fought back from those thoughts, and seeking professional health as recent as this past year.

“I’ve learned you have to stand up and fight for yourself” Daysi give words of encouragement for other that are going through tough times being caught in the middle of the national immigration conversation, and the importance of connecting to others to both find strength and a support system.

This week on Immigration MIC, we’re talking the ramifications of TPS potentially ending with Claudia, coming to us from VA!

At six years old a massive earthquake in El Salvador occurred, which forced Claudia and her family to travel through the desert to the United States, arriving at the border as refugees. Because they were coming from El Salvador, one of the designated (Temporary Protection Status) countries, they were able to qualify for the program. Claudia breaks down the program, and notes how TPS may be ending for several countries by the administration - and has already been ended for Haiti.

Claudia is working to turn her passion for poetry into a career in creative writing - she takes me through the origins of her interest in writing in her high school’s poetry club. “It was the idea that people would listen to me at open mics, that helped me find my voice”, initially working to advocate for the safety and empowerment of women.

“Everything changed when I realized I just had a work permit” - a difficult realization at 17 about the limits of her TPS status, and enrolled in community college instead of pursing her academic ambitions. It was during this time that she began volunteering with CARECEN in DC, and she began sharing her story publicly. Claudia shares a personal moment where she feels she let down a community member in giving her optimism that TPS would be leading to legal status.

What will happen once people run out of TPS? I ask.

“it’s very much like DACA, it’s renewed every 18 months, and if it’s lost/cancelled, we’ll also become undocumented.”

We end the interview with Claudia exclusively sharing a very personal poem that she has written during these trying times that many will take to heart and be inspired by!

“I would have gone anywhere with [my parents], which is why I was OK leaving El Salvador”

This week on Immigration MIC, I speak with El Salvador native, Brooklyn transplant, now living in Long Island emerging immigration activist Brenda M!

Brenda describes her personality as giving, wanting to put others before herself, something that is reflected in her mom’s decision to come to the US and work as an in-house nanny before sending for the rest of the family.

She details her journey to the US, crossing the border at 7 years old, under the care of her father who hoisted her on his shoulders when she could no longer walk - all to find a better future.

Arriving to Brooklyn, Brenda assimilated quickly, and speaks highly of all the diverse neighborhoods she grew up around. However, she began becoming knowledgeable of the limitations of her immigration status. When DACA was announced, it was her mom who helped her file, as she knew the importance of the opportunity that had been given to their family.

In 2011, she moved to Hempstead, but because of the school district’s reputation she would continue to commute to school in Brooklyn, but eventually transferred to Hempstead full time — which meant learning to drive and adapt to a new school environment.

Through her friend Allison, she became introduced to an immigrant student group on Long Island, and has been helping to share information with her community and connect to other people interested in advocating for immigration legislation.

She describes her shock and heartbreak at both the election and the announcement being cancelled - now she’s working to be a voice throughout Long Island and beyond - specifically to help others in her situation realize their potential and be a part of something great together.

Visit www.thehendelmediaproject.com for more information about how this project is following the national immigration movement through local stories AND - to watch my personal immigration documentary From One Mistake for free!

“I was an intern for Marco Rubio’s office - once the staff found out I was a Dreamer, I was treated differently - not in a good way.”

Welcome to Immigration MIC Danny K, a Syrian - Armenian DACA recipient who is currently enrolled in a master’s program in FL, and is an emerging hip-hop artist!

Emigrating with a visa from Syria, Danny and his family originally arrived to Boston, and immediately moved to Florida because of the weather.

“My mom just broke the news to me” - Danny confronted a harsh reality when wanting to find a job, and his hopes and dreams to be involved in the US political system changed immediately. Upon looking to attend college, he was told that no college would accept him, until a woman he met by chance told him about attending community college.

DACA = salvation, and it gave me a future, according to Danny. From there, he worked at a gift shop at Cirque Du Solei, and eventually had a chance to intern at Marco Rubio’s office - which he enjoyed initially.

Somehow, someone in the office found out his immigration status, and all of a sudden, the mood of the people around him changed - they became more wary, more cautious to speak around him, and wasn’t fully welcomed. “Marco Rubio’s stances on immigration, are a slap in my face, a betrayal - in the hispanic community’s face as well”

Suddenly, Danny’s DACA was terminated, and he lost his job, and for three years struggled with his mental health, you can just hear how much he was affected. Eventually, he was able to have his paperwork corrected and his DACA was reinstated.

Danny a hip hop artist/ beat maker, and has a full album released, with quality music and visuals, and is committed to getting his music out there, as well as infusing his cultural background in it - it’s something to check out!

“You all inspire me to keep going [all the people doing sit ins and protesting] we’ve come so far - they’ve JUST started to hear us”

Watch the full interview on YouTube here: http://bit.ly/2BLWDUJ

Visit www.thehendelmediaproject.com for more information about how this project is following the national immigration movement through local stories AND - to watch my personal immigration documentary From One Mistake for free!