Peace​ Quartet

Need at the Local Level:

 

The undocumented immigrant community in the United States has a history of being criminalized by federal and state policies and mainstream media for making conscious choices that better enable them to live the lives they want to lead. The dialogue around the current immigration debate needs to change in order for the communities directly affected by undocumented immigration to begin addressing their trauma and move towards healing. Since around 2009, the conversation has begun to shift, with undocumented youth the country over asserting their human and civil rights by challenging policies that criminalize them, and making their voice heard by “coming out of the shadows”, or publicly claiming their undocumented status: “Undocumented! Unafraid! Unashamed! Unapologetic.”

They have engaged in civil disobedience, shifted the national discourse, taken responsibility for sharing their stories, and ultimately impacted public policy. Within the undocumented youth movement, the idea that “we are here because of the courage of our parents,” has begun to surface, with much of the undocumented immigrant community no longer accepting the blame and criminalization of individuals who migrated to the United States as adults. Yet politicians and even some immigrant rights organizations continue to compromise on the lives of undocumented immigrants, disregarding the voices of those most impacted, seeking to move forward on immigration reform with the idea that any type of reform is better than nothing.

 

While there are increasing outlets for youth to share their voice, there are still inadequate resources for undocumented immigrants who migrated to the US as adults to share their stories in a safe, transparent, and accessible forum. In Oregon, there is also a communication gap between those organizations that are trying to change immigration policy, immigrant rights advocates, and undocumented people themselves.

 

How addressing this need relates to IFOR’s mission of addressing active nonviolence and justice issues in the personal, political, economic, social, and environmental spheres:

 

Undocumented immigration is often the result of transnational injustices that systemically prohibit individuals from reaching their full potential both in their country of origin and in the country to which they immigrate. Living as an undocumented immigrant comes with many challenges and possible consequences, so the experience is pushed into the shadows and hushed from existence.  Addressing the need to create an outlet for undocumented individuals who migrated to the United States as adults to share their stories has the potential to transform unjust structures by creating a public space where stories are shared and fear and hatred are diminished through a deeper understanding of the immigrant experience. To publicly accept the identity of being undocumented is to engage in an active, nonviolent form of resistance that claims one’s voice and worth. Through sharing transcribed, bilingual interviews on the internet, the sharing of stories can happen in a safe manner for the storytellers while being accessible for both the storytellers and other community members, specifically community members advocating for immigrant rights.

 

 

Approach to be utilized in addressing stated need: 

 

Before healing of trauma can occur and dialogue for different possibilities can begin, I believe that original stories must be acknowledged. This project was born of numerous conversations and reflections between a friend and me regarding the strength of our parents. As first-generation immigrants who migrated to the United States as children and at some point lived and continue to live the experience of being undocumented, we were both inspired by the courage of our parents. We couldn’t imagine what it takes to uproot a lifetime of experience, comfort zones, and knowledge and transplant oneself into a new culture, language, and structure of life. While we grew up hearing snippets of our parents’ motivations for moving to the United States, we recognized that neither of us had intentionally engaged in intergenerational conversations around their immigration and that while we may be well aware of their struggles and their strength, their stories are not being publicly shared.

 

I would like to create an online blog of reflective interviews that retrospectively look at the original dreams and motivations of parents and older adults who migrate to the United States. The purpose of this blog would be to learn from the elders of the undocumented immigrant community, connect the immigrant experiences of family members (both chosen and biological), demonstrate how struggle transforms into strength and resilience, and connect the voice of the undocumented community with immigrant rights organizations. The interviews will highlight themes of courage, love, steadfast faith, contribution, and dedication to the possibility of a better future. The reflections will be mere snapshots of lifetimes of bicultural experience, and will thus be limited in scope. Further, I will focus on the undocumented Latino immigrant population, as I am an undocumented Latina so this is my community and the population I have the most access to, and I am capable of carrying out interviews only in Spanish and English. Each interview posted on the blog will be transcribed from a recording of a conversation that will happen in an intergenerational space of at least three people (an older family member, a younger family member of the interviewee, and myself), creating a space for reconciliation of immigrant experiences within the home. Additional family members will be welcome to participate in the conversation and be interviewed. I will pose guiding questions, and family members can pose questions to each other as the conversation develops. Each family member will take a turn at being the interviewee, so each conversation will result in two interviews. I will seek funds to pay each interviewee for their time, to recognize the value of their time and their voice. Before interviews are carried out, I will create a resource guide to provide interviewees with, for issues that may surface. The interviews posted will begin with a general profile of each family that respects anonymity if requested. I plan to post profiles of at least 15 families, resulting in at least 30 interviews on the blog by the end of the project implementation and evaluation period.

 

Change I wish to see at the local level:

 

Following the implementation of my project, I want the undocumented community of the Portland-metro area to recognize their worth and have a public space for claiming their voice. The Portland-Metro community needs to embrace an immigration debate that includes not only the inherent humanity of young people who immigrated to the United States as children, but the added value of community members who consciously choose where they want to live and contribute. I want to see immigrant rights organizations in the Portland-Metro area know what it means to not only include but place at the center the voices of undocumented people most affected by issues of immigration. In Oregon, the past several months have seen “wins” for the undocumented community with Tuition Equity and Driving Cards, yet Tuition Equity excludes many undocumented immigrants who are long-time residents of Oregon, wish to pursue higher education, and are absolutely capable of doing so. The Driving Card will mark undocumented immigrants in Oregon and does not have the full privileges of a driving license, clearly “othering” and excluding undocumented immigrants from being recognized as valuable community members of Oregon. I wish for this blog to be recognized as a resource that holds immigrant rights organizations accountable while allowing these organizations to more responsibly engage in their work by showing them what “compromise” at the policy level means on the ground to the people most affected.  This blog can transparently address the claim that outreach is difficult and the undocumented immigrant community is afraid of sharing their stories by allowing the world access to conversations led and stories shared by undocumented community members. I would also like to see the interviews increase in scope by sharing tools for others to carry out interviews in their respective communities, cultures, and native languages, and then contribute more interviews to the blog, and for the blog to continue past the stated IFOR project implementation period and extend to include the stories of undocumented immigrants outside the Portland-Metro area.