We are all lied to from the moment we are introduced to U.S history that the country was “founded on immigration.” We are one big “melting pot.” U.S immigration policies and media discourse say otherwise. What is not widely taught in school is that this country was not founded on immigration, it was founded on stolen land. The U.S was wrongfully ripped away from its native people and attempts to erase or avoid that subject is done the moment you open an elementary school textbook. History is rewritten to make it sound like the U.S is accepting of immigrants when that is not the reality. In the book Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and The Making of Modern America, Mae Ngai states that immigration policies were created to give the government full control over the “genetic makeup of America.” The policies that were put into place intentionally made it hard, and sometimes impossible for certain groups of immigrants to receive their citizenship. This prevented any “undesirable” people from prospering in the U.S. These policies are still hidden within the numerous additions to other policies regarding immigration over the years.
Within televised and social media news outlets, the voices of immigrants have been replaced with either a statistic, a warning, or both. The past four years have been filled with broadcast and internet news media emphasizing the negative consequences of immigration, former president Trump pushing for building a wall at the U.S-Mexico border and demonizing immigrants. The fear of DACA getting ripped away from dreamers lingered in between these times, and wrongful deportations were happening all over the U.S, sending immigrant and POC communities in a panic. Throughout this entire time what I didn’t see was a diverse perspective from actual immigrants about their community, or their stories. Political discourse within government buildings, or news outlets regurgitating what was said in these political spaces were outshining the efforts being made.
However, I would still like to point out a couple of these efforts that were taking place a couple of years ago. The shift in our political climate has allowed us to move forward to some degree after enduring the past presidency. Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and 231 other house representatives cosponsored the American Dream and Promise Act in 2019, which is a bill to provide DREAMers a better opportunity to receive their citizenship. Cristina Jiménez is an Ecuadorian immigrant activist and cofounded the United We Dream in 2008, which is the largest immigrant youth-led organizations as of right now. In 2017 she was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship in 2017 and was listed on TIME magazine as one of the most influential people of 2018. Her organization continues to grow and provides many resources for DREAMers. There are many more organizations coming to light about immigration reform now that the space is being opened up within the political sphere.
As a result, I felt called to help amplify these voices, as I share a community with immigrants as well as being the daughter of an immigrant. My project is aimed towards diversifying the multifaceted stories and voices of immigrants to shed this sterile and rigid view that has been placed in the past few years. I am allowing them to express themselves and tell their story in the form of voice recordings, in which they have full control over their anonymity. They may also choose to share pictures or objects and symbols that they would like to share in addition to their story. These pictures will create their own unique world in the online space that I will provide them. The immigrant community has faced a lot of hostility and I fully intend to give them the safe space they deserve and at the same time, giving everyone a chance to understand, empathize and humanize immigrants.
Currently, I have visual and audio files from three participants that have reached out and agreed to share a piece of their story. They are a few of the people that I know personally and have grown up with. Listening to their stories was very touching and it brought out a side of them that I never got to hear. Its moments like those that I aim to capture in this digital space I have opened up; A space that not only is safe for the participants but also a space for listeners to fully immerse themselves with each story. Although I only have three as of right now, I hope to continue to add onto this project with anyone who is willing to participate. The more perspectives there are, the closer we can get to kicking the stereotypes aside.
