migration at Brave New Films

African migrants linger in transit "ghettos" - 13 Jul 08

2008-07-17T20:41:40Z

For many migrants, their journeys end well before they are able to leave Africa.

They get caught and deported, ending up in transit countries like Mauritania, Mali and Niger.

Casey Kauffman reports from Mali, where many Africans prefer to live in the squalid conditions of so-called ghettos, rather than return home.

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Re: Adventures in Masai Mara

2008-06-20T01:35:15Z

Video Cam Direct Upload

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Rabbi Feinberg on "Why Can't America Have Human Rights?"

2008-08-20T00:23:27Z

Rabbi Michael Feinberg of the Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition spoke at Breakthrough's public forum, "Why Can't America Have Human Rights?" at The Riverside Church in New York City on September 14, 2006. The event, co-sponsored by 70 organizations, attracted 600 guests, including community members, students, and leaders. The speakers and performers were united in their platform— we must take a stand against abuses and create a much needed human rights movement in the United States.

Breakthrough

www.breakthrough.tv

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Naturalization Ain't Easy

2008-07-22T07:00:19Z

It costs thousands of dollars for legal residents in the US, eligible to become citizens, to begin the process. On April 19th in Colorado, a Naturalization drive brought volunteers and legal residents together to file for citizenship.

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Push, Pull, and Means--The Laws of Migration

2008-04-15T23:15:12Z

One of the fascinating things I find about the topic of immigration is that as I learn about its history, I still see living examples today about how it will never cease to stop. People migrate and for different reasons. The pattern emerges to some scholars who have attempted to define the forces that compel people to migrate by push, pull, and means.

Push refers to forces that compel people to migrate such as natural disasters or political turmoil. Pull refers to the incentives that people perceive from their intended places of destination. Means is that by which immigrants are able to migrate. Pretty simple to understand, right?

The first immigrants that came to America were influenced by all of these laws. Apart from seeking religious freedom, Roger Daniels suggests that the people who colonized and deposed the people already living here were primarily interested in wealth. It was to such an extent that people like John Winthrop in 1634 said, "the natives, they are neare all dead of the small Poxe, so as the Lorth hath cleared our title to what we possess."

I don't think it's any shame to say that immigrants come to find a better life in terms of improving their economic status. Recently, BBC News reports of a woman by the name of Flor who has taken refuge in a church in Chicago. She is another Elvira Arellano, who also sought sanctuary only to be deported when she decided to go out and join protesters in California. Flor talks about why she came to this country. She mentiones how NAFTA affected her personally and that she desperately needed to find a job that would support her two children in Mexico. Thus, she decided to cross the US-Mexico border to accomplish that goal.

The Laws of Migration at work...

Learn more about Flor here.

To America! Migration or Immigration?

2008-05-12T17:24:01Z

Even as a DREAMer student, I still feel that I am not acquainted with the rich history of immigration of this country. So I decided to look around for books on the subject and came across Coming to America: a History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life, written by Roger Daniels in 1990. I started reading the book to understand one way to examine the current state of the system.

From what I have learned so far, there is a distinction between the term migrant and immigrant. A migrant, for example, moves from one place to another that does not involve a political boundary. An immigrant crosses some form of political boundary, on the other hand. I have struggled to decide what term is more appropriate to use in political discourse, because as we have seen, discourse is manipulated. Hearing the opinion of a historian makes me more comfortable with both terms, since it describes a natural human behavior across times and cultures.

Up next--on the motivations for migration.

Iceland President Olafur Grimsson on Climate Change

2008-06-08T21:29:38Z

President Grimsson discusses ten new security issues facing the world because of climate change, including increased drought, flooding, and migration, and the opening up of new sea routes caused by the melting of the Arctic ice.
This is an excerpt from a Carnegie Council talk on April 1, 2008. For the full video, audio, and transcript, go to carnegiecouncil.org

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Inside Story - The Schengen Agreement - 31 Mar 08 - Part 2

2008-06-12T21:29:28Z

As nine Eastern European countries end border checks, Inside Story examines the Schengen agreement and asks what the negative repercussions of increasingly free trade and movement in Europe may be.

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Inside Story - The Schengen Agreement - 31 Mar 08 - Part 1

2008-06-13T03:29:51Z

As nine Eastern European countries end border checks, Inside Story examines the Schengen agreement and asks what the negative repercussions of increasingly free trade and movement in Europe may be.

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Undocumented Workers vs. Illegal Alien - Follow-up

2008-02-29T15:38:33Z

One of our readers had several points to make to my post on the political discourse surrounding the illegal immigration debate. While fash did a great job in responding to the comments, I would like to address some of the statements, expressed in bold in this post.

The author refers to "illegal" as a pronoun, but it's an adjective in "illegal alien."

Of course illegal is an adjective in "illegal alien" -- my point is that the term has been taken out of the context of "illegal alien" and proliferated into a marker, an identifying element. This point is not even debatable - "ILLEGAL" has become a PRONOUN for the many undocumented immigrants residing in the United States much like Criminal is a pronoun and identifier for those that commit crime. Have we not heard phrases like "He is Illegal" used to refer specifically to immigrants that are without or out of status? The fact that immigration discourse goes as far as to label human beings as illegal is problematic and it explicates the power of language to shape and represent us.

Also invoked is "xenphpobic" which conveniently glosses over the illegality involved in an effort to make it appear that opponents are opposed to immigrants, not just to those who have violated our laws.

I would really like someone to look at the historical timeline of immigration to the United States and seriously argue that immigration control policies are not xenophobic. Historically, immigration control policies have had little to do with legal or not legal. Just look at the term "Asian Invasion" -- does that convey people are against Asians migrating to the United States because they are illegal or simply because they are "different?" Would the American people really be complaining about "illegal immigration" if the "invaders" were coming from Western Europe (and in fact, we have visa overstayers from Europe but that fact is glossed over). Better yet, I will lay out a brief historical timeline of our immigration control policies in my next post that should show the VERY initiation of immigration control as coming out of a fear of difference and fear of the 'Other.'

I oppose relief for those who violate immigration laws (whether civil or criminal) based on a first principle of justice: no one should obtain any profit or advantage by wrongdoing.

Alright, even if I give in to this point whole-heartedly as a matter of opinion, that still plays into our lap. We DREAMers have NOT violated immigration laws and not done anything wrong under the law. We did not chose to come here or stay here illegally or violate any laws whatsoever. We had absolutely no agency while being played like a deck of cards or pawns in an elaborate game of chess. Should we not get relief based on your self-purported "principle of justice?"

"One-size fits all" is tunnel-vision. We need nuanced solutions, not outdated political and legal dogma if we are to seriously fix the immigration debacle in this country.

Mexico Migration: The long train to Texas - 15 Feb 08

2008-06-17T09:37:50Z

Every year, hundreds of thousands of migrants cross into Mexico ... where many hitch a ride north through the country - on top of freight trains.

The final stop - the US city of El Paso, Texas.

Those who make it will have spent nearly one month illegally riding the trains.

And as Al Jazeera's Franc Contreras reports from the Gulf coast state of Tabasco, along the way, they're exposed to all sorts of harm.

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Notes from Underground 1.7 - 'Home' Country

2008-02-26T15:50:22Z

"How was life in your home country compared to here?"

I looked at the film-maker, a bit baffled and taken aback, not knowing how to respond to the question.

"I don't know to respond to that...I mean I really want to say it was the same as it is here, but that would not be true. Honestly, I was far too young and cannot provide an accurate enough analysis."

"Try," he coaxed.

"Well, it is not as developed as things are here and life is slower. People are not in a rush. We used to have all our meals together and plenty of weekends away as a family."

Actually, I felt that life where I am from was much better than life here, but I did not say it on camera.

I realized it was a difficult and unfair question to answer because my life in the United States had never really begun. Sure, I lived here and had a certain amount of freedom and opportunity, but my growth and movement was stunted by certain undocumented dreams.

Most Dreamers cannot remember life in any other country or very little of it. ‘Home country' would always mean the United States, even when our home did not accept or secure us. When is our home going to accept that we live and belong here? That we will strengthen the foundation, do all necessary repairs and work hard to make our home prosper? While most of us are not rabid nationalists or flag-waving, we love the same idea of America that our parents once held when they brought us here: "Give me your tired, poor, and hungry."

Well, now that America has loads of "tired, poor and hungry," it really does not know how to deal with these masses. Ignoring a problem does not go away so pretending that those "illegals" would just go away if they are not given any piece of the pie is not working. Securing borders is also a moot point. We need comprehensive immigration reform and we need it now.

Solidarity Statement

2008-08-30T08:30:44Z

at the No Borders Camp, Calexico, California, November 8, 2007

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Boxing - 'Muay kad Cheuk' style - 09 Jan 08

2008-06-09T15:33:08Z

Harsh conditions in Myanmar results in residents crossing the border into Thailand in search of a better life.

One of the ways for young men to make money is to put their bodies on the line in boxing contests.

Paul Allen reports

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Riz Khan Street Talk - 19 Apr 07

2008-06-06T15:33:16Z

Riz Khan Street Talk looks at the issue of HIV positive migrants and the policies of the Australian government toward them and the wearing of hijab in Egypt.

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Leaving Zimbabwe

2008-06-07T15:29:46Z

Attempts at keeping Zimbabweans from leaving their country are futile if the economic situation is not dealt with.

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