UNDOCUMENTED at Brave New Films

A Queer Undocumented Student on the Election of Barack Obama

2008-11-25T16:06:45Z

I haven't had the will to blog here ever since election night due to the travesty that occured in California -- every blog post and almost every email I have sent since last Tuesday has been about Prop. H8.

Most undocumented students expressed joy at the election of Barack Obama. When North Carolina went 'blue' and nativist Elizabeth Dole lost her re-election bid, Manuel went out into the streets to drink and dance. As the polls closed in Nevada, UCLA graduate Matias jumped into the pool fully-clothed to celebrate Obama's victory.

Here in California, I stared at the returns for Prop 8. from Los Angeles with a gut feeling that we had lost quite early on even as Barack Obama launched his 'victory speech' -- 'If There Is Anyone Out There Who Still Doubts That America Is a Place Where All Things Are Possible... Tonight Is Your Answer.'

The words were empty and hollow. I had doubted that hate would win over love, ignorance and bigotry would win over knowledge and education, and yet I had my answer. America took one step forward just as California took two steps back.

Another FOX News Show, Another Round Of Smears Against Obama

2008-12-01T08:56:42Z

FOXNews put aside (temporarily, I'm sure) its fixation on Barack Obama's "radical associations" in order to attack him as a stingy, illegal-alien abetter who will wants to rob the rich and bankrupt the country. From the 11/1/08 Hannity & Colmes.

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Undocumented Students Remember October 24 as a Day of DREAMs Deferred

2008-11-19T04:46:10Z

i wait for you in this caged room
we’ve never met and yet
[you feel familiar
i feel like i've known you before]

shadows mill past me
moving slowly, drudging and digging
futures ploughed within these timeless walls
you see me waiting and yet
[i can’t get to you,
i feel stationary much like before]

what is this feeling
fluid and fragmented
but immobile by design
so close and yet so far
[you slip away again
i feel betrayed, more than before]

i tell myself that i believe in you
i tell others to understand you
[i truly do believe in you,
in the DREAM of you]

-DreamActivist

On October 24, undocumented students (DREAMers) across the United States marked the anniversary of their dreams deferred by holding a Day-of-Action to remind Congresspersons of the need for immigration reform that would legalize their status in the United States. Undeterred by the failure of S 2205 (the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act) that failed to clear the cloture hurdle by merely 8 votes on this fateful day last year, a growing network of undocumented students took the setback as a deferment rather than a finality.

In this past year, we have successfully used the tools provided by the Internet to launch a growing and vibrant online community of DREAMers. While Dream Act Portal exists as a social network of undocumented students, beginning with A Dream Deferred, we gathered over 8000 signatures and growing—the largest of any online pro-migrant action—that demanded a pledge from the Presidential candidates to sign the DREAM Act into law within the first 100 days in office.

ATTN: DREAM Act Students - Share Your Stories With Reporters

2008-11-19T04:46:04Z

We are looking for fellow undocumented students / DREAM Act students who would be willing to speak to the media about themselves.

Your privacy will be protected in all cases.

Courtesy: Quaker

Several months ago YGAA created this thread asking for everyone to submit as story for submission to reporters. I believe she was able to gather nine stories, which were then edited by several other members and the final product was then used when needed.

This project is an extension of that one. We are going to make it a bit easier though, instead of having you to submit an entire story about your life we are just asking for a quick entry about yourself. Just a simple who, what, when, where kind of thing will suffice.

Before jumping in though lets try and alleviate some of our fears. Everyone is probably worried about their identity being revealed, it is just concern, however one we can certainly protect ourselves from.

First, will my name be revealed?. Your name will not be revealed/used by the reporter if you let the reporter know explicitly. Reporters who cover this topic are knowledgeable enough to know our fears and will work with us. Just to be on the safe side, let the reporter know that they have to use either only a first name or middle name or alias.

Second, will my contact information be handed out to the reporters? No. For this project your contact information, whether it be an email address, MSN, AIM etc. user name will be kept private and only a few members on this board will have access to them.

Third, how long will the interview be? This one really depends on the type of story the reporter is doing, how many people are being interviewed etc. You can count on the interview being about at least 10 to 15 minutes long (at the least).

Fourth, [insert question / concern you have here and we will try to address it].

So if you pass all that and you are still interested please submit a very short entry about yourself. Please try and include just a one liner about an issue, thing, hobby etc. other than Dream that interests you (i.e. my faith, my handicap brother, my education etc). For example:

Sample Entry:

My Name is [insert first name] . I am 22 years old. I was born in Iran, brought to the U.S. at the age of 4. I currently live and attend school in Michigan and am pursuing a degree in social work. Seeing as I am gay, LGBTQ issues are important to me.

Now instead of posting the entry here you have to email it to dream.act.portal@gmail.com. Please include several ways for us to contact you, we ask that you use a very reliable e-mail address in addition to at least one messenger type service user name.

It's raining in Skid Row

2008-12-01T08:23:44Z

Short TV documentary on how the rain impacts the lives of those who live in the streets of the homeless community of Skid Row, in downtown Los Angeles. A Toro Bravo film. Directed by Jordi Ortega.

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The Clinic of the Working Poor

2008-12-01T08:23:44Z

Any day at dawn, people walk to Clinica Romero and wait for its doors to open. They know that within its walls they can find high-quality doctors and a humane treatment. For the working poor who don´t have money to buy healthcare this clinic is a temple of safety and comfort. In the heart of the Pico-Union area of downtown Los Angeles there is a home where you can go when you are in pain.

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Wetback chronicles

2008-12-01T08:23:43Z

The heat, the thirst, the danger, the fear of crossing the border to the U.S. as an undocumented, shown in first person. client: Telemundo / Talent: Mariana Francisco, Poli Cha / Director: Jordi Ortega

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Wetback chronicles (part 2)

2008-12-01T08:23:43Z

Second episode of the series about the hardships endured by many undocumented immigrants trying to cross the border of the United States from the Mexican side. Client: Telemundo / Talent: Mariana Francisco, Poli Cha / Director: Jordi Ortega (WWW.TOROBRAVO.US)

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Ilegal People: persecuting undocumented workers-1/2

2008-10-31T03:30:40Z

Increased Raids and Checkpoint Arrests Endanger Undocumented Immigrants Threatened by Gulf Coast Storms

Undocumented immigrants along the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast have resisted mandatory evacuation orders out of fear they could be arrested and deported at checkpoints. The climate of fear around deportation has worsened as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, or ICE, continues to step up its raids across the country, with two of the largest raids in US history taking place in the last five months. We speak to David Bacon, award-winning photojournalist, labor organizer and immigrant rights activist and author of Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Migrants. [includes rush transcript]

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Ilegal People: persecuting undocumented workers-2/2

2008-10-31T03:30:40Z

Increased Raids and Checkpoint Arrests Endanger Undocumented Immigrants Threatened by Gulf Coast Storms

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Dream Team Students Speak

2008-12-01T08:42:30Z

Introducing... the Chicago DREAM Team!

These are students committed to passing the DREAM Act, sharing their stories and struggles.

Call your senators NOW to support the DREAM Act. Ask them to help 65,000 immigrant youth who were brought here as children to realize their full potential: 1-800-828-0498.

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Why We March: Call to Action for May 1 Unity Day

2008-12-01T08:42:30Z

Immigrant leaders from diverse communities across Chicago speak out about why they will march on International Workers' Day- May Day, 2008.

For more information, visit www.icirr.org.

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Libya a de facto shelter for African migrants - 12 Jul 08

2008-10-27T15:31:03Z

While thousands of African risk their lives crossing to Europe every year, many from other parts of the continent stay on in North Africa because they've simply run out of money.

In Libya, undocumented migrants scratch out a living doing the jobs nobody else wants to do.

Amr El Kahky, in Tripoli, reports now on the migrants who got stuck on the road to a better life.

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ALIPAC stands for "Anti Latino Immigration"

2008-10-06T20:08:21Z

William Gheen, the President of ALIPAC.us (not to be mistaken for ALIPAC.net) claims that his site is not a hate group and not anti-immigrant; they are in fact, pro-legal immigration and anti-(illegal)-immigration, and 1 out of 5 members belong to a minority ethnic group. He was incredibly upset by a Charlotte Observer article a few days ago that called him an immigrant-scapegoating bigot, after highlighting his rhetoric:

“We have a destructive human tsunami headed our way,” said William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration, a political action committee based in Raleigh that pushes anti-immigrant legislation. “N.C. lawmakers must act now to protect American jobs, tax resources and lives. Our state must … batten down the hatches immediately.”

I decided to give him and ALIPAC.us the benefit of doubt and check out their discussion forum to see their discourse and what kind of actions they advocate against "illegal immigration." The following is what I uncovered in a couple hours:

Study: Most Legal Immigrants Were 'Illegal' at One Time

2008-10-07T13:28:19Z

It appears that things don't happen in a STRAIGHT line (neither do brain waves and heartbeats FYI).

After my constant repetition of "undocumented or illegal is not a permanent immutable characteristic" this past week, the Public Policy Institute of California has just confirmed the accuracy of the statement.

In a new study based on a survery of 8,000 people, the PPIC found that 52% legal residents in California had past experience of living in the country illegally at one time or another. It absolutely smashes the ill-promoted dichotomy of legal/illegal, proving that binary modes of thinking about immigration policy are superficial, baseless and untrue.

"It highlights how overly simplified our understanding of immigrants and immigration can be," said Hill, who said a stark distinction between "illegal" and "legal" immigrants does not acknowledge the frequent correlation between both categories. "We need to be a little more cognizant of the variety and breadth of experience."

Marking The Anniversary of 'Illegal Immigration'

2008-05-13T22:58:06Z

May 6, 1882 is the date for the birth of 'illegal immigration.' Like most social concerns that are only deemed as a 'problem' when it benefits the state, the immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States, the so-called 'yellow peril' and 'Asian invasion' now required 'documentation.' The Chinese were constructed as unassimilable peoples, not eligible for citizenship under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The Act also restricted Chinese immigration by excluding Chinese laborers from entering the country for the next 10 years under penalty of deportation and imprisonment. This would pave the way for more codes and statutes restricting Chinese immigration:

S 6 (22 Stat. 58, . 120), provides that every Chinese person other than a laborer, who may be entitled to come within the United States, shall produce a prescribed certificate of his identity and of his right to enter: and Act July 5, 1884, provides that this certificate "shall be the sole evidence
permissible on the part of the person so producing the same to establish a right of entry into the United States." Act Oct. 1. 18X8. prohibits any Chinese laborer who had been, or was then, or might hereafter be, a resident within the United States, and who had departed or might depart therefrom, to return to or remain in the United States. Held, that since the passage of the latter act no Chinese person, formerly resident in the United States but temporarily absent
therefrom, is entitled to return without the
prescribed certificate.—Wan Shing v. United
State», 140 U. S. 424. 11 S. Ct. 729, 35 L. Ed. 03.

What led to the enacted of Chinese exclusion? Was it working class fears of Chinese immigrants taking their jobs (as is the excuse given today) or simply sheer racism that the anti-illegal immigrant lobby denies in contemporary times?

What If I Had Never Come to the United States?

2008-05-12T17:15:08Z

Playing the ‘what if' game will get you nowhere in life. I've been guilty of playing it myself, though I know no good will come from wondering what could have been.

The decision to leave my birth country and arrive in the United States was not my own. I did not choose to overstay my visitor's visa. My parents made that decision for me, and if they had known the situation we are in now, I believe they would have chosen differently.

Most of the citizens in my birth country are educated and living comfortably. In fact, it is very technologically advanced; new medical innovations are constantly being designed. Everyone has cars, cell phones, and laptops, just like the United States. I probably would have had a similar life to the one I have now. I would have gone to college, and traveled.

Sometimes when I feel the pressures of being undocumented overwhelm me, I can't help blaming my parents for putting me in this situation. It never lasts long, and I know, at the time, to leave to America was the best decision for our family. Even with all the struggles I face with daily, I know being an undocumented student has made me who I am today. It has made me a better, more tolerant person.

I will also always be grateful to the American doctors who performed life-saving brain surgery on my younger brother. When my brother was ten years old, he went for a check-up, specifically for the condition he was born with, and the doctors found fluid building up in his brain. They operated using very new advanced techniques a few days later, and since then my brother has not needed any other operations. We don't know what would have happened in another country. We don't know if doctors in another country would have caught the fluid build-up or even had the right technology to perform the surgery successfully. Moving to the United States saved my brother's life, and for that reason alone, I cannot fault my parents for bringing me to this country.

Sheriff Joe's Easter weekend of racial profiling in Phoenix

2008-10-17T12:14:52Z

It's a little after four in the afternoon, and I’m standing in the blazing heat, in a parking lot at the Northwest corner of 32nd Street and Thomas in Phoenix. Most of the parking lot is roped off with yellow police tape, a dramatic move by perhaps the most dramatic sheriff in American history. Inside the taped area are deputies. Lots of deputies. Lots of sunglasses. And big, big trucks housing mobile jail cells. Lots of TV news crews. Lots of hatred. Ah, Arizona, how do I love thee? Let me count the deputays.

I am here as an editor, as a reporter, and as a citizen observer. But I don’t go inside the roped off area with most of the other reporters. They’re here from all the TV stations, from the newspapers. Sheriff Joe Arpaio farts in Phoenix, and many in the corporate media here come running to celebrate it against a backdrop of American flags and tough-guy scowling. There has never been a more lauded scoundrel than this, I think. Question is: Will they celebrate this day as well? After all, Arpaio is here today, on Good Friday, to tell the people of Maricopa County that he has begun another weekend of “patrols” in predominantly Latino neighborhoods. For Easter Weekend. The last time he did this, it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Nice timing, from a man who bragged on CNN that he found being compared to the KKK to be a compliment. Ah, Arizona.

In Arpaio-speak, this "patrol" thing means claiming that crime is up in the neighborhood, when, in fact, it is down. It means claiming that people in the neighborhood have called his offices to ask for more patrols, when in fact no one I talked to in the neighborhood has anything but fear and loathing for the sheriff. It means arresting people for minor offenses, such as a cracked windshield or mild speeding, offenses that in Scottsdale or Cave Creek would get the offender a ticket at the most.

It is Good Friday, and Sheriff Joe has decided this is the perfect time to terrorize Latinos for a weekend. Easter weekend. He has hundreds of deputies all over the neighborhood, along with armed members of a volunteer “posse”. I see one such volunteer stride past, in a shirt that reads “GOD’S ARMY,” his pistol in full view. He is tall and stiff as an SS soldier, a stick lodged somewhere quiet high up his rectum. He sneers at me and all the people who stand with me, most of us brown, almost all of us Latino. Because I am a wiseass, I cannot resist.