Blessings Blog

Tonight I’m thankful for this platform to get on my soapbox again. In the last couple of days, immigration justice has come to the front burner, and for that, I am thankful to gain a deeper understanding of my own privilege and my role in being an ally for undocumented immigrants. I’m privileged to have been born in this country to documented parents who were able to provide me with resources for one of the best academic environments in the nation. I’m privileged by whiteness, all of the intangible ways it affects my life, and the position to think about ways to better be an ally.

Today, I had the privilege of sitting down with a documented child of undocumented parents, who paid their taxes to this country, to apply for our government to help him fund his education. As a part of my AmeriCorps work, I got to sit down with this student looking forward to studying something in the realm of art, film, and media to navigate filling out a FAFSA for federal grants and financial aid from his school of choice while filling in 000-00-0000 for his parents’ social security numbers and deciphering tax forms. I’m so thankful that regardless of what people often see as his parents’ mistake or egregious criminal act (note: “illegal immigration” is a civil, not criminal offense) was a decision of love for their children to look for opportunities to provide for them here, and that this student in this case is not penalized for his parents’ documentation status, but rather will be able to receive financial aid like the US citizen he is. 

And tonight, I had the privilege of sitting on the floor up against a wall until my bum went numb in a packed lecture hall at Carleton to hear renowned Jose Antonio Vargas speak. In case you’re unfamiliar or need a refresher, Jose is a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist who came out last summer as an undocumented immigrant. He has also come out as gay, but that’s beside the point for now. He has since, because of his high profile, success, hard work, and “otherness” as a Filipino in the immigration debate, played a huge role in re-opening the stagnant conversation about our broken immigration system. Jose, as a journalist with the tough questions, has asked our country to think about the face of immigration, who are affected by state and national laws, what do undocumented immigrants look like (they’re not all Mexican!), and what does it truly mean to be “American.” (Check out his website, Define American, if you like). 

He was originally supposed to do the convocation at Carleton in the fall, but he was actually stopped in good old Northfield for driving with headphones on and made national news for getting arrested for driving without a valid license though because he is undocumented! (Here's the article link: MinnPost). Basically because he has the privilege of being a high-profile, well-respected journalist, he was only briefly detained, while the typical undocumented immigrant would not be so lucky.

Anyways, because he was arrested literally on his way to speak at Carleton then, he came back to fulfill his duty to us, first speaking with TORCH students and others interested at the high school, and then going to Carleton for an evening presentation and full-room discussion. The thoughtfulness, humor, quips, and energy in that room were amazing. I was so inspired, and I was thankful to be able to count this event towards my AmeriCorps professional training hours (even though I would have gone anyway) because I so thrive on the mix between direct service with my students and zooming out to the broader picture of immigration justice. We are a nation of immigrants, and we have also created and perpetuated many of the circumstances for inequality within our country and around the globe.

I would just like to share some quotes, stats, and threads of conversation from the night that may strike you and perhaps address some perceptions or misconceptions you may have had about immigration, what it means to be undocumented, and what you have a responsibility to do with the tools and knowledge available to you.

- “To be an undocumented person in America is to be completely obsessed with documents.”

- In 2010, undocumented immigrants in Minnesota paid $87 million in taxes. They are paying into the system, just like my student's parents, but their children are often stuck at high school with extremely limited access to the system of higher education, this system they pay into. This system that would provide a way out of the cycle of poverty.

- With upcoming legislation, Minnesota could be the 13th state to give undocumented students in-state tuition!

- How many of you at age 15 or 16 saw getting a driver’s license as a privilege? Jose first learned he was undocumented when he brought his green card to the DMV to get his license, and he was turned away because it was a fake. He was brought here by his grandparents, and apparently two generations is not considered a close enough family relationship for a family visa, so he had to make excuses to his friends when he could not drive. Think of all the ways you need a license to validate your personhood, your identity.

- On this thread, Minnesota is on its way to being the fifth state to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses. This would ensure everyone on the road has taken a license test, provide people with legal forms of identification, and remove one more obstacle, that of transportation, for immigrants to get to their jobs to provide for their families.

- “We have lost a generation of people who just gave up.” What’s the point of working hard in high school if there’s no hope after? Why take the SATs? Why bother with visiting colleges when they would just turn you away? We need to accept everybody with education access. While we need all the doctors and lawyers and physicists and journalists we can get, we can’t all get 4.0s. Jose was very frank about his own privilege and about how hard he worked to get where he is. We need to provide all undocumented students the same opportunities as others because it is imperative we provide good, solid jobs for all who want to live with dignity and roofs over their heads. If they’re capable and willing to work for it, we should ensure the system works for them.

- In some families, statuses are different between children and parents and even between siblings. As of 2011 there are over 5000 children in foster care because of parental deportation. Our current immigration system is tearing families apart. 

- “In 21^st Century America, diversity is destiny. It’s only gonna get browner, more Asian, gayer…”

Earlier in the night I had seen one of the students from Arcadia charter school (where I work part-time with AmeriCorps when I’m not at the high school or running other places) across the way, and in the discussion time, he stood up and asked, “As a heterosexual white man, how do I be a better ally?” “Understand privilege, humanity, and empathy.”

Jose also talked about the concept of intersectionality in the sense of understanding each other’s realities and sitting at the table with the “other.” “You don’t have to be a woman to be a feminist, you don’t have to be gay to fight for same-sex marriage, you don’t have to be Latino to care about immigration.” We have to be willing to sit at each others tables, and to welcome each other to ours. Those of us who are "white" may not even think about going to meetings of different "cultural organizations" because they are not for us, even if we would want to learn. Inviting each other into our realities is a process, but we have to meet each other halfway.

 One descendent of Russian and German Jews whom left Europe from persecution noted being uncomfortable being called white because he feels like he doesn’t have a culture. And maybe many of us white folks are not as connected to our heritage as more recent immigrants or as people of color, but we can take the time and opportunities to learn about and share our families' stories as well. Jose talked of his fascination with how this country has created "whiteness," which can definitely create some identity crises. Everybody has a story, and everybody's story has value. In some way, it has helped shape who you are. It is how you got here, to wherever you are on this earth and in this life, and there have been so many other lives and circumstances that somehow had to transect for you to end up there.

The Jose Vargas presentation was incredible. And connected to his work, I’m thankful for the work IFSA (Carleton’s student group Inter-Faith Social Action) has put in since its inception that has finally made some headway with the Carleton administration about its policy towards admission of undocumented students. Much of our work these past few months has been to figure out exactly what Carleton’s policy is, and if we as Carleton students (and alums!) had to put effort into this, imagine how much of a deterrent that would be for an undocumented student who has lived in the U.S. most of their life but has more barriers to face in terms of even figuring out which colleges would consider accepting them as U.S. students. Naturally, our first step to convincing Carleton to move towards acceptance of all students willing and capable to benefit from and contribute to this academic environment was to convince the administration to at the very least publish an explicit policy regarding admission of undocumented applicants.

In a meeting Wednesday with the Dean of Admissions, IFSA members finally had an open conversation where they learned Carleton would accept undocumented students but considers them international students. At least we know now where Carleton stands, and our group members present at the meeting were able to leave a fat stack of research materials we had compiled since the fall with facts and figures regarding economic and moral arguments, examples of more welcoming policies of similar institutions, and our recommendations for Carleton policy. After five to six years, we got Carleton to give us a straight answer, so we can work from that standpoint to have Carleton publish an explicit policy, and hopefully from there convince my beloved alma mater to accept them as Americans with the right to financial aid regardless of immigration status. I’m proud to be a member of this crew!

Ans.. couple of days ago, the Associated Press (which Vargas called the “bible of journalism) also made a language shift to bar the usage of the terms “illegal immigrant.” The word “illegal” can be used as an adjective to describe an action, such as crossing the border illegally or overstaying one’s visa illegally, but it should never be used to describe a person or to plainly write off a group of human beings.

This is just one victory in the realm of conscious language usage though. If it moves you, please sign this petition to encourage the New York Times to make the same language shift: http://www.causes.com/NYTdroptheiword?open_dialog=inviter

 The importance of language goes beyond what journalists are required to use, of course, to our everyday conversations with friends and family. “Undocumented” is the most appropriate, but using “unauthorized” or also just taking the time to an individual’s or group’s circumstances are also acceptable. It is important to spread awareness out of love and respect for the dignity of both those in your normal social, academic, and professional circles as well as those to whom you are referring. It’s about love, people. It’s about loving people.

I’m also thankful to have had the opportunity to debrief both with one of my best Carleton friends who attended the event with me, and then with my Canadian housemate in the kitchen back at home about changing demographics… the conceptualizations of Canada as a mosaic while the U.S. is supposed to be a great melting pot… though it’s more like a tossed salad with individual pieces still recognizable but washed over with some thin flavor that somehow ties everything together…. And the future of our societies.

So much is happening, and still so much to happen. But we are in exciting times, folks! And what you can do regardless of your race, culture, immigration status, language, etc. is try to learn about the experiences and circumstances of others. Make the effort and open your heart to your fellow human beings.