Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Treatment: The Truth About America's Undocumented Citizens
In this documentary I would like to touch the hearts of mainstream assimilates and politicians to give them a peek at the hardships many immigrant parents and children face. After a small scale rally in the city of Chicago and hearing the stories of immigrant children’s’ hopes and dreams being destroyed, the viewer will get a close look at the larger scale issue in our country. Following a rally in Washington D.C. with approximately two hundred thousand attendees, allies and undocumented citizens will have enhance the magnitude of this issue. Some of whom are scared to step out of their own home, to high school valedictorians that cannot receive financial aid for college, even though they invested their time and life into our educational system. Even a reverends opinion on the issues, as well as administrators that aid in the process of becoming a civilian and assisting immigrant’s, to children of broken families due to deportation. The film will point out personal stories of those affected by the broken immigration laws of America.
Throughout American history we see a revolving door of racism and discrimination dating back to the late 1700’s during the slave trade, to the recent racial profiling of Middle-Eastern men and Muslims after the September 11th attacks. I would ask you if this acceptable behavior, but the most obvious answer given would be no, but why has nothing progressive been done? Then why was the mass murder of approximately 12 million Jews and minorities during the Holocaust a tragedy? Why were thousands of Japanese Americans sent to internment camps during the Pearl Harbor attacks? Why was the mistreatment of millions of Africans and blacks during the civil rights movement a staple in American history? These are all questions and issues that once again resurface and make way through that revolving door.
Surely, the questions with immigration reform are critical and should be dealt with in a delicate manner but, nonetheless, something must be done soon. In the wake of the drug war along the border, American’s must ask themselves if letting others emigrate is a crime? Why is it so difficult to become a citizen and raise a family? Why should parents and children live in fear everyday of being torn apart and deported? Why are immigrants the scapegoats for stealing ‘our’ jobs? So what can America do to solve these issues and find an answer? We must go through this trying revolving door to find an answer? America the land of the free, where anyone can be prosperous, perhaps is not what we may think it is.
My aim in this documentary is to find that All-American-Individual that my viewer can identify with. The viewer may perhaps be more able to identify with someone that they have common ground with, such as an exemplimary student trying to go to college, or a faith-filled extreme Christian that believes every neighbor should be treated, as they would like to be treated. This should not only touch the hearts of those watching the film but it should make them want to take action on a crucial issue that affects us all directly and indirectly. We semi-unconsciously see the truth of dual labor markets and scapegoating, we even see the process of immigration in documentaries, movies, and the news, what viewers do not see is the everyday battles these hard-working people face. Viewers need to ask themselves “how would I fight through this battle?” Perhaps since my viewer may be a young legal citizen, the viewer may want to take action to change the immigration reform of this vicious tiresome cycle.
Raw footage of immigrants and allies’ efforts at the Chicago Rally for Immigration Reform and the rally in Washington D.C. can show the large-scope issue at hand, and also gives a visual as to how many this affects. Structured interviews with undocumented ‘citizens’ will give a voice to the voiceless. A brief history of immigration laws and its development or lack thereof will help to make a sound argument; articles, news clips and archives will aid this portion of the documentary.
I am the product of a family of immigrants. My mother came from Puerto Rico and though the land is American territory it was also very poor and undeveloped unlike the rest of the states. My grandmother did this as a successful attempt to make a better life for her and her children. My father journeyed through the rough terrain from the south crossing the United States-Mexico border. I can only imagine how these issues affected him so, that he has never mentioned his journey, the only thing he has ever mentioned is how proud he is that his daughter, me, is taking action on this topic. I am so disappointed at the 65 thousand undocumented young adults that graduate high school each year and cannot attend college because of the finances, or the several thousand families that are broken each day because of deportations. This film will uniquely address these issues and aid the viewer in personally identifying with the subject.
We will soon have a mission statement up and photos of the rally in Washington D.C.
In this documentary I would like to touch the hearts of mainstream assimilates and politicians to give them a peek at the hardships many immigrant parents and children face. After a small scale rally in the city of Chicago and hearing the stories of immigrant children’s’ hopes and dreams being destroyed, the viewer will get a close look at the larger scale issue in our country. Following a rally in Washington D.C. with approximately two hundred thousand attendees, allies and undocumented citizens will have enhance the magnitude of this issue. Some of whom are scared to step out of their own home, to high school valedictorians that cannot receive financial aid for college, even though they invested their time and life into our educational system. Even a reverends opinion on the issues, as well as administrators that aid in the process of becoming a civilian and assisting immigrant’s, to children of broken families due to deportation. The film will point out personal stories of those affected by the broken immigration laws of America.
Throughout American history we see a revolving door of racism and discrimination dating back to the late 1700’s during the slave trade, to the recent racial profiling of Middle-Eastern men and Muslims after the September 11th attacks. I would ask you if this acceptable behavior, but the most obvious answer given would be no, but why has nothing progressive been done? Then why was the mass murder of approximately 12 million Jews and minorities during the Holocaust a tragedy? Why were thousands of Japanese Americans sent to internment camps during the Pearl Harbor attacks? Why was the mistreatment of millions of Africans and blacks during the civil rights movement a staple in American history? These are all questions and issues that once again resurface and make way through that revolving door.
Surely, the questions with immigration reform are critical and should be dealt with in a delicate manner but, nonetheless, something must be done soon. In the wake of the drug war along the border, American’s must ask themselves if letting others emigrate is a crime? Why is it so difficult to become a citizen and raise a family? Why should parents and children live in fear everyday of being torn apart and deported? Why are immigrants the scapegoats for stealing ‘our’ jobs? So what can America do to solve these issues and find an answer? We must go through this trying revolving door to find an answer? America the land of the free, where anyone can be prosperous, perhaps is not what we may think it is.
My aim in this documentary is to find that All-American-Individual that my viewer can identify with. The viewer may perhaps be more able to identify with someone that they have common ground with, such as an exemplimary student trying to go to college, or a faith-filled extreme Christian that believes every neighbor should be treated, as they would like to be treated. This should not only touch the hearts of those watching the film but it should make them want to take action on a crucial issue that affects us all directly and indirectly. We semi-unconsciously see the truth of dual labor markets and scapegoating, we even see the process of immigration in documentaries, movies, and the news, what viewers do not see is the everyday battles these hard-working people face. Viewers need to ask themselves “how would I fight through this battle?” Perhaps since my viewer may be a young legal citizen, the viewer may want to take action to change the immigration reform of this vicious tiresome cycle.
Raw footage of immigrants and allies’ efforts at the Chicago Rally for Immigration Reform and the rally in Washington D.C. can show the large-scope issue at hand, and also gives a visual as to how many this affects. Structured interviews with undocumented ‘citizens’ will give a voice to the voiceless. A brief history of immigration laws and its development or lack thereof will help to make a sound argument; articles, news clips and archives will aid this portion of the documentary.
I am the product of a family of immigrants. My mother came from Puerto Rico and though the land is American territory it was also very poor and undeveloped unlike the rest of the states. My grandmother did this as a successful attempt to make a better life for her and her children. My father journeyed through the rough terrain from the south crossing the United States-Mexico border. I can only imagine how these issues affected him so, that he has never mentioned his journey, the only thing he has ever mentioned is how proud he is that his daughter, me, is taking action on this topic. I am so disappointed at the 65 thousand undocumented young adults that graduate high school each year and cannot attend college because of the finances, or the several thousand families that are broken each day because of deportations. This film will uniquely address these issues and aid the viewer in personally identifying with the subject.
We will soon have a mission statement up and photos of the rally in Washington D.C.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
My Trip To Washington D.C.
There was recently a nationwide march to Washington D.C. in an effort to push the Obama administration to act on immigration reform. I was lucky to attend this once in a lifetime experience. An estimated 200 buses departed from Illinois, along with allies from other states to rally on the National Mall lawn. On this 14-hour journey I had so many thoughts cross my mind. I thought of how similar our march for immigration reform is to the March on Washington in 1963. Considering experiences between undocumented immigrants and African Americans were not exactly the same, we still see a pattern in poor education, housing, limited opportunities and dangerous rough labor conditions.
With this immigration reform, some of the modifications I would like to see are as follows;
*Equal and fair education for all. Many children grow up in the United States and are brought here because of their parents hopes for a better future for their children. Approximately 65 thousand undocumented children graduate high school each year. Almost none are able to attend college because of the financial burden, even though they invested their lives and education in our system.
*A halt in the seperation of families. As I said before, many families are being torn apart. Everyday thousands of families are broken because of our unfair and complicated laws and many children born here have to live and work for their family back home in another country. What we are doing is not American. We are limiting resources and opportunities for these children of our future with already limited resources and opporunities. It is impossible to live without fear of being seperated from your family without a trace.
*Refugee support. Now I am not as aware on the laws and trials of refugees and rights. But I understand that our process to get refugees to succed on their own consists of one-months rent, a couch, and some utnecils. Many of these refugees come here from horrid living conditions or war. Many of them have never set foot in a culture such as this of the United States and many do not speak English. We need to establish a system that can better support these refugees and families to help them adapt and learn a way of life in the United States.
*And a more comprehendible practical citizenship process. It is unfair how, for some people the citizenship process takes longer than 10 years and for others, it takes less than 2 years. Not to mention, how paper work gets 'lost' and the expenses are so high.
I know that it is impractical to dream of a utopia and citizenship for all, but as of now i can say that reform is needed in these areas and changes need to be made.
With this immigration reform, some of the modifications I would like to see are as follows;
*Equal and fair education for all. Many children grow up in the United States and are brought here because of their parents hopes for a better future for their children. Approximately 65 thousand undocumented children graduate high school each year. Almost none are able to attend college because of the financial burden, even though they invested their lives and education in our system.
*A halt in the seperation of families. As I said before, many families are being torn apart. Everyday thousands of families are broken because of our unfair and complicated laws and many children born here have to live and work for their family back home in another country. What we are doing is not American. We are limiting resources and opportunities for these children of our future with already limited resources and opporunities. It is impossible to live without fear of being seperated from your family without a trace.
*Refugee support. Now I am not as aware on the laws and trials of refugees and rights. But I understand that our process to get refugees to succed on their own consists of one-months rent, a couch, and some utnecils. Many of these refugees come here from horrid living conditions or war. Many of them have never set foot in a culture such as this of the United States and many do not speak English. We need to establish a system that can better support these refugees and families to help them adapt and learn a way of life in the United States.
*And a more comprehendible practical citizenship process. It is unfair how, for some people the citizenship process takes longer than 10 years and for others, it takes less than 2 years. Not to mention, how paper work gets 'lost' and the expenses are so high.
I know that it is impractical to dream of a utopia and citizenship for all, but as of now i can say that reform is needed in these areas and changes need to be made.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Reason Is My Culture
| I don't think I have been motivated or as touched emotionally about social injustices until recently. It almost hurts me to say that, but I feel I should be honest. I feel I didn't really know much outside my neighborhood for the first 13 years of my life. Music, movies, television and even the clothes I wore, I feel were monitored very closely. My father's side of the family were conservative Jehova's Witness's, while I was, well, not. When I entered high school, I found myself in an odd position. I always felt I took on the role as mom at home and the naive teenager that knew nothing of music, movies, television, fashion and even the slang that others my age used. I always found myself asking silly questions to understand what others were talking about. It was not until I came to Columbia that I found an admiration for justice and policy. A motivation for my curiosity in this field of social injustice, is more recently with the argument of Mexican immigrants in the United States, when the HR4437 bill was in act. I found myself, many family and friends taking action to hold on to there rights and many dreams they came to the United States to find. Although I am American, born and raised, it was not until this obstacle that I realized the severity of the issue. I spoke to many people before discovering the issues they face in Mexico and not only Mexico, but many other nations as well. I have a close relationship to this issue because my father is a first generation immigrant from Mexico. Getting to and across the border is something no one forgets but would like to. I have heard stories of women getting raped and kidnapped, walking by dead bodies in the desert and sleeping in the cold night with nothing but the clothes on your back and one eye open. And then when you get to the 'land of the free', you work minimum wage labor jobs. It seems that they are invisible. Think about it, how often do you acknowledge the janitor, or the garbage man, or the cooks in the back? It is for this reason I am eager to get an education, so that I can be one to make a change in the glass ceiling and prove to many that 'we' are able and will be prosperous. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)