Immigration Mic

Currently pushing back against Senate Bill 4, Damaris is extremely passionate about standing up for her community, knowing that the passage of the bill (which may be signed by the governor any day this week), will have immediate ramifications on the undocumented community, since it calls for local police to act as ICE. Damaris has first hand experience growing up in the shadows, in fear that her parents might not return the next day. She speaks to me about experiencing discrimination in church because of her family’s status from other Hispanic American kids - the discrimination got so bad that she stopped going. “I became an adult at 15” - Damaris talks to me about several challenges she’s faced, including not being able to finish her degree because of a family member’s ailment, along with a personal loss that led her to her current activism work: she’s pushing through and surviving with all her might. She talks about how most of her extended family is more conservative, which poses an additional challenge fo

For the first time, (though I think she's a pro), she shares her very personal story of family reunification, takes me through her personal growth at IMI Corona, Queens, and her work in teaching youth through a self-developed art based workshop! She talks to me about growing up in Jackson Heights, her first time protesting for DAPA, and how her mother disapproved at first, but since has become involved in helping to spread information herself! It's also great to hear how Viviana found her voice though yelling at the top of her lungs at the protests! Also, we talk about how groups in her community banded together to help during the time rumors of ICE surfaced in the Jackson Heights area, along with community "Know Your Rights" workshops. Viviana is all about community - the Ecuadorean community, the immigrant community, the youth community, the Jackson Heights community - I'm incredibly lucky to have met such a powerful person that is using her voice to bering about social change! "Your project

A super talented digital media // immigrant rights organizer that has done it all - but is committed to the movement because of his personal connection to immigration. Yash came to Charlotte, NC at the age of seven with a background in organizing already - his mom was a women’s rights organizer in India that helped influence his social justice thinking. Through his amazing video and photos he looks to tell authentic narratives in the South - immigration became a natural fit for him - most of his friends were immigrants when he began organizing. We talk about Yash’s abilities to use his personal lens to help create stories that can help move social actions. He tells stories that blow my mind - like being detained in a room with family members at 7 years old, with no English - a “frustrating and scary experience” - which he thinks about when hearing about people going into deportation proceedings. He is a co-founder with Juan Carlos of the Dream Organizing Network in North Carolina - in the beginning, using the

The culture, the people, the diversity, Karen is born and raised in her neighborhood, and she’s all about it! Both her parents were middle school sweethearts from Mexico - her father’s goal at 16 was to bring Karen’s mom to the US - a big step from meeting in the marketplace. Karen talks to me about growing up within other cultures - how it made her question her appearance - and how for a brief time she herself was ashamed of being Latina because of the ”Mexican” jokes that would be thrown around - and how food was a big step in creating relationships. During her college years, someone close to her was undocumented - which sparked her interest in learning about immigration: it was his family’s inability to travel to Mexico for important occasions. She has a passion for political science and law, and she’s currently working educate herself on immigration policies and constantly attending “Know Your Rights” events. She’s also working in a volunteer capacity with a local group as part of their amplification team

On the ImmigrationMIC, welcome Miriam Enriquez - Director Of City of Philadelphia Office of Immigrant Affairs - and she’s so awesome! She takes me through her career - from her time in law school, to starting out as a prosecutor, to the DA’s Office - and how immigration always came up as a topic, fueling her passion. Her parents were from Nicaragua, and Miriam was born in the US during a visit, describing how she is considered to be an ‘anchor baby’ by some - and how she detests the talking point about coming to the US the “right way” as her birth was by a combination of luck and resources - and she believes everyone deserves a shot at the American dream. She also tells an anecdote about being in 4th grade and misspelling a word sounding it out in Spanish - a reminder she kept with her that her journey was “different” than others’. We delve into the topic of “Notario Fraud” - she describes it as the perfect crime, because it is a way for people to make easy money by preying on their own communities (of all ba

An outstanding athlete, driven by an intensity to succeed both on the wrestling mat and a passion for his community, Carlos represents the heart of the fight of the immigrant rights movement. Brought to the US from Mexico at 1, his parents looking for better opportunities after experiencing mistreatment working for wealthy families, Carlos grew up in a part of Colorado where he experienced growing up in an anglo community which he credits for being able to communicate with people from diverse backgrounds - yet he says he’s missed out on experiences from his culture. He also credits his friends’ ambition to go to college as having inspired him to always be driven to receive a college education. A technician on the wrestling mat, we share stories about our experiences - the thrill of finding the moment to dominate an opponent. From there, we talk about the limitations Carlos began experiencing in high school, when the rest of his friends were preparing to go to Mexico for Spring Break and he was unable to join

Welcome Carla & Maxima to The @HendelMedia #ImmigrationReform Project! Co-hosted (yes it happened!) with Maribel! Carla and Maxima are founders of their own workout apparel line Ganaz Apparel - opposites, but are brought together by a love for community organizing and fitness, you can def see the love there through the shots they take at each other. Carla is an artist and an entrepreneur: she grew up in a part of Arizona that was mainly anglo. She credits her school’s resources in helping her develop her design and software talents. Maxima tells us about growing up in downtown Phoenix pre-gentrification, when it wasn’t safe for her to walk to the corner for food, and how in college it was through MySpace (yes Myspace) someone reached out to her about becoming involved in the fight for the DREAM Act. We talk about their experiences organizing in Arizona, Maxima tells us a pretty scary story about her life being threatened during an action when activists shut down the Arizona highway protesting Donald Trump

Fresh off of finishing an educational gathering for local community members on the current political state of Arizona, Reyna and Korina are determined to continue fighting the fight in AZ that has spanned more than 25 years against discriminatory immigration laws! Reyna shares her experience sharing her story for the 1st time ever at a Republican fundraiser (woah!) - and her path to becoming Executive Director of Aliento, and her focus on leadership development in the AZ community. Korina talks about her experiences being involved in fighting Joe Arpaio's policies, and the need she felt to become involved in organizing after having been inactive - and the moment she realized she needed to fight back. Her words - "There's no political party, when your life is on the line" - so many chills. We talk about the SB1070 laws and the connection to former Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy's policies, the underestimation from activists in a possible Trump win, as well as the significance of the Obama deport

Welcome Dive Master/ Educator/ Activist and Long Island hometown girl Friends Of Melissa Figueroa to The @HendelMedia #ImmigrationReform Project! Melissa is passionate about advocating for quality education, which derives from her parent’s work ethic, her Puerto Rican heritage/ experiences, and about local issues that affect the Hempstead immigrant community. College was always in her plans, and initially planned to study psychology, however, she switched over to communications and that decision prepared her for the career she has built! Hear about her mishap as an intern at HBO Latino, Hempstead Public Schools, her experience working at Goldman Sach’s, how she began engaging in activism, and how she was into conspiracy theories online! Also: see Melissa’s passion for her experience working and traveling in Mozambique, which is very dear to her heart. I ask Melissa the all important question: with local politics and elections becoming so ugly, why/ and how should young people get involved? Hear Melissa’s answ

I found her singing Mexican ballads and standing up for immigrants, on Instagram, so welcome Josie to The @HendelMedia #immigrationreform Project! From the state of Illinois, Josie grew up in the United States since she was a year old, and wishes she were able to experience Mexico firsthand, however, she stays close to her culture through the music! There were few resources for her growing up navigating the system for a person in her position - one of the funniest moments was when she tells us how when even telling her friends repeatedly that she can’t partake in the same things, they are still misinformed about the immigration process. She’s a huge Taking Back Sunday, Dashboard Confessional, Destiny’s Child fan, which is totally awesome! She talks to me about the stresses her parents faced growing up regularly - “being in that fear is not living”, and the rigorous application process for Obama’s program that asks for everything you can and can’t imagine. Her advice to people at the moment in the same situati

Skyping from Minnesota, Luz is a young woman that has blazed her own trail to build her American Dream - that is now in danger of collapse because of the shifts in the nation’s immigration policy. Originally from Mexico, she tells the story of her family being detained at the border, witnessing South American children in the detention center her family was also held at, the moment her brother was separated from the group, and how their group walked through the desert and drank dirty water to survive. Luz is a Minnesotan through and through - she talks to me how she went from being an unmotivated student to being extremely involved in high school. She was about to return to Mexico for college, when she found out that a Minnesota university would be accepting undocumented students at in-state tuition. From there, she continued hustling through her college years, waiting tables, working factory and office jobs, and now works at a company in a job that she is proud of and enjoys! Here’s where the interview become

From the middle of musical rehearsals - Welcome Alfredo to The @HendelMedia #ImmigrationReform Project! A video of Alfredo on Twitter caught my attention - he was speaking passionately at a rally, in a way that was very motivating - so I had to reach out and bring him on! Alfredo is from Mexico: He talks to me about the opportunities his family was seeking in the US to build a home in Mexico, the language barriers his parents faced, and the challenges of living in apartment complexes with other recent migrants families. He is a southerner for sure - his drawl and love for southern food are part of who he is! Alfredo credits the public education system for having the opportunity to succeed, and feels a deep commitment to always give back to the community, which is why at the Day Without Immigrants rally, he spoke directly to the youth in a way he felt they needed to hear. He loved that the video of him speaking received such great reception and ovation from people online that he didn’t know - fulfilling his go

Welcome Berenice- Living in Sweden, from Ohio, originally from Guanajuato, Mexico - and now on The @HendelMedia #Immigration Reform Project! Stories, on stories, on stories - Berenice has had one hell of a journey, and she shares it all with us! From her father losing his job in Mexico standing up for his rights, to the three attempts of her family to cross into the United States - one being a The Fast and the Furious car chase, one ending up at a detention center where she saw/experienced the awful conditions, and finally crossing the border after walking for 24 hours, Berenice and her family are a testament to what immigrants will go through for refuge. Growing up in Ohio, Berenice talks about the importance of Welcoming Centers which helped her adapt, the incredible story of how she ended up at Columbia University in the City of New York after applying as an international student, not knowing what Ivy League schools were, and how when being there, never having revealed her undocumented status, how she was

She was recently on CNN taking Speaker Paul Ryan to task, and now she’s on The @HendelMedia #ImmigrationReform Project! Angelica from Oklahoma joins me for an interview you don’t want to miss: we discuss her motivations behind becoming active in the immigrant rights movement in 2006, discuss our struggles with mental health, how her ambitions to earn her degree were almost thwarted by anti-immigrant legislation, and her work with disability advocacy, youth soccer coaching, and working with Make A Wish! She also tells us the story of what she was really thinking at the CNN’s Paul Ryan Townhall - how she felt used by the network by placing her after a tragic story, how Paul Ryan “didn’t answer the damn question”, and tells us what she really wanted to say to him - seeing how such incidents like Guadalupe’s deportation last night shows that he’s going back on his words. We also discuss how anti-immigrant legislation evolved in Oklahoma, how her daughters have been targeted by blatant acts of racism, but how thro

Stephanie, from Las Vegas is speaking out for the first time, exclusively on my show! Her family resettled in Nevada after an incident in Mexico where her mother was held up at gunpoint; her family leaving behind their well established lives. She speaks with admiration of her father’s work ethic, no longer working his dream job in accounting, and instead opting to work difficult jobs to provide for the family. Her anecdote about her father’s calloused hands and desire for her to learn English so she wouldn’t struggle with an accent is something poetic to listen to. She’s a multitalented woman: she learned Japanese, played the cello, and has a fascination with all sorts of insects and reptiles - very unique interests! It was also during this time in high school when she was unable to travel to Japan that she began understanding the ramifications of being undocumented. “That year I spent painting, angrily” - she’s is also an artist inspired by Frida Kahlo. It took her a lot to step forward to do this interview,

Maribel is in the process of the post-production phase of her upcoming film, but she takes the time to let us get to know her road to deciding to put her life on screen! Ambitious, and resilient, Mexican born, LA- raised Maribel once envisioned herself climbing the ranks of corporate America, but has decided to use her story’s strength to help others in the same position of struggle she finds herself in. She relates the story of how her family decided that they would stay in the U.S - and the ‘magical’ sights she saw when she arrived. We dive into some heavy topics, including how through experiences in middle school and high school brought on shame of being referred to as not having ideal status, how she planned to move to Washington State to obtain a license, how she wasn’t excited about the announcement about deferred action and how she’s been on ‘survival mode’ since high school. More topics we cover include real-time bullying of immigrants, her activism for immigration reform since she was 18, even arrivi

My guest this week on The @HendelMedia Project was recently on Seriously.TV killing it with the comebacks, welcome Angel! A fellow LI organizer, born in Peru, in a years time, I’m proud to see his storytelling abilities having developed so much (listen to his take on Glen Cove either being The Wonder Years or Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America.) Overstaying Angel has faed several challenges within a few years a SCPD routine traffic stop led to the deportation of a family member, and family separation, forcing him to grow up fast. Hear how he was first introduced to Ani Halasz - how he then became a member of Long Island Immigrant Students Advocates - and became a part of the immigrant rights movement, advocating for the NYS DREAM ACT, to the two incredibly successful conferences he’s helped to organize, and his ambitions with his forthcoming alternative rock band! He’s looking forward to the future in coalition building of people being affected and targeted by the new presidential administration: he warns that

She's desi, from Queens, NY: fighting for change at the University of Notre Dame! From India, a TacoHut aficionado, and a recent immigration reform activist, she's looking to break the misconception about immigration only being a Latinx issue using her story to educate others. Explaining the moment she found out about deferred action and seeing how people happy were at her mother's grocery store, to moments hiding from potential deportation, to being at the front lines of protests this past semester, Gargi is fully committed to using her passion for the immigration movement! She schools me on the US's diversity visa lottery, and provides me with an inspiring story of how one of her educators was also in the same situation and the tremendous impact it had on her high school years.

Born in Jersey, having organized in Delaware, and now chasing storms around the country helping with disaster relief efforts, Martin is making a difference one way or another! Introduced to immigration work by Cheny Tolentino and becoming inspired by the personal stories of people affected by the nation’s broken immigration system, to his own family’s struggles and being able to spend the moment with his mother reconnecting with her own family after 20 years, Martin exemplifies the people we need to be strong allies! In his work in disaster relief, Martin believes there should be more stories of people helping each other - and in organizing spaces he believes there should be a limit to a ‘can’t stop, won’t stop’ work ethic and more self-healing efforts. Humbly, Martin says that one doesn’t have to be the best organizer to be making a difference - to find one thing that is helping others is just as powerful!

Today on The @HendelMedia, I welcome Manuela who recently shared her story in the New York Times! A Venezuelan native formerly undocumented, who recently became a citizen, is speaking out to help others understand deferred action, being brutally honest about how her family became undocumented, the tribulations her family went through, and a shocking account of the reactions she would receive when telling people about her status (negative reaction from a chemistry professor, and people laughing at her.) But also learn about her perseverant spirit: how she fought to be in college, her appreciation for the welcoming Mexican American culture in TX, her respect and appreciation for her mother’s sacrifices, and her fuel for fighting for social justice because of the inspirational women in her life!