Undocumented and exposed under a Trump presidency
By Alexa Mencia [A version of the story was originally published in The American Prospect.] Operating room nurse Jose Aguiluz knew that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was only a Band-Aid for his immigration problem. It wasn’t a pathway to citizenship. The benefits it offered were limited, temporary. But critically to Aguiluz, it was […]
Immigrant community finds way forward after election
By Alex Ortiz “I couldn’t tell them that things were going to be OK,” Jose Muñoz recalls as he and undocumented students watched election night returns Nov. 8 in Pilsen. “All I could tell them was that we are there to support them.” Students gathered at Resurrection Project that night hoping for an altogether different result than […]
Shena Gutierrez won’t take U.S. border officials’ ‘no’ for an answer
By Alexa Mencia [The story was republished in Truthout as Wife of Use-of-Force Victim Advocates to Hold Border Officials Accountable and on SJNN] Shena Gutierrez’s husband José almost died March 30, 2011. As the leader of a support network for those affected by U.S. border authorities’ use of force, Gutierrez knows her husband was one […]
The Albany Park Theater Project exposes the soul of separated families
Text by Jenny Lee Video by Xiao Lyu Clad in orange jumpsuits, a group of high school students carrying large suitcases trudged onto the center stage. Heads down with hands, feet and waists shackled, they took a seat on their suitcases while two girls dressed as nuns slithered through the “criminals” and settled in front […]