We screened the film, The Immigration Paradox, and then held a panel discussion with Yessenia Martinez, Lindsey Luis, Phuong Tran, and Eulalia Soto.
PODCAST
or
YOUTUBE
League of United Latin American Citizens LULAC
Northwest Immigrants Rights Project NIRP
US Citizenship and Immigration Services USCIS
The film 'Harvest of Empire' HERE
Crisis Cycling Podcast with Chris Thobaben on Immigration HERE
Chris Thobaben Campaign HERE
Meaningful Movies in Ridgefield Facebook HERE
Ridgefield Community Group HERE
Crisis Cycling Podcast Facebook HERE
And extremely compressed primer on US involvement in Honduras, but it's a start, HERE
Here's a synopsis of the evening done by our own Rheta Rubenstein:
The Immigration Paradox (2012) Meaningful Movies at Ridgefield
League of United Latin American Citizens – Sponsor October 24, 2018
Notes by Rheta Rubenstein, rrubenst@umich.edu. My apologies for errors. These are notes, not quotations. Please send me corrections. Thank you.
Adapted from the film’s website:
“THE IMMIGRATION PARADOX takes a critical and in-depth look at one of the most divisive issues in human global history–immigration. After encountering an immigrant crossing the Arizona desert, Emmy Award Winner and Filmmaker Lourdes Lee Vasquez sets out to understand why people would risk their lives to come to the U.S. … Her journey, spanning 7 years searching for answers and solutions to this complex social issue, takes her to places never before considered in the immigration debate. THE IMMIGRATION PARADOX is a feature length documentary that exposes the missing information to the immigration issue by interviewing an array of people from various backgrounds, which include economics, sociology, philosophy, history, policy, and activism. This documentary will move you beyond the villain or victim scenario, the heated rhetoric and sensationalism to reveal the bigger picture.”
Notes:
The film is a collage of images from rallies and confrontations, personal stories, and comments from interviews from leaders of groups on the right (e.g., Center for Immigration Studies) and the left. It has very disturbing music throughout, too. Here are some categorized clips.
Comment from Rheta Rubenstein, note-taker. I felt very uncomfortable during the film. In particular I felt that it would be traumatic or re-traumatizing for people in the audience who had immigrated or whose family had immigrated to watch and hear so much animosity. I am including some of these comments again in the notes in the interest of completeness of reporting. Those who want can skip the first section.
Comments in the film from anti-immigrant groups:
It’s not racism to be a patriot.
Go home. The border is that way. And take your kids
All our problems are due to immigrants, poor jobs, low pay, health care,…
Immigrants bring down wages.
Why do they have to leave their homeland?
Comments in the film from immigrants and allies:
You don’t know who I am.
Why are you yelling at me?
We are not the people we were when we came (didn’t know language, had no home or job)
Racists blame all their problems on immigrants, even obesity and traffic.
Some analytical comments:
What is reality? Our views are bent by daily images on TV.
Immigration is complex, not a 30 second story.
It is hard to get serious analysis from mainstream media.
The media is corporate. Think about how they benefit from keeping immigration misunderstood.
The Fourth Estate (press) is no longer able to do critical analyses.
All information is from a particular point of view.
What are the interests of those who produce information?
Who frames your work? What are you omitting?
Beneficiaries of immigration are people who want to pay lower wages.
We are all affected by immigration.
We undermine our employment system by having workers who are vulnerable and cannot speak up against low wages or bad treatment.
Injustice has become normal.
We need to improve economies all over the world.
There was also a quick survey of the history of labor in the US, including how people from England (including immigrants from Germany & Ireland) paid their debts by being indentured to colonists for many years, then slavery, child labor, various exclusionary acts against different immigrant groups. There are still now only 5000 visas a year for people who are unskilled. As one example, the tobacco industry in Virginia was run by a few very wealthy plantation owners and worked by native Americans, blacks, and Asians.
The author of Rigging the Game: How Inequality Is Reproduced in Everyday Life, Michael Schwalbe, explains how Keynsian economics is out and neo-liberalism is in. Neo –liberalism favors laissez-faire, free-market capitalism, privatization, deregulation, free trade, increased role of private sector. He believes that a good economic model is one in which the poorest of the poor can participate fully.
In the US we put money into global companies that we don’t trust rather than into local companies that help us build vibrant local communities. Companies are now going to the Bahamas to duck US taxes. In particular, private prison companies like CCA are benefitting from anti-immigrant policies. This is not new. In 1850 we had the fugitive slave act that paid money for the return of former slaves (or other blacks who could be snagged.)
Panelists:
Yessenia Martinez, Attorney
Lindsey Luis, President, National LULAC Youth organization
Phuong Tran, business person, Lava Java in downtown Ridgefield
Eulalia Soto, Attorney
Moderator: Chris Dudley, parent, podcaster, local activist. See Crisiscycling.com for podcast
General Comments re film:
Immigration is complex; be kind to others, listen and empathize.
Go with your heart. There was lots to learn from the film.
Appreciated history of immigration.
Film was skewed (biased) toward southern border immigration.
Qs to Panel
Q: What was your immigration experience?
Phuong’s father died during the Vietnam War. Her mom was a single parent of 8 children. They nearly died in the boat to the US. They did get US sponsors and eventually settled down here. Mom worked many jobs.
Q: What do immigration lawyers do?
A1. Try to find evidence for asylum. Asylum may be granted to people who are already in the United States and are unable or unwilling to return to their home country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion (5 possible reasons)
Lawyers listen to the stories of immigrants (often re-traumatizing) trying to find evidence for a case.
We need to remember that people who immigrate are self-starters, resilient, very motivated to be in the US.
Asylum is a 1-year status, then a person applies for a green card which is held for 5 years and then they may apply for citizenship.
A2. Some immigrant stories are deeply painful. People who have suffered repeated abuses, have had family members murdered, are unprotected by their own governments. People must often leave their home quickly, with few belongings, not even knowing themselves that they will need to leave.
Asylum seekers need good moral character and no criminal record or they may be placed in jail (further trauma.)
A3. Everything you think you know about immigration is wrong.
Q: What does LULAC Youth president do?
She oversees various councils in the US, including Puerto Rico. Org’n strives for youth leadership development, creating more regional councils.
Qs / comments from audience
Q. What is history of current caravan?
A. The majority of travelers are from Honduras which has one of the highest homicide rates in the world (56.52 per 100K people; world rate is 6.2 per 100K). [Among OECD countries, half have rates below 1 and US is highest with over 5, double the next below it, the Czech Republic. UN data in Wikipedia]
The gov’t is not willing or able to protect citizens. There was a 10 yr civil war in Honduras (35 years in Guatemala). Gangs offer youth a way out of poverty (work in drug trade.) We need to study the history. (See book recommendation near end.) The US is one of the chief outside forces creating poverty and corruption.
Comment: My family owns farms. Food needs to be picked, not rotted in fields. Let people come and go. We look at people from Vietnam better than we do others.
Comment (Hispanic person): It is hard for me to claim a nationality. I try to help people. There are many untold stories. We have been shot at by cartels. We are looking for a peaceful place to live. Emphasize lo e, not hate. We are changing the world by educating ourselves.
Comment: People claim there is a huge cost to the US when people come here. This is not true. The immigrant community contributes to social security but cannot collect it. Studies show repeatedly that the immigrant community gives more than they cost. They are not criminals. Everyone wants to live the American dream.
Hector Hinojosa: I am 7th generation Texan (father) and 1st generation American (mother came as 3 yo.) My family picked green beans in KY and other foods in OH. They worked very hard. I was fortunate to be able to go to school and college. I am lucky. I have travelled the world. All around the world, even Germany, Italy, Korea, people see the US as a great place to be.
Phuong: In the past I have not felt discrimination. Now I do. What has changed?
Chris D: Nothing has changed. Prejudice has just been uncapped.
Q: What are we doing in Ridgefield? E.g.,. grade school children?
Lindsey: Hatred comes from ignorance. We don’t teach the real (full) US History. In my school we have International Studies and African American Studies. Students need more culturally rich education. Everybody’s story needs to be at the table.
Chris: We met with Supt. McCann Fri Oct. 19. He is amenable to improvements. Last year he agreed to do Black History Month as a district – coordinated event.
Rheta: In the Fall 2018 teacher’s contract there is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to create a district-wide Equity Team. So the REA and our Ridgefield Community Group had a role in this development. I was at a conference Oct. 20 at Portland’s Madison HS called NW Teaching for Social Justice. One session was about Ethnic Studies, the fuller history that Lindsey was referring to. There are HSs in Portland where this is offered. It came about because activist student groups put pressure on the district. If anyone wants to join our team contact me (rrubenst@umich.edu).
Comment: And RF had great Multicultural Fair early Sept.
Chris: My wife Megan who coordinates these films also created the Fair, 2nd largest attendance of any event in RF.
Yessenia: I grew up in the Bay area of San Francisco. I came to SW WA less than a year ago. I never felt discrimination there. Here I feel it every time I enter a room. I even had someone ask, “Were you born here? Racism is very ‘in your face’ here.
Chris: As a white male, people talk to me assuming I am a racist.
Lawyers: Refuge and asylum status are part of UN agreements, there are international laws and treaties.
Comment: Everyone is trying to do well for their families.
Chris Tobaben (Candidate in 18th LD): He worked today at Clark College on ‘No Hate, Just Debate” with a diverse team. They listened and talked to 20 people (Patriot Prayer). They did not perceive that they were seen as a threat to others. Chris could draw upon his Marine training and work with veteran suicide, vets who are undocumented or whose spouse is. We need to see this work as a pep rally before engaging out there with our opponents, the intimidators.
Comment: “Illegal” is a derogatory term. When we see people as ‘less than,’ we can do anything to them.
Comment: Read Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by Juan Gonzalez (2011). We destabilized central American countries.
Q: How do you talk to people who hate? How do you find them?
Chris T.: Lots of patience. Lots of listening. My friend listened over 2 hours and helped a young PP recruit change his mind from being radicalized.
Comment: Let me see if I can plant a seed.
Phuong: You need not take a side.
Eulalia: It is hard not to take sides when they dehumanize you.
Closing Comments
Yessenia Martinez: Get into communities. Stop racism and hatred. Be proactive. Go to events. Serve your community. Show solidarity. Show up.
Lindsey Luis: Follow the Golden Rule. Have an open mind. See the power within you. Be or find mentors in school. Encourage bravery.
Phuong Tran: I pray for courage to speak because there are many people who cannot tell their stories.
Eulalia Soto: Thank you for being here. Fri Oct. 26 7:30-9 am at Warehouse 23 you are invited to the SW WA Hispanic Heritage Breakfast, a fund-raiser for scholarships for students. $45. Guest Speaker is Steve Gonzalez, WA Supreme Court Justice.
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