Illegal Immigration - MidTerm Proposal
The main topic of my project is going to be about Illegal Immigration. I chose this topic because it interests me and I felt I can relate somewhat to it, let me explain. There are so many stereotypes branded to us Hispanics, many Americans view us as rapists, murderers and job stealers. In fact, "A considerable number of Americans believe that Latinos are all recent immigrants to the U.S. and that unauthorized migrants to the country exclusively come from Mexico. Others believe that Hispanics all speak Spanish and have the same ethnic traits (Nittle, April 29,19)". Many assume that all illegal immigrants are Mexican and that isn't true, the "Pew Hispanic Research Center has found that illegal immigration from Mexico has actually declined. In 2007, an estimated 7 million unauthorized immigrants lived in the U.S. Three years later, that number dropped to 6.5 million (Nittle, April 29,19)" Another misconception is that all Latinos are immigrants and that is completely false because some are born in the United States and the U.S is their home. Many believe that all Hispanics speak Spanish which isn't entirely true because "according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 75.1 percent of Latinos speak Spanish at home. That figure also indicates that a large number of Latinos, about a quarter, do not" (Nittle, April 29,19 ).
That being said I chose this topic because it also breaks my heart to see so many families broken apart because of hatred, racism, and discrimination. I’m trying to raise awareness, have citizens look through the eyes of an illegal immigrant for once and place themselves in their shoes. I will make a short video portraying it from the viewpoint of an illegal immigrant and a citizen and allow my audience to feel the emotions illegal immigrants face day today. I myself came to the United States at a young age as an immigrant so being Hispanic and an immigrant I know the hardships one can face. I came across an article on the New York Times titled, "Underground Lives: The Sunless World of Immigrants in Queens", and it made me tear up when I read it. The article was basically about how New York welcomes immigrants but rent comes at a cost so many illegal immigrants decide to live in these underground basements in Queens, hidden from the rest of the world. These basements aren't fancy renovated basements, they're barely lit, no-windows, electrical wires all over the place type of basements. Many live in tiny rooms alone or with strangers and some even sleep in shifts. Why do they do that and not just go back to their country some might ask, and the heartbreaking reality is that they to want to be in a country that offers many opportunities to succeed, they want a better future for their families and want their kids to get their degrees and have a better quality of life then they did... what's so wrong about that?
The Guerrilla Girls are advocates for women and their rights, they go against any social norms and they try to raise awareness. Protesting for what they believe is right and what they’re passionate about. I feel empowered to do the same and be a voice for these people. I want to stand up for what I believe is true and deserves to be viewed through eyes of mercy and love. I want to represent them and show the world the harsh reality of living in this country illegally so people can stop belittling them and so these illegal immigrants can stop living in fear that ICE will knock at their door in the middle of the night and deport them. Crazy fact: "The vast majority of immigrants in the U.S. are in the country legally – but fewer than half of Americans know that’s the case" (Gramlich, Jan 16,19).
The artists that have influenced or inspired my project are Felipe Baeza, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Edel Rodriguez and Art Spiegelman. Baeza believes that art plays a crucial role in transforming and redefining the global phenomenon of migration. When it comes to migration, the discourse rarely focuses on the stories of real people trying to succeed; instead, the conversation is dominated by criminality and punishment". Fazlalizadeh painted “Portrait of My Father as an Alien” based on his “resident alien” ID card photo from when he came to the United States from Iran in the 1970s. Her intention was to take an image of him that was presented as “alien” to this country, and to view it with the understanding that he was a person — a father, a husband, a human being. Rodriguez painted "Strangers", and he stated that this country now seems scared to take risks on foreigners, to bet on the possibility that the next boat full of strangers might be full of greatness. I agree! Lastly, Spiegelman said, " ICE has scorched the dreams of many of the tempest-tost and these days actively betrays that inscription with cruelty my parents had hoped they had left behind" (Lescaze June 19,18).
Felipe Baeza
Work Cited Page
Gramlich, John. “How Americans See Illegal Immigration, the Border Wall and Political Compromise.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 16 Jan. 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/16/how-americans-see-illegal-immigration-the-border-wall-and-political-compromise/.
Lescaze, Zoë. “13 Artists On: Immigration.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 June 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/t-magazine/immigration-art.html.
Nittle, Nadra Kareem. “Breaking Down Myths and Stereotypes About Hispanics and Immigration.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 29 Apr. 2019, https://www.thoughtco.com/hispanics-and-immigration-myths-stereotypes-2834527.
Stewart, Nikita, et al. “Underground Lives: The Sunless World of Immigrants in Queens.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Oct. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/23/nyregion/basements-queens-immigrants.html.
No comments:
Post a Comment