Semester Final Project

Immigration has shaped the United States in numerous ways such as culture, economy, and politics. Despite being a diverse country, prejudice is bound to be seen within people. In result of recent tragedies such as 9/11 or the Boston Marathon Bombing, Islamophobia has risen into peoples thoughts. Though we cannot ignore those past events, the discrimination towards a certain group affects the innocent people who had nothing to do with a few bad apples. The power politics brings can really change a person's life, both negatively and positively. In 2017, President Trump has issued Executive Order 13769, which is most commonly known as the Travel Ban. In short, the Travel Ban restricts 7 countries, being North Korea, Iran, Syria, and other Muslim majority countries, from entering the United States. President Trump signed this ban using the reason of national security and the protection of the people.

As someone who has immigrated from another country, the Travel Ban is a worse case scenario to a hopeful immigrant. Many immigrants come to the United States for the reason of starting new or running away from horrible conditions from their home country. This has been happening since the colonies before America has been officially created. As they say, history repeats itself, that applies to the laws that our government passes. The Travel Ban is one of many immigrant restricting laws that has been passed over the years. They did it in 1892 to restrict the Chinese from entering. Though I am not directly affected, we should still support the families that have been broken due to this order.

My art project is a visual representation of what is going on. It has been dumbed down that even a baby can understand the current events that are happening. In the form of a baby mobile, there are eight prominent figures that can be seen hanging, the seven fishes and the single dragon. The seven fishes represent the seven countries that are listed in the travel ban. The dragon represents President Trump and America. Right between the two figures is a mesh fabric which represents the wall that Trump advocates for. I used mesh for the material because the wall is this imaginary figure. It is there to stop people from entering, for those who want to enter it feels so close yet so far since it can be seen through.

I recorded a video of a friend and I creating the mobile together. It is created from scratch with how I mentioned its layout previously. As we are creating the mobile, text appears on screen of what certain pieces represent and a few basic facts about what the Travel Ban is about, giving basic information to those who haven't learned about our country's current situation.

My Video on How I Made My Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO9cv7_T-i0
Sign The Petition To Repeal: https://www.thepetitionsite.com/407/151/500/reverse-the-muslim-ban/
Executive Order 13769: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/02/01/2017-02281/protecting-the-nation-from-foreign-terrorist-entry-into-the-united-states

Trump Addressing The Travel Ban: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJSw3TsoGAw&t=98s