Immigration Project ArtifactsCody Luk • Elizabeth Craig • Sasha Webb • Jamie Sato Honors 499

TOPIC:IMMIGRATION.

Why is immigration an issue?

Many misconceptions about immigration

Immigrants are not actually taking U.S. citizens’ jobs

Either have highly skilled jobs or manual labor jobs

Immigrants do help the economy

They pay taxes, even if they are undocumented

They start businesses

Many immigrants are educated

They have specialized skills and degrees.

Undocumented immigrants should not be called “illegal” – they are not criminals

Some Common Misconceptions

EVENT.DECEMBER 1.CAMPUS CENTER BALLROOM A.

We promoted our event through different mediums–print and broadcast.

FlyerWe received approval from ASULV to post the flyer at every bulletin board on

campus.

Press ReleaseA press release was sent to

students and professors from different departments

to encourage event attendance.

RadioThe event was promoted on

LeoFM through the December 1 afternoon live

broadcast.

PublicityThe student-run ULV

newspaper, Campus Times, was invited to the event and a reporter wrote an article

on it.

The Win-Win Situation: An Immigration Discussion Forum

Panelists took turns discussing a variety of topics regarding immigrants, and after each topic, the audience members have a chance to ask any questions or comment on the topics

The projector showed the topics the panelists were discussing

Panelists

Carolyn Bekhor – Associate Professor of Legal Studies

Zandra Wagoner – University Chaplain & Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion

Gerardo Cuevas – Senior history major student and Latino Student Forum Director of Finance

Mariela Martinez – Junior political science major student, ULV College Democrats President, and Model United Nations Vice President

Topics Discussed

What are some common misconceptions about immigrants, documented or undocumented, that you have come across?

What do you think of the media’s negative portrayal of immigrants and the effects the media has on immigrants?

How has immigration changed throughout history?

How are immigrants contributing to the economy?

Why is immigration an issue? What needs to change regarding immigration? How do you propose to enact these changes?

We gave out brochures with immigration resources as a takeaway for the event attendees. This is the first page of the tri-fold brochure.

This is the back page of the tri-fold brochure.

VOLUNTEER.AZUSA CITY LIBRARY.LONG BEACH IMMIGRATION RIGHTS COALITION.

Azusa City Library

We tutored community members in preparation for their U.S. citizenship test. Many do not have much

knowledge on the English language nor U.S. history.

Long Beach Immigration

Rights Coalition

We helped a grassroots organization with

administrative tasks and learned about the process of

running a not-for-profit.

REFLECTIONS.

Cody’s Reflection

Very inspiring and made the issue very real and local to the community

I tutored a lady who has been in the U.S. for over 10 years but she did not even know how to pronounce the alphabet letters

She does not have the opportunity to learn or practice English

Made me realize how serious and real this issue is

She was very eager to learn, but she was not given the opportunity to

She is currently going through citizenship process and hopes to become a citizen soon

Her American dream is to receive education, proper healthcare, and stay with her family in the United States.

Jamie’s Reflection

Eye-opening and thought-provoking

Learned about something that I do not typically think about, but is an issue that is very present

Cleared up my own misconceptions and biases

Met someone who is actually going through the citizenship process

Learned about her and why she wants to become a citizen

Sasha’s ReflectionTo me the citizenship exam was that one exam that my friend missed school for that one time. Now, I see the work that went behind that one day.

I wanted to gain a better idea of what the citizenship process entails and I think I gained a little more than that.

I tutored several women each with their own story who helped me understand the process of gaining citizenship is not easy and must be handled different ways for each person.

Elizabeth’s Reflection

The LBIRC is a small and fairly new organization.

Their main focus is to provide ESL classes, legal clinics, and events for the surrounding community.

Because the LBIRC only has three organizers, I felt like I really made a difference by doing the work that needed to be done, so that the organizers could focus more on their weekly goals.