Advocacy Action: Immigration Reform

As part of a class assignment for my social welfare policy class, I had the opportunity to plan an action based on a policy I wanted to advocate for. 

I worked with a group and we chose immigration reform, as we have been working on various projects all semester, surrounding this issue. We planned our action and last Wednesday we were able to see it come to life!

(My class group at our booth)

We planned an information table at the student center on campus during busy lunch hours. Our group was joined by members of IUYA (a local undocumented youth organization), which I have worked with before. We had so much positive interaction with the students! I was personally nervous of someone wanting to get into a heated debate, but thankfully, that never happened! 

(Lupe, from IUYA talking to a student)

I learned so much from this experience, but mainly that it is much easier to talk to people about things that I care about, than what I originally thought it would be! People were interested and respectful and were full of questions. So many students stopped by and asked how they could get involved. It was really beautiful!

(our group+the IUYA crew)

(Julia handwriting Congressional phone numbers on our fliers)

We passed out flyers, and one included the info graphic below. One of the biggest, most emotional arguments against immigration reform is that immigrants who are made citizens will steal U.S. jobs and tank the economy. This is simply not true and is based on fear, and a perceived scarcity of resources. 

There are so many good resources available, and if you are interested in learning more about immigration, email me, and I can send you some great sources! But if I am going to recommend anything, it is this thirty minute documentary titled "The Dream is now" and was created  by the organization: United We Dream. It  is incredibly compelling because it tells the stories of the students. If you have thirty minutes, watch this. It is so powerful.