Collective Healing

by Aracely Mondragon, ’13

“Chicana Birth” by Irene Jor, ’13

My name is Aracely Mondragon and I am…

I am stories
Of arduous walks
Across a cruel and thieving desert
Of being smuggled in a stereobox
Holding your breath
Praying to the virgencita

I am fetters
On my parent’s wrists and necks
That keep them immobile
Their humanity defined
In terms of legality

Stop Polo’s Deportation

by Mary Glen Frederick, ’12

I am writing with a very pressing need. I need your help to protect a family and draw attention to a horrible violation of human rights.

About a week and a half ago Polo, a man we know, was taken into custody for a traffic violation. Polo is undocumented, and has been deported once before. He was picked up by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) on Thursday, and is facing deportation in the next couple of days. Polo has been in the US for 18 years, started his own business, employs and supports many others, has two young daughters, and needs to stay in this country! PLEASE sign this petition to stop Polo’s deportation, and help protect Polo and his family.

http://www.change.org/petitions/immigration-and-customs-enforcement-stop-the-deportation-of-leopoldo-serrano-salto-to-mexico#

And read this blog post (written by my awesome Mom!) to know more about Polo’s story.
http://herestothevillage.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-invisible-lives-we-do-not-see.html (You can read the entire post below).

PLEASE sign the petition and spread the word! ICE acts in a cloak of silence and invisibility, but if there is enough attention around Polo and his family, they could be spared. Our current system is broken, and countless families are suffering as a result.

Thank you so much for your help and support. 

John Morton: Stop the Deportations

by Sharada Jambulapati, ’12, Aracely Mondragon, ’13 + Holly Fetter, ’13

Today, John Morton is the keynote speaker at the Stanford Law School’s 2nd Annual Immigration Compliance Symposium. This man is the Director of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), the government agency responsible for arresting, detaining, and deporting thousands of immigrants a year.

Since Obama took office, ICE has deported 1.2 million immigrants. That’s more than any other president, including George W. Bush. Imagine that the entire population of Bush’s current hometown, Dallas, Texas, was forcibly removed from this country. 1.2 million people, gone.

This isn’t an issue of abstract, criminal bodies crossing borders. This is about real lives being destroyed by bureaucrats like John Morton.

It’s about families being separated, children being left behind while their parents are sent back to their country of origin. In the first half of 2011, the federal government removed over 46,000 mothers and fathers of U.S.-citizen children.

Refuge in Visibility

by Fermín Mendoza, ’11

My name is Fermín and I am a queer, undocumented Stanford graduate surviving in a society hostile to my kind. I decided to start this vlog for several reasons. Above all, the death of Joaquín Luna, an undocumented high school student from Texas who committed suicide in late 2011, left me shaken and ultimately inspired me to start making videos. When I first was coming out to my family as queer, I gained strength and wisdom from other queer men’s vlogs on YouTube as they discussed their own struggles. I hope that this vlog will serve as a resource for other undocumented youth who do not have immediate access to supportive communities. I also hope to educate documented people about issues they may have never considered would come up for undocumented youth in our daily lives. Lastly, making these videos is a form of reclaiming my own dignity and existence in a society and media world that so often belittle and ignore both.

Watch Fermín’s latest video here:

Un Janitor Sueña

by Doroteo García, Stanford janitor

I. 

LOS JANITORS SOÑAMOS DESPIERTOS

Alguien camina por las noches
Hasta muy tarde, en la Universidad
De Stanford
No es un estudiante
No es un profesor.
Aveces lo encuentras, dentro
De un salón de clases,
Dentro de un auditorio,
no es investigador.
Otras veces lo puedes ver
Dentro de un taller o
Dentro de un laboratorio
Pero no es Doctor
También lo podras ver
Adentro de algunas oficinas
Pero no es administrador

Memories Of My Brown Skin

by Aracely Mondragon, ’13

I’m starting to break all the silences that confine me. And I’ve never hidden my skin, but now I place it inches from yours and let you see the pain they hold.

According to a report published by the Human Rights Watch in 2009, the majority of people deported are deported for non-violent crimes. A little over one million families members are separated by these deportations. I am one of those million.

Some moments in your life you remember with painful precision. These moments can define you… they seep into your skin, engrave themselves in your heart and if you look closely you can see them in my eyes and hear them in my voice…

Check out this amazing week of events!