Week 3: Personal Contribution

The primary task I have been given since the start of my internship has been assisting with the launch of the “We Know Our Rights” videos and website. The videos are a series of vignettes which detail the rights immigrants have when encountering I.C.E agents and law enforcement. They are based off of real experiences of Latinx immigrants and were created to educate immigrant populations and spark conversation amongst community organizers, advocates, attorneys, students and community members. The launch was successful and I have learned a lot about website design and effective ways of promoting an initiative on social media. When I first posted the videos on Youtube, the first thing I did was send them to my close friends and family. Having no stake in the making of the videos, I really wanted to hear their honest opinions. I received a lot of “Woahs” which prompted me to think my critically about this ambiguous moral issue.

The videos are extremely well done but they clearly portray the I.C.E agents as ‘the enemy’. In the vignettes, the law enforcement officers try to lie to the immigrants and coerce them into sacrificing their right to remain silent and obtain an attorney. I, personally, have no understanding of the reality of immigration officers and detention centers. I have seen them in the media, but as with everything the media has a spin. Sensationalized stories of children being heartlessly separated from their parents at the border are shown on one channel and headlines of immigrants committing horrible crimes and stealing citizens jobs are shown on another channel. To avoid blindly accepting the content of these videos, I attempted to do my own research on the issue. This week, I was tasked with creating a “toolkit” with resources and a screening guide so that organizations and individuals across the nation can host a screening and discussion. I worked hard to find a variety of resources and when I drafted the discussion guide, I attempted to create questions which will prompt critical thinking about this issue and see all sides. I created different sets of questions for different types of audiences. For diverse audiences comprised of immigrants, advocates, students, community members, etc. I asked questions such as:

• In what ways do you interact with law enforcement on a regular basis? Do you view law enforcement as an entity to be feared or an advocate for justice? Is this situational or constant?” 
• Under the current administration, there is a lot of anti-immigrant rhetoric. Are we actually in a new political climate or is this a continuation of anti-immigrant policies that have existed for years? 
• What are ways we can facilitate understanding between immigrant and nonimmigrant populations and minimize “us vs. them” mentalities?

Through posing these questions, I feel like I left my mark on the videos and project. People may interpret them however they may like. They may sit confidently feeling that the law enforcement is evil or through gathering and watching the videos with diverse audiences, they may hear alternate perspectives and come together to brainstorm solutions to this divisive moral issue.