I rejoice in being an immigrant. I find beauty in not tying myself to a single place or identity having been born in the Philippines and growing up all over the United States. I am multilingual, I am keen on adventure and adaptation, and I’ve developed a sense of purpose with those who grew up like me.
And for much of the last few weeks, I felt this immigrant joy with others in the immigration space who experienced many wins in our shared advocacy and wonderful community moments.
On September 15, the Defund Hate campaign held its National Day of Action which demanded justice from the Biden administration and called for them to shut down detention centers, free detainees, and cut funding for deportations and detentions. I joined groups from Defund Hate in a rally outside the White House and met people in-person that I’ve been doing work with for months now. Music blasted, signs were held up high, and our demands were firmly voiced. It was great to be part of it all.
Photo by Andre Chung
September brought some wins in policies, too. The Biden administration granted temporary protected status (TPS) to many Venezuelan immigrants, which would benefit an estimated 474,000 Venezuelans …read more
Source:: Institute for Policy Studies