My family and I immigrated to the US as political refugees when I was a child, fleeing anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union. I spent much of my childhood trying to evade being seen as an immigrant by insisting I was called Tanya (instead of Tatyana) and never speaking about being born in another country or speaking another language.
Although migration was a big part of my history, it was not initially something I wrote about explicitly. But after I was selected to write a book for the “It Happened To Me” series, which deals with issues that directly impact youth, I was inspired to begin an extensive focus on immigration in my work.
Immigration: The Ultimate Teen Guide
I wrote a book for youth on current immigration issues in order “go beyond Ellis Island” and highlight the struggles, stories, and debates. The book and its accompanying curriculum discuss topics such as discrimination, immigrant subgroups, and becoming “American.”
As I was working on the immigration book, I started to learn more about immigrant students at my university. In 2012 there was a push by the New York State Youth Leadership Council to start Dream Teams across CUNY. In her role as the founding President, Yatziri Tovar approached me to support the creation of the CCNY Dream Team.
CCNY Dream Team
As the founding faculty advisor of the CCNY Dream Team, I have had the privilege of working with student leaders who fight for immigrant justice at the college, community, state and national levels. They also support one another in a space where a mutual understanding of their immigration realities exists.
Through events at CCNY and for the NYC Department of Education, I became connected with a filmmaker named Ben Donnellon. Together we have collaborated on short documentaries and videos that share the realities of young immigrants in the U.S. and Mexico.
Immigration Films
I have found that film is a powerful approach to educating people about immigration. My first film, Living Undocumented: High School, College, and Beyond, showed me the power of this medium to reach varied audiences for whom academic writing is often stylistically or financially inaccessible. In order to see immigration beyond a linear path, Una Vida, Dos Países, my second film, showed how migration can be cyclical for many families between Mexico and the US, and other nations as well.
While film is an impactful medium, writing in scholarly journals is also an important means through which to advocate for immigrants who have been denied opportunities by our political system. I collaborated with three undocumented youth leaders to show educators what can and should be done while living under an oppressive immigration system.
The article I co-authored with Daniela Alumela, Farah Khalifa and Areli Morales Romero in The New Educator, entitled, “Learning from undocumented students: Testimonios for strategies to support and resist” was cited in New York State’s amicus brief where the state sued the Trump administration for the closing of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The suit was successful, and required the government to continue accepting DACA renewals.
The work I have developed over the last decade, in collaboration with students, educators, advocates, and policymakers, resulted in the opportunity to lead a multi-year project funded by the New York State Education Department (NYSED).
The CUNY - Initiative on Immigration and Education
CUNY-IIE, a NYSED-funded project, is a collaboration among Co-Principal Investigators Ariana Mangual Figueroa and Nancy Stern, along with Project Director Daniela Alulema. The project connects educators, researchers, youth, families, and community leaders to learn about current immigration issues, act in ways that center our collective humanity, and advocate for equitable policies for all people regardless of immigration status.
