Immigration & Citizenship - Diversity | Equity | Inclusion Resources at Truman College

DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) | is a federal U.S. government policy protecting certain undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children from being deported, allowing them to apply for driver's licenses, social security numbers, and work permits. DACA status must be renewed every 2 years.

DREAMers | is a term used to refer to young, undocumented immigrants. The name refers to the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act bill, a version of which was first introduced in 2001. All of the versions of the bill would provide a pathway toward legal status in the U.S., though to date none have become law.

Books @ CCC

Cover art No One Is Illegal (Updated Edition)

Print Books

Bui, T. (2017). The best we could do : an illustrated memoir. Abrams ComicArts. The author describes her experiences as a young Vietnamese immigrant, highlighting her family's move from their war-torn home to the United States in graphic novel format. "Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her family's daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves"--Publisher description.
Chomsky, A. (2018). "They take our jobs!" : and 20 other myths about immigration. Beacon Press. In "They Take Our Jobs!" Aviva Chomsky challenges the underlying assumptions that fuel misinformed claims about immigrants, radically altering our notions of citizenship, discrimination, and U.S. history. Since it was first published, many of the same myths about immigration such as "immigrants take American jobs," "immigrants don't pay taxes," and "immigrants increase crime" continue to be perpetuated and used to promote aggressive anti-immigration policies. In a new introduction, Chomsky reflects on the events of the past ten years. She analyzes declining Mexican immigration patterns, illuminates Mexico's little-known Southern Border Program, and assesses Obama's complicated legacy as "deporter-in-chief" which, Chomsky argues, inadvertently laid the groundwork for Trump's anti-immigrant racism"-- Provided by publisher.
Nguyen, T. (2005). We are all suspects now : untold stories from immigrant communities after 9/11. Beacon Press. Introduction -- Becoming suspects : Brooklyn and New Jersey -- Separated by deportation : Minneapolis -- Turning in for registration : Chicago -- The new racial profiling : Los Angeles -- Crisis at the border : Arizona -- In search of asylum : Canada -- Conclusion.
Roediger, D. R. (2005). Working toward whiteness : how America's immigrants became white : the strange journey from Ellis Island to the suburbs. Basic Books. Seeing Race in New Immigrant History -- New Immigrants, Race and "Ethnicity" in the Long Early Twentieth Century -- Popular Language, Social Practice, and the Messiness of Race -- "Inbetweenness" -- "The Burden of Proof Rests With Him": New Immigrants and the Structures of Racial Inbetweenness -- Inside the Wail: New Immigrant Racial Consciousness -- Entering the White House -- "A Vast Amount of Coercion": The Ironies of Immigrant Restriction -- Finding Homes in an Era of Restriction -- A New Deal, An Industrial Nation, and a White House: What the New Immigrant Got Into -- Afterword: The Houses We've Lived In and the Workings of Whiteness.
Shukla, N. & Suleyman, C. (2020). The good immigrant : 26 writers reflect on America. Back Bay Books. Presents essays by first- and second-generation immigrant writers on the realities of immigration, multiculturalism, and marginalization in an increasingly divided America. From Trump's proposed border wall and travel ban to the marching of White Supremacists in Charlottesville, America is consumed by tensions over immigration and the question of which bodies are welcome. In this much-anticipated follow-up to the bestselling UK edition, hailed by Zadie Smith as "lively and vital," editors Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman hand the microphone to an incredible range of writers whose humanity and right to be here is under attack. Chigozie Obioma unpacks an Igbo proverb that helped him navigate his journey to America from Nigeria. Jenny Zhang analyzes cultural appropriation in 90s fashion, recalling her own pain and confusion as a teenager trying to fit in. Fatimah Asghar describes the flood of memory and emotion triggered by an encounter with an Uber driver from Kashmir. Alexander Chee writes of a visit to Korea that changed his relationship to his heritage. These writers, and the many others in this singular collection, share powerful personal stories of living between cultures and languages while struggling to figure out who they are and where they belong. By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, troubling and uplifting, the essays in The Good Immigrant come together to create a provocative, conversation-sparking, multivocal portrait of America now.
Vargas, J. A. (2018). Dear America : notes of an undocumented citizen. Dey St. "My name is Jose Antonio Vargas. I was born in the Philippines. When I was twelve, my mother sent me to the United States to live with her parents. While applying for a driver's permit, I found out my papers were fake. More than two decades later, I am still here illegally, with no clear path to American citizenship. To some people, I am the "most famous illegal" in America. In my mind, I am only one of an estimated 11 million human beings whose uncertain fate is under threat in a country I call my home. This is not a book about the politics of immigration. This book--at its core--is not about immigration at all. This book is about homelessness, not in a traditional sense, but about the unsettled, unmoored psychological state in which undocumented immigrants like me find ourselves. This book is about lying and being forced to lie to get by; about passing as an American and as a contributing citizen; about families, keeping them together, and having to make new ones when you can't. This book is about what it means to not have a home."--Jacket.

eBooks

Chacón, J. A. & Davis, M. (2018). No One Is Illegal (Updated Edition) : Fighting Racism and State Violence on the U.S.-Mexico Border. Haymarket Books. Countering the chorus of anti-immigrant voices that have grown increasingly loud in the current political moment, No One is Illegal exposes the racism of anti-immigration vigilantes and puts a human face on the immigrants who risk their lives to cross the border to work in the United States.This second edition has a new introduction to frame the analysis of the struggle for immigrant rights and the roots of the backlash.Justin Akers Chacón is the author of the forthcoming Radicals in the Barrio: Magonistas, Socialists, Wobblies, and Communists in the Mexican American Working Class.Mike Davis is the author many books, including The Ecology of Fear and Planet of Slums.
Hernandez, K. L. (2010). Migra! : A History of the U.S. Border Patrol. University of California Press. Political awareness of the tensions in U.S.-Mexico relations is rising in the twenty-first century; the American history of its treatment of illegal immigrants represents a massive failure of the promises of the American dream. This is the untold history of the United States Border Patrol from its beginnings in 1924 as a small peripheral outfit to its emergence as a large professional police force that continuously draws intense scrutiny and denunciations from political activism groups. To tell this story, MacArthur'Genius'Fellow Kelly Lytle Hernández dug through a gold mine of lost and unseen records and bits of biography stored in garages, closets, an abandoned factory, and in U.S. and Mexican archives. Focusing on the daily challenges of policing the Mexican border and bringing to light unexpected partners and forgotten dynamics, Migra! reveals how the U.S. Border Patrol translated the mandate for comprehensive migration control into a project of policing immigrants and undocumented “aliens” in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.
Lalami, L. (2020). Conditional Citizens : On Belonging in America. Vintage. In this brilliantly argued and deeply personal work, Pulitzer Prize finalist Laila Lalami recounts her unlikely journey from Moroccan immigrant to U.S.citizen, using her own story as a starting point for an exploration of the rights, liberties, and protections that are traditionally associated with American citizenship. Tapping into history, politics, and literature, she elucidates how accidents of birth—such as national origin, race, and gender—that once determined the boundaries of Americanness still cast their shadows today, poignantly illustrating how white supremacy survives through adaptation and legislation. Weaving together her experiences with an examination of the place of nonwhites in the broader American culture, Lalami illuminates how conditional citizens are all those whom America embraces with one arm and pushes away with the other.
N., J. A. (2014). Illegal : Reflections of an Undocumented Immigrant. University of Illinois Press. A day after José Ángel N. first crossed the United States border from Mexico, he was caught and then released onto the streets of Tijuana. Undeterred, N. crawled back through a tunnel to San Diego, where he entered the United States to stay. Illegal: Reflections of an Undocumented Immigrant is his timely and compelling memoir of building a new life in America. Arriving in the 1990s with a ninth grade education, N. traveled to Chicago where he found access to ESL and GED classes. He eventually attended college and graduate school and became a professional translator. Despite having a well-paying job, N. was isolated by a lack of legal documentation. Travel concerns made promotions impossible. The simple act of purchasing his girlfriend a beer at a Cubs baseball game caused embarrassment and shame when N. couldn't produce a valid ID. A frustrating contradiction, N. lived in a luxury high-rise condo but couldn't fully live the American dream. He did, however, find solace in the one gift America gave him–-his education. Ultimately, N.'s is the story of the triumph of education over adversity. In Illegal, he debunks the stereotype that undocumented immigrants are freeloaders without access to education or opportunity for advancement. With bravery and honesty, N. details the constraints, deceptions, and humiliations that characterize alien life'amid the shadows.'
Villavicencio, K. C. (2020). The Undocumented Americans. One World. Writer Karla Cornejo Villavicencio was on DACA when she decided to write about being undocumented for the first time using her own name. It was right after the election of 2016, the day she realized the story she'd tried to steer clear of was the only one she wanted to tell. So she wrote her immigration lawyer's phone number on her hand in Sharpie and embarked on a trip across the country to tell the stories of her fellow undocumented immigrants—and to find the hidden key to her own. Looking beyond the flashpoints of the border or the activism of the DREAMers, Cornejo Villavicencio explores the lives of the undocumented—and the mysteries of her own life. She finds the singular, effervescent characters across the nation often reduced in the media to political pawns or nameless laborers. The stories she tells are not deferential or naively inspirational but show the love, magic, heartbreak, insanity, and vulgarity that infuse the day-to-day lives of her subjects. In New York, we meet the undocumented workers who were recruited into the federally funded Ground Zero cleanup after 9/11. In Miami, we enter the ubiquitous botanicas, which offer medicinal herbs and potions to those whose status blocks them from any other healthcare options. In Flint, Michigan, we learn of demands for state ID in order to receive life-saving clean water. In Connecticut, Cornejo Villavicencio, childless by choice, finds family in two teenage girls whose father is in sanctuary. And through it all we see the author grappling with the biggest questions of love, duty, family, and survival. In her incandescent, relentlessly probing voice, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio combines sensitive reporting and powerful personal narratives to bring to light remarkable stories of resilience, madness, and death. Through these stories we come to understand what it truly means to be a stray. An expendable. A hero. An American.
Wong, S., Gosnell, E. S., Luu, A. M. F., & Dodson, L. (2017). Teachers as Allies: Transformative Practices for Teaching DREAMers and Undocumented Students. Teachers College Press. Learn how to engage and advocate for undocumented children and youth with this new resource written by and for teachers. "Teachers as Allies" provides educators with the information and tools they need to involve immigrant students and their American-born siblings and peers in inclusive and transformative classroom experiences. The authors show how immigration policies, ICE enforcement, and societal attitudes affect undocumented students and how teachers and school leaders can recognize these influences on the students' day-to-day lives and learning. Offering teaching strategies that address the needs of DREAMers and undocumented youth as they move through their K-12 and college education, this timely book offers a broad range of curriculum connections and resources.

Articles & Essays

American Immigration Council. (2021, March 16). The Dream Act: An Overview. americanimmigrationcouncil.org. The Dream Act would permanently protect certain immigrants who came to the United States as children but are vulnerable to deportation. This fact sheet provides an overview of the most recent version of the Dream Act and similar legislative proposals.
American Immigration Council. (2021, September 30). Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA): An Overview. americanimmigrationcouncil.org. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an exercise of prosecutorial discretion, providing temporary relief from deportation (deferred action) and work authorization to certain young undocumented immigrants. DACA was created on June 15, 2012, by then-Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. Unlike federal legislation, DACA does not provide permanent legal status to individuals and must be renewed every two years. This fact sheet provides an overview of DACA and prior attempts to dismantle the initiative, as well as its current status.
Dayan, C. (2016, September 21). On Ice. Boston Review. In U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities, the law’s reach is tenuous. To access the full article, contact the library using the widget at the top left of this page, or complete the this online form: https://tinyurl.com/ytmvvrfy
Dye, P. (2023, January 9). How Universities Can Support Undocumented Students as Federal Policies Continue to Threaten Them. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. Oglethorpe University has "found both an opportunity and a responsibility to provide support to this growing student population. Here are some steps that individuals and institutions can take to support undocumented students."
The Education Trust. (2023, Feb. 22). Higher Education Access and Success for Undocumented Students Start with 9 Key Criteria. edtrust.org. Over 427,000 Undocumented Students Face Challenges in Higher Education, Workforce and Accessing Social Services New Ed Trust Report Finds How Government Can Provide Necessary Immigration Reforms to help undocumented immigrants succeed.
Higher Ed Immigration Portal. (2023). Illinois - Data on Immigrant Students. higheredimmigrationportal.org. This state page integrates student data, economic contributions, state policies, effective practices, and other resources to learn about and better support the state’s undocumented, other immigrant, and international students in higher education.
Office of the Mayor of Chicago. (2023). College Access for Undocumented Students. chicago.gov. A college degree is highly desirable for many reasons, including better career opportunities, and the City of Chicago is committed to helping undocumented students achieve a college degree. This page contains information and links regarding scholarships and other opportunities for undocumented students.
Palmer, B. J. (2017, Spring). The Crossroads: Being Black, Immigrant, and Undocumented in the Era of #Blacklivesmatter. Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives, 9, 99. This paper discusses the detrimental, intersectional effects of immigration law and criminal law on Black immigrants, both with and without documentation. Anti-Black racism, deeply embedded in America's criminal law system, funnels Black immigrants into the criminal justice system, and subsequently into removal or other punitive immigration proceedings. Black immigrants have long been missing, or purposely erased, from the national immigration narrative. Only a handful of organizations advocate for their particularized needs. As Black immigrant activism increases in visibility, opportunities for a new form of coalition building--known as “transformational solidarity”--must be adopted in order to protect and advocate for Black immigrants.
Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration & New American Economy. (2021). Undocumented Students in Higher Education How Many Students are in U.S. Colleges and Universities, and Who Are They?. Higher Ed Immigration Portal. Undocumented immigrants, including DACA recipients, are integral members of communities across the United States, paying taxes, starting businesses, and serving in key industries, with many on the front lines as essential workers and health professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants are students enrolled in higher education, working to obtain degrees and going on to use those skills as significant contributors to our economy.
Vargas, J. A. (2011, June 22). My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant. The New York Times Magazine. One August morning nearly two decades ago, my mother woke me and put me in a cab. She handed me a jacket. “Baka malamig doon” were among the few words she said. (“It might be cold there.”) When I arrived at the Philippines’ Ninoy Aquino International Airport with her, my aunt and a family friend, I was introduced to a man I’d never seen. They told me he was my uncle. He held my hand as I boarded an airplane for the first time. It was 1993, and I was 12. My mother wanted to give me a better life, so she sent me thousands of miles away to live with her parents in America — my grandfather (Lolo in Tagalog) and grandmother (Lola).

Audiovisual Resources

A10 Films & Harvard Law Documentary Studio. (2011). Transgression [Film]. Youtube. A short documentary following the story of Norma Ureiro, a transgender immigrant who faced enormous struggles in her life, especially when trying to flee Mexico for the United States. Featuring Norma and two lawyers at Immigration Equality (http://www.immigrationequality.org/ ), a pro bono group that protects LGBTQ immigrants in court. Website: http://transgressionfilm.tumblr.com/
American Academy in Berlin. (2019, November 21). These Truths: A History of the United States, with Jill Lepore [Video]. Youtube. Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore offers an account of the grand American experiment via intertwined histories of American politics, law, journalism, and technology—from the colonial town meeting to the nineteenth-century party machine, from talk radio to twenty-first-century Internet polls, from the printing press to Facebook.
American Documentary, Inc. & the WORLD Channel. (2012-). America ReFramed [TV Series]. The WORLD Channel. America ReFramed brings to life compelling stories, personal voices and experiences that illuminate the contours of our ever-changing country. Since 2012, the series has premiered 170 films - more than half helmed by female makers and a third credited to BIPOC makers - centering stories of the LGBTQ community, people with disabilities, the formerly incarcerated, veterans, immigrants and more.
Bennett, K. (2019, July 2). Immigration – Keeping Families Together (S01, E06) [Audio podcast]. In Pod for the Cause. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Podcast: Immigration – Keeping Families Together
Bennett, K. (2021, November 5). Immigration and Race in America (S05, E03) [Audio podcast]. In Pod for the Cause. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Podcast: Immigration and Race in America
Bosch, A. (2013). Latino Americans [TV Series]. PBS. LATINO AMERICANS is a landmark three-part, six-hour documentary series that is set to air nationally on PBS in the fall of 2013. It is the first major documentary series for television to chronicle the rich and varied history and experiences of Latinos, who have helped shape the United States over the last 500-plus years and have become, with more than 50 million people, the largest minority group in the U.S.
Hammond, Z. (2013-). Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain [Blog]. crtandthebrain.com. Since you are an equity-minded educator like me, you are probably waging your own private movement to bust the myths behind student engagement (or the lack of) among low performing students of color, poor students, and English learners. ... This is a blog where we can get answers to our collective and individual questions about how we can help students become confident and competent learners. In this space, I want to highlight what I am learning from being out in schools and classrooms with teachers who are successful with diverse students. I want to focus on how we can take everyday strategies and practices and put them to work in their classrooms to be more culturally responsive. ... Just to let you know, on average, I publish a new post every other week – two times per month at the least (sometimes a few more). That gives me time to be in schools and to write. If you don’t want to miss updates on what I am seeing and learning, sign up for my newsletter by pushing that button below.
Kazi, N. H. (2016, May 2). Islamophobia and Islamophilia: An Unusual Connection [Video]. drnaziakazi.com. Connecting strategies for inclusion of Muslims and other immigrant and racial groups.
National Education Association Center for Social Justice. (n.d.). A Social and Racial Justice Checklist for Safe, Healthy and Just Learning. NEA edjustice. As we expand digital learning models, due to COVID-19, it’s important to remember that students with disabilities, those without access to the internet, and LGBTQ, Black, brown and Indigenous populations are at higher risk of experiencing school closures more intensely. Regardless of the education delivery system during the pandemic, all students must be provided the care and attention and learning opportunities they are guaranteed and deserve. Ask yourself the following questions when planning or assessing digital instruction through a racial justice lens:
NPR. (2019 - 2023). White Lies [Audio podcast series]. NPR.org. On the morning of August 21, 1991, a group of Cuban detainees took over a federal prison in Talladega, Alabama, and demanded their freedom. But how did they get here? And what became of them after? In season two of NPR's Pulitzer-finalist show, we unspool a decades-long story about immigration, indefinite detention, and a secret list. It's a story about a betrayal at the heart of our country's ideals. And in charting a course to our current moment of crisis at the border, we expose the lies that bind us together.

Guides & Tools

City Colleges of Chicago. (2023). Undocumented Student Services. ccc.edu. This is a space where undocumented students and their families can find guidance and resources to pursue a college education, learn English, or earn a high school diploma – and feel supported as they do so. There are also tools and information for faculty and staff to better assist undocumented students and their families.
Shinnawi, A. (2021, December 1). Harnessing the Power of Storytelling to Support Migrant and Immigrant Students. Edutopia. Identifying different layers of identity is particularly helpful for students transitioning into a new social and cultural context.
University of Illinois at Chicago. (2023). Educator Resources for Undocumented Students. dream.uic.edu. Fact sheets, Toolkits, Trainings, and Publications for educators to "show ... support and become an "UndocuALLY" to undocumented students on campus."