Author: Sophie Steidle (Page 1 of 2)

*Disclaimer & a Few notes: this is a very rough draft & still have to organize quotes and content in the best format to make the most sense. Also still waiting for Monterrosa’s translations, still a lot of work to be done but have words on paper.” 

Search for Manuel Monterrosa on Instagram or YouTube; viewers can scroll through reels, pictures, and videos showing Monterrosa’s journey through the Darien Gap, a dangerous jungle in Panama that migrants take to reach the Mexico border. 

35-year-old Manuel Monterrosa is a self-identifiable “migration influencer.” Originally from Venezuela, he now posts content related to migration on social media. Monterrosa explains that he began posting on these platforms during his journey to the United States, only to realize upon coming to the U.S. that documenting his journey on YouTube paid more than any job he could find as an undocumented immigrant. Monterrosa has returned to South America, where he plans to continue posting content.

Now, Monterrosa, with his 39.3k Instagram followers and over 100,000 youtube followers, offers hope for migrants. He uses his platform to not only warn them about dangerous scams on TikTok but also to empower them. Influencers like Monterrosa are a testament to the new power of social media in migration. For many who need to escape their country swiftly, social media is a lifeline, offering easy, free, and accessible information. Monterrosa acknowledges the challenges of relying on social media for information, but he also sees the potential and the hope it brings to migrants. 

“A lot of people, like influencers and lawyers, are giving advice a lot of times, especially on migration,” says director of Strategic Engagement and Outreach at Informed Immigrant Ivette Moratya.Informed Immigrant is a research hub that provides information to undocumented immigrants, and it has 40.2k followers on Instagram. Morayta explains that social media has changed how people take in information and elaborates on the willingness of social media consumers to listen to advice broadcasts. They run with it as legal advice without realizing that everything that happens comes down to a case-by-case basis.” Moratya also stresses the importance of social media in conveying information to migrants. She explains that when Informed Immigrants started working on a social media presence in 2019, they paid particular attention to how their information was presented so that their target audience, undocumented immigrants, could easily understand what was posted.

“I’ve started doing this work, advocacy, and social media pretty much around 2008,” says social media creator and immigrant advocate Juan Escalante. “Twitter was this very weird place that not a lot of people understood, Facebook wasn’t what it used to be.TikTok didn’t exist. I mean, I think the iPhone just came out.” Escalante explains that digital advocacy has come a long way since he first got involved. With Twitter and Facebook being the most prominent forms of social media for advocacy and information telling, Escalante claims that it wasn’t until the early 2010s that the digital landscape began to develop. “I’ve seen it evolve into people using TikTok and these platforms to share their experiences,” says Escalante. “Social media has come a long way and has given people a platform to share their experiences and personal truths.”

“The same way that people can spew out misinformation, they can also give a platform for people who are undergoing very difficult times, given the circumstances,” he says. Sharing personal truths, as Escalante describes them, has played a massive role in the social media migration movement. Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network, a nonprofit organization working towards abolishing immigration detention in the United States, claims that social media has enhanced the ability to choose the stories organizations like Detention Watch want to tell. “Social media is great because you’re able to have a bit more control over the messages you want to put out there,” she says. “You can engage with people you might otherwise not have engaged with given there are limitations with traditional media.”

“One of the biggest impacts we had on our platform was working with influencers,” says Moratya. “Our goal has always been thinking about who is somebody who could be really good at providing the message?” Moratya explains that many of Informed Immigrant’s followers could or directly be impacted. With such a vulnerable audience, Moratya emphasizes that the biggest goal of Informed Immigrant’s platform is fostering community in general. “A lot of our information is geared towards investment in the community,” she says. “Since we’ve started we’ve grown pretty quickly.” 

Last year, Informed Immigrant’s Instagram had just hit 20k followers. A year later, collaborations with influencers and reaching out to people individually have doubled the number of followers to 40,000. As Moratya emphasizes, a huge factor in increasing engagement and followers was using collaborators and working with influences who care about immigration.

“The whole aspect of the internet is giving people a platform, but also to help distribute a lot of information in terms of news, blogs, etc to a broader audience,” says Escalante. Escalante emphasizes that the internet has given people an opportunity to influence people and claims that influencers have a crucial role in disseminating information for the immigrant community. “I think part of the benefit is allowing immigrant rights advocates and other people to educate local communities about things happening,” he explains. Escalante and Morayta assert that these platforms can be vital sources of reliable and trustworthy information. “Twitter was essentially used to find out about local legislation, tuition bills, and how to acquire driver licenses,” Escalante says, highlighting the role of social media in keeping the public informed and aware.

For both undocumented and documented immigrants, social media platforms serve as crucial lifelines. Morayta explains that Informed Immigrant can provide verifiable information to those who may not have access to a lawyer. Platforms like Informed Immigrant also respond to direct messages and questions sent by followers, providing a sense of support and reassurance. In a world where access to information and resources can be limited, social media bridges the gap, connecting immigrants with the help they need.

“How do you educate mass amounts of people about something that’s like, not necessarily, everyday vernacular vocabulary,” asks Escalante. He talks about how bills and legislation promoted on social media platforms require explanations so that audiences can make informed decisions that are based on facts. “Social media exposes how these things impact you and why you should care,” he says. Escalante also explains that the influx of social media and influencers has significantly impacted legislation and federal and local policy. The influx of people who want to share their personal experiences and details about their lives and struggles in different parts of the country provides perspective to those on social media listening. 

“Digital advocacy has been great for cultivating an audience and has been used to expose policies that the public should care about,” he explains. Specifically, Escalante claims to speak on social media’s role in continuously promoting and educating others on the DREAM Act and DACA on specific platforms. The DREAM Act stands for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act. Given particular requirements, it allows undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children to live and work there legally. Despite being introduced in 200, the DREAM Act has never become a law. DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and is a U.S. immigration policy that offers undocumented immigrants protection from being deported and a work permit. President Obama implemented the DACA Act in June 2012. 

“It takes ten seconds to tell a lie about immigration, and it takes anywhere from ten minutes to ten hours, depending on how big the lie is to explain it,” says Escalante. Despite being great for promoting information, misinformation is plentiful on social media for migrants. Escalante explains that it’s much easier to say things than correct them. Especially in this day and age, statements regarding immigration are regularly made without people fully understanding the impact that these statements have. “To respond to a five-word comment about immigrants being deported, do people even understand the physical impact, or what would that take?” he asks. The consequences these comments have on migrant communities are more detrimental than those who are saying them realize. 

“If you think that mass deportation is the only solution, you’re going to gravitate towards comments or comments that look and feel like that for you,” Escalante says. Regardless of who is saying what or where content is circulating, Escalante emphasizes that people will believe what they are most comfortable believing, leaving room for misinformation to circulate and biases. 

“A lot of people figure stuff out via word of mouth, countrymen and sometimes social media for sure,” says Amelia Frank-Vitale, a professor at Princeton University and expert in Central American migration, culture and politics, and U.S. immigration. Frank-Vitale explains that for those crossing through the U.S.-Mexico border, migrants have to complete an application through an app called CDP1, guaranteeing that migrants have to have access to a smartphone or pay for one. One way or another, they are online. 

“We hear a lot about the misinformation, whether through comments, DMs, trends, or other partners or organizations,” Moratya says. Moratya describes that live streams and collaborations with experts like lawyers or other verified organizations are how an informed immigrant directly addresses the issue. By bringing verified sources online to speak to communities, comments that slander migrants can be debunked and used to combat harmful misinformation. 

However, as Monterrosa explains, some issues about misinformation can be more consequential. Monterrosa talks about TikTok content promoted by gangs that details hazardous routes. Not only that, but Monterrosa emphasizes that social media channels are being used to scam migrants directly. Promises of safe routes to the U.S. end up being scams to steal migrants’ money.

To avoid migrants becoming weary of scams, Morayta emphasizes that posting content is about considering the targeted audience and how it is presented. “We’re cautious about how we present information,” she says. In addition to ensuring that trustworthy information is being promoted, Moratya explains that Informed Immigrants also focus their time on combating misinformation.

“TikTok’s algorithms specifically recommended that we look into immigration and ‘white genocide, showing the same thing with immigration, white genocide, or migrants and invasion,” says Reyes, co-author of the report TikTok and Anti-Migrant & Anti Refuge Content released by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue is a global think tank combating extremism, disinformation, and polarization. Reyes explains that TikTok would make discriminating or hostile recommended searches based on the sort of search users would input. The report, co-written by Lucy Cooper and Kevin Reyes, investigates the challenges of managing migration and the impact of social media platforms on spreading anti-migrant content. Specifically, by looking at TikTok, Cooper and Reyes discovered the biases present on social media about migrants. 

“Here’s a Fox News clip about, you know, migrants at the border. But then you go into the comments, and then that’s where you start seeing, a lot of the discourse becomes helpful,” says Reyes. Cooper elaborated on the extent of the comments. “We have some listed here saying that they should be shot or dropping bombs, things like that, as well as calls for Civil war,” she says. Cooper and Reyes emphasize the impact of TikTok and social media platforms in depicting public perception and opinion of migrants. 

“One of the other things that we noticed was this trend of misleading people about what migrants were doing or saying,” says Cooper. “they would say that they’ve interviewed this migrant who had said some very provocative things or offensive or incriminating answers to these questions,” Cooper explains that the actual video had the question omitted if at all. Creators edit out the answer given or manipulate the answer so that they can frame the migrants being interviewed. 

Reyes explains that some videos on TikTok also depict migrants with background sounds from The Purge soundtracks or horror related to create feelings of fear in viewers. Both Cooper and Reyes emphasize that these portrayals of migrants have real-world implications for migrants and that these videos only cultivate environments for migrants that invite hate.

“A lot of these videos are being filmed at places where migrants were living,” says Cooper. “There was one hotel in particular in New York City where there was a lot of filming migrants outside, which put people in danger,” Cooper explains that exposing the location of migrants makes them only more vulnerable to hostility and discrimination. “In one instance, they went into a migrant shelter in a Chicago PD police station, and as they were filming, somebody stood up and said, Don’t film here,” she says. “There’s people sleeping, or there’s children.” In this instance, Cooper mentions that people manipulate the requests into suspicions. She explains that people begin to spread false claims that this person became aggressive or should be questioned because declining to be filmed is suspicious; however, in reality, people are only trying to protect against the violent language and rhetoric that will be used against them.  Given that social media content prompts safety concerns for migrants, Cooper and Reyes call for TikTok and Social Media regulations that keep migrants protected. 

“More moderator trading training is needed to combat account recidivism if an account is banned, but their IP address is used to create a new account. TikTok should and does have the mechanisms to detect that stuff,” says Reyes. Not only should accounts be banned, but regulations on algorithms should also be. Reyes explains that TikTok’s individualized algorithm quickly tunes into our searches and can suggest harmful content reinforcing the “rabbit hole of disinformation around migrants” TikTok audiences can fall into. 

“A lot of people turn to social media to follow journalists who are on the ground,” says Shah. “There’s probably going to be a lot happening and a lot happening to immigrant communities.” As the social media landscape continues to develop, Shah elaborates on the changes not only migrants, but also content creators may face. Despite speculations that the media will continue to be manipulated in ways that it shouldn’t, Shah claims that front-line journalists will be critical in ensuring that narratives are being properly told and facts stay truthful without manipulation. “The front lines are going to be important in the storytelling, and that’ll most likely happen through social media,” she says.

As someone on the front lines, Monterrosa will play a key role in ensuring that the information he promotes is accurate. After his first trip to the United States, Monterrosa realized that he could make more money posting his original content than any job in the United States as an immigrant, hence his continuous effort to promote his content.

Upon reaching out to Monterrosa about his social media platforms, he is incredibly eager to share what he has been working on. Enquiring about an interview, Monterrosa sends a one-page document in Spanish marketing some of the services he offers as a content creator. Monterrosa’s document reads explicitly that “to book your exclusive forty-five-minute interview, simply contact us to schedule a convenient date and time.”

Shortly after, another line reads explicitly, “The cost of this unique experience is one hundred seventy dollars.”

Upon searching for Manuel Monterrosa on Instagram or YouTube, viewers can scroll through several reels, pictures, and videos that show Monterrosa’s journey through the Darien Gap. 35-year-old Manuel Monterrosa is a self-identifiable “migration influencer.” Originally from Venezuela, he now posts content related to migration on social media. Monterrosa explains that he began posting on these platforms during his journey to the United States, only to realize upon coming to the U.S. that documenting his journey on YouTube paid more than any job he could find as an undocumented immigrant.

Now, Monterrosa has 39.3k followers on Instagram and uses his platform to help inform migrants of dangerous scams on TikTok promising refuge in the United States. Influencers like Monteressoa prove the new significance of social media in migration. For many who need to get out of their country quickly, finding information on social media is easy, free, and accessible. Monteressoa acknowledges that despite social media not being as reliable for migrants, depending on social media content for information is a reality.

Director of Strategic Engagement and Outreach at Informed Immigrant Ivette Moratya explains that social media has changed how people take in information and elaborates on the willingness of social media consumers to listen to advice broadcasts. “A lot of people like influencers and lawyers are giving advice a lot of times, especially integration,” she explains. “They run with it as legal advice without realizing that everything that happens comes down to a case-by-case basis.” Informed Immigrant is a research hub that provides information to undocumented immigrants, and it has 40.2k followers on Instagram.

Similarly to Monteressoa, Moratya also stresses the importance of social media in conveying information to migrants. She explains that when Informed Immigrants started working on their social media presence in 2019, they paid particular attention to how their information was presented so that their target audience, undocumented immigrants, could easily understand what was posted.

Social media creator and immigrant advocate Juan Escalante claims he started doing social media advocacy work around 2008. Escalante claims that Twitter and Facebook were the most prominent forms of social media for advocacy and information telling. “I’ve seen it evolve into people using TikTok and these platforms to share their experiences,” Escalante explains. “Social media has come a long way and has given people a platform to share their experiences and personal truths.”

Sharing personal truths, as Escalante describes them, has played a massive role in the social media migration movement. Silky Shah, Executive Director of Detention Watch Network, a nonprofit organization working towards abolishing immigration detention in the United States, claims that social media has enhanced the ability to choose the stories organizations like Detention Watch want to tell. “Social media is great because you’re able to have a bit more control over the messages you want to put out there,” she says. “You can engage with people you might otherwise not have engaged with given there are limitations with traditional media.”

Morayata emphasizes that engagement and collaborations with influencers or specific organizations always have the community in mind. “Many of our followers are either or could be directly impacted,” she explains. “One of the biggest impacts we had on our platform was working with influencers.”

Informed Immigrant’s Instagram had just hit 20k followers last year. A year later, collaborations with influencers and reaching out to people individually have doubled the number of followers on Instagram to 40k. As Morayata emphasizes, a huge factor in increasing engagement and followers was using collaborators and working with influences who care about immigration.

Escalante also emphasizes that influencers can help distribute a lot of information regarding news, blogs, and advice to a broader audience that can be incredibly influential to the immigrant community. “I think part of the benefit is allowing immigrant rights advocates and other people to educate local communities about things happening,” he explains. Escalante and Morayta claim these platforms can be crucial for viable and trustworthy information. “Twitter was essentially used to find out about local legislation, tuition bills, and how to acquire driver licenses,” Escalante says.

For undocumented or documented immigrants having social media outlets to reach out to or connect with can be incredibly helpful. Moryata explains that Informed Immigrants are able to provide information that is verifiable to those that may not have access to a lawyer or a professional to rely on for help. Not only that, but platforms like Informed Immigrant also respond to DMs and questions sent by followers.

Not only is information posted on platforms used to educate individuals and immigrants, but also to shift public policy and opinion. Escalante explains that the influx of social media and influencers has had more significant impacts on legislation, federal, and local policy.

“Digital advocacy has been great for cultivating an audience and has been used to expose policies that the public should care about,” he explains. Specifically, Escalante claims to speak on the role that social media has had in continuously promoting and educating others on the DREAM act and DACA on specific platforms. The DREAM act stands for development, relief, and education for alien minors act and allows undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children to legally live and work in the country given specific requirements. DACA stands for deferred action for childhood arrivals and is a U.S. immigration policy that gives undocumented immigrants protection from being deported and a work permit.

Despite being great for promoting information, Morayta elaborates on the presence of misinformation on social media and how Informed Immigrants attempt to best combat cases of misinformation. “We hear a lot about the misinformation, whether through comments, DMs, trends, or other partners or organizations,” she says. Morayta describes that live streams and collaborations with experts like lawyers or other verified organizations are how an informed immigrant directly addresses the issue.

However, as Monterresa explains, some issues about misinformation can be more consequential. Monterrosa talks about TikTok content promoted by gangs that details incredibly dangerous routes. Not only that, but Monterresa emphasizes that social media channels are being used to scam migrants directly. Promises of safe routes to the U.S. end up being scams to steal migrants’ money.

To avoid migrants becoming weary of scams, Morayta emphasizes that posting content is about considering the targeted audience and how it is presented. “We’re really careful about how we present information,” she says. In addition to ensuring that trustworthy information is being promoted, Moratya explains that Informed Immigrants also focus their time on combating misinformation.

Not only for migrants but also for content creators, the changing social media landscape is frightening. Shah emphasizes that social media will only continue to evolve and do less than it is supposed to be doing. Despite speculations that the media will continue to be manipulated in ways that it shouldn’t, Shah claims that front-line journalists will be critical in ensuring that narratives are being properly told and facts stay truthful without manipulation. “The front lines are going to be important in the storytelling, and that’ll most likely happen through social media,” she says.

As someone on the front lines, Monterrosa will be playing a key role in ensuring that the information he promotes is accurate. After his first trip to the United States Monterrosa realized that he could make more money posting his original content, than any job in the United States as an immigrant, hence his continuous effort to promote his content.

Upon reaching out to Monterrosa about his social media platforms, he is incredibly eager to share what he has been working on. Enquiring about an interview, Monterrosa sends a one page document in Spanish marketing some of the services he offers as a content creator. Upon translation, Monterrosa’s document reads explicitly that “to book your exclusive forty-five minute interview, simply contact us to schedule a convenient date and time.”

Shortly after, another line reads explicitly, “The cost of this unique experience is one hundred seventy dollars.”

The article written by Jennifer Senior struck me with the image of the wallet with the remaining valuables of the 9/11 victim. This reminded me of when we discussed photography and its role in telling narratives with Joe Nickerburg and looked at his photos as a Time photographer. Seeing a person’s last items in their wallet is such a strong image that I was hooked even before reading the piece. 

The comparison of not having the final notebook of Bobby’s belongings was incredibly compelling. Having Helen describe it as “was like not having an arm” was highly persuasive, given that it made it seem as though she was trying everything in her power to put Bobby back together bit by bit, and these notebooks were a way of doing so. The sprinkling of quotes throughout the introduction was sparse, making them very effective. This goes back to how we should use quotes sparingly and when appropriate for maximum effect in our writing. I also found the experts and interviews this author conducted incredibly crucial to how she could tell the story- incorporating the psychology professor’s critique on McIlvaine’s psychologist put what the story would get in perspective. 

In the piece on dementia by the New York Times, I thought that the shifts in perspective between the two daughters, Diane’s perspective and then Denzil’s perspective, were very effective at showing the diversity of the story. By sharing the various perspectives, the mind wonders which one is true and who to trust. The article’s progression and structure made for an incredibly engaging story that left you on the edge. Especially when Diane took control of her situation and hired her lawyer to fight against her sisters, the structuring of the article until that point was incredibly effective at building up enough momentum to make that development carry a lot of weight, which was then taken as a complete surprise. The most awful thing about this article was the use of Diane as a pawn between these two relationships. Really, in either capacity, either the fact that Denzil was using Diane or she was being used as a point of control for the sisters, the honest Diane got lost in who she was and no longer had complete autonomy over herself. 

Again, the photos included in this article helped enhance the reading experience. It reinforced the narrative by giving photographic evidence of what was happening and backing up what we were reading. The depiction of pain and speaking on the pain of those traveling reinforced this journey’s challenges and dangers. Continuously wondering when the journey will be finished is a daunting feeling that enhances the senses and includes another feeling: pain/physical bodily harm. 

This article brought forward realities that evoked emotion from the reader; one such example that I felt as though was incredibly compelling was the image of the Cameroonians arriving at the smuggler’s campsite and experiencing horrific violence as a byproduct. By painting this clear image of everyone being content and settled in a room, only to be completely bombarded. That paragraph also had so much hurt going on in such a short time that it put in perspective just how much these individuals have gone through and how much they carry with them. 

Upon searching for Manuel Monterrosa on Instagram or YouTube, viewers can scroll through several reels, pictures, and videos that show Monterrosa’s journey through the Darien Gap.  Manuel Monterrosa is a self-identifiable “migration influencer,” posting content related to migrating to the United States to better aid migrants attempting to complete the journey themselves. He explained that he began posting on these platforms during his original journey to the United States only to recognize the profitable aspect of his content. Not only that,  but Monterrosa takes pride in his 39.3k followers on Instagram and his ability to help other migrants. Using his platform to provide trustworthy information,  He emphasizes that social media has only aided in spreading misinformation regarding immigration. For many who need to get out of their country quickly, finding information on social media is the way to go. Despite platforms not necessarily being the most reliable source, for many migrants, relying on online content is a reality that comes with risks in a world of misinformation.

Monterrosa’s platform is part of a new series of migration influencers taking over social media. Not only are migrants like Monterrosa creating platforms to provide information related to migration, but immigration lawyers, nonprofit organizations, and policymakers are also part of the social media movement that has began to develop in recent years. Many individuals and organizations, like Monterrosa, use their platforms to diffuse misinformation and scams that migrants are vulnerable to. Some of these content creators have upwards of 300k followers, using their ability to reach various audiences and people to recognize proper steps about asylum cases, migrant routes, and misinformation.  Monterosso explains that content is often used to alert migrants of dangerous scams that rob them of their money or jeopardize their safety.  Specifically, Monterrosa elaborates on cases of mass scams circulating on TikTok that support hazardous routes to the United States for large fees.

Interestingly, so much speculation and rumors surrounding immigration laws and each candidate can be summarized relatively simply in one condensed paragraph. This paragraph covers not only the importance of immigration in this election but also the previous administration’s work in immigration and how it compared to Trump’s last term.

After taking this class and also immersing ourselves in various cities and speaking with migrants, so much emphasis has been distracted from these people genuinely just wanting a better life and wanting to find opportunities that allow them to become the best that they can be. Given that the backlog of asylum cases is such a massive issue as to why there are so many immigrants coming in undocumented, Harris’s plan makes the most sense, given what we’ve learned in class. Both from speakers, the people themselves, and from looking at statistics.

Whereas Harris’s motives with her campaign revolving around immigration seem reasonable and also rational, Trump’s plans seem extreme and rash. Focusing solely on just disregarding Immigrants as a whole and committing himself to the belief that all immigrants are bad for the United States, his work leaves no room for conversation. The facts, statistics, and rationale behind the role immigration plays in the country’s economy defuses the ability of the United States to want to limit legal immigration like his plan suggests. As someone who grew up hearing that the United States was a melting pot and the land “of opportunity,” I recognize that these trademarks that have shaped the United States’ image can easily be no longer under Trump’s administration.

The piece emphasized and elaborated extensively on the issue of the asylum cases and asylum process, given that there are so many applications and not enough court cases or lawyers to process all of the needed cases. By adding various policies and new standards, the article suggests that the real issue is the asylum process and how to apply legally. If there is no quick and efficient way to apply legally, people will enter the United States illegally. Then, there will be a separate wave of issues affecting other areas of the country and other elements of immigration. Another concern or point of interest that came up in this article is the fact that mass movements of migration have now also become points of monetary production. Migrants can use their services as guides along the Darien gap and additional routes as profit.

I also keep in mind that mass migration does not come from one particular area or country; it is an issue that occurs in various countries. With that said, there might be a variety of solutions that need to be proposed to be best able to accommodate all people and the United States’s ability to keep measures regarding immigration regulated.

When it comes to Trump’s piece, he is laying out the various new policies and loopholes he is attempting to use to reinforce measures regarding immigration that he hasn’t done before. So much of the article made me question how he will go about this issue differently this term compared to his first term. Especially with both the levels of mass deportation, he hopes to obtain in addition to new levels of legal immigration that he wants to put a stop to.

Pitch:

Exploring the Role of Migration Influencers and Social Media in Advocacy and Public Awareness

I am looking to write my final project on migration influencers and nonprofit organizations that utilize social media platforms to project their journeys migrating to the United States, as well as legal resources and helpful information for migrants. In addition to the benefit of these social platforms, I am looking at how they might propose ethical and misinformation issues. This topic is important because we live in a time where a significant amount of information comes from social media platforms. Given that this has become such a huge part of when and how we consume news and content, the role social media platforms present to immigrants and those who attempt to migrate to the United States is significant. Some questions I hope to answer include: How are these platforms being used? What benefits do they propose? Do they present misinformation or not? How are they effective? How are they not effective?

I have already reached a long list of migration influencers and nonprofit groups with a large social media following. Below are the interviews I have been able to set up and the organizations and people I am waiting to hear a response from. I also have a series of professors who have combined their work with social media that I am interested in emailing. However, I am waiting to see if I hear back from the people I already emailed and messaged directly.

People/Organizations I already have a interview set-up with: 

Sayu Bhojwani- Political activist, author, and advocate for her work in immigrant rights and leadership development.

Juan Escalante- Activist and writer sharing his experiences as an undocumented immigrant. Digital creator platform with 6k followers on Instagram.

Manuel  Monterrosa- Migration influencers who was interviewed by the New York Times on his TikTok and Instagram account documenting his experience. He is also an activist and advocate for immigrant rights with 39k followers on Instagram.

Miss Sara Mora- Immigrant rights activist with 236k followers on Instagram.

Afia Yunus- Award-Winning U.S. Immigration Attorney with 75.3k followers on Instagram.

People/Organizations I have messaged and am waiting on a response from: 

Immigrant Legal Resource Center-  24.7k followers on Instagram.

Angela Vazquez- Immigration service lawyer with 169k followers on Instagram.

National Immigration Law Center- 24.8 k followers on Instagram.

Carlos Eduardo Espina- Immigrant Rights Activist & law student with 958k followers on Instagram.

Gaby Pacheco- Immigrant rights advocate with 3k followers on Instagram.

UN Migration- International Organization for Migration with 309k followers on Instagram.

Kofi Kinaata- Goodwill Ambassador for UN Migration with 2.8 million followers on Instagram.

Paul Choy- Goodwill Ambassador for UN Migration with 17.6k followers on Instagram.

Latino Community Foundation- 27k Followers on Instagram.

Neema Maicel- Immigration Lawyer located in Canada with 10.1k followers on Instagram.

Immigrant Justice Network- 3k followers on Instagram.

Ankush Malik- Immigrant from Northern India with 67.4k followers on Instagram.

Make the Road New York- Organization that advocates for immigrant, black, and brown communities with 25.9k followers on Instagram.

Kathleen Martinez- Immigration Attorney with 700k followers on Instagram.

Reyna Grande- Writer and immigration advocate with 9k followers on Instagram.

Paola Mendoza- Writer and immigration advocate with 85.7k followers on Instagram.

Denea- Previously undocumented immigrant that hosts a podcast.

Sily Shah- Author of Unbuild Walls . 

Zahra Billoo- Civil rights lawyer with 11.3k followers on Instagram.

Alejandra Campoverdi- Advocate and National Bestselling author with 25.6k followers on Instagram.

Julissa Natzely Arce Raya- Activist, Writer, and Producer with 59.6k followers on Instagram.

Dancing for Their Lives had a hook that really painted the scene as to who, what, and where we should be focusing on. I also found that the title immediately grabbed my attention. Why are they dancing for their lives? How could that be? etc., were questions that circulated in my mind upon reading the title. It also embedded a significant meeting in something we often don’t even think twice about dancing. Despite us finding out later what the real significance of the “dancing” means, the prompt of suggesting that dancing could save the lives of these people is something that makes us think.

The paragraph that captured the women lined up in the ladies’ room and applying eyeliner together completely tugged at my heart strings. Again, an image or idea we have used before or know from experience used in an entirely different context with significantly greater meaning makes it much more shocking to read. Something you do with your girlfriends for fun or at a sleepover (applying makeup) for this woman is a matter of survival. It’s a juxtaposition that conveys the severity of the situation. The line, “They were preparing to live off their bodies,” is such a jaw-dropping summary and line for this paragraph of information. That is precisely what they are doing, and they recognize it themselves.

“Women accused of prostitution were rounded up and publicly beheaded in Baghdad and other cities. The executioners carried out their work with swords. The severed heads of the condemned women left on the doorsteps of their homes.” This part of the text left me jaw-dropped. The hypocritical nature of this system was absurd to read. For these women to go into prostitution to survive only then become beheaded because of the system that deemed it condemnable seemed absurd. How is one to live? It also makes me wonder if the woman depicted in the lead feared having her identity released. 2000 and 2001 are not all too long ago. It makes me question what risks women engaging in prostitution during modern-day time are subjected to.

The article, Tales of the Trash, did a great job of capturing just how unstable Egypt is. Especially the line that read, “Since we moved into the apartment, the country has cycled through three constitutions, three Presidents, four Prime Ministers, and more than seven hundred members of parliament.” To compare the idea that the United States has had the same constitution during our lifetimes and has a standard presidential term of four years and the idea of having had three constitutions in the time of moving into a new apartment stresses the ridiculousness of the situation. I found the part of the article that detailed the lives of the people whose trash Sayyid collected incredibly interesting. The work until that point to paint the scene and build up to the eventual discussion of others’ trash and what it means was successful. For so many of these disastrous situations depicted in the text, their recentness was incredibly shocking to m. Especially the idea of the swine flu epidemic. To be slaughtering 300,000 pigs and throwing organic waste in the streets in 2011 is crazy to think that in reality that was only really 13 years ago.

I also found the quote emphasizing the relationship between “women and garbage” super strange. Many of the key ideas and themes embedded throughout this piece were unconventional and seemed odd in one way or another, adding a level of depth. “He explained that by law, Wahiba needed her husband’s permission to work.”  To think that so many of these ideas are recent and aren’t from that long ago is one of the most concerning aspects of this text. To have only been posted in 2014 and to talk about these legal laws and regulations that restrict women in such ways makes me think about how so many different parts of the world are living in entirely different world that are no where near as progressive as the United States.

In the New Yorker piece, A Spy in Flight, I found the idea of lineage and the emphasis on preparing youth for positions interesting. In the text, this is emphasized when it reads, “But, in the late nineties, as Assad’s health was failing, he became devoted to the task of preparing his ruthless world for his son.” This reminded me of the other piece, Tales of the Trash, and how fathers would prep their daughters for marriage. There is a specific emphasis placed on tradition in these cultures that distracts from the idea that progression and change are less probable in tradition.  Not only that, but the idea of progression and change is discouraged and suppressed given those in power want to stay in power.

Another piece of this article that reminded me of my discussion with two  immigrants I talked to on Friday in New York City, along with my profile subject, is the idea of a controlling government and the threat they pose to individuals. When the text elaborated on this in Syria, it reminded me extensively of what I’ve learned from others when talking about their own experiences with their home countries and governments. “They jailed activists who spoke to foreign news outlets and targeted for arrested people whose phones contained songs that were “rather offensive to Mr. President.” This reminded me of how my profile subject would talk about the Cuban government and speak about not being able to say anything, given that it would be used against them. They would instead suggest that they were saying something offensive to the Cuban government. Individuals would be at risk for imprisonment, similar to the Syrian government. Not only that, but the idea of political persecution and threats was also something that the immigrant couple that I talked to in New York emphasized as the reason why they had to leave. They couldn’t go back to Columbia, given gangs of people were after them, and they faced political persecution. I feel as though at this point of the semester I can connect a lot of ideas to conversations and articles I’ve read, painting a clearer picture of the larger issues at hand in not just one country or situation, but in most.

I found that the chapter assigned from After the Last Boarder also provided a significant amount of historical information that really helped paint a clearer perspective of the time period outlined and U.S. refugee resettlement. Outlining laws, pacts, relationships, and historical time periods added to my overall understanding of how these things have come to be and what they mean on a broader scale.

All of the articles this week really made me think deeply about the current state of the world and my thoughts revolving around the election. I found that every article conjured some level of emotion and really made me think critically about the situations and discussions prompted.

Over the phone, seventy-eight-year-old Jorge Sáez Rodríguez describes himself as a self-proclaimed grateful guy who is still full of life. He speaks of recently discovering the alcoholic beverage Fireball and his love for America. Granddaughter Paola Rodríguez describes him as “a great guy, kind of a yapper, and socially outgoing.” Not only that, but he is also a “Jokester who loves to drink his Whiskey.” The son of a Cuban doctor, Jorge Sáez Rodríguez, migrated to the U.S. at sixteen, 62 years ago. “You’d live in fear every day,” he says of his time in Cuba. Despite his love of the country and the people there, he speaks of his fear of persecution by government officials and a lack of opportunities. 

Not only was persecution a fear for Rodríguez but also what would happen to his family. “You couldn’t talk to anyone because your parents were always at risk,” he says. “If what you said went against the government’s ideals, your parents would be imprisoned.” As a child, government control was a massive issue for Rodríguez, especially after Fidel Castro came to power. A Cuban revolutionary who established a communist government in Cuba, Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista’s regime in 1959.

Attending Catholic school in Cuba, Rodríguez remembers one Catholic priest deliberately telling people to leave after Castro gained authority. After the Catholic school Rodríguez attended was closed, he attended public school, where he spoke of restrictions placed on students and limitations on what they could or couldn’t do. “When I went to school, I wasn’t happy. They were trying to pressure me to do things I didn’t want to do,” he says. “You couldn’t talk to anyone because they were going to say that you were against Cuba.” Rodríguez was pressured to cut sugar cane, pick cotton in fields, and complete additional assignments for the government while attending public school.

Eventually, in 1962, he decided to migrate to the United States. Rodríguez’s family was waiting for him in Miami at the time. He describes the migration process as pretty straightforward for him. “You went to the embassy of the United States and asked for a Visa,” he explains. “In six months, you could be out of Cuba.” Despite having to wait for a telegram to confirm the status of his Visa, he didn’t face any extreme difficulties.

It was only a short time before Rodríguez arrived in Miami and then moved to New Orleans, where he attended high school. Although Rodríguez didn’t live in Miami for long, he describes it as a place that felt safe and welcoming upon coming to the United States. “I went to Miami, and they found me a home,” he says. Later in life, Rodríguez moved to Puerto Rico, where he took a position working at a water treatment facility and would start a family. “I admire the Puerto Rican people,” he explains. “They are floating between Latin America and the U.S.; they believe in democracy and are very friendly.”

Rodríguez migrated before the Cuban Adjustment Act in 1966. William LeoGrande, former dean of the American University School of Public Affairs and expert on Latin American politics, explains that “anyone coming from a communist country was regarded as a political refugee and was allowed into the United States in the early 1960s.” LeoGrande says that it wasn’t until the Cuban Adjustment Act legalized the status of those people that Cuban migrants could apply as permanent residents and seek citizenship in the United States. 

LeoGrande speaks on Carter’s administration and how immigration became slightly more difficult for Cubans. He explains that a new immigration law during his presidency would no longer recognize immigrants from a communist country as political refugees and would instead be on a case-by-case basis. “To claim political asylum, you had to show that you had an individual fear of persecution,” he says. Isabelle DeSisto, a former research student at the University of Havana and scholar on migration and regime types in Cuba, describes a mass migration of Cubans to the United States at this time. 

DeSisto describes the Mariel boatlift as a big wave of Cuban migration that left by boat when the Cuban economy failed. She notes that people who migrated during the Mariel boatlift tended to be poorer and less wealthy than the earlier wave of migrants. The journey was also incredibly dangerous for this group of Cubans. LeoGrande explains that “some estimates are that half the people that set out on rafts didn’t make it.”

LeoGrande also notes that thousands of Cuban migrants came to the United States during the Rafter Crisis in 1994. “The Clinton administration felt like it needed to sort of put a stop to this,” he explains. As a result, President Bill Clinton implemented the Wet Foot, Dry Foot policy in 1995. LeoGrande mentions that if you made it to the United States under the policy, you were a dry foot and got to stay and could apply as a permanent resident. However, if you were picked up at sea, you were either sent back to Cuba or detained at the migration detention center, Guantanamo Bay. Guantanamo Bay is located in the southeastern part of Cuba and controlled by the U.S. “There are stories of people getting caught three, four, or five times and sent back to Cuba,” he says. 

DeSisto elaborates that after being elected president, Obama abolished the Wet Foot, Dry Foot policy to normalize relations with Cuba. Now, she speaks of more rigorous migration policies in the United States that follow regular lawful procedures. The real issue, LeoGrande argues, is the backlog of asylum applications that takes years. “Under the Cuban Adjustment Act, Cubans can petition to adjust their status to become permanent residents, and then their asylum claim is irrelevant,” he says. “Of the 750,000 some-odd Cubans that have arrived in the United States in the last three years, almost all of them have come through that mechanism.” 

Despite the evolution of Cuban migration policies, Rodríguez recognizes that he is fortunate to have left when he did. “I came here, and I was happy,” he explains. Although Rodríguez loves the United States, a piece of his heart remains in Cuba. “I love this country and would like to return to Cuba,” he says. “The people that put me out were the Cuban people.” Nowadays, Rodríguez describes that tourists are the only people who get to go back. Regardless of fantasizing about his return, he remembers how controlling the government was when he lived there and the disastrous economy. 

When speaking about the United States, Rodríguez isn’t afraid to preach his love for it. “You live in the best democracy in the world,” he says. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best.” 

I think that the most compelling thing from the NPR article titled, Russia deports thousands of Ukrainian children. Investigators say that’s a war crime” that they call out Russia and make it clear that what they did to Ukrainian children isn’t right. I think that Russia’s statements on what these Ukrainian children are doing in Russia demonstrate the frightening reality that relies on the honesty of foreign countries. For Russia, hiding what the detainment of these children entails is a matter of lying and deceiving other countries that have these children’s best interests in mind. I think that a thought that came up throughout this article for me, too, was just how difficult it must be for these researchers to find out truths about what is happening to migrants and distinguish between what is true and what other countries are promoting. For the Yale team to claim and verify that the Russian government has detained at least 6,000 children, the amount of effort that comes with proving these governments accountable is an astronomical next step in protecting refugees from types of distress camps that may subject them to. The re-education programs that the article details also sound like complete brainwashing propaganda to groom these Ukrainian children into being a new generation of Russian government advocates. In the article, this was apparent to me when it read, ​​”There’s a very large amount of material related to the patriotic education that they undergo while they are in camps,” he added. The lessons are designed, he says, to instill loyalty to Russia and promote Moscow’s version of the war.” 

The TIME article was the next assigned reading I looked at. What caught my attention with this reading was how this program could categorize and organize these war crimes. With so many war crimes either going unattended or not receiving the reaction they should have given, they are hard to change countries and keep them accountable for their actions. Tangible programming like the apps, chatbots, and websites designed by these Ukrainian officials can help ensure that war crimes are being kept track of and that countries are being held appropriately accountable. The article raises this concern and idea outright, stating that “What all this will yield is still unclear. International war crimes cases are notoriously difficult to prosecute.” Despite what seems to be a public opinion that is not necessarily super sure how this technology will be used, hearing how AI and these various levels of technology will be helpful in war, war crimes, and conflicts offered a glimpse of some of the more optimistic elements of these technologies. 

The following article I read by Foreign Affairs did an incredible job at depicting just how disgusting these war crimes are and just how crucial it is for those who identify as Ukrainians to receive justice for what has been done to their people. It seems like a constant cat-and-mouse game of countries committing crimes and quickly trying to hide the details of their actions. Consistently, the victim country is attempting to chase after the truth and to hold the “cat” accountable for what they have done to the other “mice.”

The YouTube documentary was incredibly insightful in terms of what the future of journalism could look like, especially given that technology is only continuing to develop and become even more profound than it is now. I also liked the idea of open-source journalism and the role that open-source journalism may play in unbiased reporting and authentic reporting. One of the earliest examples that reinforced the significance of this type of reporting was the fact that Chinese officials completely denied a camp existed. However, open-source researchers were able to shine a light on those denials.

Over 100,000 ethnic Armenians have been displaced since the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia began in September 2020. After Azerbaijan gained control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, a mountainous area in Azerbaijan, ethnic Armenians living in the region fled. Siranush Sargsyan, a refugee journalist from Nagorno-Karabakh, was one of them. “It’s fucked,” she says.

Ethnic Armenians have lived in Nagorno-Karabakh for centuries and have strong cultural and historical ties to the region. After Azerbaijan regained control, many Armenians became fearful of ethnic cleansing and persecution, leading to a mass departure from the area.

Sargsyan spoke about the toll the war has had on Armenians and the disappointment of Armenian refugees forced to flee Nagorno-Karabakh. Many fled to Armenia, where she describes starved refugees without basic necessities for months at a time.

Delayed assistance from international organizations further contributed to Armenian disappointment and severe resource shortages. “When an international organization arrived to approach us to help, they (N-K refugees) were asking where you had been this entire time,” says Sargsyan.  There was a big silence.”

The Armenian government has implemented assistance in the form of stipend programs. However, one in every thirty people living in Armenia is now a Nagorno-Karabakh refugee, according to the International Crisis Group, straining the amount of funds available.

Nico Vacca, an international affairs research scholar from George Mason University, spoke on Armenia’s current stipend program. “Stipends are being implemented; however, more aid is needed,” he says. “The Armenian government can not afford long-term aid and assistance stipends.”‘

According to Vacca, the EU has given the Armenian government money to aid in assistance programs, but not enough.  Despite the Armenian government’s attempt to help, Sargsyan emphasizes that the stipends must be increased. “Every refugee received mostly 100-120 dollars, which is not enough for leaving Armenia today,” says Sargysan. “Yes, some refugees were provided food and first aid medicine, but nobody is talking about refugees and how they live one year after.”

Not only are challenges related to money an issue for refugees, but Sargsyan also explains inaccessibility to education, adequate health care, and discrimination are disturbing realities refugees have to face.

Mass displacement from Nagorno Karabakh and challenges regarding Armenia’s ability to handle refugees has prompted Armenians to be concerned about the future. Armenia has already suffered through the Armenian genocide during the First World War, where an estimated 1.2 million Armenians were killed.

Former Armenian Assembly and Armenian General Benevolent Union Partner Deborah Devedijan expressed her concern and commented on what she believes is a continuation of the genocide for Armenians. “The ousting and takeover of N-K is the Turks’ continued effort at finalizing the Armenian Genocide, which began in earnest in the 1890s,” Devedijan says. “The Turks, via Azerbaijan, will continue the genocide until all Armenians are dead or out of Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and neighboring regions.”

Devedijan isn’t the only one worried about Armenia’s future. As a small country, Armenia only became weaker after the war with Azerbaijan, which Sargsyan says only makes it more vulnerable. “We’ve already lost Artakh and Nagorno Karabakh, and now I have the same fear about Armenia,” she says. “This isn’t only my fear but also my friends, family members, and people I usually interview. They all have these fears.”

A ceasefire agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia and an end to active war doesn’t necessarily suggest an end to complications between these two countries.  Vacca emphasized that although there is more regional stability because the conflict has ended, Azerbaijan is much more militarily capable than Armenia.

Vacca conducted a strategic report on the conflict and examined its effects on regional stability in the South Caucasus. Contrary to Devedijan’s and Sargsyan’s concerns, he believes there should be less conflict than when Nagorno-Karabakh was an independent state supported by Armenia.

Frustratingly, Sargsyan criticized Western countries for lacking monetary support and proper attention to the region’s stability and refugees. “Most of these countries, US governments, and European countries, France, and Germany, provide some amount of money for refugees, but don’t even know how to care,” she says.

Sargsyan also explained that, ultimately, despite Western countries valuing democracy and stability in the region, they don’t want to pay attention to Armenia. Despite her concerns, she still speaks of what’s next for Armenians and refugees. “I am most definitely not satisfied,” she says.

As of September 2024, Azerbaijan and Armenia are continuing to work on a peace agreement despite continuous threats to Armenians. “I don’t believe in peace. I’ve experienced four wars,” says Sargsyan. “We don’t see any real sign that this country wants to make peace with Armenia even after Nagorno Karabakh.”