Beyond the “Shadows”: Unpacking the Undocumented American Experience

Image credit: NYS Youth Leadership Council, www.nydreamact.org

Co-presented with the DREAM Team @ NYU

From the 2010 push for the DREAM Act to current mobilization for fair and family-oriented reform in the context of federal comprehensive immigration reform, the 11 million-strong undocumented community has been at the forefront of the nation’s immigration conversation — demanding rights, respect, and a viable path to US citizenship or permanent residency for undocumented immigrants.

Beyond “the Shadows” brings together New York City-based activists and undocumented leaders Ivan Rosales, Hong Mei Pang, Cesar Vargas, and Razeen Zaman to discuss discuss their personal experiences, activism at both the state and national level, and visions for this multiethnic and multigenerational movement’s future. A series of individual presentations will be followed by a panel conversation moderated by Luisa Heredia (Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University).

In conjunction with this program, the A/P/A Institute at NYU and the DREAM Team @ NYU will be hosting an Undocumented Ally Workshop for NYU student leaders and activists on November 1. Please see the DREAM Team website for more information.

RSVP by Friday, October 25 using the form below.

Luisa Heredia is an Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow of Latino Studies in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis at NYU. After earning her PhD in Sociology from Harvard University she was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Sociology and Labor Studies at the University of California Riverside. Her manuscript-in-progress assesses the Catholic Church’s immigrant rights activities over three decades and its repercussions on Latino’s political voice and membership. Her research and teaching interests include Latino studies, racial and ethnic politics, social movements, immigration, and religion.

Hong Mei Pang is an organizer for Revolutionizing Asian American Immigrant Stories on the East Coast (RAISE), the first pan-Asian undocumented-led youth group on the East Coast. With the support of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), Hong Mei works with other undocumented youth to interject personal narratives into legislative and grassroots platforms to advocate for humane immigration reform, and foreground the experiences of undocumented Asian American youth within the immigrant rights movement through education and activism. She received her BA in Urban Studies at the Eugene Lang College at the New School for Liberal Arts.

Ivan Rosales is an undocumented graduate student at the NYU Center for Bioethics. He was born in Mexico and grew up in Southern California. A member of the DREAM Team @ NYU, he is passionate about immigrant rights and issues of health care access.

Cesar Vargas is the Executive Political Director at DRM Action Coalition, and a nationally recognized leader and innovator at the forefront of the DREAM Act movement. Cesar is a graduate with honors from the philosophy program at St. Francis College and a recent magna cum laude law school graduate. From Brooklyn to Washington, D.C. he has been actively involved in the fight for the DREAM Act, as one of the leading advocates during the 2010 lame duck session to push for the DREAM Act, and the original drafter and advocate for the 2012 New York State Dream Act.

Razeen Zaman graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and a focus in post-colonial studies. She is the Campaign Organizer for the New York State Youth Leadership Council, the first undocumented youth-led nonprofit organization in New York State. Razeen coordinates the New York DREAM Act campaign efforts for the organization while also supervising the Education Not Deportation campaign. She is currently a law student.