Skip to content

Ep 2: Immigration and Disability

 

This episode is on immigration and the Latinx disability community. Alice talks with two activists from Chicago and Oakland: Michelle Garcia and Alicia Contreras. There’s little known or written about undocumented disabled people. Michelle and Alicia join Alice in a conversation about immigration, deportation, the current political climate, and what disabled Latinx immigrants are experiencing right now. This episode was recorded before the Sept. 5, 2017 announcement by the Trump administration to end DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program).

Please note there are some technical issues with the sound in this episode.

Transcript

[Google doc]     [PDF]

Related Links

Spanish Speaking Citizens’ Foundation (Oakland, CA)

Access Living (Chicago, IL)

Coalition Nacional para Latinxs con Discapacidades (National Coalition for Latinxs with Disabilities)  

Access Living. (August 29, 2017). Passage of Trust Act a victory for immigrants with disabilities.

Hurtado, Fernando. (September 1, 2017). For ‘Dreamers’ with disabilities, it’s more than a DACA work permit on the line. Circa.com

About

Alicia Contreras, sitting on her power chair next to a small plane at the airplane museum in Oakland, California.
Image description: Alicia Contreras, sitting on her power chair next to a small plane at the airplane museum in Oakland, California.

Alicia Contreras: Currently, Executive Director, East Bay Spanish Speaking Citizens’ Foundation (SSCF) in Oakland California. Before 2015, Executive Director, Women Pushing Forward (Formerly Whirlwind Women); wheelchair rider; citizen of Mexico; in the US, while being a New Voices Fellow, got the Paul Hearne Award; in San Luis Potosí (SLP), negotiated first city funding for disabled people and founded first independent living center for women in Mexico; in 1995, Mexican Delegate to United Nations/NGO Forum in Beijing.

Black background of a light skinned woman with brown hair with gold streaks, brown eyes, sitting in her wheelchair wearing an aqua green undershirt and a beige and black striped sweater.
Image description: Black background of a light skinned woman with brown hair with gold streaks, brown eyes, sitting in her wheelchair wearing an aqua green undershirt and a beige and black striped sweater.

Michelle Garcia: She has been working for Access Living as the Latino Community Organizer since 2009 in which she took a personal interest, particularly that of educating and collaborating with the Latino community about disability rights and services. Thru her work she has had the opportunity to collaborate with other Latino groups and organizations that work within the Latino Community which has helped expand their knowledge about disability related issues. She is the coordinator of a Latino advocacy group called Cambiando Vidas, whose mission is to create social change within the Latino Community.

As a Community Organizer, she is responsible for increasing the number of Latino leaders with disabilities: as well as to raise awareness of disability issues such as: immigration, Transportation, Civil Rights, and Self-Esteem within the Latino community; thru organizing educational forums in different areas of the city with most Latino population, to educate Latios with disabilities about disability rights and services.

 

Support Disability Media and Culture

DONATE to the Disability Visibility Project®

 

Credits

Geraldine Ah-Sue, Audio Editor

Alice Wong, Writer, Producer, Interviewer

Cheryl Green, Text Transcript

Lateef McLeod, Introduction

Mike Mort, Artwork

Theme Music (used with permission of artist)

Song: “Dance Off”

Artist: Wheelchair Sports Camp

Music

Sage the Hunter” by Blue Dot Sessions (Sage the Hunter by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License)

Slow Casino” by Blue Dot Sessions (Slow Casino by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License)

November Mist” by Blue Dot Sessions (November Mist by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License)

Rose Ornamental” by Blue Dot Sessions (Rose Ornamental by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License)

Sounds

“VOCODER countdown” by Jack_Master. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License.

8 Bit Beeping Computer Sounds” by sheepfilms. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License.

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: