Migrant & immigrant community action project
The MICA Project promotes the voice and human dignity of immigrants in St. Louis. In an effort to change the narrative of immigration in this country, which too often dehumanizes newcomers based solely on their country of origin, our Portraying Humanity photo series created a space for MICA clients to share their experiences from their own words. These truths shed light on the countless experiences of how people are directly impacted by our nation’s immigration system and give a glimpse into a point of view that is too often muted.
“She tells me that she sees the news and the reports. We saw a movie about how immigrants from Mexico come here. How an immigrant gets here is very sad. She asked me, ‘Mama, how did you come?’ And I talked about it with her. ‘And you all suffered over there, mama? You didn’t have water? You didn’t have food?’ She started to put all of this together. And I’d say, ‘Yes, that was almost everything that we went through.’ ‘But, mama, why do people come from there to here? Don’t they have anything to eat in your country?’ She thinks about a lot of things. She is an intelligent girl that is starting to connect all that. She was shocked by all the people in the movie, and she said, ‘Mama, then all of the people here have come over here that way?’ I tell her, ‘Not all of them. Some, perhaps, have a visa, a passport, and then they can travel and come here.’ And she asked me, ‘Mama, when are you going to go to Mexico?’ ‘I don’t know, daughter. Maybe one day we’ll go to Mexico. What if I send you for vacation?’ And she said, ‘No, mama. If you don’t go with me, I’m not going.’”