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Lulu Martinez has "come out countless times--as undocumented, queer and as a working class woman of color." Lulu has also interacted and fought alongside many different peoples, including IYJL and other undocumented youth across the continent. Including as being a part of the #BringTheHome campaign where she was placed in solitary confinement by private detention officials and the Obama administration. Please consider donating & sharing.

#bringthemhome #lulu #iyjl #uic #money #donate #gofundme #immigration #dream #undocumented #queer #woman #color

Taken at Immigrant Youth Justice League's first national coming out of the shadows day in March 10, 2010 in Chicago IL.

#IYJL #Undocumented unafraid #undocumented immigrants #undocumented

IYJL At Three

"October 2012 marks three years since a group of undocumented youth gathered at the Hull House for a meeting titled “Shout it Out.” What was to be a discussion inviting different undocumented youth to organize did not make it past introductions. That day, we shared tears, laughter, and togetherness over a conversation touching on our experiences, fears, and hopes as undocumented youth.

For many of us, it was the first time ever “coming out” as undocumented. For others, this was the first time being in a room full of others who shared in our experience. All of us had come to this country at a young age and were looking to figure out what it really meant to be undocumented. The conversations begun at that meeting went on to form the Immigrant Youth Justice League.

At our weekly meetings, IYJL has a tradition of opening with an “ice breaker” question. On Sunday, we asked ourselves, “What has been your favorite IYJL moment in the past three years?” Many people have replied with the first Coming Out of the Shadows Day, March 10, 2010. On that day, 8 undocumented youth came out in downtown Chicago at Federal Plaza for the first time as they declared themselves Undocumented and Unafraid. We have continued this tradition of “coming out” year to year and we have added “Unapologetic” to our ways of defining ourselves in order to respond to how we feel about our parents bringing us to this country. We will not apologize nor allow others to put us or our parents down as we continue to fight for a just immigration system.

Throughout our 3 years, we have focused our work on community education, political advocacy, leadership development, and self empowerment and mobilization. Our work can be seen throughout Chicago as we continue to provide workshops for students, school counselors, community organizations, legal practitioners, social workers, mental health specialists, and educators on the rights of undocumented immigrants and a variety of state and federal policy affecting immigrant’s rights. From the beginning we have used our stories, direct action, and civil disobedience as a political tool for change, and we will continue to do so. This includes the first civil disobedience in Tucson, Arizona pushing for the DREAM Act, to the action that took place last year here in Chicago, where six undocumented youth were arrested protesting the misleading Secure Communities program.

In April 2011, we helped found a new network, the National Immigrant Youth Alliance (NIYA) at its first convening in Atlanta. Afterwards, IYJL members joined other NIYA activists in a civil disobedience to protest the Georgia Board of Regents decision that bans undocumented students from Georgia colleges and universities. This was the first civil disobedience by undocumented youth in the deep south and the beginning of over a year of collaboration with the NIYA network.

While a member organization of the NIYA collective in 2011 and 2012, IYJL fought deportations, conducted trainings and “skill shares”, participated in further civil disobedience actions, and sent 50 Chicago-area youth to the June 2012 “Dream Graduation” in Washington, DC. IYJL members also helped to bottom-line the UndocuQueer and UndocuHealth projects with other members of the alliance. These projects aim to highlight the intersections of LGBTQ and undocumented identities while discussing the mental health impacts of the immigration system, as we worked to construct our own solutions to the issues.

As of October 2012, IYJL is no longer part of NIYA. However, we recognize that nationwide communication and partnership is important and we will continue to collaborate with undocumented youth outside of Illinois. At the same time, we will begin to focus on strengthening ties with other organizations of undocumented youth in the Chicago-land area, and throughout our state. There are undocumented communities in many parts of Illinois and the midwest, and we hope to be a resource for the growth of undocumented-led organizations in these communities.

As we continue our work in our fourth year as an organization, we hope to advance our mission and encourage undocumented youth to speak out for themselves as we forge ahead and continue on the fight for our rights. To celebrate our first three years and better prepare for the work to come, IYJL is organizing a fundraising event on January 26 at the National Museum of Mexican Art. We invite everyone to join us as we celebrate our efforts as the Immigrant Youth Justice League and 3 Years of Organizing, Activism, Building Community, Civil Disobedience, and Growth."

#IYJL #chicago #immigration #immyouth #undocumented

chicago, il

immigrant rights march 2010

my first published photograph! it's in the new edition of Shadowed Lives by Leo R. Chavez.

#iyjl #legalization #chicago #immigrant rights #undocumented and unafraid

"On Tuesday September 27th we are collaborating with the Chicago LGBTQ Immigrant Rights Coalition to present a community forum on the intersection between immigrant rights and the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities. Using the event as an excuse, here is a short list of these intersections put together by the Association of Latino Men for Action’s LGBT Immigrant Rights Project coordinator and IYJL organizer Tania Unzueta. Find more info here, or watch the live broadcast."

7 simple reasons why the LGBTQ community needs to care about immigrant rights:

#1. We are immigrants too: Of the 10.8 million people who live in the United States undocumented, many are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ). Some of these are LGBTQ youth who came with their families as minors and consider the U.S. their home, while others came to escape persecution in their own countries. They have built their lives here, fallen in love, and started families, but under current U.S. immigration law there is no legal process for them to become citizens. Today they remain in the country in limbo, vulnerable to abuse, and under constant threat of being deported.

#2. Our families have limited options: LGBTQ immigrants, both documented and undocumented, face hurdles when attempting to regularize their status or become citizens. If an immigrant with a visa happens to fall in love with a U.S. citizen of the same sex, their partner cannot help them change their immigration status to that of a permanent residentv. Because same-sex relationships are not recognized under the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), for an immigrant who is in a same-sex marriage, there are an extra 2 years of residency before citizenship if the application is accepted compared to one who is in a heterosexual marriage. But if the application is denied, the immigrant partner will be put in deportation proceedings. There are at least 35,000 same-sex couples in the U.S. that are affected by the immigration system.

#3. We can’t help our immigrant partners: If a person is in deportation proceedings, whether it is because they traveled undocumented or were denied adjustment of status, there are very few options for them to remain in the country – heterosexual or LGBTQ. Some get a “cancelation of removal” from immigration when they have family members- children, husbands or wives, except that for same-sex couples, their citizen spouses do not count. As of May 2011 the policy of the Obama administration has explicitly been to deport immigrant same-sex partners of U.S. citizens, regardless of marital status. This year the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has estimated that they will deport over 400,000 people, the most annual deportations in the country’s history. According to statistics by DHS a third of immigrants detained have no criminal record, many of them include LGBTQ people, and permanent partners of U.S. citizens. [NOTE: This may change under the recent change in enforcement priorities announced by the Obama administration, and the guidelines for prosecutorial discretion announced by DHS. These procedures include LGBT people and same-sex couples, according to the White House, however there are still many questions about the implementation and efficacy of the policy].

#4. We are here escaping persecution: Many LGBTQ and HIV positive immigrants leave their country of birth escaping homophobic and transphobic violence, including threats to their lives. Since 1994 the U.S. considers this ground to request asylum and eventually permanent residency. However, the process for asylum can be a long and harsh process, where in the end, there is no guarantee that it will be granted. There are several cases of gay and transgender immigrants, who could not meet the burden of proof for their asylum claim. Some of them have accused immigration judges and officials of holding biased standards based on stereotypes of safety and behavior, and are still in limbo, or detained.

#5. We face harassment & death in detention: A civil complaint by the National Immigrant Justice Center against DHS details “sexual assault, denials of medical care, arbitrary confinement, and sever harassment and discrimination” against LGBTQ immigrants. The complaint is on behalf of 13 transgender and gay people who came to the U.S. to escape persecution in their won countries. In addition, there have been several documented cases where transgender immigrants have been denied access to hormones, and HIV+ detainees denied access to medication, resulting in a number of deaths and investigations into human rights abuses. These abuses reflect the wrongful treatment that thousands of immigrants face in detention facilities throughout the country, under a system that disproportionately affects LGBTQ immigrants.

#6. Queer undocumented youth are fierce: LGBTQ undocumented organizers have taken leadership roles in the national campaign for immigrant rights. This has been most visible in the campaign for the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM), which would provide a conditional path to citizenship for immigrant youth who arrived to the country before the age of 16. LGBTQ youth have “come out” to speak about being LGBTQ and undocumented, using their stories to advocate for change.xiv Additionally some of these youth make specific references to the gay liberation movement as inspiration, citing Harvey Milk’s activism in the 1980s. If these youth were to be deported, some would be going back go countries that they have never known, and that may not be accepting of their sexuality and gender. For many of these LGBTQ undocumented youth the only country they have known is the U.S. and they are fighting for their lives.

#7. Our struggles are intertwined: The same politicians and organizations that oppose the rights of undocumented immigrants oppose the rights of LGBTQ people. Data shows that we are more likely to encounter a person who favors both immigrant and LGBT rights, than someone who supports immigration, but opposes same-sex marriage. Homophobic politicians are likely to attempt to block immigration reform to prevent LGBTQ immigrants from gaining legal status through same-sex permanent partnerships. LGBTQ movements need to build strategic alliances with immigration movements to ensure equal rights for all.

#immigration #LGBTQ #immyouth #IYJL