Undocu-Life
No Longer Dreaming | Más Allá del Sueño
How does growing up an immigrant—born in one place, coming of age in another—affect who you become? How do the traumas of coming to a new country as a child affect early adulthood? Why are immigrants viewed as statistics rather than human beings with real thoughts, emotions and aspirations? How does the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the term “DREAMers” enforce the perception of what a “good immigrant” looks like?
We’ll explore these questions and more in our podcast Undocu-Life, hosted by Jose Luis Mendoza and Lucía Matamoros. In this podcast, we seek to humanize people who have migrated to the U.S. in search of better opportunities and to tell their unique stories. Together, we’ll explore the raw personal accounts of five young Latino immigrants living in the D.C. area and how their shared experiences as immigrants have brought both opportunities and challenges to their adult lives. In Undocu-Life, immigrants are not statistics. They’re human beings.
This podcast is brought to you by Hola Cultura with support from the DC Oral History Collaborative.
¿Cómo el crecer siendo inmigrante afecta en quién te conviertes es el futuro (nacer en un país y crecer en otro)? ¿Cómo los traumas de llegar a un nuevo país cuando se es niño afectan en la edad adulta? ¿Por qué los inmigrantes son vistos como estadísticas en lugar de seres humanos con pensamientos, emociones y aspiraciones reales? ¿Cómo la Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia (DACA) y el término “DREAMers” refuerzan la percepción de lo que es ser un “buen inmigrante”?
Exploraremos estas preguntas y más en nuestro podcast, Undocu-Life, presentado por José Luis Mendoza y Lucía Matamoros. En este podcast buscamos humanizar a las personas que han emigrado a los EE. UU. en busca de mejores oportunidades. Juntos, descubriremos los relatos personales de cinco jóvenes inmigrantes latinos que viven en el área de D.C., y cómo sus experiencias como inmigrantes han traido oportunidades y desafíos a sus vidas adultas. En Undocu-Life, los inmigrantes no son estadísticas, son seres humanos.
Este podcast es de Hola Cultura con apoyo de DC Oral History Collaborative.
Listen, Follow & Subscribe | Escuchar, Seguir & Suscribir
WAMU 88.5 also interviewed co-host Jose Luis Mendoza on the Undocu-Life podcast. Check it out here.
Undocu-Life Episodes
Trailer (Bilingual)
Episode 1 | Episodio 1
How does growing up an immigrant — born in one place, coming of age in another — affect who you become? Why are immigrants viewed as statistics rather than human beings with real thoughts, emotions, and aspirations? How do the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the term “DREAMers” enforce the perception of what a “good immigrant” looks like? We’ll explore these questions and more in our introductory episode of Undocu-Life.
Episode 2 | Episodio 2
What does it mean to call three different places home? Carla Nicole Gott Ramirez – born in Venezuela and raised in Bolivia and the Washington, D.C. area – explores how she was able to embrace these multiple identities within her after migrating to the United States in 2001. In this episode, Carla runs us through how her citizenship and immigration status dictated her schooling, finances and travel opportunities. Carla discusses the conflicting feelings she had after she received her green card, why she currently calls D.C. home and how she was able to re-discover her love for Bolivia as an adult through a platform she co-founded called “How to La Paz.”
Tune in to hear more about how Carla embraces all of her identities and escapes the box that limits her to just being “Latina.”
Episode 3 | Episodio 3
How does being undocumented interfere with the aspiration to pursue higher education in the US? In this episode, Gerson Quinteros, born in El Salvador, explores how he navigated his legal status while achieving his goal of attaining a bachelor’s degree from a D.C. university. Gerson reveals how he immigrated to D.C. in 2005 and became an influential community organizer with a passion for helping other undocumented youth in his adulthood.
Tune in to learn more about Gerson’s women-led family influences and how he exercises kindness and humility every day.
Episode 4 | Episodio 4
How does language access affect how young immigrants navigate the public education system in America? Born in the city of Nezahualcóyotl in Mexico, Brenda Valeria Perez Amador is a passionate advocate for helping other young immigrants including those with the protection of DACA. Brenda, a DACA recipient herself, reflects on her love of learning. She recalls many instances of language injustice she encountered while attending public school in D.C. after arriving in the U.S. in 2006 at the age of 10.
In this episode, listeners will learn more about Brenda’s upbringing and how her immigration experiences have inspired her to combat racial injustice, harmful immigration narratives, climate change, food insecurity and more intersectional issues.
Episode 5 | Episodio 5
How does the Spanish-to-English language barrier affect young immigrants in the public school system? University of the District of Columbia (UDC) undergraduate, Maria Nunez Pereira was born in El Salvador and immigrated to D.C. when she was five years old. Upon arriving in the United States and enrolling in public school, Maria recalls being denied the support she needed in her classes, while she was barely starting to learn English.
In this episode of Undocu-Life, Maria opens up about her mental health journey and the pride she now feels about being a young undocumented immigrant.
Episode 6 | Episodio 6
How do undocumented immigrants facing social and economic injustices in the workplace and their own communities find the resources to thrive in the United States? D.C. organizer, using the pseudonym Jacinto Maldonado Torres, came to Washington, D.C. in 2010 when he was 15 years old. Originally from Mexico City, he attended D.C. public schools and recently earned an associates degree in early childhood education at the University of the District of Columbia. His previous experiences at immigrant youth empowerment meetings fostered his passion for teaching other immigrants about their rights and resources in the United States.
In this episode, Jacinto tells us about his work empowering other immigrants, especially those working in the restaurant industry, to utilize resources and overcome adversity, including health and economic challenges.
Episode 7 | Episodio 7
How do immigration experiences differ? How are they similar? Since Undocu-Life launched, we’ve spoken with five narrators about their own experiences with immigration. In our concluding episode, three of our narrators—Brenda Perez Amador, Gerson Quinteros, and Maria Nunez Pereira—come together for a roundtable discussion. They take our earlier conversations further, expanding on how their passions for education, social change, and family shape their identity. These conversations are important to have, especially during an uncertain time for U.S. policies like DACA that are meant to help immigrants.
Episode 8 | Episodio 8
¿Cómo difieren las experiencias migratorias? ¿Qué tienen en común? Desde que se lanzó Undocu-Life, hemos hablado con cinco narradores sobre sus experiencias migrando a los EE.UU. En nuestro último episodio en inglés, tres de nuestros narradores, Brenda Pérez Amador, Gerson Quinteros y María Núñez Pereira, se reúnen en un panel en el que nos cuentan un poco más sobre sus anécdotas, experiencias y pasiones; como lo son la educación, el cambio social y la familia. Es importante tener estas conversaciones, especialmente durante un momento incierto para las políticas estadounidenses, como el DACA, que están destinadas a ayudar a los inmigrantes.
Production Team
Podcast Hosts: Jose Luis Mendoza & Lucía Matamoros
Podcast Interviewer: Delia Beristain Noriega
Podcast Producer: Claudia Peralta Torres
Podcast Editing: Claudia Peralta Torres, Jose Luis Mendoza & Norma Sorto
Interns: Noelle Norris, Thomas Bravo, & Alessandra Marino
Podcast Director: Christine MacDonald, Executive Director of Hola Cultura
Podcast Humanities Scholar: Dr. Nancy Raquel Mirabal, Associate Professor at the University of Maryland
Social Media Marketing/Design: Gabriela Mendez, Laura Diaz & Geraldine Rentería
Dreamers & Doers: Oral History Project
In 2021, Hola Cultura interviewed five early childhood immigrants in DC about how coming to the U.S. affected their lives and those of their families.