A capstone project by Cabrini University Communication Students

I chose this topic because I’ve always been a mentor to children and teens in danger of falling within the system of incarceration, and upon learning that migrant children are put into prison-like environments, it taught me that so many people are unaware of the life-changing dangers children are put in after the separation.

I chose to cover how sports can break down social barriers amongst immigrant children. As someone who has played almost every sport with all different kinds of people, I can attest to the sense of family and community that sports can bring into people’s lives. 

I chose to look into the rate of unauthorized immigrants in higher education and why they struggle to go to college because I believe everyone deserves to get an education.

I chose to report on the process of obtaining a visa because I like to focus on the important things that are happening in the world today. Many people may assume that obtaining a U.S. visa is an easy process. It is not. There are many steps, and they can take very long time.

I chose the topic of undocumented children having difficulty receiving an education because I believe that education is very important. Receiving a quality education creates opportunities throughout life and helps create a productive and knowledgeable society. When people, especially children, are deprived of this resource, it is very unjust.

I chose to work on the public perception of immigration because I know the effects that people’s opinions and views can have on our society. When you are judged before people get to know you, they begin to make assumptions about who you are. This topic shows the harm of those assumptions.

I chose my topic, Migrant Death at the U.S.-Mexico border, because of the astounding amount of deaths every year at the border. In 2017, there were 412 deaths at the border, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). 

I chose to research the history of immigration policies because it is important to determine why certain policies were implemented in order to understand how we got to where we are today in terms of immigration. Telling the historic portion of the wider immigration story taught me what social, political, economic and cultural factors influence the formation of policies.

I chose to report on immigrant entrepreneurs because their stories are under told. Immigrants founded a number of the biggest companies in the world, and we Americans use their products and services on a daily basis. Immigrant entrepreneurship is the backbone of America. As Elon Musk said, “If you go back a few hundred years, what we take for granted today would seem like magic.”

I chose to examine the impact of U.S. government intervention in Mexico and Latin America, a topic introduced to me in Dr. Jerry Zurek's Working for Global Justice course at Cabrini University. There, I learned about the long history of U.S. government intervention in the Latin American region, and I lobbied in Washington D.C. to increase foreign aid funding for organizations that help farmers improve agricultural production.

Once I learned about the separation of children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border, I was interested in studying the short and long term effects trauma like this can have on the brain. I have learned that the younger you experience trauma, the more damage is done, and it is extremely difficult to recover from.

I chose my topic of the media’s coverage of immigration because the stories we consume each day shape our opinions of global migration and drive our social, political and economic choices.

I chose to study the psychological impacts of childhood trauma because often times we do not realize how hard the immigration and migration process can be on children. While children have a voice, they need a way to project that voice. I intend to be their megaphone.

I chose to report on the visa process because I believe it is the most important aspect of our nation's immigration system that needs to be addressed. If you fix this process, it means less people being deported, a decrease in the amount of families and children needing to be detained at the border, and an increase in the number of jobs immigrants can work.

For this website, I reported on the public health impacts of restrictionist immigration policies. I did so because I have noticed the number of foreign-born healthcare professionals working in the U.S. when I go to my medical appointments.

Coming from a Cuban family, I had more of a personal connection with my topic - the pull factors of migration from Central America. My family taught me what it is like to leave everything behind to find a better life. I hope that when people see our work on this website they know that there is help available for them.

Telling this story about DACA has taught me how complex this issue really is. Sure, DACA isn’t perfect, but it has benefited over 800,000 people. It’s difficult to rationalize terminating a temporary program that benefits migrants, and say that you are doing them a service by building a wall to keep them out.

I chose to report on the process of seeking asylum in America. I chose my topic because I find America to be a safe and opportunity-friendly country. Therefore, I think everyone should be capable of living in a safe environment and not having the constant fear that their lives are at risk.

I chose to study the public's perception of immigration and their knowledge of the immigration process. I wondered if they learned about the process in grades K-12, thinking that education can be the biggest disruptor to intolerance. The public has the most power in any and all situations to change the system.

I chose to report on family-based migration because family means everything. I wouldn’t have made it through college without mine and as Lilo likes to say, “ Ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind.”

Telling this story taught me that when doing research on such a sensitive topic there was a lot of discussion about the hard  facts, but I noticed there was a need for letting people speak their truth. I believe we told the story of how there is still hope and dignity for migrants.

To me, dignity for migrants is having respect for people and the different situations they come from. It can be easy to make our own assumptions about big topics that seem unrelated to us. However, sometimes the best thing to do is to simply listen with an open mind. Doing this makes you realize that as a citizen of the world our life stories are connected in more ways than one.  

I choose this topic because I want to know what happens between the time migrants apply for asylum as they wait for the decision. I wanted to know if they are receiving the proper resources and needs for the await time.