Diversity and Inclusion Center for Diversity and Inclusion Office for International Students and Scholars

Community, Government and Media Resources for Undocumented and DACAmented Students

FurtherFind additional information and resources available for undocumented students, DACAmented students and students from mixed-status families.

2019 MANA Scholarship: Open to Undocumented Students

 

Advocacy and Legal Assistance

Missouri Immigrant and Refugee Advocates (MIRA)
MIRA is a coalition of organizations that supports advocacy and education in Missouri. MIRA tracks bills as they pass through the Missouri legislature. They also have a resources directory listing helpful organizations in the area.

Catholic Legal Assistance Ministry (CLAM)–Immigration Law Project
CLAM Immigration Law Project offers legal aid to migrants facing challenges in immigration cases such as: family based petitions, asylum, relative petitions, naturalization, adjustment of status, employment authorization, violence against women, special immigrant juveniles, T and U visas for victims of crime and/or human trafficking, deferred action, temporary protected status and representation for relief while in removal proceedings. Furthermore, CLAM provides outreach and Know Your Rights programs throughout the area to help educate the immigrant communities about current issues.

The Ministry cannot accept walk-ins. To request help, call 314-977-3993 on Tuesdays between 9am and 3pm.  Given the volume of calls received, it may take several weeks before you can speak with an attorney. You also can email CLAM.

Migrant and Immigrant Community Action Project
The Migrant and Immigrant Community Action Project (MICA Project) is a community organization committed to working with low-income immigrants to overcome barriers to justice. The MICA Project utilizes legal services, organizing, advocacy, and education to promote the voice and human dignity of immigrant communities.

The MICA Project handles a wide variety of cases, including family immigration, naturalization, removal defense, and asylum and refugee issues. In 2015, The MICA Project worked with over 350 clients. In order to assure that immigrants can get the help they need, the MICA Project provides all services at a discounted rate. Fees are charged on an affordable sliding scale and payment plans are available.

Additional Resources

Films & Videos

  • “Beyond Borders” (2016) – Nearly 11 million people live in the US without the benefit of social and political rights, and the majority are Mexicans. As a result, undocumented Mexican immigrants have become the public face of the anti-immigrant backlash now sweeping our country. Much of the debate about their lives, their motivations, and their role in maintaining crucial sectors of the US economy is deeply flawed.
  • “DACA, What Next?” (2018) – In this TED talk, Javier describes his personal experience being an undocumented immigrant as a child in the USA. He speaks of his drive to better himself through education, what DACA has meant to him, and his concern for the future (now that the program has been rescinded by the current administration). Javier (Candidate MA Brown University 18′, BA Rhode Island College 17′) is a research fellow at the Latino Policy Institute at Roger Williams University. Because of his efforts to raise awareness about the undocumented student struggle, Javier was awarded the Vital Contribution to the Community award in 2017 at Rhode Island College.
  • “Don’t Tell Anyone” (2015) – Angy Rivera has lived in the United States with a secret that threatens to upend her life: She is undocumented. Now 24 and facing an uncertain future, Rivera becomes an activist for undocumented youth with a popular advice blog and steps out of the shadows to share her story of sexual abuse, an experience all too common among undocumented women.
  • “Food Chains” (2014) – In this documentary, Sanjay Rawal takes up the plight of migrant farmworkers by focusing on their fight in Immokalee, Florida to push back against supermarket giants who essentially pressure farm owners to pay poverty wages.
  • “Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America” (2016) – When Moises Serrano was a baby, his parents risked everything to flee Mexico in search of the American Dream. Growing up in the rural South as an undocumented gay man, forbidden to live and love in the country he calls home, Serrano sees only one option — to fight for justice and equality.
  • “Hiding in plain sight — my life as an undocumented American” (2014) – An executive communications specialist, Leezia is a first-generation American, of African and Indian descent, who immigrated to Texas from Canada in 1996. Leezia’s interest in writing and foreign affairs led her to Northwestern University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science. In April 2014, Leezia’s research with Northwestern University’s Medill Innocence Project, a journalism think tank that investigates cases of potentially wrongful convictions, contributed to the release of an inmate who spent nine years incarcerated in an Illinois prison. Her work helped Medill to win the Investigative Reporters & Editors Award and the Peter Lisagor Award for best online feature story.
  • “Immigration Battle” (2015) – Born in Chicago to Puerto Rican parents, Luis Gutiérrez has been one of the U.S. House of Representative’s most vocal voices for comprehensive immigration reform. Immigration Battle follows his political maneuvering during the attempted passage of a bi-partisan immigration reform bill that was shot down by politicians feeding off of anti-immigrant sentiment.
  • “New American Girls” (2014) – Three teenage girls (of Mexican, Peruvian, and Indian descent) brought to the U.S. describe their experiences as undocumented residents who feel American. Having excelled at school, the girls are subsequently unable to go to college, get jobs, or register in a system that impedes their sense of identity and damages their prospects.
  • “Reclaiming Agency:  My Journey as an Undocumented American” (2018) – When Jirayut Latthivongskorn told college advisors he wanted to go to medical school, they didn’t know what to say to him. They had never heard of a medical school admitting an undocumented student. Latthivongskorn, who was born in Thailand shares his powerful journey as an undocumented immigrant who became the first undocumented medical student at UCSF.
  • “Roadtrip Nation: Beyond the Dream” (2016) – Everyone seems to have a voice in the immigration debate—except immigrants, themselves. Explore the immigrant experience through the eyes of Alexis, Rachel, and Pratishtha: three immigrants who were brought to this country at a young age, and have been temporarily granted partial—but not full—protection against deportation.
  • “Sin Pais” (2010) – Sam and Elida Mejia escaped Guatemala during a violent civil war and brought their one-year-old son to California. They worked hard, raised a family, and lived the American dream. Two years ago, immigration agents stormed the Mejias’ house and they have been fighting to stay in the U.S. ever since.
  • “The Hand That Feeds” (2014) – Immigrant workers organize themselves to fight a culture of exploitation and mistreatment that gives them zero rights and only slightly more in wages. Due to their undocumented status, they have come up against a brick wall to improve conditions, but their determination builds into a popular movement that draws on the wider community, the courts, and Occupy Wall Street protestors.
  • “Which Way Home” (2009) – This Academy Award-nominated documentary follows three children who make a dangerous trek through Mexico en route to the U.S. border, atop the dangerous train known as ‘la bestia,’ in hopes of reuniting with their parents
  • “Who is Dayani Cristal?” (2013) – This documentary begins in the Arizona desert where a body of a migrant is found with only one clue as to his identity: a tattoo that reads “Dayani Cristal.” To retrace his path and discover his story, the directors embed themselves among migrant travelers on their own mission to cross the border, providing insight into the stories so often ignored in the immigration debate.

Art