Deported DREAMer Mom – Tania Mendoza
Tania Mendoza was born in Mexico. She was brought to the U.S by her family when she was 3 years old. Mendoza grew up in the U.S, had a daughter and a stable job. Tania Mendoza was deported from California to Tijuana When Mendoza’s daughter was 5 years old,.
KBCS reporters Mari McMenamin, Dana Schuerholz and Yuko Kodama interviewed Tania Mendoza at the border wall in Tijuana’s Friendship park in November, 2019.
At the time of the interview, Mendoza’s daughter was 14 years old.
Producers: Mari McMenamin, Laura Florez, Jesse Callahan, Yuko Kodama Special Thanks to Magdaleno Rose-Avila for inspiring KBCS to take on this story.
Photo: Dana Schuerholz
Magdaleno Rose-Avila standing in front of the border wall at Friendship Park. An image of Tania Mendoza is featured as part of the mural
mural on the Border Wall at Friendship Park in Tijuana, Mexico
KBCS Border Stories – Living Undocumented
How does being undocumented impact your life? Does it impact where you go shopping for groceries, where you rent your apartment, whether you drive or buy a car or have access to a cell phone? Dulce Garcia, Executive Director of Border Angels, speaks to how being undocumented shaped who she is today.
Skagit Valley Farmworkers and ICE
US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agents arrested 24 year old Medardo Cruz-Ventura on January 24th. Edgar Franks, Political Director of Familias Unidas por la Justicia describes how ICE activities impact Washington’s Skagit Valley where farmworkers make up 30% of the population.
Taking Sanctuary : Jaime Rubio and Keiko Maruyama
Jaime Rubio Sulficio faces deportation, and took sanctuary at Seattle’s St. Mark’s Cathedral at the end of March. Rubio was a business owner, Latin dance instructor and active member of the community. He and his wife, Keiko Maruyama describe their experiences adjusting to this chapter in their lives in this series on their experiences.
Producer: Yuko Kodama
Photo: Whitney Hardie
Yes! Magazine: Sanctuary Policies and Deportation
We have some new information about how the US government is addressing deportations. According to a new study from the Pew Research center, nationwide deportations made by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2017 increased 30% from the previous year. These increases are not distributed evenly. In regions where city and state governments worked hand-in-hand with ICE, deportations increased more than 75%. In regions where sanctuary policies are more prevalent, increases remained relatively low. YES! Magazine’s Bailey Williams speaks with magazine fellow Micheal Dax who wrote the article “A Year Later, Fewer Deportations in Cities That Adopted ‘Welcoming’ Policies“.
Repatriation of Mexican Immigrant Families and Mexican Americans
Imagine being a US Citizen and being deported to a country where you don’t know anyone? This happened in the 1930’s here in America. In recognition of Hispanic Heritage, this series focuses on the history of immigration and repatriation of Mexican immigrants in the US. In this two-part series, KBCS’s Yuko Kodama recently spoke with Dr. Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Professor at Seattle University, regarding the impact of the Repatriation program of the 1930’s.
Part 1 – KBCS’s Yuko Kodama and Dr. Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs discuss a program in the 1930’s which sent US citizens to Mexico against their will.
Part 2 – KBCS’s Yuko Kodama continues the discussion with Dr. Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs about the Repatriation program and its lasting impacts on the psyche of the Mexican American community.
Hunger Strike at Tacoma’s Immigration Detention Center
In Tacoma, detainees at the immigration detention center are continuing their hunger strike. They’ve stopped working at the facility, making phone calls, purchasing from the commissary and sleeping in addition to not eating. Demands to GEO, the private firm operating the detention center are better pay to run the facility, better food, access to healthcare and speedier court procedures. The strike started on Monday and was scheduled to end today at noon.
KBCS’s Yuko Kodama contacted Northwestern University’s Deportation Research Clinic Director, Jacqueline Stevens by phone to get some perspective on conditions within the detention centers.
Tacoma Immigration Detention Center Protest Update
Last March, hundreds of detainees at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma performed a hunger strike. It was the first of two more at the Tacoma Northwest detention center and at immigration detention centers in Texas and Alabama. Today we get the update on conditions of the immigration detention center in Tacoma today and on how the latest immigration politics are affecting our immigrant communities in Washington.
KBCS News Director, Sonya Green speaks with Maru Mora Villalpando, Founder of Latino Advocacy and community organizer with Not1More Deportation.
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New Perspectives on Immigration in the US
Last year, the United States deported nearly 370,000 people. That’s nine times the number 20 years ago. Meanwhile, a recent study on trends in Mexico released by the Pew Research Center finds that 34% of its pool said they would like to migrate to the US. Over 70% said top concerns were with crime, corruption and drug cartel related violence. This week we look at the real life conditions that draw people from Mexico and other countries to the United States.
- Episode 1 & 2 – Former Federal Public Defender, Jay Stansell speaks about current policies toward immigration and the conditions that undocumented immigrants face in the US with KBCS Producer, Yuko Kodama
- Episode 3 – Masahiro Sugano is the Director of the documentary, “Cambodian Son”. He speaks with KBCS Producer, Yuko Kodama about the some Camdodian Americans who were deported to Cambodia from the US
- Episode 4 – Writer and activist, Dori Cahn speaks with KBCS’s Yuko Kodama about the conditions Cambodian American deportees to Cambodia are faced with when they are forced to build their lives in a home country they hardly know.
