Recruiting Undocumented and Immigrant Bloggers

Citizen Orange and I were in conversation today about the lack of pro-migrant bloggers online. Of course, the undocumented voice has come out in the blogosphere a lot more in the past year thanks to so many students who have been courageous enough to step forward, but we need this to continue, post-DREAM Act, post-comprehensive immigration reform.

Being a pro-migrant blogger does not always entail toeing the beltway line, giving in-depth analysis on policies or even writing American-centric posts. I think I would rather read narratives, experiences, and life stories and especially get bloggers from other countries in our networks.

I am working on making ThisIllegalife available for undocumented bloggers who are interested in writing but don’t necessarily have a platform. Andrea has agreed to provide video content. I would probably do podcast content in partnership with DreamACTivist and have lined up 3 interviews. And I am sure we can get 2-3 regulars and some guest bloggers to pipe in.

Now I need to look for an incentive. We can’t pay stipends at this point in time unless I can figure out how to get some of the UWD grant money for this blogging project. It will probably be treated as a diversion, and I do agree-organizing comes first and foremost. But if it was not for blogs and Web 2.0, these undocumented organizing networks could never have come together.

The long-term goal is to not only get immigrant perspectives out in the open, but to also make sure some of the bloggers stick around for the long-haul and develop new media skills.

Some of us are so marketable, it is ridiculous. And being undocumented should not be a reason why one should not be compensated for their time and labor.