Going Beyond the Headlines to Explore the Immigration Debate

From this summer’s separation of migrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border to calls to end birthright citizenship and curtail asylum, immigration has arguably become America’s most controversial issue. One Florida Atlantic University professor decided to tackle the subject head-on this fall with a special topics course called “Covering Immigration.” Ilene Prusher, a journalism instructor in the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, made it her mission to take students behind the scenes of the debate by introducing them to the fast-changing realities of immigration policy. This included having them hear from some of the movers and shakers involved in immigration, including the director of the Family Defense Program at Americans for Immigrant Justice, and taking them to visit Krome Detention Center in Miami, Florida’s largest detentions center, and meeting officials from ICE (Immigration Customs and Enforcement).

“I realized that many of the guest speakers I would be inviting throughout the semester would be speaking empathetically about immigration from the point of view of studying it, advocating for it, or experiencing it -- sometimes all three,” said Prusher. “For balance, I felt that it was important for the students to hear the government or law enforcement side of the story, and as such, to hear from ICE as well.”

ICE officials in Miami agreed to facilitate a first-ever school visit to Krome so students could get a closer look at conditions in an immigration detention facility. Krome has been the subject of controversy in the past, but ICE says Krome is now run efficiently and according to strict international standards.

Over the course of the semester, Prusher brought in prominent guest speakers including lawyers, scholars, activists and journalists to discuss the immigration landscape with her students. Prusher, a faculty affiliate with FAU’s Peace, Justice and Human Rights Initiative, also drew on the immigration expertise of other PJHR affiliates: Dr. Eileen Ariza (Department of Teaching and Learning) who spoke about working with Syrian refugee children in Malta, and Dr. Jean Pierre (School of Public Administration) who spoke about immigration from Haiti. Prusher occasionally employed Skype to bring in virtual guests from elsewhere in the world. This included Laura Wides-Muñoz, whose book “The Making of a Dream: How a Group of Young Undocumented Immigrants Helped Change What it Means to be American” was required reading for the class, and a young Syrian refugee living in Europe.

As part of their coursework, students had to meet and interview immigrants, to visit neighborhoods of South Florida with large immigrant populations, to ask average Americans about their views on immigration, and to formulate an opinion about a key immigration issue in the form of an op-ed. Many of the students’ articles will be published in a course publication on Medium called Immigration Nation .

Students said that spending the time to go beyond the headlines was a worthy and eye-opening endeavor.

“My experience with learning and writing about immigration this semester impacted my views on the debate by allowing me to see the other side of immigration,” said student Beatrice Silva. “I knew what immigration was but I didn't have a chance to meet with recent immigrants before this class. Having more information and seeing first-hand made me understand and improved my judgment about the issue.”

Too much of the rhetoric around the debate, said student Tyler Doss, “is simply fear mongering” which feeds into generalizations and stereotypes. Knowing more, he said, makes for a far more informed discussion.

Another student, Max Ziffer, said, “After reading, writing and interviewing immigrants from all over the world, I have gained a much greater understanding of what immigration is and why people immigrate. I have also gained a great deal of empathy for those fleeing hardships from their homeland.”

Prusher will be teaching “Covering Immigration” again next Fall.