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NWU students document immigrant hardships

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BY ART HOVEY / Lincoln Journal Star

Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 12:57:33 am CDT

Social work students at Nebraska Wesleyan University have completed a study of undocumented immigrants with a call for more attention to that subject in the state’s university curriculums.

The students did eight case studies of immigrants as part of a semester-long project called “Immigrants: A Forgotten Population.”

The results were made available this week at the university’s Callen Conference Center.

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NWU research on immigrant issues

Nebraska Wesleyan social work students present their research on immigrant issues to faculty and the community to advance a goal to integrate immigran...

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One of their findings from their interviews with residents of Lincoln and nearby communities was that people are waiting four or more years for action on their applications for legal residency status.

“It’s absolutely horrible that we allow that sort of thing to happen in the United States,” said student presenter Abbie Locken, a junior from Lincoln.

Presenter Mandy Gwirtz of Manhattan, Kan., said the project, presided over by Jeff Mohr, director of the social work program at the university, helped her recognize the differences between what minorities experience as citizens of the U.S. and what undocumented immigrants experience.

“How am I able to help somebody,” Gwirtz said as she looks ahead to a social work career, “if I don’t know what they’re facing?”

Many of the report details offered Monday came from a week’s worth of interviews in which the subjects were identified only by first names.

The interview candidates and other background information came from the Lincoln-based Equity in Nebraska, a nonprofit group that began providing legal assistance to low-income immigrants and refugees in 2001.

One of those interviewed said she was an abused child whose mother gave her up for adoption. She later narrowly avoided deportation as she reached age 18. She now has legal status and is a student at Southeast Community College in Beatrice.

Another interview subject, a mother of a 5-year-old, divorced her abusive husband. Still without legal residency status, she doesn’t dare visit her mother in Mexico and needs medical attention for a back problem.

“She found health care is very hard to get when you don’t have residency,” said NWU student Ashley Larson, also of Lincoln.

A third interviewee came to the U.S. from Mexico speaking fluent English and with health insurance.

She now has a four-year degree and a work visa. But students learned that even she would need to have future employers pay thousands of dollars in sponsorship costs for her if she changed jobs.

Mohr said NWU students do get some information about immigrants in a social welfare policy class. But in the view of the seven juniors and seniors outlining their project Monday, he said, “it’s not addressed to the extent that they think it should be.”

Reach Art Hovey at 523-4949 or at ahovey@alltel.net.


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Whatever wrote on May 8, 2007 5:23 am:
" Wesleyan is a private institution, what does the "state’s university curriculums", have to do with Wesleyan's curriculum? "
idiot wrote on May 8, 2007 8:01 am:
" The Wesleyan students want all University students in Nebraska to learn and know about this problem. Open your eyes. "
gman wrote on May 8, 2007 8:50 am:
" These problems are those faced by white, black and Native Americans throughout Nebraska. It's just as terrible that it happens to those who live in our country and have the right to be here. Any illegal alien who chooses to come here knows the risks involved. How about providing legal assistance to low-income AMERICANS? "
book wrote on May 8, 2007 8:53 am:
" everybody loves pushing their agenda by using the idea of social justice...but you also have to respect the rule of law. If they are breaking the law, then they need to be handled accordingly. Until the law changes, there should be no reason to give any undocumented immgrant healthcare "
JA wrote on May 8, 2007 9:49 am:
" walk a mile in my shoes, and tell me that something is "handed" to me.. I work hard for what I have, I'm not a burden on anybody, I'm actually an asset to the community and to my employer, ask anybody that knows me.. I've given to this community more than some american born citizens have, and the beautiful U S of A still doesn't recognize me as a citizen, there's nothing I can do to remedy that, I've tried... So before you go pass judgement on people, please take the time to understand what we must face. It's not that we want to break the law (I was brought here by my parents)... God has me here, and only God can remove me from here, even if the USA only tries to make our situation more difficult instead of making a path to citizenship something attainable for myself and for people in my situation.. change will not occur until people open their eyes and realize things are not as they seem.. listen to us and you might understand that there are people who have done everything they can to "resolve" their "immigration status" but they haven't found an open door (in the legal system) to do so.. just have compassion for God's sake.. "
open your eyes wrote on May 8, 2007 10:00 am:
" Everyone that is not a Native American has family that was once an immigrant to this country. If we can help improve someone's life, why not do it? We recognize that there are low-income U.S. citizens who also are facing problems, but they can recieve many of the services that are not available to non-citizens. By talking about the immigrant population we are by no means saying that they are the only ones in our world who need help. Their issues are different than those of "AMERICANS." And maybe just maybe in our wonderful world, there are laws that aren't justified, maybe we should advocate for these people and change the laws. Or we could just let them all die off as you as suggesting. "
Larry wrote on May 8, 2007 10:41 am:
" One of the students says it is "absolutely horrible" What is absolutely horrible is we they are defending people who enter this country illegaly. They are breaking the law what is so hard to understand about that? "
Well Done wrote on May 8, 2007 10:47 am:
" Well Done NWU students. You have proven me, an NWU alum, proud. Keep up the good work and continue to support the idea of equality and humanity. "
oh wow wrote on May 8, 2007 12:51 pm:
" How about teaching criminal justice majors to enforce the laws on the books. Law students to understand and enforce the laws. Political science students about the negative impact of illegal immigration on this nation. Open your eyes - illegal is illegal. You might as well do case studies on criminals to see how hard it is on their families when they are sent to jail. "
Typical wrote on May 8, 2007 2:27 pm:
" Here we go again...ethnocentric Nebraskan's judging its own people. Everyone who lives here contributes to supposed "Good Life" however only few have the privileges of being a regular tax paying American. When can I have this recognition?! "
tcan wrote on May 8, 2007 8:58 pm:
" the negative remarks are outrageous. this was a case study done on immigrants who are working toward and awaiting legal citizenship and have been granted the opportunity to enter the country through student visas, work visas or other legally binding contracts. they are not lawbreakers. they are following the law and finding that THE LAW is causing them a great deal of distress. next time, you may want to read the article before you show how ignorant you are. "
Xander wrote on May 9, 2007 12:52 am:
" At least two of the three cases presented in this article are far from those of people that have actively abused the system so that they could leech benefits. Yes, the rule of law must prevail, but the laws are imperfect when it comes to children of illegal immigrants who had no choice to come to this country but know no other home than ours. They are just as American as you or I, but the happenstance of their birthplace causes them undue suffering. I am entirely for closing off the borders to prevent this type of situation from happening. But the fact of the matter is that minor children of illegal immigrants face deportation status by no fault of their own. We live in a country where we don't believe that an individual should be held accountable for his or her parents sins. We need immigration reform to prevent this from happening and to deal with it humanely when it does. "
JA wrote on May 9, 2007 10:29 am:
" Thank you Xander! "
Abbie Locken wrote on May 9, 2007 5:24 pm:
" I was one of these student presenters; and unfortunatley the article did not represent the entirety of the presentation. We did not focus on undocumented immigrants; we focused on immigrants as a whole. Our focus was also on making education about this population and the struggles they face available; not only at NWU but society in general. Please take a look at the video feed that is with the article; it may make the focus a little more clear for those that do not seem to understand. I would like to note that I am saddened by the opinions of many of you; luckily it proves our point that education is greatly needed in our community and in our world. "
Valerie wrote on May 11, 2007 2:04 pm:
" I think that there are a lot of these kinds of stories, some are worse and the people don't know anything. I'm glad that somebody wants to make a difference and let these kinds of stories be known. Nobody knows what an immigrant goes through, until they become one. "

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