WE ARE: A Nation of Immigrants - New Haven 2018
The Participants


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Vanessa

Peru

Portrait Location: 
New Haven Green A3

Current occupation: Cook’s helper at Yale and local activist with Unidad Latina en Accion

Arrival in the US: At age of two years

Reason for migration: My family decided to emigrate to the United States to get away from the poverty, the crime and the corruption in Peru.

Commentary: When we lived in Peru, my mother remembers getting mugged every Friday when it was payday.  We all lived together and tried to make ends meet, but it was a really hard living situation.  My parents wanted to come here to give us better opportunities.  And my father valued education a lot and he wanted us to have the best education we could get here in America.  I went to secondary school in East Haven and then got a degree in Political Science from Central Connecticut State University.  I just graduated!

Immigration is a huge problem, but there are so many facets to it.  It’s not simply people crossing over.  It’s why they are crossing over.  It’s how they are crossing over.  It’s finding ways for people to migrate safely and for them to stay here safely.  It’s for them to have a voice when they are here, not to live hidden, not to live scared.  And that is a problem.  People don’t come forward with so many of the crimes that happen to them because of their status.  And that’s not okay because you can’t hurt others just because you see them as inferior. I am very passionate about making more people aware of the issues facing immigrants.