The Wonderful Women of SIM

By Lily Huang

At the Student Immigrant Movement (SIM), we recruit youth and develop them to become leaders in our communities and to fight for equal access to education for all, regardless of immigration status. Many of our youth are young women who have grown to become the leaders and organizers of our SIM movement and organization. We are young immigrant women – undocumented and unafraid – and allies! We are the photographers and writers of SIM, the aspiring teachers, businesswomen, and social workers of tomorrow, high school and college students, non-profit employees, housekeepers and restaurant hostesses. Our many women in leadership in SIM affect how we work, from how we organize our communities to how we care for one another within SIM. We cultivate a community that organizes in a unique and compassionate way, full of courageous love, and also pushes for individual and collective growth.

Being women permeates every aspect of our organizing, from doing one-on-ones and facilitating meetings to planning strategies. We build our relationships on a deep level with our young men and women. We start every meeting with sharing how we are feeling and catching up on family, school, love, and life. As we plan events, we ensure that we do not take on too much by going around the room to voice our current personal and SIM responsibilities and our ability to commit to additional tasks. As women, the strategies and campaigns we choose are out of courageous love in the face of ignorance and hatred. We, as women, are always thinking about our siblings, children, parents and neighbors. We are always present to teach and help each other when needed and to challenge one another through our SIM organizing and also in our friendships.

The many women in the leadership of SIM create an open space for all our students to have beautiful friendships with each other and to participate in raw conversations about our unique and shared experiences. We are constantly pushing ourselves to talk about our shared social constrictions and stereotypes of us, our bodies and our cultures. We break down the fetishization of our Asian bodies alongside the “goodness” of our Afro-Latino hair, the negotiation of our indigenous to Guatemalan or Latino in the U.S. identity, and the white-ness or brown-ness of our skin. We share the fear we felt as we crossed the border, of taking care of our immigrant families, of being an immigrant woman in high school and college. We celebrate our victories together, from speaking in public and organizing a meeting to enrolling into college. We understand when one has to take a step back but push others when they need it to become leaders. By having this respect and love for our friends and being surrounded by wonderful discussions, good food and supportive atmosphere, we better understand our own identities, bodies and roles and, as a result, better organize our community.

Everything is for the movement but it is also for our SIM community. Being a woman in SIM has been empowering and inspiring to me and to all our young women in SIM. We recognize our fears and obstacles but cast them away so that we can become stronger together. It makes us the proudest when we see this growth of our youth as they become leaders, organize our communities and fulfill their own potential. As women in SIM, we are changing the nature of organizing, community and friendships within SIM, and are building a community with members full of courageous love.

Here are some voices of women involved in the Student Immigrant Movement

Elizabeth: I was so frustrated that, as an undocumented woman, I could not develop my inner leader in the community. I knew I can do so much and give so much, yet I couldn’t feel the connection. But it made me stronger to be in the position of not having status and having to come out to a community that is indifferent to my situation. When I see new girls come to our meetings and I tell them my story, I see how by opening myself to them it makes them want to share what they too have been hiding for so long. They no longer feel afraid or embarrassed by their situation. That’s what keeps me involved in this movement. I know that I can help awake their inner leadership.

Lai wa: When deciding on campaign strategy, advocacy, and funding, it’s critical to our immigrant justice struggle to focus on the marginalized within the marginalized and to see how various oppressive paradigms intersect and may inform one another. For example, a woman who is an undocumented immigrant dealing with domestic violence will feel doubly vulnerable. The police protection system exploits immigration status and the woman will fear reporting violence due to her equal or greater fear of the repercussions of her lack of documentation. The national immigrant youth movement is currently led by women and we will hold the responsibility and power to shape our struggle in a women-centric framework. We must not conflate the “immigrant justice” movement into a unified movement, but one that is complex and at times oppressive to those within our immigrant community.

Yessica: When one thinks of a leader, one usually thinks of a strong, intelligent man. There is no doubt that throughout history we have seen many of those. However, this is not a representation of what I have seen throughout my life time. The people that I admire the most are all females. Therefore, when I stepped into a SIM meeting, I was so pleased to see all these young females as leaders. They demonstrate that gender has absolutely nothing to do with the ability to be an efficient leader. Both girls and boys have something to contribute, but when a young woman is leading something, people pay more attention. Some underestimate young women’s capability to organize something and make it work effectively. But SIM has proved that young women can be great coordinators and can make a positive changel. These young women help many of students who are unaware that being undocumented is not an obstacle to obtaining a higher education. They inspire a young woman like me to apply to college and become a leader, just like them.

Lily Huang is a volunteer organizer with the Student Immigrant Movement and, by day, she works as an affordable housing agent.