'The Other Immigrant List' Is An Inspiring F-You To Trump's Weekly Crime Roundup

By Stephen Gossett in News on Feb 13, 2017 8:53PM

Photo: Tyler LaRiviere

After President Donald Trump ordered the Department of Homeland Security to publish a weekly list of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants in the United States, a group of Chicago-area writers and activists banded together to publish a weekly list of their own, one to counteract the anti-immigration sentiment that Trump continues to fuel.

The Other Immigrant List collects and publishes not only stories of isolated positive contributions of immigrants as submitted by readers and fellow writers, but also the broader struggles and hardships that immigrant families have endured in order to arrive and flourish here.

“We know the immigrant community,” said Alma Campos, a copywriter now based in Joliet and a former longtime resident of Pilsen, McKinley Park and South Chicago. “From my and my friends’ experiences and, from living in a Mexican-American communities, they are some of the most peaceful people out there. If such crimes exist, most are minor offenses.”

Indeed, a recent Sun-Times investigation found the majority of deportation cases that go before Immigration Court do not involve violent offenders. And fears are surging locally ICE raids have led to the arrest of hundreds of undocumented immigrants in Midwest states within the last week alone and Trump has proclaimed a "crackdown."

The project is intended to be more than just a counter-list, Campos said, but a collection of “the real stories of immigrants living in the U.S.” from all walks of life and background—“Mexican, Muslim, Irish, everything.” Not surprisingly, several of the stories so far pack a wallop: the grandfather of one contributor had to drink his own urine to survive en route from Mexico, eventually forging a career in the Chicago-area steel mills.

"They have all made their own lives," wrote Judy Melgarejo on the site. "They’ve built their own families and many successful businesses. They have all gone on to have successful and educated children, like myself. I recently received my Master’s degree in Counseling and I owe it to the sacrifices that my grandfather made for our family."

Like Trump's proposed list, The Other Immigrant List will be update once a week with new accounts and photos. Organizers are in contact with universities and immigrant organizations to spread the word. Meanwhile, anyone interested in contributing is encouraged to submit.

"[Immigrants are] not here to commit crimes, but to live our lives and provide for our families. That's a human right, and that’s what we want to show," Campos said.