Shoebox Stories: UndocuAmerica Series

Co-founder of Black Lives Matter Patrisse Cullors reads Armando Peniche’s story of the racial profiling he experienced as a 12-year old boy and the danger slanderous rhetoric of mythic criminality poses to the undocumented Mexican community and his own young American son.

Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Ai-jen Poo, reads Victor Galvan's story about the overwhelming human rights challenges facing the immigrant community and his insistence, despite his fear and the obstacles ahead, of manifesting his American Dream.

Award-winning actor, author, musician and singer, John Lithgow, reads the story of Irving Reza, a DACAmented political science major who uses humor to negotiate the fear of passing through immigration checkpoints and his deepening reverence for the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Maria Hinojosa is the lead anchor and executive producer of Latino USA, and the founder of Futuro Media. She reads the story of Tania Chairez - a social entrepreneur and Motus staff member who grew up undocumented in Arizona - sharing her struggle to protect good parents, just like her own, from the attacks against the immigrant community.

José Andrés is an internationally-recognized culinary innovator, New York Times bestselling author, educator, television personality, humanitarian, and chef/owner of ThinkFoodGroup. He reads Alejandro Fuentes-Mena’s story of his hard working parents, celebrates the assets he and his family are to our country, and shares his journey to becoming one of the first two DACAmented teachers in the country.

Nicholas Kristof is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and writes an op-ed column for The New York Times. He reads the story of Reydesel Salvidrez-Rodriguez, a legally deaf undocumented young man who was on the verge of killing himself before the DACA program was created that gave temporary legal status to undocumented young people brought to the U.S. before age 16 by their parents.

Activist and writer, Gloria Steinem reads Kiara Chavez’s story about the obstacles immigration policy has placed between herself and who and what she loves. She tells a tender story of flying home to Mexico for the first time since she was age four to see her ailing grandmother.

Jorge Ramos is a Mexican-born American journalist and author. Regarded as the best-known Spanish-language news anchor in the United States of America, he has been referred to as "The Walter Cronkite of Latin America". He reads Cristian Solano-Córdova’s story of strategizing to protect his eight-year-old sister, who is an American citizen, in the event her mother gets deported.