Dear Feet in 2 Worlds Community,
A couple of days after the 2024 U.S. election, the Feet in 2 Worlds staff and I met on Zoom to process and unpack what a second Donald Trump presidency will mean for us and for our loved ones. Our team is made up entirely of immigrants or the children of immigrants. Some expressed fear about what safe places remain for those of us who don’t hold the privilege of U.S. citizenship. Others speculated about how the rise of fascism globally has scapegoated immigrant populations across multiple continents.
Throughout Donald Trump’s political career, he has been clear and consistent in attacking immigrant communities. Joe Biden’s administration, though perhaps less tonally aggressive, has deported nearly as many people as Trump did in his first. And in challenging a second Trump presidency, Kamala Harris veered to the right, projecting a “tough” stance on immigration and promising to secure the border.
As Feet in 2 Worlds’ Managing Editor Quincy Surasmith has said, “People all over the world move, temporarily and indefinitely, by choice and unwillingly. Migration can also leave a long legacy and impact on people and places for generations.” U.S. foreign policy has played a huge role in why people move and make their lives elsewhere. The two main U.S. political parties have flattened these historical nuances and reminded us all that being American is ultimately conditional. We don’t know exactly what lies ahead. But we can expect full-throated racism, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia against the most vulnerable, while the most wealthy — like immigrant Elon Musk — enrich themselves at the public’s expense.
U.S. foreign policy has played a huge role in why people move and make their lives elsewhere. The two main U.S. political parties have flattened these historical nuances and reminded us all that being American is ultimately conditional.
Nonetheless, at this chaotic time, I feel more clear-headed than I ever have about how to move through this moment. What’s gotten me through the past couple weeks is being in community with others. These moments of togetherness reminded me that while those of us from immigrant communities may feel despair about our future, we cannot and will not fall into the politics of despair. As Jamie Kalven from the Invisible Institute said in a 2016 interview, “All over the world there are people in repressive settings who find ways to live as free human beings, act in solidarity with their neighbors, and fashion strategies to resist state power.”
This framing is especially helpful to me, the daughter of a Korean immigrant who survived dictatorship in South Korea, and the granddaughter of people who survived the Japanese occupation of Korea. What our ancestors and family members have survived should not be underestimated. We can and will draw strength from their stories. We also know that we deserve much more than survival, and we will build a better future for ourselves and for those that come after us.
We need journalists more than ever to inform and educate, and to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. And we need immigrant journalists who operate with nuance, understanding, specificity, and empathy in their own communities.
Feet in 2 Worlds was founded 20 years ago to diversify U.S. newsrooms and create spaces for immigrant journalists and journalists of color in mainstream U.S. media. The organization financially supported fellows and trained them in audio storytelling at a time when few non-native English speakers were heard on the radio. It remains a radical mission: one that centers immigrant perspectives and invests in the careers of immigrant journalists.
In the two decades since, much has shifted within journalism — and across the world. We are living through multiple global calamities as Israel bombards Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria; Russia assails Ukraine; the world’s temperatures rise; and authoritarian right-wing governments threaten the livelihood and rights of citizens across the globe. We need journalists more than ever to inform and educate, and to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. And we need immigrant journalists who operate with nuance, understanding, specificity, and empathy in their own communities.
Yet over the past few years, I have seen fellow journalists leave the industry as we experience a moment of incredible precarity in our workforce. Some have been edged out by layoffs or buyouts. Others have left of their own accord, as companies continue to underestimate their talents and underpay them for their labor. Some of my friends and former colleagues pivoted into new careers entirely — a valid choice, but I worry about the brain drain. Journalism is already so hard to sustain, and often the first people to go in layoffs are immigrants, people of color, queer people, and working-class people. These are the perspectives that we need for nuanced, thoughtful reporting, and we are losing so many of them.
It seems more difficult than ever to get a job in journalism, let alone keep one (as someone who was laid off a year ago, I know this as well as anyone). But in this moment of precarity, I see Feet in 2 Worlds as a vital force. We will continue to do what we do best: provide deep, thoughtful mentorship to emerging immigrant journalists, with the goal of training the next generation of news leaders.
In Feet in 2 Worlds’ coverage, we place immigrants at the center of the story. To use grammatical terms: immigrants become the subject, not the object. At the beginning, our reporters focused on immigration with a capital I — examining the infrastructure, laws, and policies around immigration, and how those shaped living conditions for people coming to the States. Two decades later, our coverage has expanded. We strive to cover a broad range of topics, including health, food, culture, art, climate, environment, economics, business, labor, politics, education, and so much more through the perspective and voices of immigrants.
In this moment of precarity, I see Feet in 2 Worlds as a vital force. We will continue to do what we do best: provide deep, thoughtful mentorship to emerging immigrant journalists, with the goal of training the next generation of news leaders.
This spring, our editing fellow Lushik Lotus-Lee will debut an ambitious podcast series, “The Hustle,” that examines immigrants and the changing economy. I can’t think of a better time for us to reckon with this question. The U.S. economy was a top issue that decided this election. Four years after a global pandemic, Americans are struggling with what it means to work and live in a country with a shrinking middle class, the rise of a gig economy, and more wealth disparity than ever before. Capitalism continues to shape every aspect of our working lives — and immigrants are in the thick of it.
In “The Hustle,” we will look to the past to explain the present. We’ll revisit how U.S. business interests have allowed certain people in while pushing others out. We’ll explore how immigrant women of the past organized for better working conditions and demanded change — and how today’s immigrant women are doing the same. Our stories will provide nuance and context, and we hope you walk away from the experience of listening with new roadmaps for the future that are desperately needed.
Mia Warren
Managing Director, Feet in 2 Worlds
Feet in 2 Worlds is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Ford Foundation, the Fernandez Pave the Way Foundation, an anonymous donor, and contributors to our annual NewsMatch campaign.
