‘I Am An Immigrant’ Campaign Explores Why Immigration Makes America Great

By Kenrya Rankin Jun 02, 2016

June is Immigrant Heritage Month in the United States. This year, nonprofit Welcome.us is celebrating America’s diverse group of immigrants with the “I Am An Immigrant” campaign. The first video, posted yesterday (June 1), features stars Like Lupita Nyong’o, Rosario Dawson and Wilmer Valderrama talking about how most Americans are the descendants of immigrants and why it’s important to share personal stories of the immigration experience.

Per the video’s description, the campaign seeks to “encourage all of us to explore our individual heritage and recognize our distinct and shared experiences,” and recognizes that “we all have our piece in the American story, whether as a new immigrant, native to this land, a descendent of slavery or those who came to our nation seeking a better life.”

The organization also encourages the regular folks among us to share immigrant stories via the site and social media using the hashtags #ImmigrantHeritageMonth and #IHM2016. This push comes at a time when the federal government has increased deportation raids on undocumented immigrants and presidential candidates have used racist and xenophobic rhetoric to describe immigration.

Watch the first video of the “I Am An Immigrant” campaign above.