July 30, 2025 • 21 mins
What makes someone "deserving" of citizenship? A perfect GPA? Military service? Paying taxes and never making a mistake?
In this episode, we unpack the myth of the “Good Immigrant,” the notion that only exceptional, obedient, and productive immigrants are worthy of staying. We examine the origins of this narrative, its impact on our communities, and why it ultimately serves the interests of systems that profit from our silence and suffering.
From veterans being deported after service to DACA recipients stuck in limbo, we ask: Why do we tie human dignity to perfection? And who gets to decide what “good” even means?
What You’ll Learn
- How the “good immigrant vs. bad immigrant” binary was created and used to control public perception
- Why being respectful, hardworking, and law-abiding doesn’t protect you from detention or deportation
- How trauma within immigrant communities fuels the “I did it the right way” mindset
- Who benefits when immigrants are forced to perform perfection to be seen as human
Real Stories Mentioned
- U.S. Army veteran from Hawaii pressured to self-deport despite 20+ years of residency and military service (NPR, June 2025)
- DACA recipients with no path to permanent status despite full assimilation and contribution to U.S. life
- Asylum seekers denied for not appearing “traumatized enough,” despite fleeing real danger
Call to Action
- Share this episode with someone who believes being “good” is enough
- Reflect on whether you’ve internalized the good immigrant myth, and who it excludes
- Support organizations that advocate for all immigrants, not just the "model" ones
- (e.g., Immigrant Defense Project, United We Dream, and ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project)
Stay Connected
Instagram & Threads: @haveacupofjohanny
TikTok: @acupofjo_hanny
Explore my books & blog: https://haveacupofjohanny.com/shop/
Join the newsletter: https://haveacupofjohanny.com/sign-up-for-our-newsletter/
If today’s episode hit you in the chest the way it hit me, don’t just walk away—walk toward something that reflects you.
Subscribe to the podcast, hit that YouTube channel for the behind-the-scenes, and if you’re ready to read a story about what it really means to come home to yourself—
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https://haveacupofjohanny.com/product/the-ordinary-bruja-book-one-of-las-cerradoras-series-j-e-ortega/
It’s about a Dominican-American bruja who’s been running from herself her whole life until ancestral magic, generational wounds, and a haunted-ass hill force her to face the truth.
If you’ve ever felt “too much,” “not enough,” or like you don’t fit anywhere, you’re exactly who this story was written for.
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Because becoming who you are is the bravest kind of magic.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh we could, we could fly.
Welcome back to have a Cup ofJohnny.
This season isn't abouthustling harder.
It's about coming home toyourself, to your voice, to your
breath, to the quiet truth thatyou're still here and you're
not starting over.
You're starting again.
(00:21):
This is your space to reflect,reset and remember who to tell
you.
So pour your cafecito and let'sbegin.
There's this story we're toldagain and again If you just work
hard, follow the law.
(00:43):
If you just work hard, followthe law, pay your taxes, stay
quiet, you'll be fine.
It's the myth of the goodimmigrant, the clean-cut dreamer
, the grateful soldier, thestraight-A student.
It's thenot-like-those-other-immigrants
story.
But here's what they don't tellyou being good isn't protection
(01:08):
, it's performance.
And when you stop performing,the safety disappears.
This is have a Cup of Johanny,and today's episode is called
the Good Immigrant Myth.
How Respectability PoliticsDivide Us.
America loves a makeover story.
(01:31):
It loves when someone pullsthemselves up by the bootstraps,
beats the odds and says thankyou for letting me be here.
That's the root of the goodimmigrant myth.
You get to stay if you produce,you get respect.
If you assimilate, you getrights if you behave.
This myth shows up in politicalspeeches.
(01:54):
We welcome immigrants whocontribute to our economy.
We support dreamers, but onlyif they're in school or serving
in the military.
It shows up in the media whenthey highlight the immigrant
valedictorian but say nothingabout the mother working three
jobs and still struggling.
And it shows up in ourcommunities when we measure who
(02:16):
deserves to stay by how usefulthey are to this country.
But here's the truth.
Your humanity should not betied to your productivity.
Citizenship should not beconditional on how well you fit
someone else's mold.
Let me give you some real-lifeexamples here Military veterans
(02:41):
deported after serving becausethey had a criminal record or
visa that expired.
Daca recipients raised here,educated here, working here,
still waiting for stability evenas their status is used as a
bargaining chip.
Asylum seekers turned awaybecause they didn't cry enough
or because their story didn'tsound like a textbook trauma.
(03:03):
Let's go in depth into one ofthese examples.
There's a news article datedJune 24, 2025 in NPR and was
written by Juliana Kim.
The title is Purple Heart ArmyVeterans Self-Deport After
(03:23):
Nearly 50 Years in the US.
The name of that veteran isSejun Park.
Sejun Park served.
He served for less than a yearand came out of service after
being shot in Panama.
From that experience heincurred PTSD and as we know,
(03:45):
ptsd is a crippling conditionand during that time that he was
suffering from that and hestill is, but at that.
So he resorted to escapism.
That is not the healthiestoption and is also illegal, and
(04:10):
that was drug use.
So during that time in his lifehe was arrested and he couldn't
stay clean for quite a whileand because of that, after
prison time, park received aremoval order but was allowed to
stay in the US and requiredannual check-ins with
immigration agents.
(04:30):
This was typical forindividuals that ICE does not
consider a priority fordeportation, but that changed
earlier this month, as thearticle stated.
At a meeting with the local ICEofficials in Hawaii, Park said
he was warned that he would bedetained and deported unless he
left voluntarily within the nextfew weeks.
So he booked his flight andspent his final days in the US
(04:53):
playing one last round of golfwith his friends, savoring
Hawaii's famous garlic shrimpand enjoying his time with his
children and 85-year-old mother,before he left to a country
that he hadn't lived in yearssince he was seven.
And this is a very real-lifeexample, very real-life and
(05:14):
recent example, and I knowpeople will be well, he brought
it upon himself.
He used drugs.
So this is all within the legalframework, but just because
it's legal doesn't mean it'sjust.
Laws change all the time.
Context matters and, moreimportantly, we don't apply
(05:35):
these same expectations orconsequences to citizens,
citizens who commit crimes.
We don't exile them.
We find them, we incarceratethem things that Park went
through.
Sometimes we give them accessto rehab, but we don't strip
them of their humanities andsend them to a country they
barely know.
(05:56):
So why do we do it toimmigrants, especially those who
serve this country in uniform,as Park had done?
So this isn't about protectingthe public, because Park was
already clean.
He is a safe person to bearound.
He's a human being that doeshuman being things.
So he's not a danger to himselfor the public.
(06:19):
But what happens is we don'treally see them as fully human.
So then it's okay for us to dothese secondary categories and
secondary treatment, and that'sso weird, because if service
doesn't buy you a second chance,then what does right?
When someone serves in the USmilitary, as Park did, we know
(06:44):
that they get certain trainingto kill and die for a country
and in Park's case, a countrythat hadn't fully accepted him.
We know that sometimes theseexperiences that you go through
in the military can incur traumaand can lead to PTSD, addiction
(07:06):
and instability different typesof instability physical, mental
, emotional, financial and weknow that veterans are sometimes
abandoned when they mess up, asif their humanity was only on
loan.
We don't ask why they neededhelp, we just judge them for
(07:32):
failing.
And, most importantly, like Isay, if serving doesn't give you
a second chance, then what doesso?
Once again, it's a differenttier to this type of human.
Here you serve, you are inuniform, thank you for your
service, but you're not fullyhuman in our eyes because you
(07:55):
were a resident.
You weren't fully human in oureyes because then you made a
mistake.
You're not fully human in oureyes because you weren't a
resident and you made a mistake.
You're not fully human in oureyes because you weren't a
resident and you made a mistake,and now, because of that, we
can treat you in this manner.
So this isn't justice, it'spunishment without context.
(08:19):
And this logic then assumes thatonly perfect immigrants deserve
to stay, and that's the myththat we're trying to debunk in
this episode.
Only the good ones deserverights.
Only the good ones deserve tobe treated as humans.
The rest are disposable.
But here's the thing Nobody isall good or bad, and if the bar
(08:43):
for belonging is perfection, Ihate to break this down to
everyone listening, but we'reall in danger.
What is it that they say in thatmovie?
Molly, you're in danger, girl.
We are all in danger.
This isn't just about oneperson.
It's about what kind of countrywe want to be.
(09:05):
If we only protect people whenthey're useful, quiet and
compliant, we're not a nation oflaws, we're a nation of fear.
And if we only welcome theperfect immigrant, we're not a
community.
We are a performance, we are adramatic company, a drama
company, a theater.
(09:25):
So yes, park had a drug charge,he messed up, he made a mistake,
as a lot of humans do.
But are we really saying that,after two decades here, military
service, taking a bullet forthis country, taking a bullet
for this country, building hislife back up after he made a
mistake, that just that mistakemakes him disposable, that his
(09:55):
entire existence here meantnothing the moment he wasn't
perfect?
We don't exile citizens fortheir pain.
We offer them treatmentsometimes, recovery sometimes
and a second chance.
There's a lot of new ones there.
But why can't we offer that toimmigrants, especially those
who've risked their lives forthis country.
I'm going to let you sit withthat, but this is just only one
(10:19):
example that I wanted to tap inand give depth to during this
episode, because that is what Iam trying to say here is that if
we're only giving full humanrights to those that are
(10:42):
performing, it's not reallyjustice that we're doing here.
It's almost as if you can doeverything right and the minute
you make a mistake, the minuteyou fall, you lose everything.
Even if someone who has wornthe uniform, served in the
military, played by the rulesand then falls and make a
(11:05):
mistake and gets a deportationnotice later, that is something
right there that we should belooking into.
But let's keep going, becausethis good immigrant myth is very
pervasive, is seductive.
It's very pervasive, it'sseductive, but it's also
dangerous.
It turns us against one anotherBecause now we can whisper you
(11:29):
better not mess up, you betternot speak up, you better not
stand next to those people whomake us look bad, and it becomes
like this cafeteria fightbetween us versus them, the good
versus the bad.
(11:49):
Air quotes here on good and bad.
It teaches us that there is alimited pie, that if we give
rights to immigrants who havebeen incarcerated or who are
poor or who came the wrong wayquote unquote.
Then we might lose our lives,they may see us differently, but
(12:15):
here's what that mindset does.
It justifies detention anddeportation.
It silences those who need helpthe most.
It tells kids you better beperfect or you'll be punished.
And I know y'all have heard metalk about letting go of
perfectionism and how much I hadto unlearn and understand that.
That came from a trauma inchildhood of having to be
(12:38):
perfect and that is no way ofliving, of having that much
stress on one's shoulder.
And when it comes to thissituation here immigrants and
the performance of having to puton this mask and live with this
mask and having to performevery single day.
(12:58):
It's like an unpaid actortrying to get a role and never
getting it.
It convinces even immigrants tosupport harmful policies.
Hey, all those people thatvoted a certain way because
they're scared of being lumpedin with the quote unquote bad
ones.
This is how respectabilitybecomes a leash, folks.
(13:22):
It doesn't offer freedom, itoffers a longer chain and it
makes you think like you're free, but really you're still
tethered people.
And while we're not the onesgood or bad quote unquote
immigrant that benefit from this.
Let's talk about who reallywins when this myth stays alive.
You heard me say this in thelast episode.
(13:44):
I'll say it again Politiciansuse it to push anti-immigrant
legislation while saying we'reonly targeting the criminals.
And from what I have seen onsocial media and heard in real
life is that there's a lot ofvoter remorse because people are
like well, I thought only thecriminals were going to be
(14:06):
targeted.
But here's the thing If you'renot cognizant of dehumanizing
language and how language can beused for violent ways and to
entice violence and dehumanizingacts on other people, then you
missed the whole plot.
You believe this lie, thisblatant lie, because when people
(14:32):
are asking and gettingpermission to target certain
groups, it never stays with thatgroup.
They're just saying let me beunjust, let me be unethical and
I want you to be okay with thisso that way I can make it legal.
If you vote for me, I will makeit legal to be unethical,
(14:55):
unjust and continue todehumanize these groups of
people, because you're betterthan these groups of people,
you're not a criminal, but youstill tether.
Your leash is just a littlelonger than the other group of
people.
So you're looking at this othergroup of people, the quote
unquote bad immigrants.
And you're like I'm better thanyou, I'm not tethered to this
(15:16):
chain like you.
But that's a lie.
You just don't see the chainbecause it's long.
You think you can move around,but really you cannot.
And the entire time, thesepoliticians were targeting you
as well, but they bamboozle youinto thinking you were one of
the good ones.
But it's not whether you'regood or you're bad.
(15:38):
Both groups have one thing incommon immigration.
You're both immigrant.
You both come from the largestculture, the largest group of
people that tend to immigrate tothe United States.
Therefore, you are all seen asthe same.
(15:59):
We are all lumped together, soyou bought in into the same.
We are all lumped together, soyou bought in into the lie you
got bamboozled into.
We are only targeting thecriminals.
No, they're targeting everyonethat looks like you.
Bro, look in the mirror.
(16:20):
Look in the mirror.
You are with that group.
Furthermore, employers use it toexploit workers, and that's
what I was commenting someoneonline when they were like they
get free rent.
I don't know where people getthese so-called quote-unquote
facts saying that illegalimmigrants are taking housing
(16:43):
because they get free rent.
I'm like, first of all, theycan't even apply because they
don't have documentation.
Second of all, they don't getfree housing.
If anything, they get exploitedby landlords because they don't
have any papers.
So not only do they get paid incash, and probably that
landlord doesn't report thisright, but secondly that
(17:07):
landlord is probably racking upthat rent on them because they
can, because they're not goingto get reported.
You see what I'm saying?
And if landlords do that,employers also do that.
They exploit them.
They pay them less.
Why?
Because this immigrant can't goanywhere and complain about it.
(17:27):
They can't put on a lawsuit.
They can't do all of this.
They can, but they don't do itout of fear.
This myth, right here, the goodversus the bad immigrant is so
pervasive that it keeps themsilent because they don't want
to be that bad immigrant thatcomplains.
So then that makes thispopulation vulnerable to
(17:50):
exploitation.
Employers and landlords knowthis.
They know that they can bank onthat silent because they will
stay silent so that way theydon't get tagged as a bad
immigrant.
Media outlets as wellhighlights exceptional cases.
You've seen them.
And then people look at themlike see, you need to be like
(18:12):
that.
They do that because they'reeasier to digest than messy,
complicated truth like Park,like that case I gave you.
That's real humanity rightthere.
But we don't want to see it asreal humanity.
We want to see it as that's abad immigrant.
That immigrant deserves to bedeported.
(18:35):
And what about those of uswho've internalized this myth
and we're from the samecommunity?
We start looking at each othersideways, we start believing
we're better than them.
We start defending a systemthat would turn on us.
Hello, the moment we stop beinguseful.
This myth is not aboutprotection, it's about control.
(18:56):
So here's what I want to say toyou Whether you're a documented
or undocumented citizen or not,squeaky clean or complicated,
you don't have to earn yourhumanity.
I hate to break this down to you.
You don't.
You're a human being.
You're a human being.
You're a human being.
You don't have to earn that.
(19:17):
You don't have to be perfect tobe saved.
You don't have to sacrificeothers to be accepted.
We need a system that centersjustice, not judgment,
compassion not compliance,people not productivity.
Because the moment we say onlythe good ones belong, here we go
(19:42):
, we're agreeing that someoneelse should be the one to decide
what good is, and history hastold us time and time again that
they never choose us for long.
All right, if this episoderesonated with you, here's what
you can do Share it with someonewho's ever said at least the
good immigrants can stay.
(20:03):
Reflect on where that mindsetcame from in your own family or
community, support organizationsfighting for all immigrants,
not just the ones who fit themold.
In the show notes you'll findresources, data and more stories
of those who've done everythingright and were still cast out.
(20:24):
Next week Well, next week willbe August.
I will have to come back withyou because I need to think
about that, that theme.
Let's see what pops up.
Okay, check me out on my socialmedias, because that's where
I'll be talking about this, ifyou want to know what I'll be
talking about in August.
Nevertheless, stay curious,stay kind, and thank you so much
(20:47):
for having this cup with me.
I'll see you next Wednesday.
Bye, if today's episode spoketo you, share with somebody
who's finding their way back too, and if you haven't yet, visit
haveacupofjoanniecom for morestories, blog posts and the
books that started it all.
(21:08):
Thank you for being here.
Until next time, be soft, bebold and always have a cup of
joannie.
Oh we could, we could fly.
Welcome back to have a Cup ofJohnny.
This season isn't abouthustling harder.
It's about coming home toyourself, to your voice, to your
breath, to the quiet truth thatyou're still here and you're
not starting over.
You're starting again.
(00:21):
This is your space to reflect,reset and remember who to tell
you.
So pour your cafecito and let'sbegin.
There's this story we're toldagain and again If you just work
hard, follow the law.
(00:43):
If you just work hard, followthe law, pay your taxes, stay
quiet, you'll be fine.
It's the myth of the goodimmigrant, the clean-cut dreamer
, the grateful soldier, thestraight-A student.
It's thenot-like-those-other-immigrants
story.
But here's what they don't tellyou being good isn't protection
(01:08):
, it's performance.
And when you stop performing,the safety disappears.
This is have a Cup of Johanny,and today's episode is called
the Good Immigrant Myth.
How Respectability PoliticsDivide Us.
America loves a makeover story.
(01:31):
It loves when someone pullsthemselves up by the bootstraps,
beats the odds and says thankyou for letting me be here.
That's the root of the goodimmigrant myth.
You get to stay if you produce,you get respect.
If you assimilate, you getrights if you behave.
This myth shows up in politicalspeeches.
(01:54):
We welcome immigrants whocontribute to our economy.
We support dreamers, but onlyif they're in school or serving
in the military.
It shows up in the media whenthey highlight the immigrant
valedictorian but say nothingabout the mother working three
jobs and still struggling.
And it shows up in ourcommunities when we measure who
(02:16):
deserves to stay by how usefulthey are to this country.
But here's the truth.
Your humanity should not betied to your productivity.
Citizenship should not beconditional on how well you fit
someone else's mold.
Let me give you some real-lifeexamples here Military veterans
(02:41):
deported after serving becausethey had a criminal record or
visa that expired.
Daca recipients raised here,educated here, working here,
still waiting for stability evenas their status is used as a
bargaining chip.
Asylum seekers turned awaybecause they didn't cry enough
or because their story didn'tsound like a textbook trauma.
(03:03):
Let's go in depth into one ofthese examples.
There's a news article datedJune 24, 2025 in NPR and was
written by Juliana Kim.
The title is Purple Heart ArmyVeterans Self-Deport After
(03:23):
Nearly 50 Years in the US.
The name of that veteran isSejun Park.
Sejun Park served.
He served for less than a yearand came out of service after
being shot in Panama.
From that experience heincurred PTSD and as we know,
(03:45):
ptsd is a crippling conditionand during that time that he was
suffering from that and hestill is, but at that.
So he resorted to escapism.
That is not the healthiestoption and is also illegal, and
(04:10):
that was drug use.
So during that time in his lifehe was arrested and he couldn't
stay clean for quite a whileand because of that, after
prison time, park received aremoval order but was allowed to
stay in the US and requiredannual check-ins with
immigration agents.
(04:30):
This was typical forindividuals that ICE does not
consider a priority fordeportation, but that changed
earlier this month, as thearticle stated.
At a meeting with the local ICEofficials in Hawaii, Park said
he was warned that he would bedetained and deported unless he
left voluntarily within the nextfew weeks.
So he booked his flight andspent his final days in the US
(04:53):
playing one last round of golfwith his friends, savoring
Hawaii's famous garlic shrimpand enjoying his time with his
children and 85-year-old mother,before he left to a country
that he hadn't lived in yearssince he was seven.
And this is a very real-lifeexample, very real-life and
(05:14):
recent example, and I knowpeople will be well, he brought
it upon himself.
He used drugs.
So this is all within the legalframework, but just because
it's legal doesn't mean it'sjust.
Laws change all the time.
Context matters and, moreimportantly, we don't apply
(05:35):
these same expectations orconsequences to citizens,
citizens who commit crimes.
We don't exile them.
We find them, we incarceratethem things that Park went
through.
Sometimes we give them accessto rehab, but we don't strip
them of their humanities andsend them to a country they
barely know.
(05:56):
So why do we do it toimmigrants, especially those who
serve this country in uniform,as Park had done?
So this isn't about protectingthe public, because Park was
already clean.
He is a safe person to bearound.
He's a human being that doeshuman being things.
So he's not a danger to himselfor the public.
(06:19):
But what happens is we don'treally see them as fully human.
So then it's okay for us to dothese secondary categories and
secondary treatment, and that'sso weird, because if service
doesn't buy you a second chance,then what does right?
When someone serves in the USmilitary, as Park did, we know
(06:44):
that they get certain trainingto kill and die for a country
and in Park's case, a countrythat hadn't fully accepted him.
We know that sometimes theseexperiences that you go through
in the military can incur traumaand can lead to PTSD, addiction
(07:06):
and instability different typesof instability physical, mental
, emotional, financial and weknow that veterans are sometimes
abandoned when they mess up, asif their humanity was only on
loan.
We don't ask why they neededhelp, we just judge them for
(07:32):
failing.
And, most importantly, like Isay, if serving doesn't give you
a second chance, then what doesso?
Once again, it's a differenttier to this type of human.
Here you serve, you are inuniform, thank you for your
service, but you're not fullyhuman in our eyes because you
(07:55):
were a resident.
You weren't fully human in oureyes because then you made a
mistake.
You're not fully human in oureyes because you weren't a
resident and you made a mistake.
You're not fully human in oureyes because you weren't a
resident and you made a mistake,and now, because of that, we
can treat you in this manner.
So this isn't justice, it'spunishment without context.
(08:19):
And this logic then assumes thatonly perfect immigrants deserve
to stay, and that's the myththat we're trying to debunk in
this episode.
Only the good ones deserverights.
Only the good ones deserve tobe treated as humans.
The rest are disposable.
But here's the thing Nobody isall good or bad, and if the bar
(08:43):
for belonging is perfection, Ihate to break this down to
everyone listening, but we'reall in danger.
What is it that they say in thatmovie?
Molly, you're in danger, girl.
We are all in danger.
This isn't just about oneperson.
It's about what kind of countrywe want to be.
(09:05):
If we only protect people whenthey're useful, quiet and
compliant, we're not a nation oflaws, we're a nation of fear.
And if we only welcome theperfect immigrant, we're not a
community.
We are a performance, we are adramatic company, a drama
company, a theater.
(09:25):
So yes, park had a drug charge,he messed up, he made a mistake,
as a lot of humans do.
But are we really saying that,after two decades here, military
service, taking a bullet forthis country, taking a bullet
for this country, building hislife back up after he made a
mistake, that just that mistakemakes him disposable, that his
(09:55):
entire existence here meantnothing the moment he wasn't
perfect?
We don't exile citizens fortheir pain.
We offer them treatmentsometimes, recovery sometimes
and a second chance.
There's a lot of new ones there.
But why can't we offer that toimmigrants, especially those
who've risked their lives forthis country.
I'm going to let you sit withthat, but this is just only one
(10:19):
example that I wanted to tap inand give depth to during this
episode, because that is what Iam trying to say here is that if
we're only giving full humanrights to those that are
(10:42):
performing, it's not reallyjustice that we're doing here.
It's almost as if you can doeverything right and the minute
you make a mistake, the minuteyou fall, you lose everything.
Even if someone who has wornthe uniform, served in the
military, played by the rulesand then falls and make a
(11:05):
mistake and gets a deportationnotice later, that is something
right there that we should belooking into.
But let's keep going, becausethis good immigrant myth is very
pervasive, is seductive.
It's very pervasive, it'sseductive, but it's also
dangerous.
It turns us against one anotherBecause now we can whisper you
(11:29):
better not mess up, you betternot speak up, you better not
stand next to those people whomake us look bad, and it becomes
like this cafeteria fightbetween us versus them, the good
versus the bad.
(11:49):
Air quotes here on good and bad.
It teaches us that there is alimited pie, that if we give
rights to immigrants who havebeen incarcerated or who are
poor or who came the wrong wayquote unquote.
Then we might lose our lives,they may see us differently, but
(12:15):
here's what that mindset does.
It justifies detention anddeportation.
It silences those who need helpthe most.
It tells kids you better beperfect or you'll be punished.
And I know y'all have heard metalk about letting go of
perfectionism and how much I hadto unlearn and understand that.
That came from a trauma inchildhood of having to be
(12:38):
perfect and that is no way ofliving, of having that much
stress on one's shoulder.
And when it comes to thissituation here immigrants and
the performance of having to puton this mask and live with this
mask and having to performevery single day.
(12:58):
It's like an unpaid actortrying to get a role and never
getting it.
It convinces even immigrants tosupport harmful policies.
Hey, all those people thatvoted a certain way because
they're scared of being lumpedin with the quote unquote bad
ones.
This is how respectabilitybecomes a leash, folks.
(13:22):
It doesn't offer freedom, itoffers a longer chain and it
makes you think like you're free, but really you're still
tethered people.
And while we're not the onesgood or bad quote unquote
immigrant that benefit from this.
Let's talk about who reallywins when this myth stays alive.
You heard me say this in thelast episode.
(13:44):
I'll say it again Politiciansuse it to push anti-immigrant
legislation while saying we'reonly targeting the criminals.
And from what I have seen onsocial media and heard in real
life is that there's a lot ofvoter remorse because people are
like well, I thought only thecriminals were going to be
(14:06):
targeted.
But here's the thing If you'renot cognizant of dehumanizing
language and how language can beused for violent ways and to
entice violence and dehumanizingacts on other people, then you
missed the whole plot.
You believe this lie, thisblatant lie, because when people
(14:32):
are asking and gettingpermission to target certain
groups, it never stays with thatgroup.
They're just saying let me beunjust, let me be unethical and
I want you to be okay with thisso that way I can make it legal.
If you vote for me, I will makeit legal to be unethical,
(14:55):
unjust and continue todehumanize these groups of
people, because you're betterthan these groups of people,
you're not a criminal, but youstill tether.
Your leash is just a littlelonger than the other group of
people.
So you're looking at this othergroup of people, the quote
unquote bad immigrants.
And you're like I'm better thanyou, I'm not tethered to this
(15:16):
chain like you.
But that's a lie.
You just don't see the chainbecause it's long.
You think you can move around,but really you cannot.
And the entire time, thesepoliticians were targeting you
as well, but they bamboozle youinto thinking you were one of
the good ones.
But it's not whether you'regood or you're bad.
(15:38):
Both groups have one thing incommon immigration.
You're both immigrant.
You both come from the largestculture, the largest group of
people that tend to immigrate tothe United States.
Therefore, you are all seen asthe same.
(15:59):
We are all lumped together, soyou bought in into the same.
We are all lumped together, soyou bought in into the lie you
got bamboozled into.
We are only targeting thecriminals.
No, they're targeting everyonethat looks like you.
Bro, look in the mirror.
(16:20):
Look in the mirror.
You are with that group.
Furthermore, employers use it toexploit workers, and that's
what I was commenting someoneonline when they were like they
get free rent.
I don't know where people getthese so-called quote-unquote
facts saying that illegalimmigrants are taking housing
(16:43):
because they get free rent.
I'm like, first of all, theycan't even apply because they
don't have documentation.
Second of all, they don't getfree housing.
If anything, they get exploitedby landlords because they don't
have any papers.
So not only do they get paid incash, and probably that
landlord doesn't report thisright, but secondly that
(17:07):
landlord is probably racking upthat rent on them because they
can, because they're not goingto get reported.
You see what I'm saying?
And if landlords do that,employers also do that.
They exploit them.
They pay them less.
Why?
Because this immigrant can't goanywhere and complain about it.
(17:27):
They can't put on a lawsuit.
They can't do all of this.
They can, but they don't do itout of fear.
This myth, right here, the goodversus the bad immigrant is so
pervasive that it keeps themsilent because they don't want
to be that bad immigrant thatcomplains.
So then that makes thispopulation vulnerable to
(17:50):
exploitation.
Employers and landlords knowthis.
They know that they can bank onthat silent because they will
stay silent so that way theydon't get tagged as a bad
immigrant.
Media outlets as wellhighlights exceptional cases.
You've seen them.
And then people look at themlike see, you need to be like
(18:12):
that.
They do that because they'reeasier to digest than messy,
complicated truth like Park,like that case I gave you.
That's real humanity rightthere.
But we don't want to see it asreal humanity.
We want to see it as that's abad immigrant.
That immigrant deserves to bedeported.
(18:35):
And what about those of uswho've internalized this myth
and we're from the samecommunity?
We start looking at each othersideways, we start believing
we're better than them.
We start defending a systemthat would turn on us.
Hello, the moment we stop beinguseful.
This myth is not aboutprotection, it's about control.
(18:56):
So here's what I want to say toyou Whether you're a documented
or undocumented citizen or not,squeaky clean or complicated,
you don't have to earn yourhumanity.
I hate to break this down to you.
You don't.
You're a human being.
You're a human being.
You're a human being.
You don't have to earn that.
(19:17):
You don't have to be perfect tobe saved.
You don't have to sacrificeothers to be accepted.
We need a system that centersjustice, not judgment,
compassion not compliance,people not productivity.
Because the moment we say onlythe good ones belong, here we go
(19:42):
, we're agreeing that someoneelse should be the one to decide
what good is, and history hastold us time and time again that
they never choose us for long.
All right, if this episoderesonated with you, here's what
you can do Share it with someonewho's ever said at least the
good immigrants can stay.
(20:03):
Reflect on where that mindsetcame from in your own family or
community, support organizationsfighting for all immigrants,
not just the ones who fit themold.
In the show notes you'll findresources, data and more stories
of those who've done everythingright and were still cast out.
(20:24):
Next week Well, next week willbe August.
I will have to come back withyou because I need to think
about that, that theme.
Let's see what pops up.
Okay, check me out on my socialmedias, because that's where
I'll be talking about this, ifyou want to know what I'll be
talking about in August.
Nevertheless, stay curious,stay kind, and thank you so much
(20:47):
for having this cup with me.
I'll see you next Wednesday.
Bye, if today's episode spoketo you, share with somebody
who's finding their way back too, and if you haven't yet, visit
haveacupofjoanniecom for morestories, blog posts and the
books that started it all.
(21:08):
Thank you for being here.
Until next time, be soft, bebold and always have a cup of
joannie.
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