Humanizing Headlines: Immigration Insights from JMPro

Are anti-immigration policies really about national security, or is something deeper at play? This episode of The UPLift explores immigration as a human rights issue as we sit down with Julio Tordoya, an award-winning journalist dedicated to amplifying immigrant voices. He shares how storytelling can be a tool for social justice—especially in times of rising anti-immigration sentiment.

About Julio: Julio Tordoya is an award-winning journalist, educator, and co-founder of JMPro Community Media, a grassroots platform uplifting immigrant voices in Western North Carolina. For over a decade, he has bridged information gaps, strengthened community trust, and empowered Latinx populations. His impact earned him a 2024 Tzedek Brilliance Award for his dedication to community storytelling and collective liberation.

Julio reminds us that shared stories and open dialogue can break down misconceptions and build bridges of understanding. His work highlights the power of trust in driving both individual and societal transformation. From fighting for better transportation and mental health resources to challenging harmful narratives, Julio’s work brings the headlines to life—revealing the real people affected by the policies.

Together, we explore how each of us can help create compassionate spaces where every voice is heard and every person is uplifted. Check it out!

We'll see you same time, same place next month. Until then, peace.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:04

We're profoundly, profoundly interconnected. We don't always live that way, we don't always acknowledge it, but if we're going to heal, we have to live it, experience it and create institutions that celebrate it. Can we create a we?

Speaker 2 0:18

where no one's on the outside of it. Welcome to the Uplift with Zedek. Real talk for real change. Before we jump in, a quick reminder of why we're here and what we hope to achieve. We're here to build authentic community relationships and help fuel social transformation in Asheville, north Carolina. We believe collective liberation is not only possible but probable as we share, listen and learn together. We're here for the process. However, the views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.

Speaker 2 0:50

Think fascism can't happen in America? Well, think again. Many claim today's anti-immigration policies aren't just about borders or bureaucracy. They're the early warning signs of a deeper, more dangerous power grab. Is the immigration issue about protecting America or is it about creating enemies and eroding the very rights that keep our democracy alive? Time will certainly tell, but the truth has always been if we let one group be vilified and dehumanized today, tomorrow it could be any one of us. Buckle up.

Speaker 2 1:21

This episode dives into how current immigration attacks are canary in the coal mine for our nation's soul. For thousands of immigrants in our community, these fears have taken a front seat amidst recent anti-immigration attacks. Welcome to the Uplift. I'm Michael Hoban, and today we're talking about the human stories behind the immigration headlines, not as a political battleground, but as a human rights issue. This is about families, neighbors and friends deserving dignity, as well as the right to exist and the chance to thrive without fear.

Speaker 2 1:52

Turns out, western North Carolina is home to more than 50,000 people who identify as Latino or Hispanic. That's an estimated 7% of Buncombe County's population. Many are undocumented, which makes daily life a delicate balance navigating jobs, healthcare, schools and housing, all while living under the possibility of arrest or deportation at any moment, for any reason, at any time. Recent immigration enforcement efforts have raised threat levels, as thousands in our local community are increasingly more vulnerable to deportation as new immigration policies roll out. In addition to expanded mass enforcement, detention and deportation efforts, the recent onslaught of executive orders set their sights on undoing birthright citizenship and targeting sanctuary cities, including demanding complete support of military and local law enforcement in carrying out these actions. To be very clear, north Carolina state law already prohibits jurisdictions from assuming sanctuary status, effectively tying local government hands to limit or restrict the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law, according to Asheville City Attorney Brad Branham. As Asheville Watchdog recently reported, ongoing attempts to overhaul US immigration continue to spark outrage and face legal challenges. Hundreds showed up in downtown Asheville earlier this month in protest of Trump's immigration and deportation plans. In large local community support has been strong, as shown in Buncombe County Sheriff Miller's outspoken stance against local law enforcement's voluntary partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, aka ICE. However, this resolve is already under pressure, as federal funding dollars are contingent on full cooperation with the administration's orders, and so the human and constitutional rights dilemma will be answered by the actions and inactions taken as efforts ramp up.

Speaker 2 3:48

But in the meantime, we're privileged to have Julio Tordoya on the mic. Julio is an award-winning journalist, educator and founder of JMPro Community Media, the Latinx grassroots news platform amplifying immigrant voices in and across Western North Carolina. Julio is also a 2024 Zedek Brilliance Award winner and all-around awesome human being. Julio brings a human lens to the headlines, essentially bringing us closer to the lives and experiences of our local immigrant communities. Jmpro's commitment to authentic community-led storytelling is a true power to the people move. It's a good day for great conversation. Let's get into it, julio. Congratulations on being named a 2024 Brilliance Award winner. Zedek first announced these awards in November and a lot has happened since then. How are you doing, as a human being, doing this work? How are you doing right now? I mean, we've been through a hurricane and new administration making its impact. How are you? How is your community? Are you feeling that support right now?

Speaker 3 4:54

Hi, michael, I'm doing pretty good. Thank you very much. I feel honored to be the recipient of this important prize, be the recipient of this important prize and I think the commitment you know it's higher the bar for the work we're doing. So, at the personal level, I think this moment is a very interesting moment. I try to see it in that way because we can see in the chaos what people is really next to us and what we can do in our own souls. Sometimes we think we're going to react to something happen, like when you have a fire drill right, you need to go that way. And when you practice in a fire drill and everybody do the same thing. But when it really happens this, when you see, okay, this is the way I can train myself to act and this is the people I need to follow, because I want to know who really is the people, who is in my side and I'm talking in the personal level and, and I think that's think that's why it's interesting Community, I think community.

Speaker 3 6:07

This is the second week of February. We were having the last week movement and protests in our community, which I salute. I think people is trying to respond. It's trying to say that it's not agree, which is something important. Say that it's not agree, which is something important, and I think in the next four years we will have more opportunities to voice our point of view. I hope that it's not only a protest, which is like one day, but maybe more committed, extended action, like doing social work for the community.

Speaker 3 6:44

You know, there's different necessities in the immigrant community, like transportation because of the lack of driver licenses. There's organizations that are trying to organize the community and they need hands, they need volunteers. I would love to see that transformation between just saying that what is, we don't like it, to act to make things better for the communities that are impacted. I think there is a momentum. I feel that the immigrant communities and allied. I think they're having conversations and, yeah, I'm hopeful that those conversations get in decisive actions that can transform, because everybody wants a structural change in our society and in immigration policies. But apart from that, there's other necessities that can be solved, like in the daily base, like transportation, food, insecurity, information. There's something that we are working like information and mental health. The effects of a policy like immigration is right now. It's going to bring different consequences, not only politically but also in the mental health of the community.

JMPro's Approach

Speaker 2 7:58

And you mentioned information, and so let's be real. As US immigrants continue to come under attack, access to trustworthy, reliable information is crucial. Can you tell us a little bit about JMPro and how you fit into that information access equation, JMPro?

Speaker 3 8:15

we do information for our communities. The way that JMPro works is an alternative to the normal news outsource. What we do is we relied on popular education and grassroots organizing. We have around 20 reporters in Western North Carolina. They go to the community because they are part of the community. We have reporters in Bryce and we have reporters in all for Marion Burnsville. So they go to the communities and they talk to them and they try to find information needed from them that probably is not needed for somebody in Asheville, like where to find a dentist, for example, right, or a campaign for flu vaccines or things related to how to have a better life, right. We work under the determinants of health and try to find those things that can make our community live better In terms of information. We rely more on the information that community need to make their lives more healthy like more better, because there's a gap between the services provided by the local government. There's a gap between the services provided by the local government. Baconganti has a program for tuberculosis. Some people in our community don't know they have it. So what we try to do is bridge that gap. Going back to what information is, gm Pro is a kind of grassroot way to bring that information that can improve the lives of our community. And we know that other kind of information is important and we try to cover as much as we can. At this time, like an immigration alert, everybody's concerned about what is happening with the new policies we are trying to deliver that information. We have printing materials and our community reporters. They just go to the neighborhoods where they live with people they know and just talk with them and share information. For example, cima, in collaboration with CIMA, they gave us these cards. We put all the printed information possible. This is their number. This is how you can contact them. Other organizations that can help, because we are just passing the information and bridge them and our wonderful friends do their job.

Speaker 3 10:29

Community journalism is seen in different ways. The way we experimented is somebody inside a community, inside the mobile home park or inside the neighborhood, somebody that is known by the neighbors, has the desire to share information with their neighbors? What we do is we train them, we give them all the equipment they need to do the job. We just are in contact with them and then they inform us through popular education techniques like listening sessions or sometimes mapping what is the community needs. It's a process we're working on. We have 10 years, but 10 years is not much. We are learning on the way and going back saying like this is community journalism? Is not that journalists that come to this area to find out a story, but instead somebody who is living inside that community can share a story, and this is very important the level of trust that is needed in communication. The person who lives in the neighborhood got it all.

Speaker 2 11:36

What I'm hearing is, instead of the traditional model, which is like here's the information you need to know, community-led journalism under JMPRO is going into community with reporters who are part of community, asking what do you want and need to know about, and then responding to those needs. That's beautiful, because that trust allows them to ask questions and get honest feedback as well as share that story from an honest, authentic place. Am I right?

Speaker 3 12:02

Right. Storytelling has, like, different parts. I mean it's good but it's also misleading. Storytelling can get romantic and then you know romanticism and sometimes in social issues, sometimes it's negative because just masked what the reality is with something that we would love to see. To see.

Storytelling Reflections

Speaker 3 12:34

Storytelling, the way that we use is like trying to collect as much information from the people who is having the impact, like, for example, hurricane Healing. I live in Sononoa and we got now one, two, three, three reporters in Sononoa. We got now one, two, three, three reporters in Sonanoa and we were gathering all three information from the impact in the local businesses. And this is something very interesting in community journalism because we went to interviews with small businesses from the Latina community. We all know the businesses because we use them, because we live there, and the people is very open to talk with us and they can share with us things that probably don't feel comfortable sharing with somebody else, because the lady who has her saloon is the one that got by her and she knows me. The same with the other reporters and the same with the mechanic and everything. In storytelling it's something very important when we get the trust from the people who's talking to us, because they can share something deeper than somebody coming by.

Speaker 3 13:40

The first time, related to Helene we have an article coming in Prisma, helene. We have an article coming in Prisma. It's going to be the second article that we're trying to share with other communities outside Western North Carolina because they also want to know what is going on with the Latino community. So we got some stories and we are putting in an article and we're sharing with them to explain from the point of view of the Latino community what is happening. What are we doing in the terms of how we gather the story? We're just organizing our interviewees' ideas that we collected with our community reporters and then just putting in an article and sharing. We are not trying to interpret what they want to do. This is important to say because sometimes the stories get romanticized to when the writer can make an interpretation of what they think they meant to say.

Speaker 2 14:38

So, while journalism is essential to what JMPro is doing and what you do, storytelling is the real magic. Can you take us back to a moment when you realized storytelling could be a really powerful transformative tool for justice?

Speaker 3 14:51

I think it's hope from the way that you want to see it. Even in Rick and Helene we see that in the interviews we have with the impactees, there's a lot of hope in them. There's a lot of other sentiments too, but there's also hope that they're alive, they're good. There's stress also, but there's also hope that they're alive, they're good. There's stress also, but there's hope. You can find hope in the community.

Speaker 3 15:15

Another thing that happens the immigration policy, the new administration. You have hope in those kids that I was talking with on February the 3rd, when they were on the street. Yeah, there are also connection between first generation, second generation, with the immigrants that do the heavy lifting coming here and try to find a better life for their family and try to find a better life for their family, and I think we can see the hope in that and we can see the momentum, the necessity to look for a change, and that is something that is, yeah, give me hope. We can do something. We can take in consideration this momentum and start not only looking for structural changes but solve the problems that undocumented communities are having now.

Speaker 2 16:04

So one of the stories that Zedek seeks to share is a story of collective liberation, right, the understanding that all liberations are tied together. If it's true that your oppression is my oppression, that my oppression is yours, what changes, what's possible, when we take on that mindset shift? And it's the same.

Speaker 3 16:21

So I live in Sononoa, so I see that this is February and still the rivers have a lot of debris. If you live in another area, you think that you don't care. That is a problem that can affect you if the rivers are not clean. So the same immigration. Do you think the economy can sustain if we remove the immigrants? You think the economy can sustain if we remove the immigrants? Are you going to pay the same for the produce that you're consuming or the restaurant bill that you have every day? We are all related and even for those who don't think it is fair to have immigrants here, we all are connected in the liberation, and to give documentation that bring working class communities and immigrants under the shadows is going to be a liberation for everybody.

Mo Amer on Immigration

Speaker 2 17:23

Julio's perspective really highlights how stories can open our hearts and minds, especially when they're coming from lived experience. Palestinian-american comedian Mo Amr, whose semi-autobiographical show titled Mo, follows Mo as he straddles a line between two cultures, three languages and a pending asylum request, while hustling to support his Palestinian family. The acclaimed series is in its second and final season on Netflix. If you haven't seen it, check it out. In this interview clip with ABC News Live, Moe talks about his journey to becoming a legally recognized US citizen and how the process is often misunderstood. Take a listen.

Speaker 1 18:01

I really, really believe that having this television show can you know, have a Palestinian family on a global platform like Netflix humanizes not only the family itself and the experience, but also educating. You know you can't just walk around spewing all these things about immigrants without actually knowing what it takes to become an American citizen. Experience, but also educating. You know you can't just walk around spewing all these things about immigrants without actually knowing what it takes to become an American citizen. It's very, very frustrating.

Speaker 1 18:25

I mean, for me to become a citizen, it's going to be 20 years, 10 years to get my asylum granted. You think, oh, you're a citizen now. No, you have to wait five years for your green card and then after that, you have to wait another five years for you to apply for your citizenship. It's an arduous process. Even undocumented immigrants pay, you know, income tax In 2022, I believe it was $96 billion. You know people don't even know that information. They think people are just wandering around, just taking stuff for committing crime. This is not the case, and I think that we need to be more compassionate, more thoughtful.

WNC Perspectives

Speaker 2 18:59

More compassionate, more thoughtful, more compassionate, more thoughtful. That's Mo reminding us the behind every immigrant story, whether they're from Latin America, the Middle East or anywhere else, there's a whole journey of sacrifice, years of waiting, an uphill battle against stereotypes and, as we've heard, there's a lot of misinformation out there about who contributes to our division, distraction and destruction. Picking back up on Julio's point storytelling is crucial. It's how we cut through the noise, humanize one another and learn the truth about what it really takes to navigate life as anything, life as an immigrant, life as a black woman, life as a trans man. We all have stories to share. Let's dive back into Julio's experiences right here in Western North Carolina. What stories are emerging locally in your community right now? What are you hearing?

Speaker 3 19:52

I think we have a beautiful work that has been done from organizations in Western North Carolina, beautiful work that has been done from organizations in Western North Carolina. It looks like there's going to be new organizations. There's a momentum. I was hearing people say, hey, we should organize, perfect. But I think that the work that is being done for years needs to be respected and we all need to be in the same way and we all need to be in the same way A lot of conversation and meetings and say we have a strategy and learn for our brothers and sisters from the black community that they have the experience in organizing and learn from the LGBTQ community. We need a lot of conversation and we just try to find a common way that everybody can follow to get our objectives, which is deliberation, to take out the people from the shadow, get the proper documentation, a better community, and I think everybody needs to respect the path, the way that had been worked for many people before, way that had been worked for many people before.

Speaker 3 20:58

One thing that we've been working 10 years with JM Pro in the community and one of the things we learn is the connection, the networking, the face-to-face, the talking with the community is super important. Even though we probably have different ideas or maybe we're not agree, talking is very important. It helps you understand more of the people that is next to you, even if you have a different idea. If you talk with them because you can understand and it sounds like it is super easy, but talking it's kind of difficult because you need to put something. You know your vulnerability sometimes and I'm saying like talking, not just how are you, you know how was your day? How was the weather? No, going like a little deeper. Hey, you think like the immigrant shouldn't be here. Okay, that's fine, tell me why and tell me something that maybe probably leads you to that conclusion and I can share your mind and probably you're still seeing the same, but at least I understand. I say, hey, he got a point in some way. I try to understand right.

Speaker 2 22:07

It's really difficult to do, especially when things are so contentious right now. What I hear you saying and I agree with you is that willingness to be vulnerable and have real, real conversations, especially with people who maybe don't believe the exact same as or don't have the same lived experience as you do, is that that's where real change is possible, because we're humanizing both sides. How can we better show up for local immigrant populations now?

Speaker 3 22:34

I think everybody can find their timing because you know, probably it's not a safe time for you to talk with your neighbor. Yeah, no, I'm not saying talk with everybody you cross, but with the people you think that probably can be some connection. But at least try to talk, and even with people we have the same idea. So maybe we all can be for changing immigration policy but have different ways to do it. I want to close the streets or I want to do other kind of things. Let's talk. I think what we need at this time. You know it's just kind of therapeutic to like talk, just talk.

Speaker 3 23:13

I think it's first talk and then act, because if you act first you can harm others, the people that you want to help. Because something that you need to be conscious of everybody, me included, we need to be conscious is that even protest is kind of a privilege for somebody that doesn't count a driver license. If you get detained you can be deported or charged with something and then be deported. There's undocumented people that doesn't have that right to protest. If you have the right think you can do something that can harm others. If you want to say something, say it. But that's when the conversation is important Talk with the people that have experience, that have done this for years for other reasons, learn from them and also ground yourself in the social movement, because this is a social change and we need to be worried for those who are really impacted. I think allies are very important right now because they can fill the gaps that are in communication and understanding.

Speaker 2 24:21

Do you have any insight on how allies can help bridge?

Speaker 3 24:24

that gap If we're talking about immigration, for example. There are other states, like New York, that were able to get driver licenses for undocumented communities. I think it's make the road. New York is the organizations that have that win. We have another experience in North Carolina. Have that win. We have another experience in North Carolina, which is Fade Action ID. It's an organization that is not a driver license but a kind of document that can help people even cash a check. Something so simple like that is limited for undocumented people.

Connect with JMPro

Speaker 3 24:56

So I think what allies can help us is to reply to successful processes here in our community that can help those communities living in the shadows, giving that conversation space, like when I explain more about what we do, and also the listeners that can also know a little bit more about the GM Bro, because we mostly serve Latino community and sometimes our production is just in Spanish and we are not much known in the English speaking community. So you can find us on a web like jmprocomorg. You can listen to us in Ashfield FM. We have daily shows from 6 am to 8 am every day. We have live shows, more conversations on Wednesdays, 6 to 7 at Asheville FM too, and also you can find our monthly magazines in some points like Penny Cup Coffee.

Speaker 2 26:01

Okay, once again, that's jmprocommunitymediaorg. Or stop by Penny Cup Coffee if you want to grab a hard copy. Julio, thank you so much. I appreciate you. Thank you for sharing yourself and your work today.

Speaker 3 26:15

You're very welcome, thank you.

Speaker 2 26:17

Once again, love and thanks to Julio, founder of JMPro, Community Media, a platform built on the one simple principle that when people tell their own stories, their voices and experience become impossible to ignore. Listening to Julio talk about the power of community-led journalism, you get the sense that hope is a real, tangible resource. The conversation can truly spark action. We all thrive whenever communities come together to share knowledge, protect one another and push for a better world. So what can we do? Get informed. Follow local, grassroots media like JNPro. Seek reliable information that centers immigrant voices directly. If you don't know, Google it. Talk to an immigrant. Maybe it's a co-worker, a neighbor, a local organizer.

Speaker 2 27:01

Ask questions, Listen, Be prepared to lean in and try to learn. Also, seek truth. Dig deeper than the headlines. If a narrative paints all immigrants as a threat, ask yourself who benefits from that. If the same were said about you, would that hold true? There's a bigger story, a bigger strategy at play here. The fact remains immigration is a human rights and social justice issue, not just a political debate. When one part of our community lives in fear, it ripples across all of us. But by coming together, sharing stories and standing up for each other, we can create the welcoming compassionate communities we all want, deserve and need to live in. Thank you for tuning in. I'm Michael and this has been the Uplift. Stay curious and remember, in the words of Wael Ghanim, the power of the people is always greater than the people in power. Thanks for listening in, Beautiful people. Until next time, peace.