Social Media and Immigration Advocacy

As Bill Hing blogged yesterday, the mother and brother of DREAMer advocate, Erika Andiola, were released yesterday. According to the NY Times (article here), they were released because their cases "contain[ed] some of the elements outlined in the [Immigration and Customs Enforcement's' 'prosecutorial discretion.'" However, they may still be subject to removal from the U.S.

Notably, the article recognized that what helped significantly in this case was Ms. Andiola's use of social media tools - YouTube, emails, and Twitter - to advocate for her mother, highlighting the power of social media in creating social change. It also makes one wonder, as Mariela Hincapie of the National Immigration Law Center noted, about the other cases we do no hear about because many immigrants do not have access to social media advocacy. 

RCV