An illustration of the intersection of queer and immigrant issues, Forbidden: Undocumented & Queer in Rural America relates directly to the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. and LGBTQ individuals fighting for equality and civil rights. It chronicles Moises’ work as an activist traveling across his home state as a voice for his community, all while trying to forge a path for his own future.
The documentary was an official selection at both the 2016 Newfest Film Festival in NYC and the 2016 Outfest Film Festival where it received the Freedom Award.
QLife interviewed Moises ahead of the LogoTV airing in August 2017.
QLife: Tell us a little bit about what inspired you to do this documentary.
Moises: The inspiration did not come from me. The birth came from the director Tiffany Rhynard. It's such a serendipitous story. I never planned to meet Tiffany. I met her friend Kathi Barnhill, our videographer first. We were doing a project for the university and she had to interview me so I can share immigration narrative for a project they were doing.
Cathy had decided to bring Tiffany that day to help interview me. Tiffany and I just kind of clicked. Started asking me questions about what it was like to be undocumented North Carolina. Specifically, she asked me about the Dream Act. At that time it had been less than two years and that was it defeated with the help of our very own Senator Kay Hagan. It was a very triggering experience to have to relive those moments when I was being interviewed. To this day Tiffany still says that she was just appalled at how little she knew. She considered herself to be an experience, progressive, liberal white woman. For her to not know anything about the plight of the undocumented immigrant community is what propelled her to start the project.
QLife: Are you still undocumented?
Moises: Yes I currently still am.
QLIfe: Do do you feel that this documentary might put you at further risk?
Moises: Thanks to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that we actually helped win in 2012 by pressuring the Obama Administration, helped shield qualifying, undocumented youth–like myself–from deportation. As of now, not only am I qualified to not be deported, I’m also granted a work permit.
The most eminent threat we have right now is by anti-immigrant governors and politicians pressuring the Trump Administration to end this program. That's actually the most terrifying aspect for me. I have personally been out so long as undocumented that there's no going back. My worry now is what's going to happen to hundreds of thousands of undocumented students like myself who don't have you don't have this.
QLife: What's the scariest situation you have been in as it relates to living as an undocumented worker?
Moises: We were protesting this anti-immigrant documentary that was being enforced by a local county sheriff. It was an absolutely xenophobic piece of propaganda. We went there to protest the film and ask the sheriff why he was advocating for it and endorsing it and not allowing immigrants to speak and share our narrative.
It just got so heated. I was talking to one of the county commissioners outside the theater after having watched this documentary. I was accompanied by an attorney and he said to me, “you know I have to shoot three criminals a month.” as he showed me that he had a weapon on his belt. I didn't get it. It wasn't resonating with me. I was still trying to tell him my story but he ended up saying, “You know I have to shoot three criminals a month and I’ve only shot two. Are you available?”
That really put into perspective how people are believing anti-immigrant propaganda and drawing the connection between criminals who deserve to be shot and my community. I believe in rehabilitation but even further than that how can he believe that I am someone worthy of being shot just because I don't have an immigration status?
The thought of a safety had never occurred to me. I never felt like my life had been in danger until that moment and so that really put things into perspective. Often times as protesters and agitators we tend to not think about these things when the adrenaline is pumping and your protesting and you’re talking you people. Our safety is now something that we have to take very seriously.
QLIfe: Is there any difference being an LGBT undocumented worker?
Moises: Being LGBT or undocumented is already a very isolating and alienating experience. To have both at the same time–it’s just unparalleled. Feeling like I didn't belong anywhere. Feeling like I didn’t have a home. Being bullied in school and being tormented in school for being gay. Having to come home knowing that my religious parents may not accept me for who I was.
In these crucial teenage years, I had to deal and cope with the fact that North Carolina had banned undocumented students were going to college. I was living in this reality where I every single part of my identity was constantly under attack. I also have to realize that this country hated me and I didn’t know why.
To be living through this at a psychologically tender moment you know when you're creating your own identity and finding your voice and figuring out who you are has still affected me to this day.
QLife: We hear all the time as LGBT “You can choose not to be gay.” Can you choose not to be undocumented?
Moises: I hadn't actually thought about it that way. People believe that we choose to remain undocumented and not just absolutely not true. Immigration law is very complicated but that's why part of my advocacy has been educational. The American public needs to know that only Congress can provide a pathway towards citizenship for undocumented immigrant, and Congress hasn't done so since 1986.
Bill Clinton imposed immigration bars that say Once you enter the United States and you remain within the United States Army without documentation and remain for more than six months, you're barred country for a year. If you remain for over a year without papers you’re barred for years.
What that means is that even if I do try to choose and just my status, I would have to face the immigration bar of 10 years for having remained inside of this country without papers. If I started that today, I would only be allowed to reapply in 10 years when I'm 37. The immigration backlog for Mexicans to come to this country is decades long.
QLife: What are the options for becoming documented?
Moises: For a lot of people In the past, the option for straight people has been marriage. But the government has been really strict when it comes to deciding what a couple is. It’s a very intense process. That process opened up to LGBT with marriage equality. The only other viable pathway right now is comprehensive immigration reform through Congress.
QLife: What do you hope to accomplish with this documentary?
Moises: My greater goal is deconstructing stereotypes and dismantling the lies that exist for the undocumented community. I also want it to be an educational tool. We tried to do a really good job portraying the immigration law side, but also the personal stories as well, not only with my own narrative but also my sister and my mother. We try to cover as many angles as we can to be educational and also a conversation starter.
QLife: Do you feel that undocumented workers understand the process more or less than citizens? Or do they need as much education as everyone else?
Moises: The immigration system is complicated for everyone. Even within my own community, I’ve had to do “Know Your Rights” training. I’ve had to inform the immigrant community that we too have rights. There’s a huge educational needs in both communities.
QLife: What do you find to be the greatest challenge you face in moving forward?
Moises: Ignorance. People are not willing to inform themselves. We tend to take rhetoric at face value. We tend to take rhetoric as true facts. People have these stereotypes ingrained in their mind and they believe them as fact and they are not.
Undocumented immigrants contribution billions of dollars into Social Security–something that most Americans haven’t thought about. It’s a really hard process of trying to educate a vast amount of people, but that’s what I’m hoping to do through this project.
QLife: Healthcare is at the forefront of the news with this administration. How does an undocumented worker receive any health care benefits?
Moises: They do not. My mother, for instance, will wait until she is in physical pain before she will go to the doctor. Most undocumented immigrants work in jobs that do not provide health insurance. Under the Obama Administration, deferred action recipient, someone like myself, are strictly barred from the healthcare market exchange.
We are just talking about the bare bones of not being deported and the right to be able to live without fear. Healthcare is a conversation that has not even started in the undocumented immigrant community.
QLife: What are the resources available for an undocumented worker to reach out and learn more, find a safe haven, or just become more educated?
Moises: There are a few great educational tools online like unitedwedream.org, has a lot of great resources. They also give the ability to people to find a local chapter. The National Immigration Law Center also has a lot of great information on immigration issues. Reach out to the American Civil Liberties Union.
For immigrants specifically in rural spaces, reach out to your church and share your story. Oftentimes the struggle that we have in rural America is that we are creating our own resources, I don't believe it a bad thing. We should actively be trying to build our own community focus groups in sharing our narratives in our community as that can lead to concrete changes I had here in North Carolina. Sharing your personal story and try to create your own community.
QLife: Do undocumented workers have access to smartphones or internet access or ways that they can build online communities or stay in touch through technology?
Moises: That a great question, but way above my pay grade. I don’t have those numbers, but I can't speak to you about my personal experience. Religious spaces have been a focus for organizing in the past and still are today. The church group that my mom what a part at had this great program where they had immigration reform groups led by immigrant adults. Oftentimes the church was the center of information, of camaraderie, and really important for community building but also to obtain up to date information.
Follow Moises Serrano 's unique journey to achieve the American Dream. The documentary Forbidden: Undocumented & Queer in Rural America airs on LogoTV on September 1. Moises continues to work on creating an environment of united people who embrace equality.
