About the Author
Christian Montesinos, JD
Director of International Programs and Services
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
A Personal Perspective from the Classroom and Courtroom
While searching for a topic to write on for this month’s Insights from Student Affairs blog, my mind drifted to the state of the world. It is no secret that non-citizens are being targeted from all sides, and that brings people in the general community a lot of discomfort. The fact is that seeing someone constantly targeted, detained unjustly, beaten, and even killed does something visceral to us as a collective, despite whichever side of the aisle you stand on.
I have been very fortunate in my life to teach several courses on immigration law in the law school setting, and have been a practicing immigration attorney for many years — several of those years in courtrooms defending non-citizens from deportation, many of those being women and children. Something I tell my students every semester is that my class is not a battleground for differing opinions. It is not the place to overshadow others with our own superiority on things we believe to know and stand for, at the expense of learning. We meet weekly and discuss the law as it stands, its historical significance, dissect cases, and construct allies to various causes. Through knowledge and discussion, we meet in front of a chaotic canvas and learn how to organize it — often adding and deleting from it. We meet in a place where discomfort and illusory superiority live. I love to tackle these things, shatter some of these pieces, and see what the students come up with. I do not care what is listed on their voter registration card; all I care about is that through our work together, they learn, contemplate, strengthen their arguments, and realize their blind spots.
The Inner Work of Being an Ally
Constructing an ally under the immigrant rights movement takes a lot of work. Not the 9-to-5 kind, but the kind that forces us to look inward and ask deeply meaningful questions about our history, vulnerabilities, what moves us, and why. Do I know what this cause is actually about? What is the purpose? Why am I really standing up for this? What am I getting out of this? Why? Why? Why? Questions that often lead to just more questions and not enough answers — waters that grow deeper into discomfort rather than staying shallow with good feelings about ourselves for standing up for something.
Throughout my career, I have been asked many times how to help non-citizens. I cannot tell you the number of people who reached out to me wanting to adopt migrant children during the 2017 Trump zero-tolerance policy, when all you saw on any news outlet or social media post was the infamous image of a child in a cage. During times like that, I have to look inward as well, to be very strategic about the type of advice I give in helping construct an ally.
Knowledge as the First Line of Defense
My advice is this: being an ally means that the first line of defense is knowledge. Not TikTok knowledge — I’m talking Dewey decimal system knowledge. The kind you can sink your teeth into for more than ten seconds before a cooking reel pops up. Knowledge and research on the facts, and the history behind those facts. A historical overview that can shed light on patterns, practices, and sustainable solutions for today. As the wise have said, knowledge is power.
Recognizing the Savior Trap
Being an ally is difficult because we need to avoid a lot of landmines placed before us in pretty little boxes labeled: help me and you will feel good, you will have left a mark on this planet, you are doing your part, you are so empathetic, you are so giving — on and on. This can fool many people into the dark territory of a savior complex. Historically, a savior complex stems from a colonial mindset of freeing or helping people from oppression in ways that are often superficial and self-serving. I refrain from using a racial qualifier in this post, because I don’t think in this particular instance it is solely about race. Immigrants, as well as saviors, come in all shapes and sizes.
Now that we know the language and have done the internal work of asking ourselves all those uncomfortable questions, it is important to take note of a few things in order to avoid being trapped in savior territory.
Two Questions Every Ally Must Ask
Am I Actually Helping — or Hurting?
This is a tricky one, because we are very capable of fooling ourselves into all sorts of mischief. Consider this scenario: there is an undocumented person at your job who was fired for being undocumented. Livid, you call the local news station to be interviewed and cover the story.
- The Law: The company has every right to let go of someone without authorization to work in the country.
- Savior Outcome: The news sheds a spotlight on your co-worker, alerting viewers — and possibly ICE officers — that they are undocumented. You have also exposed the company and other potentially undocumented workers, which could result in many quitting out of fear, leaving several families without a source of income.
- Ally Outcome: Help organize a fundraiser so your co-worker can recoup some lost income, and help connect them with legal assistance to address their status.
Am I Aware of My Status Privilege?
Much like racial privilege, citizenship privilege is very much a reality. Holding status in the United States can blind us to the consequences of our actions. A savior leads with assumption — they assume they know what is best for those they are helping, they trample over agency, they don’t truly listen, and they don’t understand that social justice is fraught with battles and setbacks, and that strategy is far more effective than a bullhorn. Consider this scenario: you are driving your neighbor to the courthouse to pay a traffic fine. ICE officers are present, take notice of your neighbor, and ask them for documentation proving legal status. Your neighbor nervously shakes their head, unable to provide any documentation, and is detained.
- The Law: ICE officers have the discretion to stop anyone and ask for legal documents to prove their status.
- Savior Outcome: Yelling at the officer, demanding a warrant, screaming about unlawful detention, getting physical with the officer.
- Ally Outcome: Calmly asking the officer where your neighbor will be detained so you can relay the information to their family. Asking if you may take some of their belongings back to their family. Helping the family find local resources for legal assistance and mental health support if needed.
Standing With, Not Speaking For
I never say don’t sharpen your pitchfork or don’t take risks, because social justice does demand courage and a great deal of risk-taking. However, we must always act as an ally and not as a savior. The immigrant community does not need anyone to save them or speak for them. They need people to stand with them and alongside them as they fight against injustice. Know the real issues, be wary of traps, work toward common goals, don’t assume that organization is not happening simply because you are not aware of it, use your privilege to uplift voices, and be able to recognize objectively whether what you are doing — even with the greatest of intentions — is actually causing more harm than good.
You could always start with something simple: a conversation. “How can I help?”
