41. Getting Out the Vote! - Antonio Arellano VP of Communications at NextGen America

On the 41st episode of Immigration Today!, Angeline Chen welcomes Antonio Arellano. Antonio Arellano is the VP of Communications at NextGen America, the nation’s largest youth voting organization which mobilizes millions of young voters every year. He is also a 1st generation immigrant and a former DACA recipient. He has been organizing communities of color in Texas for over a decade. Antonio has worked at some of the most notable newsrooms in America. While at the Houston Chronicle, Antonio advanced digital coverage of a variety of issues impacting one of the most diverse markets in the nation. In 2016, Antonio was offered the opportunity to join ABC News as a social media contributor, where he was instrumental in developing an innovative approach to news dissemination using social media to engage and educate a younger audience. In September 2018, Antonio joined Jolt Initiative, the largest Latino civic engagement organization in Texas, and served as Communications Director. Today, Antonio serves as the Vice President of Communications at NextGen America where he oversees the implementation of a national strategy to increase the progressive power of young Americans and advances economic equity, racial and climate justice as well as efforts to safeguard our democracy. In 2022, Antonio helped NextGen America secure the second-largest youth voter turnout in history. Antonio represents a new era of bold and fearless leadership, emerging from a social climate that is actively demanding fresh perspectives on key issues. His innovative use of digital media and narrative shift work has quickly catapulted Antonio into one of the leading progressive voices in the United States. His work has been mentioned in Time Magazine, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Telemundo, and Univision, among others.

With the upcoming election only a week away, Antonio encourages every single young voter to come out to the polls. In this election, nearly 1/3 of the 36 million Latinos eligible to vote, are between the ages of 18 to 29. So exercising the vote is not just important for the individual, but also important because it plays a huge impact on the policies that affect low income and disenfranchised communities which are often immigrant communities. Voting plays a huge factor in securing protections for DACA individuals who are still battling an uncertain future, it plays a factor in access to reproductive health for migrant communities and much more. Young voters have the power to determine the future of America in this election!

You can follow Antonio’s work via their website, Instagram, Linked in and Twitter. Immigration Today! is always releasing new content.  Please subscribe to our immigration newsletter to stay up to date with any new episodes. 

DISCLAIMER – This podcast is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or a solicitation to provide legal services. The information in this podcast is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, a lawyer-client relationship. Listeners should not act upon this information without seeking professional legal counsel. The views and opinions expressed in the podcast represent those of the individual speaker only and are not necessarily the views of Clark Hill PLC.

Transcript

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Hello, everyone. It's Angeline Chen. Welcome to Immigration Today, where I interview leaders, advocates, experts, and volunteers in immigration and immigrant rights on the issues, their experiences, and how you can make a difference. This podcast is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or a solicitation to provide legal services. The information in this podcast is not intended to create and receipt of it does not constitute a lawyer client relationship. Listeners should not act upon this information without seeking professional legal counsel. The views and opinions expressed in the podcast represent those of the individual speaker only and are not necessarily the views of Clark Hill PLC. Today we have Antonio Arellano, the vice president of of Communications at NextGen America, the nation's largest youth voting organization, which mobilizes millions of young voters every year. He is a first generation immigrant with immigrant parents from Mexico and a DACA recipient himself. He has been organizing communities of color in Texas for over a decade. Antonio has worked on the At some of the most notable newsrooms in America, while at the Houston Chronicle, Antonio advanced digital coverage of a variety of issues impacting one of the most diverse markets in the nation. In 2016, Antonio was offered the opportunity to join ABC News as a social media contributor. Where he was instrumental in developing an innovative approach to news dissemination using social media to engage and educate a younger audience. In September 2018, Antonio joined Jolt Initiative, the largest Latino civic engagement organization in Texas, and served as communications director. Today, Antonio serves as a vice president of communications at NextGen America, where he oversees the implementation of a national strategy to increase the progressive power of young Americans and advances economic equity, racial and climate justice, as well as efforts to safeguard our democracy. In 2022, Antonio helped NextGen America secure the second largest youth voter turnout in history. His work has been mentioned in Time Magazine, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Telemundo, and Univision, among others. How amazing, Antonio, you're totally inspiring me right now. Thanks for joining, Antonio. Of course. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. Sure. Um, so I want to get right to it and start talking about you and what you do. Is that okay? Let's talk about it. All right, let's do it. So I'd love to hear if you're open to it, kind of talking about your story of how you came to the U S could you start with that with me? For us, you know, that's interesting that you bring that up because that's a often an exercise that I like to invoke on during my public speaking opportunities. Um, I often invite the audience to close their eyes and to imagine, um, their earliest memory. The earliest thought that your mind can produce. Um, and often as a case, the memories that flood our minds are of us on a tricycle or learning to ride a bike, or maybe being reprimanded by a parent. Cause we got into some trouble cause we were being mischievous or having fun. Um, for me, my earliest memory, my brain can produce is, uh, crossing the border. And I think it's a very unique. Um, memory because it has completely shaped everything, um, that I've been able to accomplish and strived for over the last, over my lifetime. For me, um, that memory is of a cold February. Um, where I am sitting in the back of a vehicle with my brother, uh, 12, I believe, or 13 at the time sitting next to me, but in a vehicle that we do not recognize and with, um, a man driving a car that I don't know, um, shortly after to be instructed by this stranger Uh, to close my eyes. Um, and to pretend to be asleep. Um, I remember shortly after I closed my eyes, sitting in that booster seat in the backseat of that car and feeling a bright, piercing, bright light, um, flashing on my face and hearing the voice of a man outside my window asking my chauffeur, who are these kids? And he was Um, I didn't know it at the time, but now, as an adult, know lies and says, these are my children. Um, at that time, I didn't know it, but we had gone toe to toe, uh, with the most powerful nation in the world. Um, we were at the border of Mexico and the United States, and we had, in some ways, um, outsmarted it. And I had acquired. Um, unbeknownst to me as an infant, what was happening, a title that would follow me for the rest of my life and try to limit my future, um, undocumented and ever since then, um, life has been, um, a interesting journey, one where, um, I have been reminded. Uh, often, um, of the imbalance, the inequity that exists within society in this country. I often joke that my family and I, when we came to America, quickly fell in love with this nation. A nation that never forgot us. fully loved us back. And, um, and it's been this relationship with America of me devoting myself and contributing in every possible way you can imagine to this country, only to time and time again fall short of being fully embraced, fully acknowledged, or fully appreciated. Um, and that's what has fueled my lifelong passion to create, um, a little bit of balance, a little bit of equity, justice, and deliver the respect and representation that immigrant communities in America deserve. Wow. What a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing and a journey that you had. I love to talk about just, you know, while you were growing up. It seemed like you had already known that you were undocumented. Some, some, some kids didn't even know, but you kind of knew. That you had this title to you that how you came in as an infant. Well, I think it's, um, it's, uh, less of me actually knowing because at least in my experience, my Mexican traditional household. It was very frowned upon. It was very taboo to talk about our legal status. It was like this generational gap that I think still drives the conversation today, largely, um, with, um, our families who are traditional with parents that are like, don't talk about it. Don't tell anybody hide, um, and live in fear and intimidation of a country and any government that is, you know, Um, trying to hunt them down for lack of better words, um, and a new generation, my generation, a generation of bold, fearless, unapologetic, unafraid individuals who are simply coming to terms with the fact that this nation has never lived up to its promise of being a land of opportunity and justice for all. And we're trying to build a country, um, as good as that promise, right? And so. Shit. I remember there wasn't a time where I like knew, Oh, uh, or I was sat down and told you're undocumented, but that kind of peered in, um, throughout life. Like there was moments where I'm eight years old and at a, at a doctor's visit and recognizing why am I translating for my migrant mother? Her doctor's visit. Why is there no additional support in this hospital or this clinic to have these personal conversations with her doctor without her eight year old being the translator? Things like this that we're just like, this is odd. This is not normal. Why are we, you know, my parents have a language barrier that other parents don't have or. My my now I'm 16 and my classmates are getting their driver's license and about to go start driving and get a car and I can't get a driver's permit and I, I can't participate in that same way. And like, why am I different? And like, in these. Uh, societal moments that just happened throughout life. It was coming to terms with the realization that like, some of us, uh, have got, had gotten, um, treated, treated a little bit differently than most folks. Yeah. Yeah. And so while you're going through your life. Realizing this is happening, but studying, going to school. When did you, when did you realize, you know what? I want to help other people in my situation. Like, you know, you're so out there now and you're, you know, you're helping others and it's so amazing. Like, how did that true? Like. I appreciate that. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, my parents, uh, I would say my dad is made of gold. My mom is made of diamonds. They're my best friends. They're incredible, incredible people. Um, and my, my parents early on installed in me this notion that my education was my golden ticket to success. And I remember My, my parents telling me like this country can take everything away from you, that new car, they can strip it away, that new house, they can take it away, your freedom, they can take that away. But one thing they can never take away from you is your education. And they said, that will be your golden ticket to success. Never give up on the education that you're able to acquire even at a public school here in the United States. And um, Um, I doubled down on that. And so I, um, I remember, uh, uh, junior year in high school, my dad came to me and said, Antonio, what's the plan? What do you want to do when you grow up? What are you, you know, what are you, what are you trying to do accomplish here? And I remember I told him. I wanted to be a journalist and at that time I had, um, grown up watching predominantly Spanish news, Univision, Telemundo, et cetera, and watching giants like Jorge Ramos and Marilena Salinas, the head anchors of those, of that network of Univision, narrate Uh, historic moments. For example, the terrorist attack of September 11. I remember vividly being in my living room, watching them narrate to my parents and I in our native language what was happening. And we knew that that was historic and it was unprecedented and that we were in it. Great threat. And so I wanted to provide that for my community. I wanted to be a source of information and be a source of empowerment of education. Um, and I saw that through communications and through journalism, but telling my immigrant family that I wanted to be a journalist. Um, coming from where I come from, I come from a state called Michoacan in Mexico, where if you are a journalist, you're more likely than not to either be very poor or get killed. Um, and so he was like, okay, are you sure you don't want to be a doctor? We're in America, you know, like, um, that was that. So then fast forward is senior year. That was junior year, senior year, dad comes back and says, okay, Antonio, what's the plan? Um, I see you want to be a journalist, but we are living in Dalton, Georgia at the time, very limited, like communication, um, uh, option opportunities for journalism opportunities in the city. So, uh, I told him, I said, dad, if we are serious about Advocating on behalf. If I'm serious about advocating on behalf of the Latino community, my, my people, my community, then I need to move to Texas. One in five Latinos in the United States live in Texas. Harris County in Houston is home to the second largest Latino population in the United States outside of LA. They said, if our commitment is to our people, then that's where I need to be. I need to go to ground zero. And I think it's Houston. And so you can imagine me telling my dad, I need to go to Texas. Yeah. Which, you know, is a state that's emblematic for its anti immigrant stances and conservative politics. But, um, graduation night, and I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll be brief here. Graduation night, I was great, um, blessed with the opportunity to give the commencement speech at my high school graduation. And, um, um, after graduating, I, I, I, we're leaving, we're in the parking lot, and my dad says, mijo, I'm sorry, but tonight you can't go to any parties. And I'm thinking, it's senior year, I've got parties lined up, it's graduation night. Night. Like, what are you talking about? I'm like, oh, no, my Mexican, you know, overbearing, uh, protective parents. Here we go again. But he goes, you can't go out tonight. And when I got to the truck, went to our car in the parking lot, I realized why. Remember, this is the parking lot of my graduation ceremony. He had a U Haul attached to the truck. He had quit his job. My mom had quit her job and they said, you can't go out because tonight we have a 12 hour drive to Texas and you have four years to become a journalist. And so we landed in Texas and the pressure was on. Um, I immediately began to amass a following on social media by adapting everything that I was learning in my communications classes at the University of Houston. Um, and, um, And the rest is history. Before I could graduate, uh, from communications at U of H, I had already acquired the contract with ABC 13, one of the largest networks in Houston, one of the biggest markets in the country. And I believe I was the first, I may be wrong, but I believe I was the first docker recipient to be hired as a social media by ABC, a major network in the United States. And. And began to disseminate information around immigration. At this time, it was 2009. DACA still, um, when I graduated high school was 2009. DACA was still not implemented. DACA was implemented in 2012. So from 20, 2009 to 2012, I was organizing, advocating online, in person. Rallies, et cetera, making sure that the immigrant community, um, applied pressure at that time on the Obama administration, uh, your DACA. And so, um, I was part of the generation that said, we're not going to wait any longer for us to be treated as humans. We're going to demand our humanity be, be seen now. And so that's kind of where the field for my fight comes from and my commitment to my people, my culture, and this fight for equity. Well, what amazing parents you have. Oh my goodness. They just like went all in, but you know, that's, that's not unique to me. I, I, I feel like immigrant parents are a special type of human, um, to be so selfless and so determined to against all odds, um, build and forge a future for their children is something that is, um, really commendable. Yeah, I don't think my parents would quit their job for me. But anyway, um, that's another story. No, no, that's, that's, that's a beautiful, beautiful story. Um, So you're a journalist. Now you're a next gen. Now we're voting. Now it's an election. What are you working on mostly now? Listen, um, right now, um, we have to make sure that everybody who is eligible to vote, who can vote, recognize that the threat, Um, against our migrant communities, um, ceases, um, we have been, um, the preferred target by extremists, um, in our political space that seek to dehumanize, criminalize, um, um, our existence. And we must recognize that in this moment, it's on us. Whether we want what kind of country we want and what kind of future we're trying to build and I believe that we would be better served by recognizing that there's already over 11 million undocumented folks living in this country that are going to church with us. That are their kids are going to school with ours, um, that work where we work and are trying to contribute to this country in a positive light and also be very clear eyed that the using immigrants as scapegoats, uh, tactic is not new. This is, uh, oldest time and it's a strategy that has been deployed by authoritarian regimes. Time and time again by dictators time and time again, um, to try to pin the woes and the problems of a nation on the backs of those less fortunate, um, to try to give the general public and, uh, an out of like, oh, well, you don't have a job. It's because of the immigrants. Oh, well, you don't have. And these are all lies. These are all fabricated. Concepts, uh, that have been unfortunately successful, uh, and most recently that negative and racist rhetoric really, uh, has led to, uh, tragic events like we saw in El Paso, um, with, uh, the mass shooting at the Walmart, um, in a manifesto that talked about immigrant invaders at the Southern border, which is echoing what our elected officials at that, at that time, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas, at that time, President Trump, um, had been spewing. And so, um, What is this moment? This moment calls for all of us to take action, to organize our communities, to encourage those who can vote to vote on our behalf and to defend the immigrant community that contributes tremendously economically, culturally to American tapestry. Yes, yes, absolutely. And what would you tell the people who cannot vote, who kind of still live, you know, in fear? I mean, it. What would you ask them to do in helping with this movement? Okay, well, let me start with the fear first. First of all, um, we, we can't afford to live in fear. Um, uh, fear is a tactic as well. And when we give in and we are fearful and some of us may even give up, throw our hands up and say, you know what? I'm going back to Mexico or I'm going back to wherever. Um, that's exactly what they want. They want you to be terrified. They want you to be traumatized. They want you to be fearful. Um, they can't, we can't give them our joy. We can't give them our happiness. We can't give them, um, the power to control our emotions that way. So I think that we must remain clear about the power that we have and particularly the eligible Latino electorate. You know, there's over, uh, 30 million eligible Latinos in this, uh, country, this cycle. Um, and the reason that Latino communities are under attack. Is because we're so damn powerful is because the census doesn't lie. This country is currently undergoing a massive and historic demographic shift that is becoming the making the country browner and blacker than ever before and it's making some folks very uncomfortable and that's where you see these attacks on communities of color on disenfranchised communities, minority communities. But we must be clear eyed that those attacks are stemming from the fact that some folks are shaking in their boots because they're seeing a new America, a different America, one that celebrates and embraces diversity and, um, and we must reclaim that power. Yeah, no, definitely. Definitely. I think I'm always encouraging people to get out there still, you know, contact Congress people still get involved in organizations, even though they may not have documentation, but just just do it anyway. And a lot of people are a lot of people are, um, helping. Also, people are trying to survive as well. Would you have to, you know, get, allow them to, to do that? Tell me a little bit more about NextGen America. NextGen America is the nation's largest youth voter organization. Um, we've also been around for quite some time now, over a decade. Um, we're going to be celebrating our 12th year anniversary next year. And NextGen focuses on college campus. We believe that democracy lives on college campuses and that by empowering, uh, the younger generation, a new generation of leaders were able to create transformative change at next gen, we are amplifying the voices of young voters across the country and states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina, uh, and the United States. New Hampshire, Texas to make sure that they recognize that they have the power to not just decide this election, but to create transformative change for generations to come. Um, and we're building a pipeline of leadership, young leadership that is ready to make sure that America builds a government that respects us, represents us and reflects us. That's amazing. Do you see there that there's more of an engagement now with college students or in, in, in general, or, or do you think there's less? I feel like there's more engagement now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think that this is a big myth that has now been debunked. So. Consistently, the narrative is that young people don't vote, that young people don't turn out, that young people are not a worthwhile investment when it comes to voter registration, voter mobilization. But anybody that's been looking at the stats, that's been looking at the data, um, in 2020, uh, the Biden Harris administration was elected with the largest youth voter turnout in modern American history. In 2022, uh, young voters turned out, single handedly stopping a quote unquote red wave, um, by, again, Showing up in record numbers during a midterm election and this year in 2024. I, I predict predict that you will see a substantial amount of young voters that will come out and make their voices heard. And this is now a pattern of historic youth voter participation from the youngest cohort of eligible voters. As a matter of fact. Gen C in particular, um, ever since they've been of voting age, they have always turned out to vote. And so this misconception that young people don't vote or not paying attention or disengaged couldn't be further from the truth. Um, they're the most educated. generation in American history. They're the most diverse generation in American history. It's a multiracial, multilingual, um, um, movement of young people that are demanding, uh, that the country moves forward in a, uh, an, uh, an aggressively progressive way, um, tackling, uh, reproductive justice, uh, tackling, uh, immigrants rights, tackling the environmental crisis, tackling gun safety, gun reform, Form student debt, et cetera. These are issues that they recognize are important and are willing to, to fight for. So I think young voters are fired up. There's enthusiasm particularly later on in this cycle. Earlier on, I think there is a lack of enthusiasm, but now I think that, um, people are fired up and ready to turn out on November 5th. That's great. I'm so excited. I'm so excited to hear that because I could feel it as well. And I'm really hoping that that, that, that happens with people just need to vote, just vote, please. Um, so I want to talk a little bit about social media because You know, we use social media. I'm thinking, Oh, my gosh, you know, there's such good content out there and such good information. And then I hear there's also really bad information, right? And difficult to tell what's real. Like, how do you navigate social media and use it for for the policies that you're trying to implement? So, um, Yes, the platforms are quickly expanding and growing, and I think that there's, it's a double sided sword, right? In one side, we have the opportunity to reach the masses. I always say, imagine if Dr. King's I Have a Dream speech would have had a hashtag. Like, What? That would have created change, not just for the civil rights movement in America, but globally for the entire planet. And so the way that we are able to connect, engage and organize online across the country, across state lines quickly, I think is something that we haven't even fully tapped yet. I think that there is more potential there, um, in terms of combating mistruths and disinformation. The other side of the sword is that. We can very quickly because of the algorithm and the way that our platforms are set up fall into um, bubbles, uh, that, um, only filter and show us reinforcing images of what we see or what we think, um, and don't challenge us to really think critically or Or, uh, express our reasoning behind our personal stances. And I think that that also creates a barrier. So, um, I think that we must continue to leverage at next gen. We're leveraging social media platforms to connect with a younger generation because we got to meet them where they're at. And our youth. It's consuming their information, their news online, but too, I think that we need to really take a hard look at what artificial intelligence is doing, what algorithms are doing to the psyche, to the mental health of young people and how we can use these tools. as positive resources and not, um, regret further down the line having set up barriers maybe too late. And so, um, I think that it's a big part of modernizing democracy as well. Um, um, American democracy, uh, the tools in the American democracy, uh, uh, tool belt are usually like mail mailers, digital ads, uh, phone banking. Now we're seeing more text banking. We're also seeing more digital ads. We're seeing more social media outreach more influencers being leveraged as message and thought leaders. And so I think that with all of this comes an adaptation and we have to be and remain clear eyed about the threats and make sure that we're putting up some good rails so that folks don't, um, fall prey to, you know, uh, less scrupulous, um, individuals that seek to, um, um, stoke fear, injustices, racism, um, um, online. Yeah, and, you know, I, I, I even see, and I know you see, the major media outlets Making everything so negative, you know, like just very much so anti immigrant sentiments in major media outlets on television as well. Like, I feel like all I see is the negative, negative, negative of what immigrants are doing and they're bad and that rhetoric, whether or not it's false information. I mean, I think it is, but I feel like we really need to switch that narrative and some people are trying to do that. But yeah, go ahead. I think 2 things. 1, I think, um, this is a, again, something that's oldest time sensationalism, um, sells and, um, unfortunately, the emphasis on the negative sometimes is a marketing tactic of, uh, media companies. Um, but we, but there is also power in our narrative in our storytelling. And so, like, I think the more people can become comfortable with coming forward and sharing their own lived experience or sharing their passions or why they're advocating for X cause. Um, I think the more we can put an emphasis on positive change and what is possible, um, I think the better off we will be. I tend to try to look at, um, our, Current circumstances through a problem, problem solving lens as, um, that's, I guess a survival mechanism of being an immigrant. Like I'm not looking at like who to blame, it's more of like, how do I solve this problem? And um, and I think that the media is very fixated on who to blame. Um, and we have lost sight of how do we fix this or what are the solutions, who are the thought leaders that are gonna bring solutions to the table? And I think that we need to gear more towards, towards that. Yeah, yeah, no, totally. And it's such a complicated, complicated issue, right? Or the issues when I, as an immigration attorney myself, it's like to explain, you know, all the different facets of immigration, how people coming in here and how to solve it. It's very complex, multiple layers, but it hard to understand. And so when people are watching media, they're just, you know, yeah. Listening to what I think you're absolutely right. And 1 thing that I think on that thought on that note of like, it's hard to understand. Um, let me share a caveat here that I think I've been trying to scream from the hills for anybody that can hear. So maybe this will help your audience as well. But it's important to know. One, the media has the attention span of a five year old and quickly moves to another story. But in a ideal world where we could spend a little more time on some stories, one story that I think is going underreported is the fact that since DACA has been under attack. And has been making its way through the, through the legalities and through the courts. Um, uh, it has paused any new applications and has only accepted renewals. So, what does that mean? That means that there is an entire new generation now, an entire new generation backlog of individuals in this country who are turning 18, who are graduating high school, who are ready to enter college, who are not. And who are eligible for DACA, who are not protected under deferred action for childhood arrivals, who do not have a social security card or a driver's license or a work permit, and are unable to go to college to get that job to live, because I mean, like, without a driver's license, you can't get a phone, you can't rent an apartment, you can't do a lot of these things. And so while we, you know, As we continue to play political games with people's lives, we are now creating another whole new generation. We're creating another problem of individual who qualify and fall under all of the DACA parameters, but because of the legal pause are uneligible to apply. And, um, as someone who has. Who navigated the DACA process. I recently became a resident, um, but after after a decade of DACA, uh, which I'm writing a book called Decade of DACA. Um, really excited about that. The legal limbo of that is super traumatic, eh, but then also we're creating a backlog of people who aren't even are not even allowed to be a part of that program, even though they're eligible as well. Yeah, that's a really, really good topic to talk about. I actually should be talking about that more often to, um, thank you for sharing that. And we'll, we can emphasize that on, on this, on this podcast. Do you have a number for that? Do you have an idea of how many people? Right. I don't know. I mean, we filed a bunch and it was paused, but I know there's a ton. There's, yeah, there's going to be, it's going to be in the hundreds of thousands of people, because I mean, there's at least that I know of 600, 000 to 600, 000 to 800, 000 DACA recipients who qualified under the original parameters. And since then, since it's been paused, it's been, I mean, multiple years, I want to say at least three years since it's been paused. And be hundreds of thousands for sure. There's got to be hundreds of thousands of people that have been turning 18 every month for eligible. Oh, my gosh, I really hope, you know, something good happens with DACA. I think it's, it's going to have to be with Congress. Um, but I don't know. I mean, the court, we're in the 5th circuit right now. It's in the 5th circuit right now. It'll go to the U. S. Supreme Court. So we'll see what happens and cross our fingers, but we're trying to get and look, let's, let's also remember that right now, while the conversation at hand is the constitutionality of the executive order for DACA, right? That's what The legal mumbo jumbo is all about, but at the bottom line, at the core of all these DACA cases is whether these young people deserve it, like whether they're good enough to be in America, are they, whether their humanity is valued enough. I, I wrote a piece for the Harvard Hispanic Journal, um, a couple of years ago when the case was at the Supreme Court. And I was thinking like, here we go again, where the, the, the, the largest and most powerful court in the nation is deliberating publicly, whether people like me are valued or are worth America, or, and I'm thinking, yeah. When if you look at the profile of a DACA recipient, what is more American like than that? It's someone who is educated or trying to get an education, working, paying taxes, criminal record, like trying to build and contribute to society. Like, what do you mean? And the fact that in two years, we have to come back and prove to this immigrant immigration process that we are valid, that we are worthy, that we are in good standing. It's something that I don't think, Many American citizens would be able to do every two years. Oh, definitely not. And so, you know, it begs the question, like, why are we continuing to perpetuate this nonsensical idea? And like, let's get, let's get to it. Let's, let's finally solve the immigration process. I mean, it's so condescending and offensive, you know, to me, it's so basic, but what I get always preaching to the choir at this point, hopefully, we spread the word enough that it's opening other people's eyes as well, right? That's the idea with social media and, and, you know, Things like that. And hopefully, hopefully we just make one change at a time, one change at a time. Well, Antonio, thank you so much for, or just your commitment to this work. You know, I keep me updated when you finish your book, come back to me. We want to hear about it. Um, you know, good luck on the, on, on, uh, getting the voter turnout. I think it's going to be great. Um, but is there any kind of last thing you'd like to share to, to, to, to To my audience or, uh, you know, I think that, uh, we are all in this together. You are not alone. Um, uh, we can build and we will build a nation that centers our humanity, that sees us as whole for who we are and not just a statistic. And, um, and you have a lot of power. Don't, don't, uh, just, uh, think of our, let's not think of ourselves as victims. Let's think of ourselves as. Problem solvers. We have the capacity to create change, um, and remain true to our, our, while remaining true to our cultures. You know, I'll leave you with what my mom used to always tell me. She would say, um, never forget where you came from, but also always remember. There's people still there. And those people are counting on us. They're counting on us to make sure that we, uh, deliver on their behalf and make them proud. And that's, um, that's by making sure that we are being inclusive in our, our, our work, um, and breaking down barriers so that others can have the opportunities that, um, perhaps we weren't granted. Oh, beautiful, beautiful words. Well, thank you so much, Antonio. Good luck with everything and hope to see you again soon. Thank you for having me. 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