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A new film premiering on Wednesday at Arizona State University's Tempe campus aims toshed light on a conversation immigration activists have been having for years: how the"Dreamer" narrative has a harmful impact on the undocumented community.

Karina Dominguez, 22, a political organizer,produced "Rejecting the DreamerNarrative," a documentary that focuses on that conversation and why the "Dreamer"narrative should be rejected

Dominguez's film is a response to how Americans understand and talk about DACA recipients, "Dreamers"and undocumented people, she told TheRepublic.

According to Dominguez, the narrative perpetuates exclusivity and exclusionamong the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. Those who fall under the "Dreamer" categorymake up asmall percentage of the undocumented population.

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act would have granted legal status to many undocumented people who were brought over to the U.S. as children. However, this bill and similar othershave failed to make it through Congress for the past 20 years since it was first introduced in 2001.

The term would stick around in the wayimmigration policy is discussed.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is an Obama-era policy that was born out of the failure to pass legislation through the legislative branch.

Since June 2012, the protection has provided young, undocumented immigrants a shield against deportation andwork visas.The National Immigration Forum estimates that there are 643,560 DACA recipients in the U.S., out of a population of 1,326,000 people who are DACA-eligible.

State of the Union: Advocates see urgency for immigrationreform in Biden's speech

Arizona is home to23,070DACA recipients,according to 2021data from USCIS.

Dominguez, whograduated from ASU in 2020 with a bachelor's in sustainability,became frustrated with the conversations surrounding "Dreamers"and how that mirrored the support the universityoffered undocumented students.

While I was a student, I often came across scholarships that would pride themselves in accepting applications from 'Dreamers.'Most of the time, those 'Dreamers' were only DACA recipients and not undocumented students without DACA, Dominguez said.

Dominguez said that the "Dreamer" narrative has created a support gap that she wants to shed light on.

Many politicians and activists see the fight for 'Dreamers' as the easy fight. They do not put effort and resources into fighting for all current 11 million undocumented immigrants and those who will be undocumented in the future, she said.

Dominguez is looking to refocus the conversation in the pro-immigration movement with this film.The goal, she said, is to create a more inclusive way of talking about immigrant people, with more dimension, within the movement. She imagines a movement that, protects everyone and does not perpetuate the good versusbad migrant narrative.

Dominguez produced this film as a Creative Fellow for Fuerte Arts Movement, an Arizona-based non-profit that works in the intersection of art and advocacy.

Xenia Orona, co-executive director at Fuerte, said her organization works to tell stories from the community to push for a better future for Black, Indigenous and people of color in Arizona.

Many of Fuertes members, like Dominguez,have been involved in political organizing in the immigrant rights movement.Dominguezis currentlyworking at Fuerte as the Climate Justice Program lead.

Karina's filmdirectly questions the efficacy of creating a 'good immigrant'archetype in our larger immigrant rights culture, and whether it's time to move on from this archetype to a more inclusive organizing strategy, Orona said. It is in line with our values as an organization because we understand that we all lose when we leave members of our community behind.

Along with the screening of her film, Dominguez partnered with the Undocumented Students for Education Equity club at ASU to put on a panel discussionon the subject.

Salma Ortiz Diaz, one of the panelists, is the advocacy director at USEE and isfeatured in Dominguez's documentary.

Her involvement in the film came from working alongside Dominguez in immigrant advocacy work.

"Shes been such an amazing influence within the migrant movement," Ortiz said. "'Rejecting the Dreamer Narrative' is a conversation that local migrant organizers have been having. Karina wanted to bring this conversation to life."

Ortiz felt like it was her duty to share her perspective and knowledge in the film. Her own work is all about inclusivity in the migrant movement space.

As a DACA recipient, I have so much privilege. I can recognize that I did absolutely nothing to earn my status except be at the right placeat the right time, Ortizsaid. The migrant movement needs to focus on who else we can be including when addressing an immigration reform, and not excluding.

She said that USEE at ASU works to bring this inclusivity onto campus and address some of the gaps created by current immigration policy.

AtUSEE, we try our best to keep an open mind by having difficult conversations and finding solutions, Ortiz said.

The "Dreamer" narrative conversation is one that Dominguez is looking to spark in the community.

People in Arizona should watch this film to understand that even if you use the ('Dreamer') term and the narrative with good intentions, it harms the community. To be good allies, it is important to stay educated and listen to those who are directly impacted," Dominguez said.

The screening will take place Wednesday, March 2, at ASUs Tempe campus in the Memorial Union building at301 E Orange St., Tempe, AZ 85281, in the Pima Room230from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

A panel discussion will followthe film premier in the same room. The panel will include Dominguez, Ortiz and other community members.

The event is open to the general public. You can registerat this link.

Wednesday's premiere is organized by Fuerte Arts Movement and the Undocumented Students for Education Equity club at ASU.

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New film explores harmful impact of Dreamer narrative on undocumented community - The Arizona Republic