New Routes to Community Health gives voice to new leaders in immigrant communities across America. Meet Judith Landeros from the Salud project in Chicago, Illinois.

Judith Landeros is 19 years old and currently attends Northwestern University where she plans to double major in Social Policy and Latina/o Studies. Her parents are Mexican immigrants whom she looks up to and respects for their hard work and support in everything she wants to achieve in life. Judith’s long-term goals are to help improve the education system at Morton East High School in Cicero, teach English to the children of Nicaragua after she graduates from college, and attain a Ph.D. in the future. Currently, Judith plans to start a Ballet Folklorico Mexicano at Northwestern University to give others the opportunity to explore the Mexican culture through dance.

1. If you are an immigrant, tell us what it means to be an immigrant in America. If you are not an immigrant, tell us how the immigrant issue touches you on personal level.

I am not an immigrant but my parents are immigrants from Mexico. The immigration issue is a very important issue in my family because my parents where once undocumented and I understand their struggles. Anything that has to do with immigration affects me because most of my family members are immigrants.

2. For better or for worse how can or how does media (TV, movies, radio, news stories) make a difference in immigrants' lives?

I feel that the media many times stereotypes and puts down immigrants. I always hear people blaming immigrants for the lack of jobs in the U.S. Others say that they do not pay taxes or that they take advantage of medicaid. Or that Latina/o immigrants do not want to learn English. I have also noticed that when someone says that they are an immigrant, right away it is assumed that they are undocumented. Most of the time the media portrays stereotypes that affect immigrants in a negative way. Supervisors, someone walking down the street, a doctor, or a landlord might treat immigrants differently because of the negative facts the media portrays about immigrants. This means that there are less opportunities for immigrants in the U.S., worst conditions, and less American Citizens who support an Immigration Reform that benefits everyone.

3. Tell us about an interesting or wise practice from another culture that you wish Americans would adopt.

This question is very difficult to answer because I do not know what the American culture exactly is. Basically, I do not have a clear definition of what American culture consists of. I myself was born in the U.S., therefore I am considered "American." However, my parents are Mexican Immigrants and I grew up surrounded by Mexican Culture.

4. How could immigrant health and well-being be improved in your city or in the United States?

Health and well being can be improved in my community if those in charge would make it a priority instead of leaving it to someone else. I feel that my community should have more health fairs regularly instead of once every six months. There should be clinics that offer reduced priced vaccinations, physicals, exams, etc. In my community there are many families that do not have medical insurance. Therefore they do not go to the doctor because it is too expensive. Others do not trust doctors because of different stories they have heard from relatives or friends. That is why I feel that SALUD is an excellent program because youth who have personally experienced the negative effects of health issues will educate the community. By educating the community SALUD will transmit the messages that being healthy and visiting the doctor regularly is important. If parents start living a healthy life style, their children will do so as well. There just needs to be dialogue and questions answered so that immigrants do not fear that by visiting the doctor they will be scammed, or if they are undocumented that they will be deported.

5. Tell us something about your background that led you to become the person you are today. What is your greatest motivation/motivator?

My greatest motivation are my parents. I have seen their dedication and hard work to provide my brother and I with everything that they did not have in their childhood. My parents where once undocumented and if it was not because of the amnesty, they would still be undocumented . I try to put myself in other people's shoes and I cannot imagine how it feels to know that my parents could be deported at any time. I am privileged because my parents migrated to the U.S. to provide their future family with a better future and becuase of them I am an American Citizen. I feel that I have a responsibility to do something and make others lives better. Immigrants, documented or undocumented are human; they deserve the opportunities that I and so many American Citizens have because we are all the same. All of that motivates me to finish college, set an example to other youth, and prove stereotypes wrong.