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For Michelle Rumbaut, combating biases against immigrants is a tough task, but not an impossible one
Photo Credit: Christian Streili
Michelle Rumbaut volunteers with the Interfaith Welcome Coalition in San Antonio, Texas, welcoming newly arrived refugees at the Greyhound bus station. She has served on the board of various non-profit organizations with environmental and cultural missions and currently works at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center in Seguin, Texas.
Michelle’s upbringing as the daughter of Cuban immigrants vividly shaped her own experiences. As a first-generation American, she understands the feeling of vulnerability and upheaval that comes with migration, which has given her great respect for all immigrants.
In 2016, Michelle joined the Interfaith Welcome Coalition, a nonprofit created in response to the high numbers of unaccompanied minors coming across the US-Mexico border. As a volunteer, she welcomes newly arrived refugees and immigrants at the Greyhound bus station in San Antonio.
The Interfaith Welcome Coalition partners with other nonprofits to provide food and supplies at the US-Mexico border. Michelle is often the “first smile” these newly-arrived migrants encounter in the United States. She described her role as “to smile, give confidence and assurance, and tell them: 'You are welcome here. How can we help you? Let us help you understand the bus route that you're about to embark on. Let us give you some food and some water'”.
Upon her invitation to join the Salzburg Global American Studies program, Michelle initially believed the invitation was intended for her brother who is a scholar and a policy analyst. She explained that she was “surprised to receive another email re-emphasizing that the invitation was for me…I'm here because I have been writing these immigrant stories”.
For years, Michelle “had been writing stories about immigrants I met at the San Antonio border, to present them in a better light. These are people trying to build their lives. That´s all and we should support them”.
Michelle believes that the media plays a huge role in spreading negative stereotypes, which in turn influences public opinion on border and migration issues. After Trump’s victory in the 2016 American elections and the rise of strong anti-immigrant rhetoric, she began to document stories from the border.
She hopes to change the narrative surrounding migration so that people can let go of their biases, listen to actual stories with an open mind, and recognize the value that immigrants bring to the diversity of a nation.
Michelle Rumbaut attended the Salzburg Global American Studies program on “Beyond the Nation-State? Borders, Boundaries, and the Future of Democratic Pluralism” from September 19-23, 2023. The 2023 Salzburg Global American Studies Program focused on the contestations and renegotiations of boundaries beyond the nation-state, and how they are changing the representation of democratic pluralism.