joseiswriting

Hi, happy to be doing this chat. Thank you for joining us. As a gay, undocumented Asian guy with a Latin name--it's called Filipino--I'm like a walking uncomfortable question to some people. And I'm all for having uncomfortable, honest conversations so we can fully understand what is at stake in this immigration conversation.

My kind? What kind is that? And great that you're Filipino. How did you get your visa? I cannot get one. Folks ask me all the time, "why don't you just make yourself legal?" Here's the most thorough and contextualized answer: http://on.fb.me/18JfdKa

I'm a trained reporter, which means I'm trained to listen. And when I get angry, hateful emails, tweets or Facebook messages, I try to really understand where the person is coming from. Some of the extreme questions there are no answers--the bigotry is too naked and blatant. Many people, however, have fair and hard questions. So I listen, breathe and answer the best I can.

Only threads is just the level of ignorance out there, people drowning in misinformation.

Hmm...well, I don't call people "rednecks" in the same way that I don't call immigrants "illegal." I've had some unfortunate, uncomfortable experiences with Americans, online and offline, who call me names only because they don't know me. They have an idea of me, they cling to their idea of me. You fear what you don't know, and there's a lot of fear when it comes to this issue. Fear and ignorance.