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Oral history interview with Brenda Neri-Wong, 2018 August 22

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Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

This oral history interview with Brenda Neri-Wong was conducted by Sankar Raman and Briana Ybanez on August 22, 2018. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. In this interview, Neri-Wong discusses her family background and the blood disorder that spurred her parents to bring her to the United States in 1995. Neri-Wong continues discussing her family background, particularly her connection to her Chinese heritage, her family’s financial situation in Mexico, and their journey to the United States. She talks about moving to Oregon, her education, and learning English as a second language. She also speaks about trying to fit in and make friends, and about her plans to become a teacher. She shares her experience as an undocumented immigrant, the constant anxiety it has caused, and the barriers it placed before her. She discusses attending Portland Community College and transferring to Portland State University, including paying for college and learning to navigate the higher education system as an undocumented immigrant. She then talks about her current job as a graduation coach in the Hillsboro School District. She discusses her status as a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides legal protections for some undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. She talks about her hopes for the future. She closes the interview by talking about the political climate at the time of the interview in 2018, her experience with white privilege, and working toward systemic change.

Dates

  • Creation: 2018 August 22

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Extent

From the Collection: 1 Gigabytes (1 online resource (2 audio files (1 hr., 31 min., 18 sec.))) : WAV

Language of Materials

English

Repository Details

Part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Repository

Contact:
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Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240