How to engage the new consumer

My project will be with the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project. While reading today's article, the main idea that kept popping up for me was humanizing the face of "the immigrant" to the American public. This could be a controversial campaign that could have negative effects if not excecuted with care.

NWIRP already has a huge list of sponsors who range from for profit to non profit organizations, why not ask them why they support NWIRP? Better yet, why not seek out immigrants who work within those organizations to tell their stories and share why they think NWIRP is an important organization that needs to be supported. There is a growing sentiment around the country that immigrants (undocumented or otherwise) are somehow destroying "American culture" or inflitrating our systems and burdening them. I think that by showing immigrants who work for Microsoft or the Office of Economic Development, people will be more inclined to view immigrants as part of our communities instead of outsiders.

The social media campain I would employ would use primarily YouTube and Facebook as a conduit for conversation. Blogging would also be a cool way to get the voices of local immigrants out with identifying them if they don't wish to be identified. I think this would also be a good way to start a dialogue in a controlled space where people ask questions and learn more about how immigrants contribute to the richness of American culture and help business earn profits. By giving immigrants their own voice, we can slowly remove the stigma surrounding the immigrant identity and make it easier for people to understand the importance of fixing a system that continuously marginalizes undocumented immigrants and strips them of their rights as human beings.

I do realize however that such an idea would be approached with trepidation by for profit companies. By saying that they are proud of hiring immigrants, there might be a political backlash that could affect their customer base in a negative way. I do feel that if such organizations would state that they support hiring documented immigrants and do not support the undocumented immigrant hiring process, that people would be more receptive to the campaign. I do admit that as I reread the proposal, it seems very risky because of the current political climate in the nation that is greatly inclined against immigration...