“Staten Island’s Huddled Masses: An Immigration Storytelling Project”

"Staten Island's Huddled Masses: An Immigration Storytelling Project" features residents sharing family stories about coming to the United States, and their experiences in Staten Island as immigrants and children of immigrants. The film follows Cesar Vargas, a Staten Island attorney who arrived as an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. He was a recipient of DACA and became the first undocumented lawyer admitted to the New York State Bar Association; Leela Mathews, an inmigrant from India who describes her struggles as a nurse and as a single mother; and Vincent Verdi, a photographer who recounts how his Italian father “jumped boat” and fought extortion attempts from those who wanted to report him to immigration authorities. The film is part of a series produced by Move Forward Staten Island (MFSI), a progressive organization committed to moving social justice issues forward on Staten Island through grassroots organizing, lobbying, and educational programming.