- Maker: Alana Garcia
- Genre: Magazine
- Level: Graduate
- Program: Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media
- Course: WRIT 5400: Technical Writing
- Instructor: Dr. Eric Mason
- Semester Created: Fall 2025
Description
The conversation about immigration and ICE has media outlets in a chokehold. As a U.S. citizen, silence isn’t an option. As a human, I strive to show compassion. As a minority, I recognize the importance of ensuring that other minorities are not overlooked. As I began brainstorming for this assignment, I aimed to create an educational guide that focuses on denaturalization, fear, and corruption. I took a unique approach by creating a zine highlighting important messages throughout. This guide will hopefully serve as a resource not only for undocumented immigrants but also for others, showing them how they can contribute to supporting our communities.
Reflection
While I took a different approach, this project allowed me to combine my personal interests to create a valuable resource. Although this topic is one that many may try to avoid, it is important to stay informed in a time where the truth is often misconstrued and/or falsified.
My zine isn’t necesarily text-heavy because I believe the visuals conveyed more than words can. As O’Keefe mentioned, “as you create your documents, you’ll discover many places where providing information in a graphic or a video clip will make the content much easier to understand” (Pringle et al. 2009, p. 127). Words alone couldn’t capture the rawness that these graphics communicate: fear, control, and resistance, which again is further emphasized here, “photographs are great for showing real-life images” (Pringle et al. 2009, p. 128).
At first, I thought my idea was all over the place but I realized that a zine should be all over the place. It is the messiness that makes the message more powerful. This guide will be helpful to better understand how to support undocumented immigrants.
