undocumented | Christina Felschen

undocumented | Christina Felschen

Hard selection, soft landing: Is Canada’s immigration policy as good as its image?

Translation of my German-language radio documentary (19mn), broadcast by Deutschlandfunk (German public radio) on Nov 23, 2021 >>

Canada opened its borders to people of all nationalities back in the 1960s, provided they bring the right qualifications. The German government discusses whether this could be a model for them. But Canada’s often idealized immigration system is classist and encourages exploitation, critics say.

How Clearview helps the Trump administration target undocumented immigrants

published on the NUDGED blog, March 14, 2020 >>

A small US company is selling an app that might end our ability to walk down the street anonymously. Among its clients: authoritarian states and US immigration enforcement. Jacinta Gonzalez, an organizer with the NGO Mijente, talked with us about why this puts the 11 million undocumented people in the United States at an even higher risk for deportation.

Fenced In, Fenced Out

German version (with photo essay) published February 14, 2017 by ZEIT ONLINE >>

In the US Mexican borderlands, even Trump voters oppose the president’s plan to erect a border wall. They fear that even more immigrants will die in their backyard.

Undocumented – and indispensable

published in German by ZEIT ONLINE on February 28, 2017 >>

Harvest workers, nannies, craftspeople: Eleven million people live in the US without papers, nothing goes without them. Trump wants to deport them anyway. A life full of fear.

Invisible neighbors

Final report of my research on the situation of undocumented migrants in Arizona and California, supported by the American Council on Germany’s McCloy Fellowship in Journalism

Crossing – what if people die in your backyard

broadcasted on German public radio SWR on November 7 and 8, 2016, and again on August 14, 2018 >

Kat Rodriguez has one of the hardest jobs along the US Mexican border. She supports Central American families in finding relatives who went missing on their journey to the US. All too often, they find their bodies in the Sonoran Desert behind Kat’s house. On her mission to stop the deaths, Kat crossed the desert on foot with 70 women, men, teenagers and me. Join us in my radio feature.

Borderland – undocumented migrants in the United States

published in the newsletter of the American Coucil on Germany, read full text here >>

Eleven million people live as undocumented migrants in the United States, constantly afraid of deportation. By working off the books and off-hours, they allow the middle class to maintain their American way of life.