Undocuhoneys is a celebration of immigrants in America. With or without papers, we are beautiful creators of our futures. Together, we have come a long way mentally, physically, emotionally for ourselves and our family. This is a space to reclaim, reflect and express the experience with great depth through photographs and video poetry through a multidisciplinary project called Undocuhoneys.

Undocuhoneys is a term of endearment for my community of fellow immigrants who have been in and out of the state of undocumentedness through the American immigration system. With DACA, the deferred childhood arrivals program under threat, I wanted to reclaim the word undocumented and add my loving touch by combining it with the word honey. Undocuhoneys is a term used to lovingly describe my community with affection and tragedy in one breath.

The portrait series titled Undocuhoneys: Departure are photographs that capture four subject’s dignity in our new home with our new identities despite the constant anxiety and dehumanization we face on a day to day basis. Aside from making our America home, we have a common theme that is unspoken. We can no longer visit the countries we came from. Our old home remains fractured and connectivity through digitization is all we have. The short film counterpart of the project, Undocuhoneys: Homecoming, captures the absurdity of being teleported through green screen to the motherland after assimilation in America. Undocuhoneys experiments with creating a dialogue between the two mediums (photography and film) in order to present the fragmented relationship immigrants have of the two places they call home. This is the world of an Undocuhoney.