8 things you should not say to an immigrant

I am a woman from Brazil and people react weirdly when I have to inform them I don’t dance the samba and Brazilians speak Portuguese, not Spanish. My Colombian friend has to keep up with others asking her if she eats tacos at home because “Mexican eat tacos”. Mexico and Colombia are completely different countries. A Palestinian friend deals with jokes about the genocide of her people. Those small comments might seem inoffensive but we hear it EVERY DAY and YES, IT HURTS. They are microaggressions that usually come from your unconscious biases (you have biases, I do, your friend does, we all have biases. That’s how our brains are wired, and to fix it we need to intentionally work on our perceptions of the world and people).

Find below some tips on how to be a better ally to your immigrant friends, family members, community…

• Don’t make jokes about immigration policies, like “I will call ICE” or “when you crossed the border with a coyote”? You should not use the collective trauma of immigrant populations as a joke
• Don’t imply you are doing immigrants a favor by employing them. You hire competent people to boost your business, it’s not a favor
• Ask immigrants about topics related to their hobbies, interests, and skills. Don’t ask only about immigration stuff. We are interesting people with so much…