El Sol in the Sunshine State
1) What was the primary impetus behind El Sol in Jupiter? Has El Sol accomplished its primary objective? Why or why not?
2) Visit the El Sol website: www.friendsofelsol.org
3) Who can use El Sol to look for work? Who can use El Sol to hire workers? Who can use El Sol to access social and educational services?
4) Who cooks the meals at El Sol? Where does the food come from?
5) What type of legal assistance is available at El Sol? Why can’t undocumented workers who use El Sol just apply to become citizens if they have access to a lawyer? Can’t they just “get in line”? Is there “a line” available?
6) Who has access to the food pantry at El Sol?
7) What educational services are offered at El Sol?
8) What is the Worker’s Council at El Sol?
9) List the programs and services offered at El Sol.
10) Can any of the programs offered at El Sol serve the purpose of immigrant integration into the larger Jupiter community? Into the larger American community? How? Whom does integration benefit?
11) Who staffs the programs offered at El Sol? How many are paid employees?
12) What role do volunteers play? Where do the volunteers come from?
13) El Sol has been featured in a variety of media:
14) After opening, what obstacles has El Sol faced?
15) Why did FLIMEN (Floridians for Immigration Enforcement) target El Sol with weekly protests?
16) How has the Jupiter community reacted to the FLIMEN protests?
2) Visit the El Sol website: www.friendsofelsol.org
- What is El Sol's mission?
- According to its mission statement, whose interests are at the core of El Sol? In other words-- whom does El Sol serve?
3) Who can use El Sol to look for work? Who can use El Sol to hire workers? Who can use El Sol to access social and educational services?
4) Who cooks the meals at El Sol? Where does the food come from?
5) What type of legal assistance is available at El Sol? Why can’t undocumented workers who use El Sol just apply to become citizens if they have access to a lawyer? Can’t they just “get in line”? Is there “a line” available?
- You can review the eligible categories here.
- Listen to this story about "The Line for Legal Immigration," from NPR's All Things Considered.
- The Department of State releases monthly “Visa Bulletins” where they inform the public when the applications that are being currently processed for different visa categories were submitted. Click here to look at the most recent bulletin and find out when the applications of the Mexicans who were granted visas under one of the family categories were originally submitted.
6) Who has access to the food pantry at El Sol?
7) What educational services are offered at El Sol?
8) What is the Worker’s Council at El Sol?
9) List the programs and services offered at El Sol.
- Who can participate in each? Who benefits from each?
10) Can any of the programs offered at El Sol serve the purpose of immigrant integration into the larger Jupiter community? Into the larger American community? How? Whom does integration benefit?
11) Who staffs the programs offered at El Sol? How many are paid employees?
12) What role do volunteers play? Where do the volunteers come from?
13) El Sol has been featured in a variety of media:
- Jupiter or Bust: The El Sol Story, grand prize winner of the 2007 CSPAN Student Cam. This 5-minute documentary was made by students at Jupiter High School. You can see the video here (http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Jupi)
- Living “Illegal”: The Human Face of Unauthorized Migration. New Press, 2011. See also www.livingillegal.org
- El Sol is also the subject of several paintings by workers who use El Sol. Pedro Chavajay, a day-laborer who uses El Sol’s services, painted the cover of Against the Tide. Pictured right: "Los Trabajadores de El Sol," by Pedro Chavajay.
14) After opening, what obstacles has El Sol faced?
15) Why did FLIMEN (Floridians for Immigration Enforcement) target El Sol with weekly protests?
- You can look at FLIMEN’s protest announcement here (http://www.flimen.org/JupiterProtests.htm)
16) How has the Jupiter community reacted to the FLIMEN protests?
Protest outside El Sol, 2009.
