After laying dormant for several years, the Pentagon reopened the MAVNI program, recruiting undocumented immigrants with “special skills” into the US armed forces, and subsequently offering them citizenship, in exchange for their service. Some of the first groups of these immigrants, granted deportation deferrals by the Obama administration were eligible to apply for this program in 2014. Amongst the special skills recognized by this program is a fluency in languages including Hindi, Urdu, Turkish, Korean, Nepali, Russian and Ukrainian, languages spoken by people from countries where the US has a current, vested, political interest. Ironically however, Spanish, the language spoken by a majority of the undocumented immigrants here in the United States, does not qualify for this incentive.
Walk In is conceived as a series of entrances or points of engagement. It contends with the reduction of life into a commodity, one good that may be exchanged for another.
Special thanks to Misha Kollontai, Lin Rao, Paulo Fonseca, Naeem Mohaiemen, Jungwon Park, Hammarsing Kharmar and Chad Marshall for lending their voices and their patience to this piece.
