The US has historically been a nation of immigrants.

But at a time when anti-immigrant policies are quickly ramping up, how do the kids of immigrants feel about their families?

Coming up on: Our Time... In “A Bigger World,” Devani Gayadin explores her parent's unexpected backgrounds.

One from Nigeria, and one from Guyana, as they redefines what it means to be American.

Then, Mridul Govind documents the seemingly endless process of legal immigration in: “Not Aliens”.

Immigration and families: next, on Our Time.

Why don't people understand me?

I'm tired of running so fast.

I want to be heard.

Why are people afraid?

I'm ready for change.

I hear you.

I see you.

- My time... - My time... Our time is now.

Major funding for this program is provided by: The Lindsay-Brisbin Family Fund The Russell Grinnell Memorial Trust Steve and Mary Anne Walldorf Betsy and Warren Dean and the H. Chase Stone Charitable Trust.

Additional funding is provided by: Diversus Health Arts in Society The Equity in Arts Learning for Colorado Youth Grant.

The Joseph Henry Edmondson Foundation The Bee Vradenburg Foundation and the CALM Foundation.

(deep drone) MOM: Your grandfather, he always said: “Make your world big.” My name is Devani Gayadin, and I'm 16.

But I'mma turn 17 this year.

In my immediate family, I have my mom.

And then I have my dad.

I have my older sister who█s 23.

And then my little sister, who's 11 years old.

At school, people would ask me very ignorant questions.

especially when we're talking about other cultures that aren't Hispanic or just strictly Black Americans.

So I felt like it was really important for me to share my cultures.

That experience made me more curious about things going on in my family.

I don't know if you warned them but I do speak broken English.

DEVANI: No.

It's fine.

- Okay.

- It's fine.

What's your name?

Ramdhani Gayadin.

- No, you got to say like “my name is.” Do I really?

- Yeah.

Okay, so my name is Ramdhani Gayadin.

- Where are you from?

I█m from...originally from Guyana.

- Mhmm.

- South America.

which is an English speaking country.

It was ruled the British.

Is that why you have a cricket bat in the garage?

Yes.

DAD: There are five main ethnicities over there.

One is Indian.

That came from India.

We have Chinese, we have Africans there, Some of the British stayed behind.

And then we have the indigenous.

We have Christianity over there.

Myself, was a Hindu.

DEVANI: At school, you know, how I'm, like, basically the only person there that has this type of background.

People ask me questions about it but I don't know how to answer them.

and I wonder about it and I like try to look for clues around the house.

But even then I don't really know.

It's kind of my fault, a little bit because I don't talk about my background a lot.

You know, we grew up poor, so... that█s why I never brought anything up.

It was nothing to brag about.

I didn't think it was that important When I was seven, From Guyana went straight to New York City.

So ten of us are living in a one-bedroom apartment.

We had beds everywhere.

And it's the culture in the schools in the States was was, was very, you know, it was stressful.

It was very stressful.

MOM: My name is.. Mwamka Mary Gayadin What was your maiden name?

My maiden name Una Chuku.

- Where does that name come from?

- That comes from Nigeria.

Specifically, Anambra State.

And it is derived from the Igbo tribe.

All right.

MOM: Your grandfather was Igbo.

and your grandmother is African American from Mississippi.

[laughter] I was born here in the United States.

When we first came to Nigeria I was one.

We were Christian.

So lived in the north.

So we grew more or less like Americans for the most part.

Or as they say, there, “the English.” So we grew up mostly westernized.

See, Mom is making spaghetti for dinner.

- How did people treat you?

Because you were technically you were mixed.

You were mixed.

[sigh] Okay, this is where it gets a little bit touchy.

The words they like to use a lot for us was “half caste.” That means basically “You're not one of us” We were not Igbo enough.

So I was removed from a lot of things.

So I would say for the most part, I was a loner.

But one thing I will give your grandmother: She never imposed her culture on me.

if anything, she tried very hard to fit in to the Igbo culture.

And in doing that, I felt she lost a good part of herself.

“Hey mom!” [upbeat music] We came to America in 1996, on the cusp of turning 18.

When I got here, I really didn't have a clear path.

And the military helped me redefine who I was and what I wanted to be.

DAD: I was, uh... 18 years old when I joined.

Okay.

and I did eight years, And I remember seeing her and, I don't know, it was.

It was just, I was just attracted to her.

MOM: My platoon sergeant was talking at the time.

And your dad had said something so smart aleck that I literally was standing in formation and turned around and told him, “If you ain't got nothing nice to say, shut the **** up.

That was my first sentence to your dad when I met him.

Hmm.

Sargent: Taser Taser Taser!

[all crying out] DEVANI: What did you learn from daddy about Guyana?

I didn't know there were Guyanese-Indians, actual Indians there.

I didn't know that.

How did that kind of change your view of the world?

In a way.

My dad was right.

The world is bigger than [music plays] DEVANI: My parents got married in 2015.

I was really young when that happened.

I was like seven.

They had two weddings.

They had a traditional white wedding And then they had a Hindu wedding.

DAD: Your mom, she respected my culture.

And I respect to her culture and their tradition.

It was something that we both wanted to do.

And what's your full name?

Isis Victoria Gayadin.

ISIS: from what I hear from both mom and dad is... food is one of very big thing in our family.

Mom thought it would be nice to have food that felt like home For dad as well, since she also knows how to cook Nigerian food.

DEVANI: You know, people at school... They don█t get that I like chickpeas.

Everybody skips it.

But I eat like a whole plate of it.

And they call me like, why do you eat that?

MOM: Because it's good.

- Because it's peak.

- Okay.

Let me know when you█re ready.

- Okay.

[dramatic music] DAD: Both our cultures foreign to American culture.

I think our cultures kind of clash a little bit.

DEVANI: 9/11 happened, and daddy was sent to Iraq.

One time they stopped him for a random check, Even though he was in uniform.

MOM: It was disappointing, but not surprising.

ISIS: Why am I being randomly stopped every time?

Remember, they see our last name first.

So automatically I'm pretty sure they don't know where that last thing was from.

Yeah, I may be Indian and I may be African American, but that doesn't mean I'm a criminal.

Doesn't mean I'm trying to smuggle anything.

I'm trying to sightsee.

I'm trying to catch some pictures.

I can't change my genetic code.

“Tell me about your experience today.” ISIS: I do remember dad talking about how they would, uh, climb the tree sometimes to get the bananas, Shows that he still does remember Guyana.

And still it was not afraid to go back to those roots, And then with mom going on her Nigerian food craze is like she just wants a piece of home too.

She keeps talking about how she doesn't want to lose what she was— What she was taught.

I think the major thing mom does miss is the fact that... grandpa didn't get to see you guys.

And I do get a little emotional about it because I'm like, I'm the only one that met both grandpa's.

So it's like, you guys could have met them.

[somber music] DAD: Guyana, it was a very, very poor country.

My dad worked on the sugar cane field, very hard work.

And he was supporting the family.

However he can.

At the time, all three of his sisters were here in the States already, so they sponsored my dad and my uncle.

They figured that it'd be a better life to come to the United States.

So when I, uh... we got a message that your grandfather passed away, it made me so angry.

And, uh... And what made me — - You okay daddy, do you need water?

Sorry.

- It's okay.

- What...what made me angry was...because— he came to this country.

and I didn't think he better his life.

He worked in factories.

He didn't make any money, He was still struggling.

And... I didn█t want him to die that way.

I wanted him to have a better life.

So that's what made me mad.

[somber music] He did... He...he had something when he died, daddy.

He saw you go to the military.

He saw you come back from the military.

He saw that you had a relationship.

He saw that you had a child.

“Ooh sorry.” - “Ooh.” - “Daddy!” - “This is the apartment.

That█s the kitchen.” DEVANI: He saw you succeeding.

I feel like that's what he was working for.

It was about providing you with a better life and your future for a better life.

“Two most beautiful girls in all the world!” - Your connection to your culture and the openness of mommy's culture has provided a way for me and my sisters to have choice in our lives, I feel like you did a good job Passing on that.

- Oh, thank you.

[reflective, upbeat music] DEVANI: I like purple, so I made mine purple — It█s falling!

And then, Umi is going to wear this one.

This is one we've had for a while.

- Yeah.

- These are the African clothes.

My mom likes wearing this one to work a lot.

MOM: Growing up... Being not only biracial, but also bicultural.

It█s a lot of pressure.

I hope that we're doing a good job as far as teaching you girls that you belong, Like like.

I don't want your world to be small.

I don't want you to be in a box.

DEVANI: This experience of just how I grew up, and the type of environment I'm growing up in, it's making me more emotionally and like spatially aware of everything going on I basically hope that there will be opportunities left for people despite their background.

We just had to make our world a little bigger.

The Youth Documentary Academy empowers young filmmakers to identify and craft their own stories through intensive training and mentorship in the art of documentary film.

Oh, hey.

My name is Mridul Govind.

I'll be your host for the evening.

I've lived here in the great state of Colorado in the United States for the past 11 years.

My qualifications are plenty.

I can ride a bike, throw a frisbee, throw a football, grill meats on a small grill, and play the guitar.

I was voted into my senior year yearbook as ‘most likely to host a talk show.█ And I once heard a guy tell me, “If I'd never seen your face before...” “I would have assumed you were a white dude.” And I'm not really sure how to take that one.

I've gone rock climbing and snow tubing.

I can dance the waltz, just not with anyone.

I've made four short films.

I can give you a rundown of how the US got involved in the Second World War.

A history of the dinosaurs, and how they shot that one scene from E.T.. But most importantly, I can sing the national anthem.

Oh, say, can you see?

But this story, it isn't about me.

I'm just the messenger.

And it's not about him either.

- I grew up in Kansas, general.

I'm bout as American as it gets.

MRIDUL: And it's not about him.

Him or them.

Because these guys... My name is Govind Mishra.

My name is Shuvajyoti Bardhan.

My name is Priyadarshani Bardhan My name is Batasta Basu.

My family and I come from a small town in India, east of the Ganga River.

When I was seven years old, we moved to the US.

And as with most immigrant families, food became something central and sacred to daily life.

It helps bind us to our identity.

- Do you want help?

Or are you good?

- I'm good.

Huge!

- Yay!

You did it!

That's what she does every time, Whenever I'm cooking.

I'd be like, oh, I can't find the eggs.

And she's like — And all of a sudden they're there.

Have they been there the whole time?

Who knows?

Food, faith, family and friends have sustained us through the lengthy bureaucracy and mountains of paperwork that come with the trials of immigration.

- It's a kind of a very competitive, very challenging process.

Educational records, your career records for your employment records, everything you have to submit.

And then it gets scrutinized.

[laughing] MRIDUL: Of course, my family isn█t the only one going through this.

And we've had to find community in the struggle.

Okay.

Does anybody want to do the clap?

I always, dreamed of, you know, having an experience of, first world country and, definitely United States was the biggest of all.

- Yahoo!

We grew up seeing Hollywood movies.

- Yeah!

Same since childhood, You're watching Hollywood movies, and you see Statue of Liberty, New York.

[upbeat drums] -Yeah, I mean, the process is complicated, no doubt.

It was very tedious.

It is, again, a long process.

The way you guys phrase it, It does... there does seem to be a lot of bureaucracy and, I guess tediousness to the whole process.

Yes.

That's correct.

- Yeah.

- Yes, yeah.

- Yes.

There is no one category of work visa.

There are multiple categories.

HL My Visa got rejected.

H itself has a sub variant of it.

485 Item 14 RFE stands for: request for further evidence.

Interesting.

Is my dad going to have to go through the same thing?

If we even get to that point.

- Right.

Oh okay.

Cool.

According to all known laws of aviation, the bumblebee should not be able to take flight.

Its wingspan is far too small and its body is far too fat.

However, in spite of all known laws of aviation, the bumblebee flies anyway.

Really, assimilation didn't feel like anything crazy difficult.

It just felt like, you know, You could just kind of have to.

Because otherwise — Otherwise the kids are going to look at you weirdly, you know?

That was difficult.

What can I say?

I didn't talk to you guys about this because, um... But at the time I was like... I was really upset that my name was being so often mispronounced.

Like, I'd go there and they'd call me... They'd call me Mirdul, or Mildew or Mildred or Myrtle or something.

Yeah, something along those lines.

Mirdul█s the running one right now.

Like that's the that's the one I'm working with.

And that's the one I'm going to say at the beginning of this documentary.

But... It's... It's upsetting, you know?

- Yeah, yeah.

- It's like identity to yourself You, also, one time you told me, “Mama can I change my name?” Yeah.

My name wasn't the only thing that was different about me.

There was also concern from India that I might drift from our culture.

Whenever we█re on call with Bubba... He█s, he█ll, um... He, like, tell us he's like, giving us advice or like, wants us to ourselves... I do remember this one time he called me and he was like, “Don't drink wine.” [laughing] And I said I wasn't planning on it.

He█s like... He's like, “No, listen, I know what the Americans like.” “I know they like smoking.” “I know they like drinking.

You don't.” - Yeah.

- He█s worried about you, always - Yeah.

You█re still here, and he█s thinking “Oh my god...” “I lose him.” The biggest challenge was a sense of isolation.

Right?

You█re...you█re away from your family.

Your soul, thousands of miles away.

The customs, the food itself.

Everything's different here.

- Our food is very spicy in here and it's just opposite.

And the food portions in this country is huge.

- Festivals!

That is... That is what I miss the most.

That kind of, enthusiasm... and kind of zeal.

MRIDUL: And you have to adjust, which means the incessant travel to get your visa stamped with not a moment to enjoy time with family in India.

- The big thing is the traveling back and coming back from India.

Being scared about the █ You know what?

Maybe you are not coming back.

So I already have a valid paper, but I'm still scared.

Going back to India, my visa stamping process is as cumbersome as problematic as getting this approval, which I already got, which I got.

I█m still scared.

In 2021 we█ve gone back to India to get our visa stamped.

I remember going through all the processes, filing my paperwork at the embassy and essentially, my visa didn't end up getting stamped.

[foreboding music] Everyone in my family had their visas except for me, which meant we couldn't go back to the US.

But other than that, was there anything, Anything else that you had to adjust to?

I faced difficulty with the accent.

Yes, because I do have a thick accent here.

Yeah.

I mean, you used to encourage me when I was little.

Do you speak English at home with the accent.

so... Do you remember that?

I'm more adjusting in that way.

I would say we are... we are very tough in those in that terms that you give me a challenge... It could be in work or life... I would like to face it upfront and not— I would not duck.

MRIDUL: According to all known laws of immigration, the immigrant should not be able to take flight.

Their access is far too little and their dreams are far too big.

However, in spite of all known laws of immigration, the immigrant chooses to fly anyway.

- The $100,000 per year.

Under this new rule, foreign students should be allowed to stay no longer than four years.

President Trump announced he would permanently pause migration from, quote, “third world countries” Known as the Big Beautiful Bill.

It's now officially law For general understanding, People either goes with the ‘citizens,█ ‘permanent resident,█ and ‘illegal migrants.█ We also exist.

Legal migrants.

Legal documented people also exist doing their hard work silently, paying taxes, unheard, unnoticed.

For the first time.

The visa renewal was being done and I saw the form.

I was like, what is an alien like?

- Yeah.

- They're referring someone from a different planet or something, because that's what we know for alien means.

That word alien is pinching because as per the proper definition of alien, we have same face, same human beings and everything, so... Even I am laughing, but it's still like little, little pinches there.

Haha.

All the harsh realities of immigration struck me at once.

I thought it was my fault that we were stuck in India.

My father filed an appeal, and eventually I got another chance at an interview.

So I walked up to that window, just like every other guy there put on my best American accent.

And I said, I am a high schooler in the United States.

My family and I have lived there for a few years.

I consider myself an American.

I want to go home.

- Just don't do anything.

Just kick it.

Ahh, see?

This is the land of opportunity.

- Opportunity.

- Opportunity.

Another opportunity.

This the land of dreamers.

There's always been you born here or not.

That doesn't matter.

And it has to be like that.

It has to be nurtured like that.

A lot of the — the way the United States sets you up to believe in yourself... in a big way... It sets you up to dream.

- Yes.

Which is good.

- Which is great.

- Great.

You know, I can get behind that.

- Yep.

- You know?

But, um, but then when you're, when you're here and then you, it kind of dawns on you that not every kid is looked at the same way.

It's a little disheartening because all of a sudden I can't dream the same way.

Which isn't great.

As with most of my disappointments, I try to see it the way my father does.

I█m so much in love with Pikes Peak.

Whenever I get frustrated with my work, I simply get my bike.

And I took a trip of Wolf Lake.

And then when you see Pikes Peak in front of you, you.

You realize the inspiration out of it.

You may have a tough time now, but next day is not going to be the same view.

Major funding for this program is provided by: The Lindsay-Brisbin Family Fund The Russell Grinnell Memorial Trust Steve and Mary Anne Walldorf Betsy and Warren Dean and the H. Chase Stone Charitable Trust.

Additional funding is provided by: Diversus Health Arts in Society The Equity in Arts Learning for Colorado Youth Grant.

The Joseph Henry Edmondson Foundation The Bee Vradenburg Foundation and the CALM Foundation.

For more information, additional resources, or to watch Our Time films, please visit: www.youthdocumentary.org