By: Alvaro Manrique Barrenechea 

In April of 2020, Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors launched Oye Vecino, a Spanish language podcast that seeks to empower immigrant families living in the United States by providing trustworthy and reliable information. The podcast is part of the Families Together program that was funded by the Tennessee Legal Initiatives Fund from the Tennessee Bar Foundation, as well as the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.  Woodbine United Methodist Church’s reverend, Carlos Uroza, has been crucial in helping Oye Vecino reach its listeners.

The first episode introduces the Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors team and touches on a couple of immigration issues relevant to the time. A second episode features Bethany Jackson, the organization’s Legal Director, who speaks about the current status of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and other implications that the pandemic has had in the immigration process. 

Oye Vecino is already working on the additional episodes that will feature more community members — people who work for organizations that provide help to the immigrant population, and also individuals who want to share their personal immigration stories to open the discussion about the many aspects of immigration in the United States. Stay tuned!  

You can download and listen to all of our episodes at www.tnjfon.org/vecino