Bad Bunny and unaccompanied migrant youth with Noemí Enchautegui de Jesús

Where We Land

Noemí Enchautegui de Jesús is a Senior Professorial Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at American University in Washington DC. She has a PhD in Community Psychology from NYU, and she’s developed and taught a course on the Psychology of Immigration. Though she was born in New York, Noemi was raised in Puerto Rico.

We spoke with Noemi about the difficult situations unaccompanied migrant children are exposed to even before they immigrate, all the way up to being reunited with their families. We also talked about how she was sent to live with her grandmother, her interest in community psychology, and Bad Bunny’s new album.

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ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Luciana and Claudia Valdiviezo know what it’s like to move to the U.S. – twice. They were born in Peru and lived there for only a few years until their parents moved the family to the U.S. The sisters kept in touch with their roots, speaking Spanish at home and every Christmas when they visited Peru for the holidays. Then, when they were 12 and 11 respectively, the family moved back to Peru. Growing up both Peruvian and American during those formative years gave Luciana and Claudia a deep understanding of what it means to belong, and not belong, at the same time.

The sisters eventually moved back to the U.S. Luciana is a marketing professional living in Washington D.C. with her husband and two young children. Claudia is a writer living in New York City.