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STATEMENT BY JU HONG UC BERKELEY DREAM ACT STUDENT

July 20, 2011

STATEMENT BY JU HONG

UC BERKELEY DREAM ACT STUDENT

“If not us, then who? If not now, then when? – John Lewis

My name is Ju Hong, and I am undocumented and unafraid.

On Tuesday, July 12, six other undocumented students and I conducted an act of civil disobedience to empower young undocumented immigrant youth and to protest the inhuman treatments of immigrants. We sat in the street nearby San Bernardino Valley College and submitted to arrest. We were taken to jail, and we are now being threatened with deportation. This is the first time in California, where undocumented youth participated in non-violent civil disobedience.

We chose to protest in San Bernardino County because organizations like the National Socialist Party (Nazis), the Minutemen, and anti-immigrant legislators have been terrorizing the immigrant communities. In San Bernardino, a 17-year old student was arrested and deported simply because he was riding his bike without the headlights on. Another student was arrested and deported because he was playing basketball on campus late at night. Where is the justice? Why are so many talented immigrant youth being targeted?

After our arrest, we were held in jail for almost 12 hours. All seven of us were confined to a single cell room with one toilet, one roll of toilet paper, and two long wooden benches. It was very cold.

One of the youngest participants, 19-year-old student Jorge Herrera, led the unity clap inside the cell. With our eyes closed, everyone followed by the rhythm of the clap. I shouted, ‘Isang Bagsak!’ a Filipino unity cry, “one down, one fall!” – meaning we must stand together and fight for justice. Even in jail, the room was filled with energy and strong determination.

Several hours later, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer came to our cell to interrogate us. The ICE agent looked directly at me and said, “I will not detain you today, but I will detain you soon.” In reality, the ICE agent has the authority to deport us, to separate us from our family and friends, and to send us to a country that is foreign to us.

ICE was notified because of the “secure communities” program that allows local law enforcement to share information with ICE to initiate deportation proceedings. This is an unjust program, because it leaves immigrant communities vulnerable and distrustful of the police.

A year ago, my family’s home was burglarized. The door was broken into pieces, the windows were completely shattered, and our valuable belongings were gone. All of my family was terrified. My immediate reaction was to call the police, but my mother stopped me, “Ju, do not call the police,” she said. “What if you get deported?”

Like many other undocumented immigrants, I was living in the shadows and living in a constant fear of deportation. However, I have decided to stand up and fight back. I am sick and tired of remaining silent. Today, I am proclaiming to the world that I am undocumented and unafraid.

In the next couple of weeks, I will find out if ICE will start removal proceedings on our cases. If ICE decides to put me in deportation proceedings, I will take full action and I will fight until I regain my basic human rights.

I risked my life because I wanted to empower other young undocumented youth. In particular, I strongly encourage my fellow Asian American undocumented youth to take the next step and come out of the shadows. Start sharing your personal story to your friends, your relatives, your counselors, and your communities. This is only way we can empower our communities and fix our broken immigration system.

I risked my life because I wanted to show that this is not only a Latino issue; in fact, this is a human rights issue. I hope we can stand united as a movement, and not let divisions hurt our work.

We are calling on President Barack Obama to stop the deportation of all undocumented students throughout the country. Please join us.

This is our home, this is our country, and we want to contribute to make this nation a better place.

You can make our dreams come true. Thank you.

Isang Bagsak,

Ju Hong

Leave a Comment » | Politics, Stand Up Speak Out! | Tagged: ab540, Asian immigrant youth, Barack Obama, Bay Area, DREAM, DREAM Act, immigrant rights, obama, student, undocumented, youth | Permalink
Posted by asianlawcaucus

Undocumented and Unafraid: Steve Li

March 16, 2011

By Steve Li, ASPIRE (Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education) Member

In honor of National Coming Out Week: Undocumented and Unafraid we are featuring stories of API dreamers. The DREAM Act would provide undocumented students that arrived before the age of 16 in the US a pathway to legalization.

It was a sunny morning, and like any other school day, I was in the bathroom getting ready for school when there was a loud knock on the door. I didn’t want to answer it since no one ever comes that early in the morning without notice. So I woke up my mom to see if she was expecting anyone. She said no, but they kept knocking. She got up and went to answer.

That’s when five officials dressed in black rushed in and searched the apartment. I was brushing my teeth when one opened the door and told me to get out and get dressed. I kept asking what was going on, but they wouldn’t tell me anything. Finally one of the officers asked if I knew why they were here and told me that I was undocumented and they would be deporting me back to Peru.

This is the only home I remember; my goals and dreams have always been in the Bay Area. I followed their orders, thinking it was just a mistake and that I would be back at school later that day.

Outside I was searched and handcuffed. My mother was, too. I was separated from my parents, and we were taken to Sacramento and thrown into jail where I was treated like a criminal. I went to bed hungry every night, physically and mentally exhausted.

Every day I woke up thinking that I should be going to school rather than locked up 23 hours a day. I kept asking what was happening, but I couldn’t get anywhere. Immigration officers never came to the jail. The thought of being forced to leave my home and go to a country where I no longer know anyone was devastating. It was mind-boggling, not being able to turn to any one for answers.

After three weeks in Sacramento County Jail, things started to sink in, and the little hope that I had left disappeared. I was flown to Arizona, far away from my family and friends, without being able to contact anyone.

There I spent three days in a room the size of the City College cafeteria with around 200 other people. We slept on the floor in our clothes, and I could smell the sweat and body odor of everyone around me. Some, caught crossing the border, still had mud and dirt on them; others were sick, coughing vigorously. We were packed in tight, only allowed to move to go to the bathroom.

The Detention Center in Arizona, in the middle of nowhere, was surrounded by high fences with razor blades and electrical wires with cameras and security guards everywhere. I told myself this was a nightmare and I would wake up any day now. But days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months.

The stories of others in the facility, from different parts of the world, really touched me. There were many young people like me. I met someone from Guatemala who had come here with his parents when he was very young. He had no say in immigrating and was just finishing high school when Immigration and Customs Enforcement took him into custody in Los Angeles. Now he, too, expected to be sent back to a country he had no memory of.

I was lucky to be living in the Bay Area and have my community organize to bring me home, eventually convincing Senator Feinstein to introduce a private bill to stop my deportation. But there are many DREAMers who are still incarcerated in Arizona and elsewhere. We want a chance to pursue our education, a chance to use our degrees, a chance to give back to the communities we grew up in and love.

This is not a Hispanic or an Asian issue. This is an issue that affects all of us. This will happen to more and more students, friends, and neighbors. We have a broken immigration system, and we need to fix it. I don’t want other students to go through what I went through. This is why is so important to pass the Federal DREAM Act. I’m Undocumented and unafraid.

1 Comment | Asian American, civil rights, Politics, Stand Up Speak Out! | Tagged: ab540, aspire, california, DREAM Act, dreamact, dreamer, ice, immigrant rights, immigration, undocumented, youth | Permalink
Posted by asianlawcaucus