“给奥巴马一大哄” 亚裔学生的公开信【图】

七月，奥巴马到加州访问演说，韩裔学生Ju Hong等尚无身份的学生被邀请参加。在奥巴马讲话时，这位韩裔学生给奥巴马起哄，即刻上了当天美国的头条新闻。

奥巴马试图修改美国移民法的举措赢得了不少亚裔和拉丁移民和没有身份的居留者的赞成。但是，由于美国总统的权力有限，加上很多在美国居留的外国人及其家庭的种种错综复杂的原因，很多没有身份的人并不买奥巴马的帐，包括Ju Hong这样的学生---父母把他们带到美国，但根据美国的移民法，他们一直没有身份。

Ju Hong继续为自己的身份和父母的身份、与他出于同样境况的人的身份辩争。他们希望奥巴马能够阻止移民局把没有身份的、被父母带来后非法居留的孩子们遣送回本国。

他在网上写了一封给美国总统的公开信，解释他在夏天为何打断奥巴马的演说：


Dear President Obama,

I am Ju Hong, the "heckler" that interrupted your speech at the Betty Ong Center in San Francisco last week. I spoke up not out of disrespect, however, either for you or our country. No, I spoke up -- and am writing to you now -- to ask that you use your executive order to halt deportations for 11.5 million undocumented immigrant families.

My family came to the United States from South Korea when I was 11 years old. Like many immigrants, my mother brought me to this country to seek a better life for her children.

I graduated from UC Berkeley, and am now pursuing a Master's degree in Public Administration at San Francisco State University. I have lived in America now for 13 years. I consider this country as my home. During my senior year in high school, however, I learned that my family had overstayed a tourist visa. We are undocumented immigrants.

As an American without papers, I was not able to get a job, obtain a driver's license, or receive governmental financial aid. When my mother was sick and in severe pain, she did not visit a doctor because she cannot procure medical insurance. And when my family's home was burglarized, she refused to call the police because she was afraid that our family would be turned over to immigration officials and deported.

Like many other undocumented immigrants, I was living in the shadows and living in fear of deportation. However, I have decided to speak out and stand up.

Immigration reform is not only a Latino issue, it's also an Asian and Pacific Islander issue -- in fact, it is a human rights issue. Currently, two million of the estimated 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in our country come from Asia. Under your administration, 250,000 undocumented Asian/Pacific Islander immigrants have been deported. While we only make up five percent of the country, we are disproportionately impacted by your immigration policies.

Last week, I was formally invited by White House staff to hear your remarks on immigration reform in San Francisco. As I stood in the stands behind you, I was hoping to hear about your plan to address the lives of 11 million undocumented people living in this country, like my family. And while you expressed your support for comprehensive immigration reform, you did not address how an average of 1,100 immigrants are deported every single day under your administration. You did not address how you deported 205,000 parents of U.S. citizens in the last two years. You did not address how, because of your administration's record number of deportations--nearly two million immigrants in five years, a record--families are being torn apart: spouses are being separated from each other, parents are being separated from their children, and our brothers and sisters are being separated from one another. You did not to address how your administration would end the anti-immigration deportation programs like "Secure Communities." You've deported more people than any other president in the U.S. history.

Interestingly, you talked about Angel Island during your speech. What you did not mention, however, is that more people are detained every single day in detention today than were detained yearly at Angel Island. You recognized Angel Island as a dark period in Chinatown's history, but you failed to recognize that more Asians and Pacific Islanders are in detention today than were in detention under the Chinese Exclusion Act. In fact, your administration detains up to 34,000 people per day, a record number of detainees in U.S. history.

Because you failed to address these issues, I was compelled to address the concerns of our community.

You claim that the President of the United States has no authority to stop the deportations. And yet, in June 2012, before the 2012 election, which you won with the help of Latino and Asian voters, you implemented Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. With the stroke of a pen, you dramatically changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people like me who can now live without the daily threat of deportation, and can legally work in this country for the first time in our lives.

I know that you support comprehensive immigration reform. But I also know that you have the power to stop the deportations, and that you have the power to stop the suffering, fear, and intimidation facing millions of immigrants like my family.

Your fellow American,

Ju Hong



美国网民的反应：

Kellygreen的回帖：

Mr. Hong,

I appreciate your passion, but our system of government does not give the President the authority to unilaterally ignore or counter-mand our laws. Simply because they are wrong, bad, or he disagrees with them. In fact---having to win our Independence through years of war with a King who overstepped the traditional limits of his authority over us----we are very sensitive about entrusting too much power in the hands of one person.

The President was correct in speaking to you that day. He only has the authority to IMPLEMENT and ENFORCE the laws....only Congress has the power to CHANGE them. What he did with the "dreamers" was to essentially the deportation of those who did not violate our laws in being brought here. He cannot do that with those who chose to come here in violation of those laws. Only Congress has the power to address the injustices you legitimately cry out against.

Unfortunately, this puts you (and those of us who agree that change must happen) up against some of the ugliest elements of our society. Racists who fear the increasing numbers of non-whites. Xenophobes who fear new languages, ideas and customs. Unskilled/semi-skilled workers who fear competition for limited jobs. Greedy corporations and business owners who enjoy having a labor force that can be easily and cheaply exploited for profit, because they have no legal recourse or rights.

These are the people who must be heckled into changing THROUGH our laws....not by circumventing them.

2 Dec 6:36 AM

 
 

The Sharkey的回帖：

Edited for accuracy.
He wouldn't be deported for not having the correct documentation.
He would be deported for coming to the country under false pretenses, violating the terms of his guest visa, and violating American Immigration & Customs laws.

I would like to point out that being against illegal immigration is not the same thing as being against all immigration. Many of the people I know who hold the harshest views about what should be done with illegal immigrants believe that the legal immigration process should be made much easier.

Part of the reason that anti-immigration sentiment in America is so strong right now is that our economy is still in the toilet. Job creation is lagging behind the population growth of legal American residents. It's hard to convince folks that we need to be letting more immigrants into the country when 10% of the people who are already here can't find jobs.

 

所有跟帖： 

• 美国不是天堂，也不应该是天堂，进来就有身份，不交税就坐享其成，那是灾难 -笑天下大事- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/03/2013 postreply 13:00:21