‘We Are Not Illegal’ Flushing DREAMers on Obama’s deferred action
announcement and dropping the I-word.
By Sukjong Hong https://aaww.org/postauthor/sukjong-hong/
Sukjong Hong
REPORTAGE https://aaww.org/category/reportage/#toc | BANGLADESH
https://aaww.org/tag/bangladesh, COLORLINES
https://aaww.org/tag/colorlines, DOSA HUNT
https://aaww.org/tag/dosa-hunt, FLUSHING
https://aaww.org/tag/flushing, FLUSHING
INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
https://aaww.org/tag/flushing-international-high-school, TANIA ROMERO
https://aaww.org/tag/tania-romero, IMMIGRATION
https://aaww.org/tag/immigration, IMMIGRATION REFORM
https://aaww.org/tag/immigration-reform, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS
https://aaww.org/tag/undocumented-immigrants JULY 10, 2012
*Part 3 of an Open City series profiling undocumented New Yorkers. (Click
to read Part 1 https://aaww.org/new-dreams-lis-24/ and Part 2
https://aaww.org/undocumented-in-richmond-hill/.)*
On a sweltering day in June, down a hallway of empty classrooms, Room 306
was bustling with students. School was out for the year, but around a table
scattered with papers, 13 students had just decided upon the recipient of a
scholarship for undocumented students. “Oh my god, it was really hard,”
said Edwin, a 19-year old senior, as several students echoed his sentiment.
For these students at Flushing International High School (FIHS)
http://www.flushinginternational.org/, collectively addressing the
challenges of undocumented students is a routine part of school life. FIHS
itself is part of a network of alternative schools
http://www.internationalsnps.org/our-philosophy/our-philosophy-internationals-approach.html
designed
to welcome recent immigrants. The students I met were all members of two
extracurricular student groups, the Multi Squad, which coordinates events
to recognize the school’s diverse student body, and the DREAM Team, which
is part of a nation-wide student movement that advocates for the passage of
the federal DREAM Act
http://rs9.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:SN01291:@@@L&summ2=m& through
advocacy and direct action.
https://aaww.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/FIHS-Tania-small.jpg
However, Flushing International’s DREAM Team, as the students shared
proudly, is one of the only high-school level groups organized to promote
the DREAM Act. We met only a few days after President Obama’s announcement
declaring deferred deportation action
for
eligible, undocumented immigrants, ages 16 to 30. I was curious to learn
how the students felt. After all, it wasn’t as if they had been spared the
impact of immigration policy. When I asked the students what had led to the
formation of the DREAM Team, there was a pause in the room. It turned out
that last year, in the space of a single summer, three of their classmates
had left the United States or had been deported due to their undocumented
status. Edwin explained, “There was a student who had to leave. He was
accepted into all these colleges, but he couldn’t go. He was our
valedictorian.”
Another student had been detained while en route to Florida to visit his
sick grandfather. When law enforcement stopped the bus and asked everyone
to present identification, the student was taken to a detention center in
South Carolina. While there, his sick grandfather visited him, returned to
Florida alone, and passed away. The student was eventually released from
detention and graduated last winter. “We all attended his graduation,” the
students recalled. “We had never experienced so many incidents at once,”
said Tania Romero, the school’s social worker and DREAM Team advisor.
“Three kids in one summer! We were feeling it, and I’m sure the young
people were feeling it even more.”
In forming the DREAM team, students carved out a space to discuss Arizona’s
immigration law, the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy, or other marquee events
shaping the reform debate. Undocumented students were able to openly share
their stories and struggles with their peers, culminating in an event where
some went public with their status and advocated for immigration reform
before an audience of 500.
That event—called “We are Beautiful! Immigrant Rights Do Matter!”—was
organized by the students themselves. Ellen, a 17-year-old from China,
explained the message behind the title: “We wanted to show the beauty of
our cultures and the beauty of immigrants. We are not criminals. We wanted
to show our confidence.”
Flushing International’s DREAM Team has also received some media attention
for carrying out a “Drop the I-word” campaign, adapted from the ColorLines
initiative http://colorlines.com/droptheiword/ to eradicate the word
“illegals” when referring to undocumented immigrants. “How did you decide
to do this campaign?” I asked. Everyone looked at Montes, a soft-spoken
16-year-old from Mexico. “What?” he asked, and everyone laughed. “We call
him the president,” students explained, to which he shook his head. Montes
then said, “We did this because we believe this country is for everyone,
and there should be no discrimination against people just because of their
status.”
https://aaww.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/FIHS-Seth-small.jpg
In order to launch the campaign, the students wrote a pledge
(adapted
from the original) that concludes, “We are not illegal! We are undocumented
and unafraid!” Then the students, teaming up with Multi Squad, another
student group, took this pledge to the school cafeteria. Some people were
apathetic, and some were afraid it would get them into trouble, the
students said. “What did you tell those who were afraid to sign it?” I
asked. Seth, 19, said, “We told them that it would benefit all of us, and
that their name would stay in the community.”
“We said, ‘Don’t be afraid. We are not alone,’” added Erica.
“Actually, before this campaign, most of us used the I-word,” said Joy, a
17-year-old from China. “They say it so much on TV.” Erica added, “Until I
joined this campaign, I didn’t think about what it really means. Before I
didn’t feel offended, but now I do.” Edwin interjected, “I think the
campaign has been very successful. Do you know why?” He grinned. “Once, I
said it in class when I was trying to explain something, and another
student said to me, “Yo, don’t use the I-word!’”
To be clear, the work of the DREAM Team and Multi Squad is not only shared
by students from many ethnic and cultural backgrounds, but also joins those
who are documented with the undocumented. As one student shared, “Because I
am a citizen, I feel I can speak up more; I am not afraid. What it means
is, I need to speak up even more.” Tania, a 17-year-old from Ecuador, told
the story of her cousin, an excellent student who is unsure if she can
attend college because she is undocumented. “If you are documented, you
have to support other people who are undocumented. That is why I am here.”
The students also shared that the DREAM Act, though a vital part of reform,
doesn’t cover all the bases. Edwin shared, “My mother is very proud of what
I do. My uncle—he is a little more… realistic. He tells me that we should
try to help our parents, too.”
Overall, the students are hopeful, but cautious about how reform will
unfold. Erica, a senior, and one of the early leaders of the DREAM team,
described Obama’s announcement as “a baby step.” But, “if Obama is
re-elected, will he forget all about us?” Karma, a graduating senior who
had emigrated from Tibet, added: “It’s not our exact aim, but it gets us
closer to our goal.”
https://aaww.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/FIHS-JOY-KARMA1.jpg
Sukjong Hong https://aaww.org/postauthor/sukjong-hong/ covers Flushing
as Open City’s Creative Nonfiction Fellow. Once a participating artist for
Still Presents Past, a traveling exhibit based on oral histories of the
Korean War, she has also written on South Korea’s DMZ for Triple Canopy.
She has traveled to and coordinated study trips and programs in South
Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Japan. Contact her at sukjong33 [at]
gmail.com or follow her @hongriver http://twitter.com/hongriver.
Vish and Dev: Undocumented in Richmond Hill: “He paid twenty thousand to
come here. He has to work and doesn’t go to school at all.” By Rishi Nath
https://aaww.org/postauthor/rishi-nath/:
https://aaww.org/undocumented-in-richmond-hill/
&
New DREAMs: Lis, 24 “I wouldn’t have come if I’d known.” By E. Tammy Kim
