“I’m a 15-Year-Old U.S. Citizen and I’m Facing Deportation”

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Friday April 13, 2012 · 8:57 AM PDT

2012/04/13 · 08:57

This email was sent to me by Fredd Reyes, who we helped to get out of detention in Thanksgiving of 2010. Ever since then, Fredd and his mom have been under constant supervision by ICE and his mom recently received a “bag and baggage” letter. This was written by Fredi Reyes, his younger brother.

My name is Fredi Reyes. I am a 15-year old United States citizen, born in New York on November 23, 1996. I’m a freshman high school student at East Davidson High School and I’m currently undergoing the worst crisis of my life. This isn’t some teenage fit over popularity or how good I look, or the clothes I wear. Along with my mother, I am facing deportation from my only home.

It has been well over a year since Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) came to my house and arrested my brother. My family came to the United States fleeing from the country of Guatemala, which at the time was in terrible condition. Guerillas had threatened to kill my mother after assassinating her brother. Fleeing for her life, my mother reached the United States and applied for asylum. But she was told that if she did not withdraw her application, she would need to go to jail. Fearful that my older brother and I would be put into jail or separated from her, my mother withdrew her application and she was told to depart the country.

MAGraduate

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Monday May 31, 2010 · 11:15 AM PDT

2010/05/31 · 11:15

Representative Luis Gutierrez has managed to incense immigrant youth again with his latest attempt to get the Obama Administration to show leadership on immigration issues.

In the New York Times, the Latino congressional member is quoted saying

"This is the moment for him to act. And if we stumble, if somehow we fail, let’s fail together. Let’s fail fighting!"

DreamActivists are less than impressed:

MAGraduate

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Saturday April 24, 2010 · 12:33 PM PDT

2010/04/24 · 12:33

SB 1070, which makes being undocumented a crime, shows us that we are becoming a country that asks for "your papers, please" much like in Nazi Germany where "Papiere, Bitte" meant the same in German.

Despite what Governor Brewer says, racial profiling is officially legal in Arizona, given that there is no other way to determine what an undocumented person looks like beyond brown skin, which would serve as a proxy for criminality — the crime of not carrying proper identification and a birth certificate.

While lawsuits seeking an injunction are likely to be filed by this coming week, here is what you can do in the meantime to oppose this racial profiling law:

Sign the email petition to your Congressional representatives, the Obama Administration and the Department of Homeland Security asking them not to cooperate with SB 1070, support any filed injunctions to the law, and, furthermore, start taking leadership in pushing for real comprehensive immigration reform.

MAGraduate

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Thursday December 17, 2009 · 12:06 AM PST

2009/12/17 · 00:06

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Would a truly reputable national newspaper use the N-word to describe African-Americans?

I doubt it.

The USA Today article "Groups try to delay deportations of illegal students" gets it wrong once again by calling immigrant students in the United States "illegal."

BEWARE: USA Today reporter, Emily Bazar thinks it is alright to call undocumented immigrant youth "illegal students" because the hate-group NumbersUSA has no problem with the phrase. Here is the email to prove this.

But wait, I get the "illegal immigrant" because that slur is familiar. However, WHAT is an "illegal student?"

No human being can be illegal, and the absurdity of that is proven by calling immigrant youth "illegal students."

You can take action here to tell USA Today to stop competing with the archaic immigration system and drop the use of the word ‘illegal’

MAGraduate

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Wednesday August 12, 2009 · 12:31 PM PDT

2009/08/12 · 12:31

On July 1st DHS deferred Walter Lara’s deportation, on July 24th DHS deferred Taha’s deportation and now, on August 19th, Herta Llusho is set to be deported to Albania. Herta has lived in Michigan for most of her teen years. This is the country that she calls home and has done everything in to make sure she succeeds so lets do our part to make sure her dream (and ours) becomes a reality!

If we are going to stop this we need everyone’s support, read Herta’s story and then call each of the targets and demand that they do something about her deportation. Then forward this on to your family and friends to do the same.

MAGraduate

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Thursday July 23, 2009 · 1:09 PM PDT

2009/07/23 · 13:09

My family's immigration petition got denied, my dad got deported, and all of my family is upset because of our immigration problems but we still love America with all our hearts. I wish to have the chance to live the better quality life that my teachers have always made me believe every child and adult deserves to have.

-Taha, DREAM Act student from New Jersey, in deportation

title=

Taha is 18 years old and just graduated Dickinson High School in Jersey City, NJ. In November of 1993, his parents brought him to the United States from Bangladash, when he was only 2 years old. He has lived in Jersey City for more than 16 years.

On July 29, 2009, he will be deported to Bangladesh - a country that he neither remembers nor recognizes. Why? His immigration attorney missed a filing date on their application for permanent residency when Taha was a minor.

MAGraduate

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Tuesday July 07, 2009 · 6:24 PM PDT

2009/07/07 · 18:24

Dear Ms. Bullock,

I have been a fan since Speed back in 1994 when I was barely 9. So it pains me to see one of my favorite actors make a movie that doesn’t paint a fair picture of U.S. immigration policies.

I took my mother out to see The Proposal yesterday–she had fun but even she recognized that it is not so easy to gain legal residency through marriage.

MAGraduate

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday July 03, 2009 · 8:14 PM PDT

2009/07/03 · 20:14

I am sharing this story today, because I know there are many of us out there for whom even family isn’t a sanctuary. There’s a statistic–33% of gay youth try to commit suicide. I am part of that 33%. But I survived; I will thrive.

I was asked to talk about what it was like to grow up queer in Fiji, and I can’t talk about it without sharing my ‘coming out’ story.

There’s two typical things in my story:

I always knew I liked women

I fell in love with my best friend

And may I add this happened in an all-girls Catholic High School.

RSS

“I’m a 15-Year-Old U.S. Citizen and I’m Facing Deportation”

A Message for Advocates of Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Free the DREAM Act

5 Actions You Can Take Against Arizona's SB 1070

Calling USA Today: What the Heck is an "Illegal Student?"

SOS - Stop Herta’s Deportation – Being Deported August 19th

Stop the Deportation of Taha

Proposal: In Reality, Sandra Bullock Would Have Been Deported

Growing Up Gay in Fiji; Undocumented in America