Check out this NY Times article: U.S. Deportee Brings Street Dance to Street Boys of Cambodia. I’ve heard about people in this situation before–they think they are citizens, and when they commit felonies, they find out that they aren’t, and the U.S. deports them.
I’m not sure about my view on the deportation issue, but the story is inspiring. It’s cool that this former street thug brought a useful skill with him and that he’s using it for the greater good in Cambodia. He went from criminal to activist. Check out the video feature. It’s pretty amazing what he’s done for these kids.
Edit 12/3/08: Lingyai added this awesome link to a documentary about these deportations.
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I agree with everything you said. About #1…I think...
I’ll try not to comment too much because my name keeps popping up on the sidebar comments section, but this is sad. I had a friend here in Chicago, Cambodian, that got deported as well. He was here at the age of 4 and committed a felony at 17. As for the rest, it’s truly unfortunate that their parents did not come around to getting their citizenship before they turned 18, otherwise they would have to get it themselves when they’re of legal age because they don’t fall under the guardianship of their parents.
Some of these kids are just lost, and they end up doing things they shouldn’t have been. Just misguided, that’s all. They’re essentially American because this is the only country they knew of growing up. I guess a piece of paper makes a difference as to whether they can be deported or not. Obviously, the justice system doesn’t recognize these cultural distinctions.
I guess K.K. is one of the success stories and that’s good to hear that sometimes. But really, it’s just not right to deport people that have essentially been Americanized.
MM:
PLEASE PLEASE continue to comment! I’d be happy if you had all 15 spots on the sidebar! The more your name appears on the sidebar, the more other people will comment; people like reading intelligent perspectives, and the comments are often more exciting than the blog posts themselves. Whenever I comment, my name also appears, and it’s good for other people to read non-Jaehwan comments–we already get enough of my opinions on the blog!
Good points on the immigration issue!
You might want to check out:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/sentencedhome/index.html
Thanks, Lingyai! You always find awesome articles. I’m going to put that link into the original post!