Letter To My Father

Guest Post by Rachel Pak



The Tahirih Justice Center is a national, nonprofit organization that serves immigrant women and girls seeking safety and justice. We amplify the voices of survivors in communities, courts, and Congress to create a world where women and girls enjoy equality and live in safety and with dignity.

Dear Dad,

I know this country was not always kind to you when you immigrated. Your parents brought you to America in the 1970s, seeking a better life from a developing South Korea. You entered a country that in the past has chosen to exclude Asian immigrants during moments of national panic, and then include at economically opportune times—from the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act to the incarceration of close to 120,000 Japanese descendants during World War II.

With legislation passed in 1965 and a need for skilled laborers, migration from Asia reopened, allowing you and my grandparents to move to the U.S. In a country that did not fully welcome you, with policies that historically excluded you, you worked hard to provide my sister and me a better future in America. I am immensely grateful for your sacrifices -- however, I want us to pay attention to the current state of immigration policy in the U.S.

The racism in our laws hasn't gone away. It continues -- it is vicious and is targeting migrants arriving at our southern border. Even more tragic, our government’s policies are stripping away the right to simply seek safety from people who are fleeing for their lives. I saw this first-hand when I was at the border between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez last December.

Join the campaign to release the #ElPaso37

More than thirty Punjabi asylum seekers remain in ICE custody without due process



In Texas, more than forty Sikh men from India -- members of a minority political party from the Punjab region -- have been detained since spring of 2013 at the El Paso Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center. They fled their home country seeking asylum from persecution, only to find themselves languishing in custody here in the United States without due process for nearly a year.

Earlier this month, 37 of the detainees -- dubbed the #ElPaso37 -- initiated a hunger strike in protest of continued denials of their rights to due process. The ended after ten days, with several hospitalizations, amid promises from ICE that the detainees' paperwork would finally move forward. But so far over thirty detainees still remained in custody in El Paso.

18 Million Rising has launched a campaign to increase pressure on ICE to release these detainees and call attention to their plight. Starting today, 18MR has partnered with United We Dream to kick off a three-day protest, during which community members, activists, and organizers from across the country will inundate ICE with phone calls expressing concern about and demanding the release of the #ElPaso37.

Want to participate? Here's what to do:

We demand the release of the El Paso 37

Sign the petition in support of Punjabi asylum seekers unjustly detained in Texas



Calling your attention to this petition from 18 Million Rising that could use your support...

In June 2013, more than forty Punjabi men -- all of them members of a minority political party -- fled India because they feared for their lives. Their journey brought them to the United States where they hoped to find safety and freedom. But they did not find asylum they had hoped for.

Instead, these asylum seekers have been trapped in Texas at the El Paso Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center. Despite proving their identities and certifying their reasons for asylum, they have been detained indefinitely by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Department.

Now thirty-seven of these unlawfully detained Punjabi men -- the "El Paso 37" -- are on a hunger strike. Some of the hunger strikers have been hospitalized, and many others are in danger. But they've made it clear that they're not ending the strike until they're released.

Sign this statement and tell ICE to release these asylum seekers immediately: