On September 15, 2010, life as Shing Ma “Steve” Li knew it ended suddenly. On that warm summer morning about a month and half ago, two men knocked on the door of his San Francisco apartment. Inside, 20-year-old Steve was getting ready for a full day of classes at the City College of San Francisco. He could not have imagined that within the next couple hours he would be arrested and detained as a fugitive criminal. In the ensuing two days, Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) processed Steve and his mother and sent them to their detention facility in Sacramento. Several weeks later, he was moved to the ICE detention center in Florence, Arizona, where he now awaits deportation.
Steve had no idea of his family’s status. Though he was born in Lima, Peru on July 3, 1990, Steve grew up right here in San Francisco. He attended Francisco Middle School and graduated from George Washington High School in 2008. Of ethnic Chinese dissent, Steve’s family arrived in San Francisco in 2002 after escaping from hardships in Peru. His parents came to America hoping for a fresh start. Steve was currently enrolled at the City College of San Francisco and was preparing to transfer to San Francisco State University where he planned on studying to become a nurse.
Sadly, Steve could have been spared this awful situation if Congress had passed the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, also known as the DREAM Act. This bill provides relief for certain inadmissible or deportable alien students who arrived in the U.S. as children, who graduate from US high schools, who are of good moral character, and have been in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill’s enactment. Qualifying students have the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency if they complete two years in the military or two years of schooling at a four-year institution of higher learning.
The DREAM Act will get another vote later this year, as an amendment to the National Defense Reauthorization Act. The DREAM Act has bipartisan co-sponsors, and majority of the Senate has voted for it in the past. We hope and pray that Congress will pass the DREAM Act this year.
I was Steve’s professor at City College of San Francisco, and along with Steve’s other teachers and friends, we are writing to everyone we know to publicize Steve’s unjust detention, to educate people about the DREAM Act, and to try to forestall Steve’s deportation in the hope that the DREAM Act will be passed through Congress this year.
Steve Li had a bright future ahead of him. He was a good student at the City College of San Francisco. He was well on his way to achieving his dream of becoming a nurse and helping others. As I said, he began preparing to transfer to San Francisco State University by enrolling in San Francisco State’s Summer Science Institute, an intensive program that supports undergraduate students pursuing a career in health care. This past summer, he was at the Summer Science Institute at 8am every weekday working on his Biology, Chemistry, and Physics prerequisites.
However, Steve’s dreams and his life were shattered into a million pieces when ICE came knocking at his door. His parents had applied for asylum in 2004, but were denied and their visas eventually ran out. Steve was not even aware that he had overstayed his visa until the ICE agents raided his home last month. Steve and his parents were all initially incarcerated in San Francisco, but Steve was forcibly separated from his family when his parents were subsequently released on October 4th. His parents are Chinese nationals, but because Steve was born in Peru, he was transferred to a detention center in Arizona to be processed for immediate deportation. He is only 20 years old, and has never lived away from home. Nevertheless, the U.S. government and ICE has ripped this child away from his family and locked him up like a criminal for something over which he had no control.
Steve has no family or friends in Peru. If he were deported, he would be homeless and alone upon arrival. Sadly, he will be deported soon unless we can mobilize our elected officials to do the right thing. America is Steve’s home. It is no fault of his that he finds himself in this situation. Why would we send this young man to a country he hasn’t lived in since he was in elementary school? Steve is a young man with immense potential, and he has never been in trouble with the law. He has worked hard to help support his family and pay for his own education. He only wants the opportunity to complete his education and give back to the country that he has called home for most of his life. Isn’t this the exact type of person we want to keep in our country?
Please help us circulate Steve’s story: Send online petitions (links below) to our California senators and representatives in support of Steve and the DREAM Act, and write about Steve on blogs, Twitter, or Facebook. We need to get the word out!!!! If you have media contacts, let them know about this story.
UPDATES:
1) SF City Council Member Eric Mar is introducing a resolution on behalf of Steve to the SF Board of Supervisors next week.
2) On October 28, 2010, the CCSF Board of Trustees passed a unanimous resolution demanding officials stop Steve’s deportation.
3) SF Chronicle was set to run a story on Steve’s case. We are unsure when though we were told last Saturday
4) World Journal has done a story.
5) Sing Tao is also working on a story
6) Contra Costa Times ran a story last Friday, and they are working on a follow up:
http://www.contracostatimes.co…
7) Univision radio and television has also picked up on the story
Radio:
http://radioinformativa.univis…
TV:
http://radioinformativa.univis…
WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO!!!!!
1) Please support Steve by directing your friends, family, and colleagues to our online petition at: http://bit.ly/bringstevehome
2) We are organizing Call-In parties across several California college campuses for this Tuesday and Wednesday.
Even if you’re not attending a “call in party,” still show your support by calling:
Senator Feinstein: (415) 393-0707
Senator Boxer: (415) 403-0100
For John Morton (ICE Director): (202) 282-8495
If voicemail box full, call live line (202) 732-3000
SCRIPTS BELOW
Senator Scripts – “Hi I’m calling to urge Sen. Feinstein/Boxer/Director Morton to sponsor a private bill for Shing Ma “Steve” Li, who faces deportation any day now. He is an asset to our community. I ask that Sen. Feinstein/Boxer intervene today.”
If asked Steve’s A# (Alien Registration Number) is 076-143-010
Morton Script – “Hi, I’m calling to leave a message of support for Shing Ma “Steve” Li A#076-143-010 who is going to be deported any day know. Steve is pursuing a degree in nursing and he is an asset to our community. I ask that John Morton please step in and defer his deportation, thank you.
If asked Steve’s A# (Alien Registration Number) is 076-143-010
3) GET the WORD OUT! We have gotten some press from the media outlets listed below, but we need to get some serious media attention on this case or Steve will be deported! Please circulate Steve’s story in the blogosphere and beyond! We are holding a press conference/rally next Friday Nov 5th (12 pm) on the City College of San Francisco’s Ocean campus. Pass this info onto to interested individuals in the Bay Area who might want to come out to support Steve Li.