Immigration Blogger Placed in Removal Proceedings
by Prerna Lal ·
Last year during my first round of law school final exams, Congress was getting ready to vote on the federal DREAM Act, which would have given undocumented youth in the United States a pathway to citizenship.This year, during another set of final exams, President Obama has decided to send me a notice to appear in court for removal proceedings.
My name is Prerna Lal and I am facing the trial of my life as I sit for my exams at The George Washington University Law School. You may know me as one of the founders ofDreamActivist or from the Immigrant Rights blog here where I have penned hundreds of articles over the past two years to help stop the deportations of several members of our community. I serve as a board member for Immigration Equality and I was the recipient of a Changemaker Award at the South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) summit this year.
I just paid $800 to the State of California in business taxes. And I’m expected to appear in an Immigration Court in San Francisco for this trial. That is some heavy taxation without representation. To make matters more complicated, my entire family is American and they have done nothing to deserve this treatment.
My only grandparent alive is a U.S. citizen. She voted for President Obama in the last election and is now wondering why he is trying to deport her granddaughter. My legal permanent resident parents brought me here when I was a minor. Even my older sibling is a U.S. citizen. We grew up in this country. My entire family lives here. I am an American and this is my home. I urge you to take action to keep me here.
I would qualify for a green card immediately if USCIS did not have a questionable (and much litigated) re-interpretation of the Child Status Protection Act, a legislation that was passed by Congress to prevent children of U.S. citizens and legal residents from aging-out of family, employer and diversity visa petitions. A nation-wide class action lawsuit is pending on this matter in the Ninth Circuit, but instead of holding petitions in abeyance till the lawsuit is resolved, USCIS cannot wait to deport qualifying young people away from their homes.
I would have also benefited from the passage of the federal DREAM Act, a piece of legislation that would put certain immigrant youth on a pathway to citizenship. Just this week, 22 Senators called on President Obama to use his authority to stop deporting DREAM Act-eligible youth like myself. The letter read, "We would support a grant of deferred action to all young people who meet the rigorous requirements necessary to be eligible for cancellation of removal or a stay of removal under the DREAM Act, as requested on a bipartisan basis by Senators Durbin and Lugar last April."
Even if you do not support immigrant rights, it makes no sense for the government to spend thousands of dollars and several years in litigation in an effort to remove me from my home. In response, my colleagues at Change.org have created a petition to top immigration officials to stop this wasteful and ridiculous prosecution. You can read more and sign the petition here.
My queer and law school friends are also outraged and are throwing together a fundraiser in support of me (and the DREAM Act) on May 6 in Washington D.C. Check here for more details.
Your support is invaluable to me. Please sign, facebook, tweet and reblog the petition so that I can keep my family together and continue making worthwhile contributions to this country.
Prerna Lal is co-founder and Online Coordinator of DreamActivist and a board member of Immigration Equality. She is currently attending George Washington University Law School.
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