Simon Cho’s Olympic speedskating opportunity rewards his family’s investment

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/12/AR2010011201648.html

By Amy Shipley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Born in Seoul, Simon Cho sneaked into the United States illegally with his mother and sister 14 years ago, slipping through a border crossing near Vancouver, B.C. His search for the American dream began with the sort of furtive move that he now relies on in the mayhem-filled sport of short-track speedskating, which he mastered during years of training at the Arlington-based Potomac Speedskating Club.

Cho, 18, now a U.S. citizen, will make a triumphant return to Vancouver in February as a member of the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in the Winter Games. But his journey has been anything but smooth.

Until recently considered an up-and-comer on the cusp of moving into the country’s super elite, Cho has struggled to qualify for coveted Olympic grants that would help offset annual speedskating costs of nearly $40,000. To meet his sport’s heavy training demands, Cho dropped out of high school after his sophomore year.

Last year, his parents sold their small, take-out restaurant, Kasey’s Seafood in Upper Marlboro, merely to pay the bills.

“It doesn’t matter for the rich people, but I am not rich,” said Cho’s father, Jay, who moved his wife and daughter into a rental apartment with their son in Salt Lake City, where Jay Cho took a part-time job. “If you don’t have money, it’s very tough to have the American dream.”

Simon Cho, meantime, said public schools in Maryland and Utah — private school was out of the question — would not accommodate his full-time commitment to the sport.

Despite the myriad sacrifices, Cho did not expect to qualify for the five-person U.S. men’s short-track Olympic team during the September trials in Marquette, Mich.

till 17, Cho was considerably younger than most of the top athletes in the sport, a wild discipline requiring supreme quickness, speed, strategy — and experience. Five-time Olympic medal winner Apolo Ohno, considered one of the best in the world, is 27.

“When I say nobody thought I would make the team, literally nobody thought I would make it,” Cho said during a phone interview from Salt Lake City. “Not even me.”

‘He was super good’

After arriving in the United States to work in 1993, Jay Cho did not intend to bring his family from South Korea without the proper paperwork, but the wait for green cards was seven years, and he missed his family. In 1996, he met his wife, daughter Anna, then 2, and Simon, then 4, in Vancouver. They stayed for a week in a motel, then made their way without incident across the border.

Helped by more relaxed immigration regulations at that time, the family obtained green cards by 2001, and all became U.S. citizens by 2004. After several years in Chicago and Harrisburg, Pa., where Cho worked as a software programmer, the family moved to Laurel, seeking better training for Simon. Since taking up the sport at age 3 in his home country, he had shown promise.

“He didn’t know whether he liked it or not, but in every competition, he got first place,” his father said.

DREAM Act

http://www.iexaminer.org/news/features/student-deportations/

On March 15, 2009, Alonso Chehade, an undocumented immigrant from Peru, was arrested at the US/Canada border for unlawful presence in the United States. After remaining in the detention center for two weeks, Chehade was later released with the assistance of his family, who posted a $7,500 bond to free him from prison.

For undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., Chehade’s story is not uncommon. In 2007, three hundred thousand people were detained for illegally residing in the U.S. For the years between 2003 – 2008, deportation increased by 60 percent in the U.S. From these statistics, we can see that the number of deported immigrants is on the rise, which impacts the communities they live and work in.

Chehade’s experience as an undocumented immigrant is different from the first generation’s. The decision to live undocumented in the US was his parent’s decision, not Chehade’s. Therefore Chehade became an undocumented resident through no action of his own.

Enter the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors), a proposed bill that would give undocumented minors a chance to enlist in the military or go to school in the U.S., thus preparing a way for them to become citizens. Introduced by Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois and Rep. Howard Berman of California, the bill has not yet officially passed Congress. Yet with the help of certain individuals, this bill could pass soon, allowing people like Chehade to become citizens of the U.S. Without citizenship, undocumented immigrants cannot apply for government IDs, such as driver’s licenses and strips them of many opportunities that citizens take for granted.

“My hardships began when I went to UW,” said Chehade. “There were some things I wanted to do that I couldn’t do, like study abroad. I didn’t have enough money for going out of the state and I couldn‘t do internships. You need social security to do internships.”

Many other immigrants, like Ju Hong, an acquaintance of Chehade, have to work menial jobs that will hire undocumented workers.

“You can’t get a decent job because the only jobs are construction work or restaurant work,” said Hong. “You get low wages and are treated really badly.”

In addition to the numerous legal barriers students face, the social stigma attached to being an undocumented immigrant can make some feel they don’t belong to American society. One may be tempted to ask: “Why should we care for a resident who is living here illegally? Why can’t they go through normal channels to gain citizenship?” It is important in this circumstance to realize that people like Chehade and Hong had little control over their lives when they came to the U.S; their fates were decided by their parents. The DREAM Act allows qualifying individuals a chance to gain citizenship in the U.S. and pursue their dreams.

Chehade and Hong are working tirelessly to raise awareness regarding the DREAM Act. As the founder of DREAMERS for Positive Change, Chehade gets to connect with other individuals that have similar experiences to Chehade’s. Chehade’s case has also received the attention of numerous prominent politicians, such as Senator Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. While Hong participates in two organizations aiming to raise awareness about the DREAM act – the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco and Korean Resource Center in Los Angeles.

Hong emphasizes: “I want to make it clear that the DREAM Act is not just for Latinos. There are 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., of which 2 million are Asians. In the Asian American community it is embarrassing to talk about these kinds of issues. But we have to step up and support the issue.”

So, if passed, what would the DREAM Act mean to the community at large? First, it would allow undocumented minors the opportunity to live legally in the U.S. as citizens. Since the bill is aimed at those minority residents aspiring to go to college, the bill would also help create educated and productive members of the community. Finally, the bill would reinforce the principles of the American Dream, which are founded on equal opportunity, equality, and diversity.

There are numerous ways to get involved in the passing of the DREAM Act. Calling your senator will inform him/her that immigration reform is a significant issue that needs to be addressed. Telling friends, family, and others about the DREAM Act would also raise awareness of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

The following link provides information on how to participate: www.dreamactivist.org

DREAM Act for California Immigrant Students Gets Push

New America Media, News Report, Seth Sandronsky , Posted: Feb 05, 2010

“In dreams, immigration officials rushed in and arrested me,” said Ju H. “I woke up sweating. My heart was pounding.”

Eyes tearing, the 20-year-old immigrant without citizenship documents from South Korea and current community college student in the San Francisco Bay Area continued telling his story to advocates, lawmakers and students at a crowded Capitol summit in Sacramento on Wednesday.

He described barriers to federal and state help for himself and others like him seeking education at four-year institutions. The walls to such schooling would fall with passage of the federal Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, first introduced in Congress in 2001.

The bipartisan legislation was re-introduced in March 2009 in the 111th Congress as S. 729 and H.R. 1751. This proposed bill would allow tens of thousands of students whose undocumented parents brought them to the United States, where they grew up, attended schools and worked, to access many forms of financial aid to achieve the “American Dream” of gaining a higher education degree and securing stable employment afterwards.

For example, the DREAM Act would amend current federal immigration law and allow states to grant residency status to undocumented youth who have graduated from high school. This, in turn would qualify such students for state college tuition, less costly than what non-residents pay.

In addition, the DREAM Act would allow these students to receive federal grants and be eligible for work-study programs at higher education institutions.

Speakers at the summit made clear the political obstacles to passing the DREAM Act.

“Today is a time of fierce anti-immigrant hysteria,” said State Senator Gilbert Cedillo (D-LA). “But I have optimism in spite of this with President Obama who ran on a platform of hope and change, plus a business community that understands the vital role of immigrants in the state economy.”

The expansion of an educated American work force itself is a policy of economic stimulus, the president has said.

Cedillo and his fellow lawmakers at the DREAM Act summit drew parallels between the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, which overcame discrimination against African Americans to the passage of the DREAM Act today.

“This is a continuing movement for civil rights,” said State Assemblymember Warren Furutani (D-Long Beach). State Senator Curren Price (D-LA), concurred with Cedillo and Furutani, noting the urgent need to remove barriers to higher education for undocumented students.

The College Board Advocacy & Policy Center, and the Latino, Black and Asian Pacific Islander Legislative caucuses, sponsored the DREAM Act summit in Sacramento. According to the College Board, 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high schools across the nation each year. In California alone, there are an estimated 26,000 undocumented youth, according to a 2006 Pew Foundation study.

They need allies to improve their educational opportunities after high school, said Kent Wong, an attorney, UCLA professor and director of the Center for Labor Research and Education. “These students were brought to this country through no decision of their own by parents and relatives looking for a better life,” he said.

The arc Wong described fits the life of Ju H. His mother, after a bankruptcy and divorce in South Korea, brought his sister and him to America nine years ago. He is studying political science and hopes to attend UC Berkeley in the future.

With the state budget deficit growing after the housing crash due to falling property and sales tax revenues, California lawmakers have hiked fees by double digits for students in the UC and California State University systems. With these costs rising, the dream of attending a state college or university could be fading fast for undocumented students with high school diplomas.

“We need your help in leadership roles to help us pass the DREAM Act in 2010,” said Ju H.

Seth Sandronsky lives and writes in Sacramento. Contact sandronsky@yahoo.com.

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=f55d7b4a0ad08eb5bc966f5712cb5a63

Sides forming in next immigration-reform push

Immigration-reform legislation has backing of 92 Democrats — but no Republicans.

Sides forming in next immigration-reform push

By Matt O’Brien
Contra Costa Times

SAN FRANCISCO — The prospect of millions of illegal immigrants earning a path to citizenship is now back on the table in Congress, though the first bill out of the chute has already split some California progressives and has zero support from Republicans.

Bay Area immigrant families and their allies rallied Friday at a San Francisco high school to promote legalization and other measures that would overhaul U.S. immigration policy, which has not substantially changed for more than a decade.

They were united in favor of a humanitarian approach to reforming immigration policy, though disagreed on the finer details of a 650-page reform bill introduced last week by 92 liberal Democratic lawmakers, including four from the Bay Area.

At its crux, the bill introduced by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., would allow people living in the U.S. without legal documents to pay a $500 fee and show they made contributions to the U.S. through work, school, volunteering or military service. After six years on a conditional visa, those who qualify can get a green card and eventually obtain citizenship.

The bill is designed in part to put pressure on President Barack Obama, who has pledged to take on immigration reform next year and has advocated an overhaul that would include a path to citizenship. Opponents have characterized the bill as permissive and doomed to fail.

That is a longer process than the last time the United States legalized immigrants in 1986, a move that then-President Ronald Reagan asserted would “improve the lives of a class of individuals who now must hide in the shadows, without access to many of the benefits of a free and open society.”

This time, however, there are millions more immigrants living in the country illegally, rising populist anger over joblessness and demographic change, and a belief among the inheritors of Reagan’s conservative movement that amnesty for lawbreaking only encourages more.

“This is cynical legislation because there’s no chance this is going to get passed,” said Novato resident Rick Oltman of Californians for Population Stabilization. “Given all the difficulties they’re having right now with the health care bill, and with the president’s popularity falling in the polls, there’s no chance they’re going to pass this because it has no support from the American people.”

The bill would also include enforcement provisions, though conservatives say not nearly enough. Immigrant advocates, in turn, say it is too focused on enforcement.

“It continues to treat immigration as a national security issue and stops short of doing away with some of the biggest problems in our current immigration system,” said Colin Rajah of the Oakland-based National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

In promoting the bill, Gutierrez wrote in the Huffington Post that “it legalizes five percent of the workforce; it eliminates the guesswork in hiring through a smart and dependable employment verification system; and it eradicates the need for localities to take matters into their own hands by requiring businesses and landlords to check IDs of their clients and tenants.”

What the measure is missing, so far, is support from key House Democrats who would have to negotiate a workable immigration bill next year with conservative Democrats and Republicans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, has indicated she would rather have the Senate move first on immigration, while House immigration leader Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, has not made any comment on Gutierrez’s plan.

Seventeen of the 34 Democrats in California’s congressional delegation have co-sponsored the bill, including Bay Area lawmakers Rep. Mike Honda, D-Campbell; Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland; Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont; and Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma.

Not listed as a sponsor was Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, but he said in a statement that introducing the bill “represents a positive step forward in the debate to fix our nation’s broken immigration system.” Miller said he was pleased the bill includes legislation he introduced to end abuses of foreign guest workers by putting more restrictions on the employers who hire them.

Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, was still reviewing the bill, but aides said he supports comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship. Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, had no comment.

Immigrant advocates hope the bill, even if it is unlikely to pass in its current form, sets a pro-immigrant tone early in the debate and puts the onus on Obama to make it a priority. Young immigrants and the U.S.-born children of unauthorized immigrants expressed a sense of urgency at the Friday evening rally at Mission High School.

“I am doing this to help my mom and my sister and my family and other undocumented students who are suffering,” said a 20-year-old Oakland college student who did not want to give his name because he fears deportation.

The family arrived from South Korea when he was 12, and the student said he did not know he was here on an expired visa until he began applying for schools and a driver’s license as a high school senior. An act of Congress, he said, is his chance to stay.

“Two million undocumented immigrants are Asian, and I’m one of them,” he said. “It’s really crucial to me for this bill to be passed. This is the only thing I’m relying on, depending on.”

Though many advocates disagreed over various parts the bill, they put aside some of those quarrels to counter what is likely to be a bigger obstacle: The conventional wisdom that high unemployment in California and across the country makes the bill or anything like it politically untenable.

“The problem is not immigrants. The problem is poverty, trade agreements that increase that poverty, the criminalization of work,” said East Bay immigrant rights activist and author David Bacon. “No immigrants shut down the NUMMI plant (in Fremont). The economic problems we have in this country are not the fault of immigrants.”

key proposals in democrats’
immigration reform bill
The Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act, introduced last week by Congressional Democrats, would overhaul the nation’s immigration policies. Among the provisions:

Their Future Is Ours

New York Times article
Published Nov. 16. 2009

There are 16 million children in immigrant families in the United States, one of the fastest-growing segments of the population. It’s an old American story made new in the age of globalization, when waves of human displacement in recent decades have led to immigration on a scale not seen since Ellis Island. But a country that has been so good for so long at integrating new Americans is stumbling under the challenge.

That is the conclusion of Professors Marcelo and Carola Suárez-Orozco, fellows at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and co-directors of immigration studies at New York University. They have done basic research in immigration for more than 20 years, five of them studying 400 children from China, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Central America and Mexico.

The results of their research, released this month, show the stark effects of what Marcelo Suárez-Orozco calls “the age of global vertigo.” Dislocation breeds a host of difficulties, starting with family separation. Nearly half of the children in their sample had at some point lost contact with one or both parents, either through migration directly or through divorce or death. The absent parent was most often the father for long stretches or permanently. For 49 percent of the Central American children, separations lasted more than five years.

The children from separated families were, perhaps unsurprising, more likely to show signs of depression. Those symptoms were often accompanied by poverty, isolation and — despite an early period of hopefulness and engagement — a downward academic slide. Immigrant children lagged in mastering standard academic English, the passport to college and to brighter futures. Whereas native-born children’s language skills follow a bell curve, immigrants’ children were crowded in the lower ranks: More than three-quarters of the sample scored below the 85th percentile in English proficiency.

There is clearly a need for policies and programs to support immigrant parents and children, but the reality is as haphazard and tenuous as these children’s lives often are. Millions are growing up in mixed families, with some members here illegally, others not. Bills to help immigrant families with a path to legalization have died repeatedly in Congress, and small-scale reforms like the Dream Act, a path to college or the military for children of illegal immigrants have been stymied for years. New investments in language education, citizenship preparation and after-school and preschool programs have been derailed by economic crisis, harsh immigration politics and a general lack of attention.

This is the great challenge that is forgotten in the heat of the immigration debate. The children of immigrants are Americans. “They” are “us,” a cohort of newcomers who will be filling the demographic void left as the baby boomers start fading away. Their future is our country’s future. The job of integrating them is not only unfinished but in many critical ways has hardly begun.