Interview with Prerna Lal

What’s your theory of change regarding immigration reform? How do
you think we can make real change happen?

My theory of changing the course of immigration system is to pressure Senate and President Obama to pass the DREAM Act as well as comprehensive immigration reform. I believe that this is only way to solve our solution because our representatives are the one who make ultimate decision. So it’s really up to us how hard we can pressure Senate and President Obama to pass the DREAM Act.

However, this is not going to be easy. It takes time and dedication. There are several ways to pressure Senate and President Obama to make real change happen. One way is to educate other people and the community by having a workshop or a mini conference to bring social awareness and urge them to call and send letters to representatives. Second, share your story. You can always share your story in school, church, or local community to educate people about our side of story.  Third, join organizations and clubs to advocate about this issue. Last but not least, embrace online blogs like FaceBook, Myspace, Wordpress, and Twitter to reach out people and encourage them to support the DREAM Act. These are the several tactics that we can work on for the next few months because it can bring awareness about the DREAM Act and pressure senate and president Obama to be on our side. In short, we must come together and start to organize, mobilize, and take collective action to fix our current immigration reform. That’s the only way to make real change happen.

2.  What initially led you to get involved in immigration activism?

I knew I had to do something when my mother and my sister were struggling to live here without any support. My mother was losing her job. On the other hand, my sister was dropping out of college. Every day, our situations were getting worse and I knew I didn’t have time to wait and wishing for politicians to do something.  That’s when I initially get involved in immigration activism. First year in college, I began to join different organizations and participated in different activities to advocate about this issue. I spoke in various workshops and gave speeches to local community and local churches.

3. What has inspired you to come out and be so open about your status,
especially since most DREAMIEs who are speaking out publicly tend to
be fighting deportation?

I, too, just like any other undocumented students, afraid to come out from the shadow. But there are several reasons why I decided to come out and speak on behalf of undocumented students. First, I wanted to bring social awareness and educate other people about our tough situation. Secondly, I wanted to reach out organizations and other DREAMERS to build momentum and social network. Thirdly, I wanted to show examples and encourage other DREAMERS to come out from the shadow and share their stories. Lastly, foremost important reason why I decided to come out is because this issue affects my mom, my sister, and me. So I don’t want to just sit down and wait for another decade wishing for DREAM Act as well as Comprehensive immigration reform to be pass. It is certainly challenging and risky to come out from the shadow and speak out, but I believe this is only way to gain our rights and ultimately we will overcome our struggles.

4. What do you say to those who ask you to go back to Korea?

It’s devastating when I people say such a things like this, especially when I hear from Korean American citizens. In fact, I had couple of Korean friends who asked me to go back to Korea. I was angry and I felt like I was betrayed by my Korean friends, but I knew they didn’t know about my whole side of the story. So next time when other people ask me to go back to Korea, I would tell them to listen to our side of story first before they make a judgment call.

5. Your message for other undocumented students.

For the next couple of months, we must come out from the comfort zone and urgently work together to pass the DREAM Act as well as Comprehensive immigration reform. This is our only chance! So please, I urge you guys to start organize, mobilize, and take collective actions in local, state, and national wide to reach our DREAMS! The time is our golden key to pass the DREAM Act, so we must take direction actions starting today!