Category: Discussion Board 10

In “The Forgotten Asian Refugees Fed Into The U.S. Prison System” by Kimberly Yam, it discusses how many Cambodians who fled to the United States with hopes of Starting over. In an attempt to flee their hometown in Cambodia due to a communist tyranny, people like Phal Sok and his family looked towards the United States for a place to thrive. The country that once accepted them with open arms even under the name of a refugee, was the same country that turned on them. Forcing them,back to their homeland even though they had never been there. Under the Trump administration, South East Asians live their life in fear of being deported due to increased activities of ICE. In the article, ICE arrested many refugees from South Asia and these refugees were then deported from the country. Based on my opinion, it’s very unfair how refugees are treated here. How does the same country that accepts them in doesn’t care about them at all? It is just really sad to see how bad immigration policies are becoming that people have to hide out in fear regardless they are in their home country around violence or in the U.S. hiding from I.C.E.

It seems to me that a lot of these problems stem from a half working refugee program. As it says in the article, “Compared to other races, Southeast Asian-Americans have some of the highest dropout rates in the country, and the majority of them have not attended college.” Perhaps if we invested more in community programs for these communities of Southeast Asian immigrants we would be seeing less of these ‘gangs’ and violent crimes that are seen in the documentary. 

Watching the documentary ‘Sentenced Home’, it is really saddening to see what is happening. Obviously, crime (especially violent crime) should not be tolerated, but it seems a little preposterous that people like Loeun Lun were being deported for crimes they committed many years prior and had already gone to jail for. 

Honestly this just seems like a really complicated sociological problem that probably doesn’t have a simple solution. Simply not deporting these immigrants isn’t going to solve everything because it doesnt fix any of the problems that led to deportation. (such as the abuse/discrimination that happens to these people) The problems obviously run much deeper than that and therefore require a deeper solution that addresses all the problems.

In “The Forgotten Asian Refugees Fed Into The U.S. Prison System” by Kimberly Yam, it discusses how many Cambodians who fled to the United States with hopes of Starting over. Pal Sok’s family, one of the many families who fled their home to escape A khmer rouge, with little support upon arrival in the US, they face many issues, poverty, unstable finance. They grow up poor, face bullying in school and no one to understand them, they begin to drop out of school or push out of school and begin to seek help elsewhere which lead to most of them to join gangs where they feel emotional comfort and solace, they feel they could fit in somewhere. Many of them are involved in crimes and as result in risk of being deported back to Cambodia. Under the Trump administration, South East Asians live their life in fear of being deported due to increased activities of ICE. Many SouthEast Asians are being deported, most are people who have never seen Cambodia or speak the language. Many of them use alcohol and drug to cope with the stress of repatriation, and found to have PTSD, some even resort to committed suicide. Many immigrants hope to start new lives in a new country where they could feel a little more secure with their life. And to find out that they are being told to be deported back to their country where they have not been for many years, people are being separated from their family, it felt dejected where the country who brought in to start new and now they are deporting them back. At least during this hard time, the SE Asian communities are still being supportive of each other when one is needed like Sak who currently with an organizer called Youth Justice Coalition to help others prevent them from going down the same path he did. 

The treatment of southeast asians in the United States as shown by Kimberly Yam in her article “The Forgotten Asian Refugees Fed Into the U.S. Prison System” showcases the cruel reality they had to face. In an attempt to flee their hometown in Cambodia due to a communist tyranny, people like Phal Sok and his family looked towards the United States for a place to thrive. As a country that once accepted them with open arms even under the name of a refugee was the same country that turned on them. Forcing them back to their homeland even though they had never been there. Under the Trump administration South East Asians had to live in fear of deportation through I.C.E and overall difficulty in their community. After getting away from the fear of war many southeast asians had to face a new fear which was to avoid detaintment from I.C.E. Due to uncertainty and the difficulties they had to face, since they were barely supported by anything, many ended up turning to more dangerous routes of life. This involved gang activity, drug and/or alcohol abuse and sadly some even turn to suicidal thoughts. The I.C.E detainment didn’t have the best conditions either, they were forced into leaving the country that accepted them and if they left due to war fare they were being put right back into the situation they tried to escape. Many families were separated and there were also increased spikes of mental conditions such as PTSD, depression and more. This isn’t the way the United States should be treating the refugees who entrusted their lives and safety to this country. They are treated unfairly and have to endure so much pain and trauma that isn’t worth it. The United States doesn’t need to do this and it honestly gives refugees false hope of being accepted. It’s messed up to trick people into thinking they can be safe, live and thrive in an environment that is going to kick them out. This was a very unnecessary and hypocritical action, no one deserves to be treated like that. After all everyone is just trying to live their lives to the best of their abilities and it shouldn’t be a crime.

In Kimberly Yam’s article “The Forgotten Asian Refugees Fed Into The U.S. Prison System”, the author wrote about Trump’s hegemonic enforcement of ICE during his inauguration as the President of the United States. In the article, ICE arrested many refugees in South Asia. These refugees were then deported from the country. These convictions may give these refugees a very painful choice. Because if they are deported, they will once again face those countries that have suffered hegemony. I think this may change the fate of many people.

In the “Forgotten Asian Refugees fed into the U.S. Prison System” by Kimberley Yam, she discusses how Cambodians had fled to the US in order to escape the communist regime in their home country. She talks about how  a refugee named Phal Sok and his family migrated to the US to escape the regime. However, they had faced many issues such as they received very little support, were poverty stricken, Soks mother left when he was 2, and his father passed away which resulted in him turning to gang and criminal activity due to depression. Refugees are then settled in poof areas and then are forced to assimilate into society themselves which is extremely difficult. They grew up poor, and were bullied constantly, which eventually led to many southeast Asians turning to gang activity. Because the law is stricter on refugees, many of them, like Sok, risk being deported back to Cambodia, even though he has never been there. Due to an increased amount of ICE activity under the Trump administration, many Cambodians fear they may be deported. Conditions under ICE detainment aren’t great either, and people are being forced to return to their country despite the US initially letting them in as refugees. Deportation had resulted in many issues such as, families being torn apart, increased PTSD/trauma/depression among deportees, and some even turn to alcohol/drug abuse, and even worse, suicide. There is no benefit that comes out of deporting refugees, and it’s also hypocritical, because as stated before, they are being forced to return to Cambodia by the same country who has accepted them in as refugees. In my opinion, it’s very unfair how refugees are treated here. How does the same country that accepts them in doesn’t care about them at all? It just shows that the US has never really cared about poc, and the treatment they face here. Activists like Sok are working to help the incarcerated youth and with other SE Asians so they don’t go down the same path. It’s great that at least SE youth have some type of support from their own community when the US couldn’t prove it for them.

In “The Forgotten Asian Refugees”, I found that most refugees that have to resettle are not supported by anything. As a result they struggled to move forward successfully with their lives. For instance, some turn to the streets, gangs, and imprisonment of Southeast Asians skyrocketed as a result. Another condition of the refugee resettlement was the high high school and college drop out rates. There were  more reports of bullying, poverty, and difficulty learning the U.S. language and culture. The economic part was troubling for those families because they were financially unstable, which caused families/parents to separate.

Some immigrants that are moved as refugees end up detained by I.C.E. The problem is when these people left their countries it was for the purpose of escaping violence and war breakouts. If they are detained or deported their life is back in harm’s way. Those that are criminalized face evictions from American society because all of their crimes are tied back to the years starting after their resettlement.

Deportation has shown families and deportees suffered from PTSD, trauma, and fear because they don’t know what they’ll be going back into. Some suffer so bad, they turn to crime, alcohol, drugs, and gain suicidal tendencies. Deportation is less healthy for communities, not safer. It breaks up families that do not even ask to be so heartbroken.

It is just really sad to see how bad things are getting with immigration policies that people have to hide out in fear regardless they are in their home country around violence or in the U.S. hiding from I.C.E.

 

From the article, “The Forgotten Asian Refugees Fed Into The U.S. Prison System”, by Kimberly Yam, explains how ICE under the Trump administration created difficulty and fear among immigrant communities in this case the Southeast Asians. In the text, Phal Sok and his family escaped Cambodia from a communist regime and lost his father while growing up through a tough life in prison and the streets. More than 100 Cambodian refugees were detained by ICE causing uncertainty and terror within the communities who just escaped from countries that were suffering from war. The age of ICE under Trump caused a new problem for people who thought they left the worries behind only to face it once again. Activists and advocates call for more community support and to raise awareness on the issues of ICE crackdowns on both legal and illegal immigrations. The criminalization of refugees and immigrants is unfair and creates division because they target the vulnerable communities and they forget that their ancestors were once immigrants searching for a better life too.