Tough Titty For Dream Student Steve Li
Steve Li on Facebook
A nation that prides itself as compassionate and a leader in human rights is slamming the doors on the fingers of a 20-year-old student who wants to devote his life to taking care of the sick. Without immediate intervention, nursing school student Steven Li will be practicing Spanish in Lima Peru, while his parents grieve the separation of parent and child. An unfair immigration system says tough titty to Steve Li.
“A 20-year-old City College student is not a threat to our national security,” Li’s attorney, Sin Yen Ling, said at a protest today.
Li, who lives with his mother in San Francisco, was picked up by ICE on September 15th, 2010 along with his mother, Maria. Li’s father was picked up shortly thereafter. Their request for asylum was denied five years ago and they are under a final order of deportation.
Subsequently, the parents were released from custody. China refuses to accept the parents back because they came here as political refugees from a one child policy and out of fear of their government.
Meanwhile, Steve was transferred to an ICE facility in Arizona and is now lost in the maze of public and private ICE detention facilities. It is possible the youth will not see his parents before authorities put him on a plane to Lima, Peru.
Li, who was a child during the original immigration proceedings had no say in a bad decision made early in the case by his parents. He was not even aware of the deportation order until ICE came to his door. He thought his tourist visa was adequate and his parents, wishing to spare him anxiety, had not been forthright about the removal order. Steve never had his day in court, since his presence was waived due to his age.
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