Today is Chinese New Year, a celebratory time colored with nostalgia. It’s a time of red envelopes filled with familial love, of recognizing the nuances of being Chinese-American, and of being proud of who we are and where we came from.
But where we came from is a story that thousands of families may no longer be able to realize.
My father was a refugee. I come from an immigrant family, one much like thousands of others searching for stability, for security, and for a life they deserve. They came to America for a second chance–for a better chance. They sought the land of the free; a welcoming nation that has given so many others a chance at this wild American dream.
Coming here was not just for his own sake, but to give his future family a chance. He gave my sister and me the privileged opportunity to live a prosperous life–one where political turmoil is replaced by peace, and where severe economic hardship is replaced with mobility.
Growing up, many of my friends and neighbors were also second generation Americans with roots that traversed borders, cultures, languages, religions, and ethnicities. Despite our differences, our families coalesced both in our shared struggle to navigate American society and in our renewed sense of hope that living here has inspired. Together we stood in the daring social experiment we knew as America–as home.
Over the past 23 years, I saw our shared home become great. It looked like the Chinese grocery store opening down the street. It looked like the shop around the corner that sells halal meat. It looked like the beautiful Hindu temple on the other side of town expanding to meet a growing population. It looked like resources being published in both English and Spanish. It looked like children inviting their friends to play at their homes despite their differences. It looked like my friends and me going to college and pursuing our unique passions, benefiting from the privileged opportunity for which our parents so fiercely fought to provide us.
I owe my entire life to that opportunity.
The recent executive orders trump signed are cruel. This is not the America I stand for. This ruptures the lives of innumerous families around the world. This ruptures international relations and taints our country’s morals. This is not progress.
I cannot accept boisterous institutionalized discrimination based on race and religion. I cannot accept an administration that turns their back on so many families that are searching for a second chance—a second chance my own family had, and a second chance that America can provide so many others.
I am here today thanks to the second chance my father had, and I need to use this privilege to fight back. I stand in solidarity with immigrant and refugee families. I will do more.
I will resist.