Journal #7: Aoki and "Deporting Cambodian Refugees: Youth Activitism, State Reform, and Imperial Statecraft" by Soo Ah Kwon

I had no idea that Asian deportation was such a prevalent thing. Especially recently, all of the focus has been on countries from middle and Latin America. I am proof that there is not enough light shed on Asian American communities when we talk about immigrant issues. While it is true Asians experience less deportations, that is simply because there are less Asians than other minorities; Asians are still being deported nonetheless and should still be equally represented. Of course, we should stand in solidarity with everyone who is subject to deportation, but it unfair to receive no recognition or support for Asians.

Specifically for Asians, I think deportation is a strange dichotomy. While people come from countries like Mexico and Honduras, they usually come for work or maybe to escape regimes, but the US was sort of just doing its own thing. (you could make the argument that US intervention into Latin America gave rise to oppressive regimes in the area, but Asian countries experienced a more direct irony) However, in Asia, the US was the "savior" of the native people. In Cambodia, they bombed the shit out of the country which "helped", but they did take in refugees to save them from Pol Pot and the Khamar regime. Hooray they are saved! And then some years later, they are threatened with deportation. What kind of bs is that???

Mass deportations started as a result of fear; the war of terror scared the general population. Deportation has been a huge issue even before Trump; Obama deported thousands, but no one questions it. Its just that the Trump admin has made deportation a major plank in their platform. Deporting out of fear turned into deporting for power; it is a tool and keeps a population under check. The government does not give a damn about them; they just wanted immigrants out of this country. That is why they reduced the crime severity needed to be arrested and deported with that stupid bill that the Cambodian youth tried to fight.

As AJ+ reports, Gene Wu "fought back tears" in the Texas House of Reps. as he tried to combat a heavily supported bill that would make it easier to deport illegal immigrants. The bill, which was passed with heavy support, would allow law enforcement to ask those detained about their immigration status. Those officers who did not comply with the law would be subject to federal punishment. Boi that is crazy. We are so scared that we are willing to break apart families. We just wanna deport everyone! Damn! Wu claims that is is a targeted bill, just like the Cambodian youth says IIRIRA did. Minorities are targeted. Asians are targeted. Wu says that he is an immigrant, his family are immigrants, and the people in his district are immigrants. Papers or no papers, legal status or not, Wu says that they are "all his people."

As for Aoki, he seems to be a very (very, very) outspoken and radical social and political leader! Wow! He really must have been the voice for thousands of Asians who have been otherwise denied a voice in the civil rights landscape. It is great that he stood in solidarity with the BPP and their fight for civil rights. I would like to see the rest of this movie because we saw a lot about him, but I'd like to see the impacts he had on his communities.