DACA

I have lived a significant part of my life ever conscious of the fact I am a foreigner in a strange land. As a Chinese growing up in a mostly "white" Canada, to being a "banana" in the midst of growing Chinese influence, and now being a Chinese Canadian in the US. Always navigating conflicting cultures and impulses. Always trying to blend in while being different.

What has made it bearable all these years is the wonderful support and love I have received from the immediate "village" I have found myself in. I have made fast friends, and I have brothers and sisters despite being born an only child. I have uncle's, aunts, mentors, and "parents" when my own were far way. I am forever grateful for that, and would like to pay it back and pay it forward someday. I hope I am doing a decent job at that. I am humbled, and I know I am loved, and it sustains me.

Yet the fact remains I am ever aware of the ephemeral nature of it all. That at any moment I may be deported and suddenly find myself homeless amongst the lands I have lived. So, tonight my heart is heavy for those affected by the administration's decision to rescind DACA. I can imagine what it like when all that you know, all that you have come to identify with, grow accustomed to is threatened to be taken away. 

What makes us Americans? What makes us Canadians? What makes us Chinese, Mexican, Argentinian etc? Is it a legal status, a passport? Do we need to truly carry a unique flag and wave it often; plant it on a soil and claim it? 

Or is it a shared reality, being willing to commit to a common cause, to one another through service, through learning to adapt, through opening our arms and embracing one another. I am a Canadian, a Chinese, and someone who has just spent the past 16 years learning to be an American. If I am this conflicted, how much more for a Dreamer? 

A part of me says don't write this, they are going to look at my social media during my application for citizenship, and they will see this and perhaps deny me. Yet, how can I remain silent when all that I have learned by being in America these past years is to speak up. Speak up for the underdog, for those without a voice. To make sure our neighbors are taken care of, when the poorest amongst us are provided for. How can I be silent when my instinct tells me I need to stand with my brothers and sisters regardless of their colour, creed, and orientation? 

If America has taught me anything it is that the USA values the gift of making others feel accepted, letting them know they belong. It is one of its greatest gift to the world, to say "all men are born equal" is to say we accept you as you are, you belong. 

As that famous poem goes, if I don't stand up now, who is left to stand for me when the time comes? We are all dreamers, here to pursue the American dream, and here I stand.