My Name is Prerna and I am an Undocumented American

Prerna,

Your story is truly inspirational and is a great example of how the laws are not perfect and how much change is needed in America's immigration system. I wonder what our opponents would say about your story... they would probably interpret it through their lens and call you a criminal and that America can't possibly invite the whole world to come here. Solipsistic much?

Thank you for sharing your story. The DREAM Act has definitely been gaining momentum. You're right that deporting all DREAMies would not help the United States but legalization would.

It is unfair to grow up alongside citizens and legal residents and not have the same opportunities through no fault of our own.

prema:

you are caught in a catch-22 whiplash!

as for identity and belonging...hmmm...it is a life long quest for some

good luck:)

Thank you for this beautifully written piece! We are all citizens of the world and we will never give up the fight for equality.

Thank you for writing this article - this strange legal limbo might change soon - one hopes it does - Yes, We Can!

great piece! thanks! it may not come to pass, but hopefully one day it will be the case that nobody is an illegal immigrant ie. when the freedom of people to move will be the same that capital currently enjoys under global capitalism

prema:

you are caught in a catch-22 whiplash!

as for identity and belonging...hmmm...it is a life long quest for some

good luck:)

Prerna: I didn't much know about your personal story, but it's very inspiring indeed.
I haven't met anyone as devoted to a cause as you are, thank you for all your hard work.

Prerna, thanks for sharing your story and fighting so hard for the passage of the DREAM Act. We'll definitely fight along with you to make our dreams a reality once and for all.

Prerna, thanks for sharing your story and fighting so hard for the passage of the DREAM Act. We'll definitely fight along with you to make our dreams a reality once and for all.

However unfair, self-serving and arbitrary they may be, nonetheless, nations, societies and people do have borders, limits, rules, norms, laws they must live by and enforce. If you are not willing to live by them or respect them, why should anybody respect you or put up with you? Why would anybody allow your border-less and rule-less anarchy to be created in which nothing is respected and everything can be trampled upon? In the eyes of laws and the society, you are a felon, a criminal that need to be denied rights and freedoms and be put away. No country would accept your ilks as your anything goes anarchy have nothing but contempt for them. You guys need to find a separate country of your own - of people who do not believe in borders, laws, norms, rules. Where like-minded can be deported to, where they can live in peace and freedom. But not in my backyard. Please.

In a democracy everyone has the right to forward their cause when done legally. Commendable fight Prerna. We all give lip service to global citizenship and even governments talk about One World Order but when it comes down to reality apprehensions and distrust act as roadblocks.

May more join your tribe:)

According to Indian law, being gay, or openly declaring your non-straight orientation, is not a crime in itself; it is the act of "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" (whatever that might be!?) that is an offense. This largely an academic difference but I felt it important to point out. Also, it is not to take anything away from the larger point you are driving at. Bravo for all the good work!

"My likes and dislikes know neither borders nor boundaries. And if my diversity of taste and pleasure-seeking avenues is not American, than I don't know what is. "

Dunno where you got the idea that America is all about "diversity of taste and pleasure-seeking avenues", except in the lexicon of ultra-liberals. But you seem to be one anyway.

While I sympathise with your plight of not having a country yet that calls you her citizen, showing contempt for India just on the grounds of some archaic British law on homosexuality that has seldom, if ever, been used, reflects a lot on you rather than on the country.

The present generation has become so spoilt that they want to go country-shopping just like they would go apartment hunting to check out which best suits their lifestyle. Can someone actually expect these kinds of people to make sacrifices for whatever country they finally choose to live in? Will they join the armed forces? I doubt it. For them, the country is a matter of their own convenience and dictated by their "pleasure-seeking avenues".

And, btw, there is a huge gay community in India. Sure, if they indulge in openly obscene acts in public, they are likely to be hauled up by the police. Heck, it happens even when heterosexuals French-kissing here. On the other hand, in India it is quite common for men to walk with arms around each other, something that would definitely raise eyebrows in most parts of the US. Trust me, the police in India is less likely to harass same-sex couples than hetero couples who walk just holding hands.

And no one is going to give a damn if you do something behind closed doors as long as it is consensual. I guess that's too much of an inconvenience for you that that would make you rule out India, isn't it?

I too interviewed for citizenship and when the USCIS officer/interviewer first came out to greet me, he teasingly asked if I was an 'IT bug' too....( not some perceived criminal from India like the author has serious illusions about).
--Please do some research on Indians living in USA and their valuable contribution to GDP, in addition to the intellectual contribution...
-- And for starters, Indians students continue to be the highest number of foreign students enrolling in American colleges and several successfully get perm resident cards with help from their employers.
Now since you have never stepped in India and so callously call it a country with a criminal background....why do I have a sneaky suspicion that there is some jealously/resentment there, when you compare your self to your counterparts in school/ college/workplace who happen to be Indians or Indian Americans?

Please take some lessons from Mexicans who do a damn good job in asserting their rights in USA and still stand by their homeland country and never utter a word that is disgraceful.

If I were a USCIS officer right now, I would be highly wary of you, and the reason being if you couldn't be loyal to your own roots ( just because one of them being you have some gay right issues), how can you be loyal to USA?? Have you read the pledge of allegiance? Start reading it, understand it, and practice it.

Also you mention about your parents and sisters being legal citizens and not you("Why does this country not consider me equal to the rest of my family?"), it sounds like that you feel discriminated against.. and how is that, what the logic? Let us understand this from this example: For example, if a member of a family is a murderer, shall we deem the remaining family members as murderous too on the pretext of treating them equally???

From the bottom of my heart I wish you good luck in your quest and I hope you find your roots, identity and home.

Global citizenship.....why? what for? Do you have open houses and in your houses do you have one big room for everyone? Don't you divide your own home into your own bedroom, children's room and guest room etc? Then why not respect borders and boundaries?
For all those people who support global citizenship, please practice it in your own home first and then preach.

When people talk about so called "global citizenship" and in their own recent article raise a cant about perceived minorities in their own homeland country and in addition accuse America for restraining their freedom of speech and indulging in discrimination at airport securities, and now incongruously promote global citizenship, oh well, it doesn't reflect any logical flow of any single thought process.

No global citizenship for me.... people who have a constant undying quest for a special kinda of sovereignty, may please create their own country with no laws, no rooms, no bathrooms, no nothing.... I'm sure Adams and Eves and Apples and Mollies and Tommies can live together harmoniously... Good Luck :)

Why do "global citizens" don't want to live in say, Bangladesh, or Saudi Arabia, or some dirt-poor country in Africa? Walk the talk. :)

nevermind - Thanks for the clarification. The Homosexuality law is discriminatory and needs to be eradicated like the sodomy laws on the books here were gotten rid of only recently! Yikes!

Ledzius - My family has spent 120 years outside of India way before the partition and battle for independence. I am not 'eligible' to live there and it is callous to expect me to put myself in an environment that is more hateful to my sexual preference than the present one. Given that, I do have conversations with gays in India, I do have friends in the country and you are right on one thing -- I have been brought up in a way to freely/publicly express myself because I am an American. And culture that frowns upon an open expression of love is a 'misfit' for me. I apologize, I refuse to live in the closet but I am far from apologetic about who I am.

Sam - India is not my homeland. That's like calling Africa the 'homeland' of African Americans. I don't show 'contempt' for India or Indian-Americans, I show regret - there is a huge difference. How about you tone down on your nationalistic tone? Despite the fact that my family hasn't been in India since 1879, I can still speak and write vernacular Hindi and a lot about me is very Indian including my accent. Please don't ever presumptuously point fingers to my ethnic pride because I have a lot of it and it is obvious from the article. And there is no resentment here for Indian Americans -- I am in fact very proud of our achievements (yes, I said our), Silicon Valley included. I like to quote the 98% of us have bachelor's degrees and other figures like that. Now I could achieve a lot more as an Indo-Fijian American and add to those statistics making our communities proud, don't you think?

Sam/Kafir - No one is asking for global citizenship, certainly not me. I don't know where you get the idea. I am simply asking to be given the right to legalize my status since 'falling out of status' as a CHILD was not my fault. With that one barrier gone, I can do a lot more in public interest work for all communities be it Fijian, Indian, Indian-American, black, Latino... No society reaps any benefit by keeping me or other well-education students like me in the shadows.

I am willing to live anywhere in the world even at this point -- I would love to do humanitarian work with the UN. I can't because leaving this country means being banned from America, banned from seeing my family for 10 years. Now that includes not seeing my niece grow up, possibly risking not being at my grandmother's funeral and not being able to help out my ailing mom with her work. That isn't at option at this point -- legalizing me would ensure I could come live in Bangladesh (I also have friends there) and not have to worry about being banned from 're-entering' the United States where my family is based. And even in my present condition, I still try to do work for the Fiji Children's Trust. I am not one that has forgotten any of her roots or values.

I hope that clarifies some things.

Prerna,

My tone wasn't intended to hurt you. I still wish you the best and the very best only.

My comment on global citizenship was targeted to someone else.

kaffir, kerty, ledzius, as expected, thanks for those thoughtful expressions of empathy. Empathy as most agree, is a universal human emotion and the trio of you are indeed shining exemplars of it.

Oh, gosh, commonsense, I am indeed honored!!! It means so much to me coming from you. ;)

Gee willikers, it's a first for me to win any kind of accolade, so pardon me if I fumble. Am I supposed to say a few words of thanks?

CS

You want me to hold doors for the felons who have broken American laws? Nope. I would rather show them the door.

In other threads, I have characterized immigration as protectionism and unregulated borderless migration of human capital as a logical corollary of sovereignty-defying borderless globalism, and therefore seeming contradictions and hypocracy inherent in American policy towards immigration. However, this thread presents other set of ironies that are too good to pass up without commenting.

CS

You want me to hold doors for the felons who have broken American laws? I would rather show them the door with a gentle kick on their butt.

In other threads on immigration, I have characterized immigration controls as protectionism and unregulated migration of human capital as a logical corollary of sovereignty-defying trans-national borderless globalism, and therefore seeming contradictions and hypocracy inherent in American policy towards immigration. However, this thread presents its own set of ironies that are too good to pass up.

Take 2:

kaffir, kerty, ledzius, as expected, thanks for those thoughtful expressions of empathy. Empathy as most agree, is a universal human emotion and the trio of you are indeed shining exemplars of it. Most other folks who lack the capacity for empathy usually move on instead of stopping to deliberately ridicule those who are down on their luck with the aim of rubbing it in. But not you three.

"kaffir, kerty, ledzius, as expected, thanks for those thoughtful expressions of empathy."

What man, commonsense? Just because three of us expressed a different idea/opinion on an issue than you did, you're getting your undies in a twist? After all, don't all of us eat the same food, probably speak the same language, share similar culture and hey, this is the clincher: we all look the same? But for some reason, all such commonality didn't matter to you and what took precedence here is the difference in thoughts and ideas, irrespective of the facts about shared commonality between us all.

But I guess the idea of South-Asians (or world citizens) bhai-bhai comes much before Indians bhai-bhai, is that correct? ;)

Kerty:

""You want me to hold doors for the felons who have broken American laws? I would rather show them the door with a gentle kick on their butt....However, this thread presents its own set of ironies that are too good to pass up.""

not at all...nobody who is familiar with your posts would expect anything different from you.

Prerna, I am not a thekedaar (contractor) nor the fount of empathy, but I do apologize to you no behalf of kerty and his clones. Yes, they do exist and they are all too real in this world (the self-righteousness you might detect in my post here is only apparent, not real. I sincerely mean it)

Kerty:

""You want me to hold doors for the felons who have broken American laws? I would rather show them the door with a gentle kick on their butt....However, this thread presents its own set of ironies that are too good to pass up.""

not at all...nobody who is familiar with your posts would expect anything different from you.

Prerna, I am not a thekedaar (contractor) nor the fount of empathy, but I do apologize to you no behalf of kerty and his clones. Yes, they do exist and they are all too real in this world (the self-righteousness you might detect in my post here is only apparent, not real. I sincerely mean it)

Kerty,

My holiday wish for you is that you never find yourself in a sticky, impossible situation. And if you do, I do hope you will be surrounded by folks who have the capacity of empathy that you lack.

And as you celebrate Christmas (which I am sure you don't), please don't lose sight of the underlying reason for it, that most people forget: the birth of Santa Claus.

Kerty,

My holiday wish for you is that you never find yourself in a sticky, impossible situation. And if you do, I do hope you will be surrounded by folks who have the capacity of empathy that you lack.

And as you celebrate Christmas (which I am sure you don't), please don't lose sight of the underlying reason for it, that most people forget: the birth of Santa Claus.

CS

I thought santa claus was only a costume.

We all have empathy. But we hold it for things that are important, not just to our own lives, but for things that are important for society at large.

kaffir:

""What man, commonsense? Just because three of us expressed a different idea/opinion on an issue than you did, you're getting your undies in a twist? After all, don't all of us eat the same food, probably speak the same language""

excuse me while I migrate to the "poorer" countries you list, take of my twisted undies that you mention, and wash my dirty laundry in public.

merely a "different idea/opinion"? if you think that is my point, you genuinely cannot empathise. Enjoy your life my friend: hope you make pots of money, live the good life in the country of your choice.

Kerty:

""You want me to hold doors for the felons who have broken American laws? I would rather show them the door with a gentle kick on their butt....""

nobody is surprised at all. the surprise however is, given your rabid hatred of gays, that you would stop at a "gentle kick on their butt...". as they say, thank god (the non-existent one) for small mercies.

merely a "different idea/opinion"? if you think that is my point, you genuinely cannot empathise.

Guruji, why don't you show us the way by showing empathy for those who, according to you, are not capable of empathy? :)

Hum bhatke hue logon ko sahi raah par le aao. Hum sab victims hain, kya karein, majboor hain, isiliye empathy nahin dikha paate. Upper caste Hinduon ne - ya garibi ne, ya nainsaafion ne hamare dil ki mom ko paththar banaa diya hai.

Kerty:

""We all have empathy. But we hold it for things that are important, not just to our own lives, but for things that are important for society at large."'

Not to worry; you need not be apologetic. it is quite unbecoming of you.

not to worry (not that you do), there are many folks in the world who genuinely derive pleasure and their sense of self from the sticky predicaments of others.

another holiday wish for you: as you slide down the bannister of life, I hope the splinters do not point the wrong way, ie. up. Nobody, not even you, deserves that.

Kerty:

""We all have empathy.""

Yes, everybody on DC can see THAT for sure.

Uh-oh ... Main nahin jaanti ki yahaan pe kya ho raha hai :)

Sam - it's all cool.

I am part of this second-time Diaspora of Indians. My family came to Fiji as Indentured laborers long before the partition and we are from all parts of what is India/Pakistan/Bangladesh. The caste system never really did exist in Fiji.

Following independence from Britian and the larger numbers of Indians, the ethnic Fijians were insecure and the 1987 democratic victory of an Indian-dominated government was the tipping point. That year we had two coups ... I was only about 2-3 so I don't remember, but it started off an mass exodus of 300,000+ Indo-Fijians who now live outside the country. We migrated to the U.S. too, legally, in 1999, luckily before another coup that was more violent and anti-Indian.

8 years later, I wrote my MA dissertation on Indo-Fijians. I do know the privileged position I am in, but my hands are mostly tied -- I can't leave this country, I can't get a job here, drive, get loans and so many other issues. But I do want to stress that due to our history and my own personal battles with otherizations, maybe I have developed more of a bhai-bhai or behen-behen sense. And that applies regardless of caste, ethnicity, country, background and other identities that continue to divide us as a people.

Happy holidays and stay safe.

excuse me while I migrate to the "poorer" countries you list

Please do, and come back and write about it. After all, being a world citizen doesn't mean living only in Europe or USA, or any of those so-called "first world" countries.

Kaffir:

""Hum bhatke hue logon ko sahi raah par le aao."'

your best bet would be not to follow me. not only i'm bhatka bhoola, but also man mauji and quite unpredictable to boot. especially when loaded up with a few pints - which of course I will have to give up after I migrate to Bangladesh.

Kaffir:

""Guruji, why don't you show us the way by showing empathy for those who, according to you, are not capable of empathy? :)""

chelay! this is exactly what I did ie. showed empathy for kerty. are you just bhatka or andhaa too? LOOK: (stellar examples of empathy for the empathy challenged Kerty):"

#30:

""My holiday wish for you is that you never find yourself in a sticky, impossible situation. And if you do, I do hope you will be surrounded by folks who have the capacity of empathy that you lack."

#25:

""another holiday wish for you: as you slide down the bannister of life, I hope the splinters do not point the wrong way, ie. up. Nobody, not even you, deserves that.""

Khush? I am sure not!

If you need some empathy, please let me know!

And that applies regardless of caste, ethnicity, country, background and other identities that continue to divide us as a people.

Prerna, I'm trying to understand this. Why do you think having the above identities is a division? And - please correct me if I misunderstood - by implication, that divisions are bad? Identities exist for a reason - after all, you identify yourself too using certain tags that distinguish you from others who don't use those tags. Just having an identity does not necessarily mean I have to discriminate on the basis of those identities and treat others unjustly. But somehow, that still didn't stop me from vandalizing my neighbor's sign that said "Vote Bush/Cheney" or spitting on that SUV parked outside my house.

At a practical level, identities are necessary - whether it is gender, one's name or others. Divisions are also necessary - just try standing too close to the person in front of you next time you're in a queue so that you invade his/her personal space. Or try moving into your neighbor's house telling him that the divisions between his house and your house are invalid. In spite of what quantum physicists have told us, I still don't act on the truth that everything in this universe is a play of tiny, sub-atomic particles and quarks, and there's nothing solid in this world. I still unlock the door instead of trying to walk through it, even though the door and I are, at the atomic level, the same. So the division between "me" and "door" is required, otherwise I will hurt myself.

To me, this talk of identities dividing us, and hence, identities need to be done away with (if that's what you're implying) comes across as throwing the baby out with the bathwater, instead of trying to fill the tub with clean water.

Where I'm at is embracing my multiple identities, as well as trying to understand better how those identities affect my actions and decisions; and hopefully do my best, instead of striving for some state of "no identity" - which I went down and reached a cul-de-sac. Quantum physicists already know this, but their knowing of the truth hasn't enabled them to reach that "no identity" state either, so I'm but an average dude.

Oh, and good luck to you - hope your situation gets resolved.

kaffir,

arrey yaar, seriously good ideas there in # 41! Good stuff man! (Coming from yours truly who has a non-DC life teaching quantum physics)

(Did you "seriously" vandalize the bush/cheney sign at your neighbours' or were you doing with a half-hearted, time-pass attitude?)

it is not possible to be human and not have an identity

it is not possible to be human and not empathize

"nothing human is alien to me" (who said that?? old man marx! a great line!)

CS #25, in the very first sentence in 15, I have expressed my sympathy for not having a country that has accepted her as her citizen.

But there is no need for her to throw her being gay into this whole thing. Sex and sexual orientation are private matters. She seems to have a condescending (and almost arrogant) attitude if you read her rejoinder #19.

In India even hetero couples are not allowed to hold hands or smooch in public. This hasn't caused most of us to get riled up and renounce our Indian citizenship. One cannot have it all. We have to take local cultural sensibilities into account and act accordingly. Obviously she has different views here. Sorry to say this, but she comes off as a spoilt brat.

I am a teacher and I support the DREAM Act, my students with documents and without documents deserve the opportunity to attend college and work.
The students that would be benefited by the DREAM ACT are an inspiration to our society, every single day they study, pass their classes, have impressive resumes and are wonderful role models in our communities.
Our country needs prepared individuals to work. The DREAM Act would help our country to become more competitive.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE DREAM ACT.

commonsense,

No I didn't vandalize any Bush/Cheney sign, but a couple of my liberal/progressive friends had expressed a desire to do so (well, McCain/Palin sign, to be exact). It's quite a common feeling and signs do get vandalized by both sides, so I used it as an example.

I didn't know you teach QP. I seriously doubt that you'd agree with K.M. then, on major issues. Objectivists do not like certain conclusions reached by QP about "reality" and our world. :)

correction: "I seriously doubt that you'll.."

Kaffir,

"Objectivism" is, well, how does one begin??

Thank you for the your story, as you might know there are a lot of people out there that like you deserve the right to be recognize and apresiated in this country.I am a citizen of the United States and i just got marries to try to legalize my wife, but right now there is no law to legalize my wife. the 245-I that you were taking about in your story close 7 years ago if i am correct, so even if you get marry you cannot get a green card , because you would have to go to your country for 10 years.
so that is my story too.

Hey Frank,
Yes, the 245-I closed in April 2001, but I have one via my parent's petition from before that date. In that respect I am 'lucky' though I can't even use it to adjust status through marriage, LOL.

Are you undergoing the I-601 hardship waiver process? You should try immigrate2us.net -- plenty of people in the same boat.

Thanks.

Prerna, I read your story a few days ago, but I am just now finding the time to comment. First of all, thanks for the work you and the team of DreamActivist.org do for our dreams. I truly admire your commitment.

It is truly frustrating and sad to see how this nation is losing so much each day by denying students like you (and me) the chance to make it a better place. However, I am more than ever hopeful that 2009 will be a big year for D.R.E.A.M and hopefully for CIR too. That hope comes from the fact that unlike past years, students are now taking charge of this movement and are using their talents to educate others and advocate for a better life for themselves and their parents. Thanks Prerna, and keep up the good work! :-)

Really? You like Simple Plan?