UPDATED: "Stop the separation of families!"

On August 12th, 2010 friends, family, neighbors and many others gathered to protest the detention and deportation of Hov Ly Kol, an active and valuable member of Philadelphia's Cambodian-American community.

Click here to watch powerful video produced by Vyreak Sovann that shows the truth behind deportation: families and communties separated and destroyed.

People can also support these families by signing this petition urging the President to stop the deportation of Cambodian American Refugees

"Hov Ly Kol was born on October 20, 1974 in Cambodia. He came to the United States as a refugee child with other family members who survived the Khmer Rouge Regime. Resettled in Philly into poverty and an ill-equipped system, at a young age he found his life heading down the wrong path with few resources or support to pull him out. At the age of 19 he was convicted of a crime and served 12 years in state prison. Upon release in his early thirties he turned his life around. He went to school everyday and earned a degree in Green Energy with Honors, and became committed to the positive effects an environmentally friendly community can have on everyone. He volunteered with youth from his South Philly neighborhood - teaching them the importance of decision making and how one bad judgement call can effect your whole life and the life of your community. He did not want youth to make the same mistakes he did, and dedicated his time to reaching as many youth as he could.

Due to current immigration law, his prior record makes him deportable, even though he already served his time and has changed his life. On Friday August 6, 2010, Ly was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at his monthly check-in visit. He is now being held at York County Detention Center in York, PA, awaiting his impending deportation to Cambodia.

Ly is an inspiring man, and we need him here in Philly to continue giving our youth hope that they do have the power to make change, for themselves and for their community. We need him here, because he belongs HERE. Ly is an asset to the community. Please come out in support of him and his family, and help us show the public and our elected officials that we want Ly to stay, here, in Philly."

By Monday August 16, 2010, Ly had been transferred to a detention center out of state, making it much more difficult for him and his family to pursue legal counsel and fight against the break up of their family. Many more Cambodian-Americans across the country will be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the coming months and will be denied due process in the same way.

UPDATE:

CALL CAMPAIGN BEGINS TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 28TH AT 12 NOON.

 
Dear Pennsylvania Residents, Friends, Family and Supporters,
 
As you may know, Mout Iv, Chally Dang, Davy Phean and Vanney Van, were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last Tuesday, September 21st. Due to current immigration law they were denied the right to an individualized hearing to argue against their deportations on the basis of their specific contexts, such as redemption, family and community ties, length of time in the US, length of time since conviction, prior military service, former refugee status, US citizen children and spouses, and merit. And many more deportations will occur in the future this way unless we make our voices heard!

We are asking you to take 10 minutes of your time on Tuesday September 28th, Wednesday September 29th and Thursday September 30th, to make a few phone calls to our state and federal level politicians to advocate for (1) deferment of all four of their deportations so they can see through their legal motions with due process and for (2) judicial discretion on an individualized basis.

 
Please call all 9 politicians listed below over the next 3 days as we try to reach our goal of 100 calls to each office. Each call is short – give your name and zip code, and use the script below as a guide to your “ask”. You may be cut off the script and engaged in conversation with the staffer, as it is a person-to-person call, just be sure you get your two key points across by the end of the call. Please feel free to modify the script, especially if you have personal relationships with any of those detained and make your elected official understand the human side of this issue. If you have questions or opinions about the law, aside from the lack of individualized hearings and judicial discretion, please let these offices know your concerns – our elected officials need to know that the community is concerned and inquiring about the legislation that is making this happen.

Don't assume that other people will make the calls if you don't - they might be thinking the same thing - and every single call counts. And lastly, don't be shy - your elected officials are supposed to represent YOU, so you need to let them know what's on your mind. Let’s keep their phones ringing OFF THE HOOK for the next three days, so they know we want an end to the break up of families and justice for people in our communities. And that we want good people to stay here in Philly, where they belong.

If you are not from Philadelphia and would like to call your Congress Person please do so. You can find their contact number here: http://www.congress.org/

Go to the facebook event page for a suggested script that you can use to call elected officials.

PA Senator Bob Casey

2000 Market Street, Suite 1870

Philadelphia, PA 19103

P: (215) 405-9660

PA Senator Arlen Specter

600 Arch Street, Suite 9400

Philadelphia, PA 19106

P: (215) 597-7200

PA Governor Edward G. Rendell

225 Main Capitol Building

Harrisburg, PA 17120

P: (717) 787-2500

PA - US Representative Chaka Fattah, District 2

4104 Walnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19104

P: (215) 387-6404

PA - State Senator Shirley Kitchen, District 3

119 West Tabor Road

Philadelphia, PA 19120

P: (215) 457-9033

PA – State Senator Christine Tartaglione, District 2

1061 Bridge Street

Philadelphia, PA 19124

P: (215) 533-0440

PA – State Representative Dwight Evans District 203

7174 Ogontz Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19138

P: (215) 549-0220

PA – State Senator Leanna Washington, District 4

1555-A Wadsworth Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19150

P: (215) 242-0472

PA – State Representative Lawrence Curry, District 154

One Jenkintown Station, Suite 21

1115 West Avenue

Jenkintown, PA 19046-2031

P: (215) 572-5210

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